Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3-O-β-ᴅ-Galactopyranoside of Quercetin as an Active Principle from High Altitude Podophyllum hexandrum and Evaluation of its Radioprotective Properties

Abstract The aqueous-ethanolic extract (AEE) of high altitude Podophyllum hexandrum has earlier been reported to render a radioprotective effect against lethal gamma radiation in in vitro model. AEE has also been reported to possess metal chelating and DNA protecting properties. The present study was undertaken to isolate and characterize the bioactive principle present in AEE and investigate its role in radiation protection. A novel molecule was found to be present in AEE and was assigned as 3-O-β-ᴅ-galactoside of quercetin by acid hydrolysis, LC-MS, LC-APCI-MS/MS and 13C NMR spectra. Various biological activities were investigated at in vitro level. The antioxidant potential of AEE in lipid and aqueous phase was determined against numerous stresses. AEE was found to be significantly (p < 0.05) protective, i.e., against Fe2+ and Cu2+-induced linoleic acid degradation, respectively. Radiationinduced lipid oxidation studies revealed that AEE maximally works at a [lignan]/0.25 kGy ratio 400 (ratio of concentration of AEE divided by the radiation dose, i.e., 0.25 kGy) and no drug-induced lipid oxidation at all concentrations tested was found. In a time-dependent study, total antioxidant activity was maximally exhibited at 1 mg/ml. The site-specific and non-site-specific deoxyribose degradation assay exhibited a dose-dependant hydroxyl scavenging potential of AEE (0.05-500 μg/ml). The anti-lipid peroxidation ability of AEE against radiation (0.25 kGy)-induced lipid peroxidation was higher in case of neural tissue homogenate as compared to kidney homogenate [activity ratio: 0.039 (brain) < 0.24 (kidney)]. The protein protection study using bovine serum albumin was also done for two time intervals (2 h and 4 h) and significant (p < 0.05) protection was observed at 500 μg/ml (> 97%). This study implies that 3-O-β-ᴅ-galactoside present in AEE renders radioprotection by protecting lipids, proteins in renal and neural model system against supra-lethal (0.25 kGy) gamma radiation.
Evaluation of the malnutrition-inflammation score in kidney transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND Chronic protein-energy wasting, termed malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome, is frequent in patients with chronic kidney disease and is associated with anemia, morbidity, and mortality in patients on maintenance dialysis therapy. The Malnutrition-Inflammation Score (MIS) recently has been developed and validated in dialysis patients. STUDY DESIGN Observational cross-sectional study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS 993 prevalent kidney transplant recipients. PREDICTOR MIS computed from change in body weight, dietary intake, gastrointestinal symptoms, functional capacity, comorbid conditions, decreased fat store/Systemic Global Assessment, signs of muscle wasting/Systemic Global Assessment, body mass index, serum albumin level, and serum transferrin level. OUTCOMES Markers of inflammation and malnutrition, including serum C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor alpha, serum leptin, prealbumin, body mass index, and abdominal circumference. The relationship was modeled by using structural equation models. RESULTS Mean age was 51 +/- 13 years, 57% were men, and 21% had diabetes. Median time from transplant was 72 months. MIS significantly correlated with abdominal circumference (r = -0.144), serum C-reactive protein level (r = 0.094), serum interleukin 6 level (r = 0.231), and serum tumor necrosis factor alpha level (r = 0.102; P < 0.01 for all). A structural equation model with 2 latent variables (malnutrition and inflammation factor) showed good fit to the observed data. LIMITATIONS Single-center study, lack of information about vascular access, presence of nonfunctioning kidney transplant, relatively high refusal rate. CONCLUSIONS Our results confirm that MIS reflects both energy-protein wasting and inflammation in kidney transplant recipients. This simple instrument appears to be a useful tool to assess the presence of protein-energy wasting in this patient population.
Z-source inverter for vehicular applications

This paper proposes three applications of the Z-source inverter (ZSI) for automotive applications. The first application proposes the using of the bidirectional ZSI (BZSI) supplied by a battery to drive an induction motor (IM) for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications, by replacing the two stages conversion. The second application proposes the using of the BZSI in plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) applications for replacing the bidirectional battery charger, which composed of two stages conversion. By using the BSZI, the battery can be charged from the grid during night and can be discharged to the grid during peak power demand, which increase the grid stability. The third application proposes the using of the high-performance ZSI (HP-ZSI) for fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle (FCHEV) applications. Where the fuel cell (FC) stack and the supercapacitor (SC) module are directly connected in parallel with the HP-ZSI. The SC module is connected between the input diode D and the bidirectional switch S7 of the HP-ZSI. The SC module supplies the transient and instantaneous peak power demands and absorbs the deceleration and regenerative braking energy. The indirect field oriented control (IFOC) is used to control the speed of the IM during motoring and regenerative braking operation modes in the first and the third proposed applications. While, a proportional plus resonance (PR) controller is used to control the AC current during connecting the BZSI to the grid for battery charging/discharging mode in the second proposed application. MATLAB simulations results verify the validity of the three proposed applications and their control strategies.
The Influence of Internal Control Implementation and Managerial Performance on Financial Accountability Local Government in Indonesia

