Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk prevention of land flood: A cooperative game theory approach.

Protection against flood risks becomes increasingly difficult for economic and hydrological reasons. Therefore, it is necessary to improve water retention throughout catchment with a more comprehensive approach. Strategies in the land use and measures that are designed to prevent flood risks involve land owners. So, justice issues appear. This paper studies the application of game theory through a cooperative game in order to contribute the resolution of possible agreements among owners and to establish cost / benefit criteria. It is a methodological contribution where land use management for flood retention is analyzed. Specifically, we concentrate on enhancing upstream water retention focusing on the role that forests have as natural water retention measures. This study shows a framework for allocating the compensations among participants based on cooperative game theory and taking into account a principle of stability. We show that it is possible to establish distribution rules that encourage stable payments among land owners. This contribution shows the suitability of this method as a flood risk management tool and as a guide to help decision-making. Compensations and benefits could be established to raise awareness and encourage land owners to cooperate.
The Mitochondrial Citrate/Isocitrate Carrier Plays a Regulatory Role in Glucose-stimulated Insulin Secretion*

Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) is mediated in part by glucose metabolism-driven increases in ATP/ADP ratio, but by-products of mitochondrial glucose metabolism also play an important role. Here we investigate the role of the mitochondrial citrate/isocitrate carrier (CIC) in regulation of GSIS. Inhibition of CIC activity in INS-1-derived 832/13 cells or primary rat islets by the substrate analogue 1,2,3-benzenetricarboxylate (BTC) resulted in potent inhibition of GSIS, involving both first and second phase secretion. A recombinant adenovirus containing a CIC-specific siRNA (Ad-siCIC) dose-dependently reduced CIC expression in 832/13 cells and caused parallel inhibitory effects on citrate accumulation in the cytosol. Ad-siCIC treatment did not affect glucose utilization, glucose oxidation, or ATP/ADP ratio but did inhibit glucose incorporation into fatty acids and glucose-induced increases in NADPH/NADP+ ratio relative to cells treated with a control siRNA virus (Ad-siControl). Ad-siCIC also inhibited GSIS in 832/13 cells, whereas overexpression of CIC enhanced GSIS and raised cytosolic citrate levels. In normal rat islets, Ad-siCIC treatment also suppressed CIC mRNA levels and inhibited GSIS. We conclude that export of citrate and/or isocitrate from the mitochondria to the cytosol is an important step in control of GSIS.
EARNINGS VOLATILITY AND MARKET VALUE OF COMPANIES LISTED AT THE NAIROBI SECURITIES EXCHANGE MARKET

The objective of the study was to establish the effect of earnings volatility on market value of listed firms at the Nairobi securities exchange market. This research adopted a cross-sectional correlation design. The population of this study composed of all companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The study focused on thirty (30) companies that were consistently listed with all the data available in the NSE handbook between the years ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2015. This research used secondary data from published audited financial statement of the various companies and the NSE hand book. The data analysis then involved correlation analysis using a multiple linear regression model. From the findings, the study concluded that earnings volatility have positive effect on the market value of listed firms. It was also established that payout ratio have positive effect on the market value of firms. Based on the findings that earnings volatility and payout ratio have a positive effect on the value of listed firms, management of such firms should put in place mechanisms to deal with such variables to help create a positive signal to the stakeholders. Key Words: Earnings Volatility, Market Value, Profitability CITATION: Gworo, C. O. (2019) Earnings volatility and market value of companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange market. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 6(1), 17 – 26
The influence of uropathogenic Escherichia coli and proinflammatory cytokines on the inducible nitric oxide synthase response in human kidney epithelial cells.

