Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toxicological effect of mercuric chloride on Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch) with reference to behavioural and haematological alteration

The present investigation deals with the toxicological effect of mercuric chloride on a model fish organism Heteropneustes fossilis on haematological parameters as well as behavioural changes keeping most of the physicochemical parameters in the experimental aquariums are at optimal level. The LC 50 concentration where 50% death of the fishes occur is experimentally carried out which is found to be 0.10 mg/l, a very lesser quantity, thus showing the level of toxicity of mercuric chloride. The fishes were treated at sub lethal concentration of LC 50 (1/5 th of LC 50 concentration i.e. 0.02 mg/l) for a period of 24hrs, 48hrs, 72hrs and 96hrs to get haematological alteration. The result shows that RBC and Haemoglobin decline significantly as the increase of time of exposure of mercuric chloride. Haemoglobin % was observed to drop about 50% after 96 hours of exposure of mercuric chloride. However, WBC is found to be increased with time initially and attain maximum at 48 hours of exposure and steadily decline thereafter. Differential Leucocytes Count (DLC) shows an increasing trend as the exposure of mercuric chloride increases. Lymphocytes shows an increasing trend from lower to higher as exposure time increases with more or less similar trend with Basophil, where the highest peak is observed at 48 hours exposure time and then decline slowly. On the other hand Eosinophil, Neutrophil and Monocytes show a reverse phenomenon where the number of counts decreases steadily as exposure time increases. The various behavioral changes like restlessness, abnormal swimming behavior, vigorous jerks of body, loss of balance, surfacing, encircling, mucus secretion and anorexia observed in Heteropneustes fossilis indicates the effect of the level of toxicity of mercuric chloride.
Shareholder Activism and Earnings Management: Evidence from Kenya

Earnings management has in the recent past attracted a significant scholarly attention, especially in the wake of global financial misstatements which is detrimental to the firm stakeholders who rely majorly on the financial reports for decision making. In response to this shareholder activism has sprouted in the modern organizational setup where active shareholders directly engage the management on issues about financial reporting. Shareholders' role within the company is grounded by the agency theory. A panel data analysis was conducted using secondary data collected from the yearly audited financial reports of 65 firms registered at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. The research concentrated on the firms that were consistently in operation at the NSE for the periods between 2004 and 2017, with an overall of 490 firm-annum observations. An explanatory research design was used in the study as a guide towards arriving at the conclusions. Statistical techniques, specifically the mean, standard deviation, correlation and regression were used to analyze the data. Harris-Tzavalis test was used to check for unit root, while Hausma’s test was employed to choose between random and fixed effect models. Shareholder activism is a significant corporate governance mechanism that performs a vital role in earnings management. The findings indicate that blockholder activism performs a very vital role in the firm by lowering earnings management (β= -2.546, p<0.05). As suggested by the agency theory, blockholder activism is a desirable monitoring mechanism in a firm meant to reduce the self-interests of the management. Institutional shareholder activism was found to increase (β=3.01, p<0.05) earnings management due to their transient nature. It is further recommended for the institutional investors to refrain from exerting more pressure for short-term performance by the management since it results in earnings management.
STUDY OF SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF NOVEL ANTIFUNGALS ON COMMONLY OCCURRING FUNGAL INFECTIONS IN SOUTHERN REGION OF INDIA