The purpose of this study to examine whether the financial accountability is affected by the internal control and managerial performance of local government in Indonesia. Usefulness of research as input for the government to improve internal control, managerial performance and financial accountability. Population in this study all local government unit of North Sulawesi province are 226 unit tool (SKPD). Number of samples 115 unit tool with respondents as many as 345 civil servants. Data collection using primary data. Method data testing conducted by validity and reliability. With structural equation model approach partial least square, confidence level 95% and ? = 0.05, the hypothesis was rejected H0. The conclusion is implementation of internal control influence on financial accountability. Managerial performance influence on financial accountability in local government in Indonesia
Dual skin testing with Mycobacterium avium sensitin and purified protein derivative to discriminate pulmonary disease due to M. avium complex from pulmonary disease due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Skin testing with Mycobacterium avium sensitin (MAS) RS 10/2 and purified protein derivative (PPD) was conducted on patients with pulmonary disease due to M. avium complex (MAC) or Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and no known immunodeficiency. Reactions > or = 5 mm to either MAS or PPD were present in 37 (84%) of 44 MAC patients and 28 (97%) of 29 MTB patients. MAC patients had a mean MAS reaction of 13.8 (+/-8.3) mm and a mean PPD reaction of 3.5 (+/-8.6) mm (P < .001). MTB patients had a mean MAS reaction of 17.9 (+/-9.4) mm and a mean PPD reaction of 22.9 (+/-11.4) mm (P < .001). MAS-dominant skin tests (MAS reaction > or = 5 mm larger than PPD reaction) were present in 32 (73%) of 44 MAC patients and 1 (3%) of 29 MTB patients. MAS-dominant skin tests had a specificity of 97% for discriminating MAC disease from MTB disease.
Obstacle avoidance for kinematically redundant manipulators using a dual neural network

One important issue in the motion planning and control of kinematically redundant manipulators is the obstacle avoidance. In this paper, a recurrent neural network is developed and applied for kinematic control of redundant manipulators with obstacle avoidance capability. An improved problem formulation is proposed in the sense that the collision-avoidance requirement is represented by dynamically-updated inequality constraints. In addition, physical constraints such as joint physical limits are also incorporated directly into the formulation. Based on the improved problem formulation, a dual neural network is developed for the online solution to collision-free inverse kinematics problem. The neural network is simulated for motion control of the PA10 robot arm in the presence of point and window-shaped obstacle.
Electrostatics at the oil–water interface, stability, and order in emulsions and colloids

Oil–water mixtures are ubiquitous in nature and are particularly important in biology and industry. Usually additives are used to prevent the liquid droplets from coalescing. Here, we show that stabilization can also be obtained from electrostatics, because of the well known remarkable properties of water. Preferential ion uptake leads to a tunable droplet charge and surprisingly stable, additive-free, water-in-oil emulsions that can crystallize. For particle-stabilized (“Pickering”) emulsions we find that even extremely hydrophobic, nonwetting particles can be strongly bound to (like-charged) oil–water interfaces because of image charge effects. These basic insights are important for emulsion production, encapsulation, and (self-)assembly, as we demonstrate by fabricating a diversity of structures in bulk, on surfaces, and in confined geometries.
A compact dual-mand metamaterial-based rat-race coupler for a MIMO system application

A compact dual-band rat-race coupler is proposed in this paper. By using composite right/left-handed (CRLH) transmission lines (TLs) and investigating all possible combinations of phase responses of the individual TLs in the coupler, a dual-band and miniaturized rat-race coupler was implemented. The dual-band rat-race coupler shows a 55% size reduction. This CRLH-based coupler is used as a mode-decoupling network in a dual-band front-end MIMO system, along with a planar antenna array, to split two orthogonal radiation modes from the connected array. A pair of compact dual-band antennas were built and closely spaced to demonstrate pattern diversity by in-phase or out-of-phase excitations from the coupler. Good experimental isolation of the system, −29 dB at 2.4 GHz and −34.2 dB at 5.2 GHz, is exhibited verifying the desired decoupling property. Furthermore, pattern diversity in MIMO communications was observed by two measured orthogonal radiation patterns.
Industrial-based object-oriented software quality measurement system and its importance

