Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Games and network structures on corruption, income inequality, and tax control

The income tax system is the main instrument of fiscal policy that aims to improve income distribution and economic growth, but the problem arises when there is corrupt behavior in that system. While the tax audit is a tax control tool that is costly, the tax system should guarantee, however, the instruments for tax collection. In this research work, we formulate a model in which all taxpayers decide to pay taxes or not according to their personal income, individual preferences with respect to the audit and tax control information perceived in their social environment. We develop a theoretical model to study the structure of citizen networks that must pay taxes. First, we assume that citizens are classified by two social groups, the rich and the poor. When all citizens are taxpayers, but public authorities are corrupt, we show that the poor group is the most affected by corruption. However, when taxpayers are corrupt or tax evaders, we implement mechanisms to audit and control this corrupt behavior. Hence, we show that this situation of corruption and control of tax payments can be represented by several well-known theoretical games. Then, we apply the evolutionary theory of the game in the network considering that each taxpayer receives information from his∖her neighbors about the probability of audit and that he∖she could react according to his∖her risk status and real income. Such behavior forms a group of informed agents that propagate the information beyond the proportions of the informed and uninformed contributors that are modified. Our evolutionary model in the structure of the network describes the changes in the population of taxpayers driven by the impact of information on the future fiscal audit. Our simulation analysis shows that the initial and final preferences of taxpayers depend on important parameters, that is, taxes and fines, audit information and costs.
ECC-1 Cells: A Well-Differentiated Steroid-Responsive Endometrial Cell Line with Characteristics of Luminal Epithelium1

Abstract Endometrial cancer cell lines have provided a valuable model to study endometrial epithelial cells in vitro. Since the first development of HEC1B over 35 yr ago, many different cell lines have been isolated and described. One valuable cell line that maintains hormone responsiveness and unique stability over time is the ECC-1 cell line, developed originally by the late P.G. Satyaswaroop. In this study, we investigated some of the properties of these cells and present their salient characteristics. Like Ishikawa cells, ECC-1 cells maintain both estrogen receptors (ESR1 [ER alpha] and ESR2 [ER beta]), progesterone receptors (PR A and B; PGRs), and androgen receptors (ARs), along with the p160 steroid receptor coactivators NCOA1 (formerly SRC1), NCOA2 (formerly TIF2), and NCOA3 (formerly AIB1). The karyotype of these cells is abnormal, with multiple structural rearrangements in all cells analyzed. Unlike Ishikawa cells that express glandular epithelial antigens, ECC-1 cells maintain a luminal phenotype, with expression of KRT13 (cytokeratin 13) and KRT18 (cytokeratin 18). Apparent differences in the regulation of ESR2 also were evident in ECC-1 cells compared to Ishikawa cells. Like other endometrial cell lines, ECC-1 cells express the steroid receptor coactivators and exhibit epidermal growth factor-stimulated expression of known luminal proteins thought to be involved in implantation, including the hyaluronate receptor CD44 and SPP1 (formerly osteopontin) and CD55 (decay-accelerating factor). These characteristics appear to be stable and persistent over multiple cell passages, making this well-differentiated cell line an excellent choice to study endocrine and paracrine regulation of endometrial epithelium in vitro.
Governing renewables: Policy feedback in a global energy transition

Complex global problems such as climate change have not been met with deep international cooperation but with complex systems of governance across multiple scales. This includes the global governance of renewable energy, the fastest growing source of electric power globally. How did the complex system of governance for renewable energy emerge, evolve, and institutionalize? This article posits that policy feedback on market actors helps to explain the evolution of renewable energy governance. The extent to which policy expands or limits market opportunities for firms shapes significantly the coalitions that emerge in support of new institutions, such as policies and organizations, in global renewable energy governance. This article examines the role of policy feedback for three major periods of renewable energy governance, focusing on a case for each period: (1) the emergence and expansion of domestic policy in Germany’s feed-in tariff, (2) international cooperation in the creation of the International Renewable Energy Agency, and (3) international competition in the European Union-China solar trade dispute. The findings contribute to our understanding of complex interdependence in a policy-driven global energy transition, complementing analyses of domestic energy transitions. They also suggest that policymakers can—to some extent—strategically leverage feedback dynamics to promote market transformations in the absence of comprehensive international cooperation.
Long‐term clinical outcomes of patients with unprotected left main bifurcation lesions treated with 2‐stent techniques