Background: Fungal infection is one among global public health problem. Many people who are at risk and suffer from fungal disease live in resource limited settings, where the treatment of these infections can be challenging. The increased use of antifungal drugs, often for prolonged periods, has led to acute antifungal resistance among previously suspected strains or species and to the increased incidence of infections with less common species. The objective of this study is to assess the sensitivity pattern of novel antifungal drugs used and also to determine the prevalence rate of various types of fungal infections prevalent in the area. Methodology: It was a prospective observational study conducted in the Department of Dermatology Venereology and Leprosy (DVL), RMMCH, Chidambaram for duration of six months (November 2017- April 2018). The study was approved by Institutional Human Ethics Committee (IHEC). 60 samples were collected from clinically suspected patients diagnosed with dermatophytosis attending the out-patient department of DVL and were processed for susceptibility testing. Result: Among 60 diagnosed patients 49(81.66%) were found to be male and 11(18.33%) were found to be female. Majority of the specimens were collected from the trunk region 33(54.98%) . T.mentagrophytes 11(34.37%) was found to be the most isolated culture. T.violaceum (33.33%) and M.gypseum (33.33%) was found to be the most drug resistant species followed by T.mentagrophytes (31.81%). Terbinafine and clotrimazole were found to be the most sensitive antifungal drugs while Fluconzole was found to be the least sensitive drug. Conclusion: Formulation of a protocol for testing and guidelines for antifungal treatment is in need now. It is advisory to conduct research in many centers on antifungal testing to implement a universal guideline for testing and treatment of fungal infections. Proper and effective patient counseling on usage of antifungal drugs may be beneficial to the patients. This aids in combating the ongoing and evolving resistance in future.
Cross-Layer Congestion Control with Deep Neural Network in Cellular Network

A significant fraction of data tra c is transmitted via cellular networks. When introducing fifth-generation (5G) radio access technology, the maximum bitrate of the radio link increases significantly, and the delay is lowered. Network congestion occurs when the sender attempts to send data at a higher rate than the network link or nodes can handle. In order to improve the performance of the mobile networks, many congestion control techniques and approaches have been developed over the years. Varying radio conditions in mobile networks make it challenging to indicate the occurrence of the congestion using packet loss as congestion indicator. This master thesis develops a congestion control algorithm based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, evaluates and compares it with existing state-of-the-art congestion control algorithms that are used with TCP today. In this study, we use the abundant readable physical layer information exchanged between the base stations and the user equipment to predict the available bandwidth. Two neural network models, Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), are introduced as congestion control algorithms based on cross-layer information in order to improve user throughput and utilize the available capacity as much as possible. Evaluation in a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network system simulator confirms that the estimation of LSTM model is able to track the varying link capacity, while MLP is less accurate and induces higher delay. The sender uses the estimated link capacity to adjust its packet sending behavior. Our evaluation reveals that for large flows, the LSTM model can attain higher throughput than state-of-the-art congestion control algorithms, which are the Google Bottleneck Bandwidth and Round-trip propagation time (BBR) algorithm and the Data Center TCP (DCTCP) algorithm. However, it has higher latency than that of these two algorithms. The MLP based model provides unstable performance compared to LSTM; its prediction is not accurate enough and has the highest latency among the algorithms. In conclusion, the LSTM does not underperform the state-of-the-art congestion control algorithms. However, it does not provide additional performance gains in current settings. The MLP model underperforms BBR and DCTCP with L4S and it is not stable enough to be used as a congestion control algorithms.
Complex-Mediated Glomerulonephritis Inflammation and Fibrosis in Immune Renal Function by Contributing to Mouse Mast Cell Protease-4 Deteriorates

Mast cells exert protective effects in experimental antiglomerular basement membrane-induced glomerulonephritis (GN), yet the responsible mediators have not been identiﬁed. In this study, we investigated the role of mouse mast cell protease (mMCP)-4, the functional homolog of human chymase, using mMCP-4–deﬁcient mice. Compared with wild type animals, mMCP-4–deﬁcient mice exhibited lower proteinuria, blood creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen levels, indicating an aggravating role of mMCP-4. Kidney histology conﬁrmed less severe renal damage in mMCP-4–deﬁcient mice with reduced deposits, glomerular and interstitial cellularity, and ﬁbrosis scores. High amounts of mMCP-4 were detected in renal capsules, but not in the whole kidney, from wild type mice. Its expression in renal capsules was markedly decreased after GN induction, suggesting that locally released enzyme by degranulated mast cells could contribute to the functional and physiopathological hallmarks of GN. Supporting a proinﬂammatory role, glomerular and interstitial macrophage and T cell inﬁltration, levels of proinﬂammatory TNF and MCP-1 mRNA, and the expression of the proﬁbrotic peptide angiotensin II together with type I collagen were markedly down-regulated in kidneys of mMCP-4 2 deﬁcient mice. We conclude that mMCP-4 chymase, contrary to the global anti-inﬂammatory action of mast cells, aggravates GN by promoting kidney inﬂammation. These results highlight the complexity of mast cell-mediated inﬂammatory actions and suggest that chymase inhibition may represent a novel therapeutic target in GN. The Journal Immunology
Tax knowledge diffusion through individual auditor network ties: Evidence from China