PURPOSE Nitric oxide (NO) is an antibacterial factor that is produced by the enzyme inducible NO synthase (iNOS). Uroepithelial cells express iNOS in experimental models of urinary tract infection but the stimulatory and regulatory mechanisms are still unclear. We investigated the influence of uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains with different fimbrial expression and the effect of proinflammatory cytokines on the host iNOS response. MATERIALS AND METHODS A498 human kidney epithelial cells were stimulated with different uropathogenic E. coli strains, namely the P and type 1-fimbriated clinical isolate AD110, the recombinant P-fimbriated strain E. coli HB101(pPIL110-75) and the recombinant type 1-fimbriated strain E. coli AAEC191A(pPKL4). NO production was determined as nitrite production in cell culture medium. Studies of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) binding to the iNOS promoter and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction of iNOS mRNA were performed to investigate iNOS gene activation in response to uropathogenic E. coli. The effect of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and transforming growth factor-beta on NO production was also examined. RESULTS E. coli per se failed to induce NO production and iNOS mRNA in A498 cells. However, in combination with interferon-gamma AD110 and the type 1-fimbriated strain caused a small increase in NO production and iNOS mRNA. AD110 stimulated A498 cells demonstrated weak binding of NF-kappaB to a human iNOS promoter sequence. IL-6, IL-8 and transforming growth factor-a did not affect NO production in A498 cells. CONCLUSIONS Uropathogenic bacteria are weak inducers of human uroepithelial iNOS, which may be related to insufficient binding of NF-kappaB to iNOS promoter. The uroepithelial iNOS response did not appear to be regulated by proinflammatory cytokines.
Relationship between the metabolic syndrome and physical activity energy expenditure: a MONET study.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the association between the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) in overweight and obese sedentary postmenopausal women. The study population consisted of 137 overweight and obese sedentary postmenopausal women (age, 57.7 +/- 4.8 years; BMI, 32.4 +/- 4.6 kg.m(-2)). Subjects had the MetS if 3 out of the following 5 criteria were met: visceral fat > 130 cm2, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol < 1.29 mmol.L(-1), fasting triglycerides > or = 1.7 mmol.L(-1), blood pressure > or = 130/85 mmHg, and fasting glucose > or =5.6 mmol.L(-1). We measured (i) body composition (by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry); (ii) visceral fat (by computed tomography); (iii) insulin sensitivity (using the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp); (iv) plasma lipids, fasting glucose, and insulin, as well as 2 h glucose during an oral glucose tolerance test; (v) resting blood pressure; (vi) peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak); (vii) PAEE (using doubly labeled water); and (viii) lower-body muscle strength (using weight-training equipment). Forty-two women (30.7%) had the MetS in our cohort. Individuals without the MetS had significantly higher levels of PAEE (962 +/- 296 vs. 837 +/- 271 kcal.d(-1); p < 0.05), VO2 peak (18.2 +/- 3.0 vs. 16.7 +/- 3.2 mL.min(-1). kg(-1); p < 0.05), and insulin sensitivity, as well as significantly lower levels of 2 h glucose and central lean body mass. No differences in total energy expenditure, resting metabolic rate, and muscle strength between groups were observed. Logistic regression analysis showed that 2 h glucose (odds ratio (OR): 1.50 (95% CI 1.17-1.92)), central lean body mass (OR: 1.17 (95% CI 1.05-1.31)), and PAEE (OR: 0.998 (95% CI 0.997-1.000)), but not VO2 peak and (or) muscle strength, were independent predictors of the MetS. Lower levels of PAEE and higher levels of 2 h glucose, as well as central lean body mass, are independent determinants of the MetS in our cohort of overweight and obese postmenopausal women.
A simple measuring device for laboratory indentation tests on cartilage / Eine einfache Prüfvorrichtung für Indentationsversuche am Knorpel