Background Currently available evidence suggests that outcomes are less favorable when left main (LM) bifurcation lesions are treated with 2‐stent techniques compared with a single‐stent technique. We aimed to evaluate the long‐term outcomes of the 2‐stent techniques for treating unprotected LM bifurcation lesions in Chinese patients. Methods We enrolled 301 consecutive patients treated with drug‐eluting stents (DES) implantation using 2‐stent techniques for unprotected LM bifurcation lesions (MEDINA 1, 1, 1, 70.5%). The 2‐stent techniques included crush technique, V stenting, T stenting, and Culottes stenting. After stenting, both vessels were redilated at a high pressure before final kissing balloon (FKB). Clinical and angiographic data were analyzed. The primary endpoints were major adverse cardiac events (MACE), which included death, myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization. Results Immediate procedural success was obtained in all cases with a FKB success rate of 95.3%. Follow‐up data were available for all patients. The overall incidence of angiographic in‐stent restenosis (ISR) rate was 20.3% and most ISRs were of the focal type. During long‐term follow‐up (mean duration, (54±22) months), the cumulative incidence of MACE was 11.0%, with 8 (2.7%) deaths, 7 (2.3%) myocardial infarctions, and 18 (6.0%) repeated lesion revascularization. MACEs in high SYNTAX score terciles were significantly higher compared with those in low and intermediate SYNTAX score terciles (P=0.001). Conclusions Although percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with 2‐stent technique for unprotected LM bifurcation lesions was accompanied with a slightly high incidence of ISR, the long‐term clinical follow‐up is acceptable. Technical modifications and stent innovations may further improve both the angiographic and clinical outcomes for patients with LM bifurcation disease treated by PCI.
Post‐transcriptional control of negative acute phase genes by transforming growth factor beta.

During the acute phase (AP) reaction the expression of a series of liver‐specific genes coding for secretory proteins is either stimulated or suppressed by different cytokines released by activated monocytes. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐beta) is a cytokine that, first identified for its ability to regulate cellular growth, has been gradually recognized to modulate several other functions. We have investigated the effect of TGF‐beta on the expression of acute phase genes in liver cells. We found that TGF‐beta selectively induces a specific decreases in the amount of mRNAs of genes negatively regulated during AP reaction, like albumin and apolipoprotein A‐I (ApoA‐I). The inhibitory effect of TGF‐beta on the expression of negative AP genes is primarily post‐transcriptional and it is very likely to be mediated via an enhancement of the turnover of both albumin and ApoA‐I mRNAs.
Synthesis, antielastase, antioxidant and radical scavenging activities of 4-(aza substituted) methylene substituted dihydroxy coumarines

A series of some 4-(aza substituted) methylene substituted dihydroxy coumarines were evaluated for their antioxidant and antielastase activities. Different in vitro methodologies such as total reducing power, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazil (DPPH·) free radical scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging activity were used as antioxidant activity. All the tested compounds exhibited potent free radical scavenging ability and antielastase activites.
Effects of global change factors on fatty acids and mycosporine‐like amino acid production in Chroothece richteriana (Rhodophyta)

Under natural conditions, Chroothece richteriana synthesizes a fairly high proportion of fatty acids. However, nothing is known about how environmental changes affect their production, or about the production of protective compounds, when colonies develop under full sunshine with high levels of UV radiation. In this study, wild colonies of C. richteriana were subjected to increasing temperature, conductivity, ammonium concentrations and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and UV radiations to assess the potential changes in lipid composition and mycosporine‐like amino acids (MAAs) concentration. The PERMANOVA analysis detected no differences for the whole fatty acid profile among treatments, but the percentages of α‐linolenic acid and total polyunsaturated fatty acids increased at the lowest assayed temperature. The percentages of linoleic and α‐linolenic acids increased with lowering temperature. γ‐linolenic and arachidonic acids decreased with increasing conductivity, and a high arachidonic acid concentration was related with increased conductivity. The samples exposed to UVB radiation showed higher percentages of eicosapentaenoic acid and total monounsaturated fatty acids, at the expense of saturated fatty acids. MAAs accumulation increased but not significantly at the lowest conductivity, and also with the highest PAR and UVR exposure, while ammonium and temperature had no effect. The observed changes are probably related with adaptations of both membrane fluidity to low temperature, and metabolism to protect cells against UV radiation damage. The results suggest the potential to change lipid composition and MAAs concentration in response to environmental stressful conditions due to climate change, and highlight the interest of the species in future research about the biotechnological production of both compound types.
Gastrointestinal , Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Pathology Enoxaparin Improves the Course of Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis in Syndecan-1-Deficient Mice