This study investigates whether network ties via sharing the same individual auditor influences the diffusion of tax avoidance knowledge. We find that firms with greater connection to low-tax firms through audit partners have lower effective tax rates (ETRs), consistent with tax avoidance knowledge being shared among firms through individual auditor network. The influence of audit network ties on tax avoidance at focal firms is stronger when partners’ tenure in low-tax firms is longer, and when partners have social connection with the top executives of focal firms. In addition, audit fees of focal firms with auditor network ties to low-tax firms are significantly higher if their executives are not socially connected to partners, suggesting that audit partners benefit from sharing the tax avoidance knowledge with clients without social ties.
Strain partitioning in host rock controls LREE release from allanite-(Ce) in subduction zones

Combined microstructural, mineral chemical, X-ray maps, and X-ray single-crystal diffraction analyses are used to reveal the rheological behaviour of individual grains of magmatic allanite relicts hosted in variably deformed metagranitoids at Lago della Vecchia (inner part of the Sesia-Lanzo Zone, Western Alps, Europe), which experienced high pressure and low temperature metamorphism during the Alpine subduction. X-ray single crystal diffraction shows that none of the allanite crystals, irrespective of the strain state of the host rock, record any evidence of plastic deformation ( i.e., intracrystalline deformation), as indicated by the shape of the Bragg diffraction spots, the atomic site positions, and their displacement around the centre of gravity. On the contrary, strong plastic deformation affected matrix minerals, such as quartz, white mica, and feldspar of the hosting rocks, during the development of the Alpine eclogitic- and blueschist-facies metamorphism. Despite the strain-free atomic structures of allanite, different patterns of chemical zoning, as a function of strain accumulated in the rock matrix, are observed. Since allanite occurs in magmatic and metamorphic rocks and it is stable at high pressure and low temperature conditions, we infer that allanite could behave as one of the main carriers of light-rare-earth-elements into the mantle wedge during subduction of continental crust. In particular, the release of light-rare-earth-elements from allanite, under high pressure conditions in subduction zones, is facilitated by high strain accumulated in the host rock.
Automated Detection of Security Vulnerabilites Using Machine Learning for Automated Testing

IT security is an important aspect of the software development life cycle and thorough security testing is necessary to ensure the quality of the software. To cope with the increasing complexity and amount of software, security testing is required to increase its efficiency through the development of automated testing methods. However, the manual analysis of the results produced by an automated test execution can be very cumbersome and extremely time consuming. The purpose of this thesis is to optimize the analysis phase through the automatic evaluation of test results and detection of suspicious test cases. In this work the optimization task was approached by using methods from the research field of machine learning. To this aim several supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods were investigated: Artificial Neural Network, SelfOrganizing Map, Support Vector Machine, c-Means Clustering. Based on the prototypes created in this thesis, the four approaches were evaluated in terms of their applicability in detecting suspicious behaviour of the test subject. The results show that machine learning methods are well suited for an integration into a security testing framework. Three out of four implementations displayed a high vulnerability detection rate while maintaining a straightforward implementation, fast running times and easy adaptation into various projects. Integrated into a security testing system, machine learning methods can improve the analysis phase of the test execution. With their help the amount of manual labor can be decreased without any loss of vulnerability detection rate.
Inﬂuence of Harvesting Time on the Chemical Composition of Wild Stinging Nettle ( Urtica dioica L.)