In new era of ICT world today, companies are competing to produce software which are claimed to be good and fulfill user's expectation. Thus we can see the tremendous growth of software industries in the last few years as the demand for software increased significantly. In Malaysia, the emergence of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) has seen dynamic growth of computer related companies. At the same time issues regarding software quality are being addressed by the users and practitioners in the industry. Companies allocate and spend huge amount of investment on software and expect a profitable return from it. The assurance of software quality affects both immediate profitable and long-term retention of customer goodwill. Currently users are left with uncertainties on the quality and whether the customer conforms to their requirements and expectations. Industrial-based software quality measurement system is the software that measures the quality of software that is used by the industry. The importance of having Industrial-based software quality measurement system is the quality of the industrial-based software can be identified and controlled. Therefore, the development of industrial-based object-oriented software quality measurement system is beneficial not only to users but also developers and stakeholders.
Transcriptome analysis in heart failure

Purpose of review Genome-wide analysis of RNA abundances (transcriptome analysis) offers great potential to identify biomarkers of disease and to gain insight into mechanisms underlying the development of heart failure. I will discuss key factors in generating and evaluating transcriptome data, and recent studies that have contributed to the understanding of cardiac disease in humans and animal models. Recent findings Thorough assessments of RNA-sequencing performance performed across multiple laboratories have demonstrated its primacy in measuring differential RNA abundances, due in part to its wide dynamic range and accuracy. In combination with network and pathway analysis tools, this enables greater understanding of heart failure mechanisms than previously possible, and renders possible current and future investigations into the role of RNA alternative splicing. Summary Current and future acquisition of accurate, unbiased, and comprehensive transcriptome data will continue to inform the understanding of heart failure, enabling hypothesis testing as well as hypothesis generation. Transcriptome data represent a vital bridge between genomic and epigenomic variation and proteomic output; progressive integration of data from these and other domains will fully realize the potential inherent in transcriptome analyses.
Depression in children and young people: identification and management in primary, community and secondary care (NICE guideline CG28)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline CG28 ‘Depression in children and young people: Identification and management in primary, community and secondary care’ was recently updated and was published in March 2015.1 This covers depression as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) in children (5–11 years) and young people (12–18 years). It provides specific recommendations on assessment and treatment stratified by severity and includes risk profiling, the role of specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the use of psychological and pharmacological interventions. Table 1 outlines some important definitions. View this table: Table 1 Important definitions The original NICE guideline CG28 was published in 2005. This revision includes updated recommendations for some interventions and for future research. See box 1 for a link to this guidance and further resources. Box 1 ### Resources ### Risk profiling A child/young person exposed to a single recent undesirable life event should be assessed for symptoms and risk factors for depression with a risk profile documented in their records. The assessment should ALWAYS consider possible child maltreatment (abuse may coexist with depression), self-harm or any suicidal thoughts and, in young people, directly address alcohol and drug use. Children and young people referred to CAMHS without a diagnosis of depression should be screened with a self-report questionnaire such as Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ). The MFQ can also be used as an adjunct to clinical judgement when monitoring response to treatment. ### Referral guidance Mild depression …
Directional-edge-based object tracking employing on-line learning and regeneration of multiple candidate locations

An object tracking algorithm employing on-line learning and regeneration of multiple candidate locations has been developed. By introducing a directional-edge-based feature representation of images, being inspired by the biological principle, the system is robust against illumination variation. In order to further enhance the performance, an on-line learning technique and a statistical multiple candidate locations approach have been developed. As a result, the system is also robust against object size variation, partial occlusion, and object deformation. The performance of this algorithm has been verified by experiments performed under varying disturbing circumstances.
Simultaneous localization and map building using constrained state estimate algorithm

Intelligent vehicles and autonomous robots are viable in complex environments, the reliable and robust localization function of which is necessary. Due to the large variability and uncertainty of complex environments, it is difficult to rely on a specific method or a set of sensor data to correctly and robustly estimate the robot pose. The key to solving the localization problem is to optimally use and fuse all useful sources of information available to the mobile platform. It is common to have approximate digital maps of the road network. A framework for simultaneous localization and map building (SLAM) problems using road constrained Kalman filter algorithms is developed, with the emphasis on vehicle applications in large environments. It presents the problems of outdoor navigation in areas with combination of features and on road regions. Road aided SLAM algorithms, which incorporate absolute information in a consistent manner, are presented. Kalman filters are commonly used to estimate the states of a mobile vehicle. However, in the application of Kalman filters, the known model or signal information often are either ignored or dealt with heuristically. For instance, constraints on state values which may be based on physical considerations are often neglected because they do not fit easily into the structure of the Kalman filter. This paper develops a rigorous analytic method of incorporating state equality constraints in the Kalman filter. The constraints may be time-varying, but it significantly improves the prediction accuracy of the filter. The SLAM implementation uses the road constrained Kalman filter algorithm to maintain the error of vehicle's location and mapping. Finally, the use of this algorithm is demonstrated on a simple vehicle tracking problem.
Measuring Real Activity Management