Syndecan-1 (Sdc1) plays a major role in wound healing and modulates inflammatory responses. Sdc1 expression is reduced in lesions of patients with ulcerative colitis. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Sdc1 in murine dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. DSS colitis was induced in Sdc1deficient (knockout (KO)) and wild-type mice by oral administration of 3% DSS. KO mice exhibited a significantly increased lethality as compared with wild-type controls (61 versus 5%, P < 0.05). Impaired mucosal healing and prolonged recruitment of inflammatory cells in KO mice were accompanied by significant up-regulation of tumor necrosis factor, CC chemokine ligand 3/macrophage inflammatory protein-1 , and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, as determined by histological correlation between 0 and 15 days after colitis induction, TaqMan low-density array analysis, and quantitative real-time PCR. Treatment from days 7 through 14 with enoxaparin, a functional analogue of the Sdc1 heparan sulfate chains, significantly reduced lethality of KO mice due to DSS-induced colitis, which was correlated with improved mucosal healing. In vitro , Sdc1-deficient polymorphonuclear cells displayed increased adhesion to endothelial cells and intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and enoxaparin reverted adhesion to wild-type levels. Small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of Sdc1 expression resulted in reduced basic fibroblast growth factor-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling and reduced Caco-2 cell proliferation. We conclude that Sdc1 has a protective effect during experimental colitis. The modification of missing Sdc1 function by heparin analogues may emerge as a promising anti-inflammatory approach. (Am J Pathol 2010, 176:146–157; DOI: 10.2353/ajpath.2010.080639)
Identification With the Aggressor and Inward and Outward Aggression in Abuse Survivors

Childhood abuse survivors may display both inward and outward aggression manifested in self-injurious behavior (SIB) and violent acts toward others. Scrutinizing the literature reveals that the relational dynamics between victims and their perpetrators might be involved in these phenomena. Yet, research on this subject matter has been sparse. Filling this gap, this study investigated the contribution of the singular bonds between victims and their perpetrators, known as identification with the aggressor, in explaining survivors’ aggression. The study was conducted among 306 Israeli college/university students who reported a history of childhood abuse. Results revealed that levels of adopting the perpetrator’s experience, identifying with the perpetrator’s aggression, and replacing one’s agency with that of the perpetrator were significantly associated with survivors’ inward and outward aggression. Moreover, profile type—that is, having high versus low levels of identification with the aggressor—was implicated in participants’ SIBs, urge to harm others, and violent acts toward others, above and beyond the effects of gender and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The present findings suggest that identification with the aggressor might make survivors prone to the re-enactment of past abusive dynamics, which, in turn, could eventuate in aggression toward themselves and others.
Measuring Perceived Service Quality Using SERVQUAL: A Case Study of the Uganda Health and Fitness Sector

Many service providers have emerged on the Ugandan market offering health and fitness services, this study therefore sought club customers’ perception about service delivery in the sector. Using the modified 26 item SERVQUAL questionnaire, data was collected from a randomly selected sample of 486 customers and 116 interviewees covering 58 purposively selected health-and-fitness centres countrywide. Customers to gymnasia, aerobics clubs and aqua-based activities where vulnerability is high were considered. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied for data manipulation. Major findings are that gaps exist in service delivery (Overall service perception µ= -1.73) and that the current management model in most clubs falls far short of international standards. A single authority for standardization is lacking for professionals’ certification and regulation. It is recommended that sport-specific Government of Uganda authorities must act promptly in a joint effort with federations, academia, and the leading international certifying organizations to directly oversee and/or set standards of practice to meet required quality levels and fitness industry needs.
A Distributed Method of Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) Based on Dual Decomposition for Interference-Limited Cellular Networks

In this paper we present a novel distributed Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) scheme for interference-limited heterogeneous cellular networks (HetNet). We reformulate our problem in such a way that it can be decomposed into a number of small sub-problems, which can be solved independently through an iterative subgradient method. The proposed dual decomposition method can also address problems with binary-valued variables. The proposed algorithm is compared with some reference schemes in terms of cell-edge and total cell throughput.
Rewriting Rules for the Dual Graph of a Stripified CLOD Mesh