: This research aimed to determine the effect of different harvesting times on the chemical composition of stinging nettle ( Urtica dioica L.). The leaves of nettle were harvested at the same place once a month in the period of April–September 2019. The analysis focused on the contents of dry matter, soluble solids, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b , total carotenoids, total phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, ash content, and macro- and microelements. The nettles harvested in April were characterized by the highest levels of soluble solids and some macro-and microelements (P, K, Fe, Zn). The plants harvested in May were distinguished for titratable acidity, chlorophyll a , chlorophyll b , and carotenoid contents. In this month, the plants were determined to have the highest antioxidant activity during the entire vegetation period. The plants collected in July contained the highest amount of Mn, but the antioxidant activity of these plants was the lowest during the vegetation period. In August, the plants had the highest levels of ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds, and ash, while the plants collected in September were characterized by having the highest amounts of Ca, Mg, and B as compared to those established in other months of vegetation.
Distribution of okra root rot ( Fusarium solani ) in district of Peshawar and Nowshera and characterization of different isolates

The root rot of okra ( Fusarium solani ) was distributed up to 32.09 to 91.14 % in ten different okra growing regions of District Peshawar and Nowshera. The highest disease severity with maximum (91.14 %) percent mortality was reported by isolate NI 2 from Garhi Momin and lowest (32.09 %) by isolate NI 4 from Balu. In vitro, all the isolates were observed to be significantly different by their characterization at different pH levels (5.0, 5.6 and 9.0). All the isolates grew well at pH level of 5.0 with maximum colony diameter of 76.73 mm, 1.97 g of fresh biomass and 2.29×10 6 ml -1 of spore production and at pH 5.6 (77.14 mm, 1.89 g and 2.16×10 6 ml -1 ). The maximum growth among the isolates was attained by isolate NI 2 with 96.67 mm of colony diameter, 2.52 g of biomass and 3.23×10 6 ml -1 of sporulation and lowest by NI 4 (57.89 mm, 0.87 g and 0.76×10 6 ). In vitro , Dithane M-45 was found as the most effective fungicide in controlling Fusarium solani (6.87 mm, 0.24 g, 0.09×10 6 ml -1 ) than Aliette (75.20 mm, 1.54 g, 1.54×10 6 ml -1 ) and Copper oxychloride (69.10 mm, 1.55 g, 1.45×10 6 ml -1 ) as compared to control (84.67 mm, 2.18 g, 2.14×10 6 ml -1 ). The isolate NI 2 found as the most aggressive isolate by exhibiting the maximum growth in Aliette and Copper oxychloride amended culture media as observed in control (non poisoned).
Mitigating the Spread of Measles under Constrained Health Care Resources in Tanzania using Social Contact Network Models

Tanzania revaccinates individuals during measles outbreaks, despite having scant healthcare resources. We construct epidemiological models of measles spread by employing a hybrid of existing social contact networks models to develop SEIR simulation model. Using demographic and measles surveillance data from three rural villages in Tanzania, we simulate the spread of measles and examine which vaccination strategies can effectively control outbreaks. Results strongly indicate the spread of measles largely depends on contact rates among infected individuals within a population. Findings indicate a need for targeted vaccination for children of 6 months to 15 years of age, but equally for unvaccinated older age groups who were born before 1957 or missed the second dose. This work contributes theoretically and methodologically to existing applications of social contact network models for airborne infectious diseases in areas with health system constraints. It sets out implications for the design of effective vaccination programs for control of measles in Tanzania and in other developing countries.
Production of functional bakery products supplemented with moringa leaves powder