Much recent research focuses on earnings management via managers' manipulation of real activities (real earnings management, REM). While tests of abnormal REM hinge critically on the measurement of normal real activities, there is no systematic evidence on the properties of commonly used REM measures. We provide such evidence by documenting which REM measures lead to well-specified hypotheses tests. We find that the REM measures used to date in the literature, as well as those we develop to capture variation in expected real activities due to characteristics of firms’ investment opportunity sets, or to control for non-linearity in the relation between performance and expected real activities, are severely mis-specified in that their Type I error rates differ significantly from nominal significance levels. While performance-matched REM measures are not well specified in each and every setting (no REM measure is), the weight of the evidence suggests that, across a wide variety of research settings such as those encountered in accounting, performance-matched REM measures will provide better-specified tests than other REM measures. Such evidence highlights the importance of using performance-matched REM measures, when testing hypotheses related to managers’ incentives to manipulate real activities, to ensure that reliable inferences are drawn.
Approximate Entropy in the Electroencephalogram during Wake and Sleep

Entropy measurement can discriminate among complex systems, including deterministic, stochastic and composite systems. We evaluated the changes of approximate entropy (ApEn) in signals of the electroencephalogram (EEG) during sleep. EEG signals were recorded from eight healthy volunteers during nightly sleep. We estimated the values of ApEn in EEG signals in each sleep stage. The ApEn values for EEG signals (mean ± SD) were 0.896 ± 0.264 during eyes-closed waking state, 0.738 ± 0.089 during Stage I, 0.615 ± 0.107 during Stage II, 0.487 ± 0.101 during Stage III, 0.397 ± 0.078 during Stage IV and 0.789 ± 0.182 during REM sleep. The ApEn values were found to differ with statistical significance among the six different stages of consciousness (ANOVA, p<0.001). ApEn of EEG was statistically significantly lower during Stage IV and higher during wake and REM sleep. We conclude that ApEn measurement can be useful to estimate sleep stages and the complexity in brain activity.
Unidimensional nonnegative scaling for genome-wide Linkage Disequilibrium maps

The main aim of this paper is to propose and develop a unidimensional nonnegative scaling model to construct Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) maps. The proposed constrained scaling model can be efficiently solved by transforming it to an unconstrained model. The method is implemented in PC Clusters at Hong Kong Baptist University. The LD maps are constructed for four populations from Hapmap data sets with chromosomes of several ten thousand Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). The similarities and dissimilarities of the LD maps are studied and analysed. Computational results are also reported to show the effectiveness of the method using parallel computation.
Examining the relationship between intercultural engagement and undergraduate students’ global perspective

This study examines the relationship between intercultural engagement and undergraduate students’ global perspective. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, six global perspective outcomes were regressed on an intercultural engagement scale and its component parts, controlling for student background characteristics and other forms of on- and off-campus engagement. Additionally, conditional effects models were employed to examine the intercultural engagement scale across separate ethnoracial and international student groups. Results demonstrate highly significant relationships between the intercultural engagement scale and five of the global perspective outcomes with relatively consistent effects across each of the components of the intercultural engagement scale. More distinct patterns were uncovered when examining specific ethnoracial and international student groups. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings for educators and practitioners interested in developing intercultural opportunities that foster holistic student development.
The Glycoprotein gp48 of Murine Cytomegalovirus

Degradation of misfolded or unassembled proteins that are co-translationally inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum involves the cytosolic proteasome system. Different principles may exist for the export of proteins into the cytosol for proteasomal degradation. Here we studied the degradation pathway of the viral glycoprotein gp48, a type I transmembrane protein, encoded by them06 gene of murine cytomegalovirus. In cells stably transfected with the cytomegalovirus m06 gene or infected with the virus itself, two populations of gp48 can be distinguished that have different fates. Complexes of gp48 and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecule, are transported to the lysosome for degradation. Unassembled gp48 is degraded by the cytosolic proteasome. Proteasomal inhibitors stabilize the unassembled gp48 in its core-glycosylated and membrane-associated form in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi intermediate compartment. This implicates that both endoplasmic reticulum and ER-Golgi intermediate compartment export gp48 and that degradation is coupled to a functional proteasome. Analysis of gp48 mutants revealed that the cytosolic part of gp48 was not responsible for the proteasome-dependent substrate transport out of the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment. Thus an indirect interaction between the proteasome and its substrate has to be discussed.