A triangular mesh is the piecewise linear approximation of a sampled or analytical surface, when each patch is a triangle. The connectivity of the mesh can be easily represented using its dual graph. Each node of such a graph has at most three incident edges; if the surface is homeomorphic to a sphere, each node has exactly three incident edges. Several triangular meshes, representing the same surface, with an increasing number of triangles are a representation of the surface at difierent levels of detail (LOD). When the number of triangles from one LOD to another varies continuously we call such a structure a continuous level of detail (CLOD) approximation of the surface. Given a CLOD data structure we can extract, at each level, the mesh representing the surface and derive its dual graph. If we group the triangles forming each mesh in strips, to accelerate their rendering, we should use two colors for the dual graph’s edges to distinguish between the edges linking nodes belonging to the same strip or not. The main goal of this paper is to present a set of rules to recolor the dual graph of the mesh when passing from one LOD to the next and back. The operations used to change the mesh are a Vertex Split (VS) when the resolution increases, and an Edge Collapse (EC) when the resolution decreases. We can, then, use a local topological analysis to derive the rules allowing to recolor the graph, and to show that, under certain conditions, the recoloring is optimal. This allows to keep efiectively an optimal triangle strip structure over the mesh, while changing its resolution.
Asymmetric cascaded bridge converter for high voltage, high dynamics power supply: Small scale prototype test results

In this paper, a high voltage power supply based on an asymmetric multilevel cascaded bridge converter is presented. The required power supply shall be able to reach output voltages up to 30kV with rising and falling times shorter than 10 microseconds. Each module of the converter is supplied by an insulated dual bridge DC/DC converter allowing an independent DC-link voltage control with bidirectional capability. In order to validate the principle, a small scale prototype has been successfully built and tested.
Bioavailability of Clobetasol Propionate – Quantification of Drug Concentrationsin the Stratum Corneum by Dermatopharmacokinetics UsingTape Stripping

The concentration of clobetasol propionate in the stratum corneum after application of three different formulations was determined, quantifying the influence of the formulations on the bioavailability of the drug. The stratum corneum was sampled by tape stripping. The concentrations of clobetasol propionate were determined quantitatively by HPLC. After application of Clobetasol Propionate Cream USP, 0.05%, and Temovate Cream, 0.05%, identical amounts of the drug were found in the stratum corneum, whereas after application of Temovate ε Emollient, 0.05%, the quantity was clearly decreased. From results obtained measuring the drug concentration in the adjacent sites of the skin where the creams had not been applied, it became clear that clobetasol propionate in Temovate ε Emollient, migrated to a large extent in the lateral direction. This explains the lower concentration measured for this formulation in the skin areas where the cream had been applied. In general, a lateral distribution of the applied drug must be taken into account when positioning the application areas on the forearm.
A Modified Adaptive Fuzzy C-Means Clustering Algorithm For Brain MR Image Segmentation

Fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering has been widely used in image segmentation. However, in spite of its computational efficiency and wide spread popularity, the FCM algorithm does not take the spatial information of pixels into consideration, and hence may result in low robustness to noise and less accurate segmentation. In this paper, a modified adaptive fuzzy c-means clustering (AFCM) algorithm is presented for fuzzy segmentation of magnetic resonance (MR) images. To estimate the intensity inhomogeneity, the global intensity is introduced into the coherent local intensity clustering algorithm and takes the local and global intensity information into account. The proposed method has been successfully applied to recorded MR images with desirable results. Our results show that the proposed AFCM algorithm can effectively segment the test images and MR images. Comparisons with other FCM approaches based on number of iterations and time complexity demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm.
Attenuation of Oxidative Stress-Induced Osteoblast Apoptosis by Curcumin is Associated with Preservation of Mitochondrial Functions and Increased Akt-GSK3β Signaling

Background: Osteoblast apoptosis induced by oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the development and progression of osteoporosis. Curcumin, a natural antioxidant isolated from Curcuma longa, has highly protective effects against osteoporosis. However, the effects of curcumin on oxidative stress-induced osteoblast apoptosis remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the effect of curcumin on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induced osteoblast apoptosis and the underlying mechanisms. Methods: An osteoblastic cell line (Saos-2) was exposed to various concentrations of H2O2 with or without curcumin treatment. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assays. The apoptosis rate was analyzed by flow cytometry and TUNEL assays. Mitochondrial ROS and membrane potential were determined using a fluorescence microscope. Mitochondrial respiratory enzyme activity was measured using a spectrophotometer. Protein levels were detected by western blotting. Results: Curcumin was cytoprotective because it greatly improved the viability of Saos-2 cells exposed to H2O2 and attenuated H2O2-induced apoptosis. Curcumin treatment also preserved the mitochondrial redox potential, decreased the mitochondrial oxidative status, and improved the mitochondrial membrane potential and functions. Furthermore, curcumin treatment markedly increased levels of phosphorylated protein kinase B (Akt) and phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β). Conclusion: Curcumin administration ameliorates oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in osteoblasts by preserving mitochondrial functions and activation of Akt-GSK3β signaling. These data provide experimental evidence supporting the clinical use of curcumin for prevention or treatment of osteoporosis.