The purpose of this study is to produce healthy crackers by using natural sources which have chemoprevents. So that types of suggested crackers were prepared by using formula from moringa leaves power at replacement levels of 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 % from whole meal barley flour or corn flour with aromatic herbs (black cumin or cumin or chili) as constant level of formula. The produced crackers were evaluated chemically, organolyptically, microbiologically and economically. The results cleared that all samples of crackers containing corn flour or whole meal barley flour with moringa leaves powder at all levels had the highest value of protein, fat, ash, crude fiber. Also they were highest of minerals contents as calcium, potassium, iron, zinc and magnesium compared with control crackers. While all samples had lowest value of total carbohydrate ant total energy compared with control crackers. All produced crackers had acceptance (good) which containing moringa leaves power at substitution level 2.5 and 5.0 % with whole meal barley flour or corn flour, while at 7.5% had less acceptance (Satisfactory). All samples of highly accepted crackers storage at room temperature in sealed poly propylene bags as economic backing for up to 4 month, the results cleared that all types of crackers specially that contain 5.0% moringa leaves powerhad the lowest peroxide value (P.V.) and total microbial counts. So this leads to prolong the shelf life of crackers. Most of samples of crackers have lowest economic cost. The results showed that 100 gm of crackers moringa leaves powder with different sources of cereals flour (con or barley flour), and different aromatic herbs contribute (29.86-43.25%) of daily protein requirement for children, and (14.41-20.88%) for adults. And all values of %RDA for studied nutrient were high in samples of crackers compared with control crackers. So it could recommend that incorporation of the whole meal barley flour or corn flour with moringa leaves power to obtain healthy bakery products having high biological value.
A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY TO EXAMINE THE ACTION STATISTICS OF METFORMIN IN TYPE II DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS

: Aim of Study: The main purpose of our study was to judge the action statistics of metformin in type II diabetes mellitus patients and in connection with this to examine the association of it with decrease of GIT and BMI. Study design: Quasi-Experimental study Place and duration: This study was carried out at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore for the time duration of one year starting from March, 2018 to February, 2019. Material and Methods: A total number of 200 patients, newly diagnosed of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were included in this quasi experimental study. All selected patients were treated with dose of metformin for a time period of 03 months and after that they were divided into two groups known as Responder and Non-responder assessed by reductions of HbA1c (A1C). This was calculated via hemoglobin analyzer (TC4611A TAIDoc Tech. Taiwan) by means of photometry. Same alike, BMI on the first day and after 3 months of treatment was noted on a proforma. Results: All selected (200) patients of T2DM were treated with pre-decided dose of metformin for a time period of 03 months and after that they were divided into two groups known as Responder and Non-responder. There were 59.50% responder patients and 40.50% patients were non-responder. BMI at the start of the therapy was 26.09 kg/m2 which was considerably decreased to 25.4 kg/m2 after metformin treatment. Also observed that in all patients A1C was reduced due to metformin therapy. As compared to lower baseline levels of A1C as 0.61%±0.07, the glycemic control was significantly well in patients with higher baseline of A1C as 1.13% ± 0.08. While considering GIT intolerance, symptoms lacked in 140 patients amongst which there were 39.30% non-responders and rest 60.70% were responders. Conclusions: After treatment with metformin found improvement in 59.5% of newly diagnosed T2DM patients for glycemic control. Whereas, 40.50% patients didn’t improve which might be due to collective influences of various gene polymorphisms and their inter-action with non-genetic factors. Regardless of effects of metformin on HbA1C, it decreased the BMI of all selected patients. Furthermore, no difference found in both groups for the symptoms and signs of GIT. Side effects were reported by 61 patients among all selected patients after metformin therapy. There was 34 (56%) cases in responder group and 27 (44%) cases in non-responder group. The difference in both groups was statistically not significant with P value equal to 0.509.
Fixed-term con Causal evide term contracts as screening devi evidence in a two-tier system ing devices: er system

The purpose of this dissertation is to access the impact stricter employment protection legislation on the use of fixed-term contracts as a screening device. To achieve this, I first confirm the results found by Centeno and Novo (2012) on the impact of the 2004 labor code reform over excess worker turnover and the share of fixed-term contracts on Portuguese firms, and then explore the link between those indicators and the transition of fixed-term to open-ended contracts. While the link between more stringent employment protection legislation and a higher reliance on fixed term contracts seems clear, the strategy of using fixed-term contracts as a screening device appears to be persistent, and more affected by idiosyncratic factors than external policy changes.