Abstract Mechanical testing of articular cartilage and repair tissue enables judgment of their capacity in withstanding mechanical loading. In the past, different methods have been developed requiring a complex technical setup and extensive data analysis. Therefore, the aim of the present project was to build up a simple measuring apparatus for laboratory indentation tests. The device consists of an incremental optical displacement transducer with a sleeve bearing guided plunger and a spherical tip made of polished steel (radius: 0.75 or 1.5 mm), a sensitive load cell and a stiff frame. The indentation force results from the plunger's gravity plus the force of the spring inside the displacement transducer and levels at 0.170 N or 0.765 N. The displacement transducer is fixed to the frame via the load cell that enables one to detect the initial contact of the tip with the tissue. The load cell has a standard uncertainty of 2 mN and the displacement transducer of 1 μm. From indentation-creep tests, a “0.25-s elastic modulus” is calculated. Measurements on thin rubber sheets were carried out to determine the quality of the measuring device. Compression tests on cylinders made of these rubber sheets yielded control data, and a good agreement with the “0.25-s elastic modulus” was found. Indentation tests on cartilage at different sites of sheep femoral condyles yielded a very good repeatability of the measurement results (±7.5%). Zusammenfassung Die Fähigkeit von Knorpel und Knorpelersatzgewebe, mechanische Lasten aufzunehmen und zu übertragen, kann in mechanischen Tests ermittelt werden. Dazu sind in der Vergangenheit verschiedene Methoden entwickelt worden, die zum Teil einen erheblichen technischen Aufwand und eine aufwendige Datenanalyse erfordern. Daher war unser Ziel, einen einfachen Versuchsaufbau für Labor-Indentationsversuche zu entwickeln. Die Vorrichtung besteht aus einem inkrementalen optischen Wegtaster mit einem gleitgelagerten Messbolzen und einer kugeligen Tastspitze aus poliertem Stahl (Radius: 0,75 bzw. 1,5 mm), einem empfindlichen Kraftsensor und einem steifen Prüfrahmen. Die Indentationskraft ergibt sich aus der Massenkraft des Messbolzens und der Kraft der Feder im Innern des Wegtasters und beträgt 0,170 N bzw. 0,765 N. Der Wegtaster ist mittels des Kraftsensors am Prüfrahmen befestigt, so dass der Initialkontakt der Tastspitze mit dem zu testenden Gewebe erkannt wird. Die Genauigkeit des Wegtasters beträgt 1 μm, die der Kraftmessung 2 mN. Aus Indentations-Kriechversuchen wird ein “0,25-s-E-Modul” bestimmt. An dünnen Gummifolien wurde die Güte der Messvorrichtung überprüft. In Kompressionsversuchen mit Gummizylindern aus diesen Folien wurden die Vergleichsdaten ermittelt, und es ergab sich eine gute Übereinstimmung mit dem “0,25-s-E-Modul”. Messungen am Knorpel an verschiedenen Lokalisationen im Schafskniegelenk zeigten eine sehr gute Wiederholbarkeit der Messergebnisse (±7,5%).
Analyzing the US Genetically-Modified Soybean Consumption: Its Implication in Indonesia

Agricultural production problem causes the rising of GM food development. Indonesia, as a country with the significant amount of soybean consumption, mostly imported from the US to meet the needs of soybean consumption. As the factors that may affect the consumption, GDP, education index, and food security become the variables in this study. This paper examines the association between education, income, food security, and genetically-modified soybean consumption. Using secondary data of US from 2006-2015, the result shows a direct association between food security and GM soybean consumption. However, education and income tend not to have a significant relationship. From the results, this paper discusses the factors that associate with GM soybean consumption and its implication in Indonesia.
Genetic analysis of patients with defects in early B‐cell development

Summary: Approximately 85% of patients with defects in early B‐cell development have X‐linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA), a disorder caused by mutations in the cytoplasmic Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk). Although Btk is activated by cross‐linking of a variety of cell‐surface receptors, the most critical signal transduction pathway is the one initiated by the pre‐B cell and B‐cell antigen receptor complex. Mutations in Btk are highly diverse, and no single mutation accounts for more than 3% of patients. Although there is no strong genotype/phenotype correlation in XLA, the specific mutation in Btk is one of the factors that influences the severity of disease. Mutations in the components of the pre‐B cell and B‐cell antigen receptor complex account for an additional 5–7% of patients with defects in early B‐cell development. Patients with defects in these proteins are clinically indistinguishable from those with XLA. However, they tend to be younger at the time of diagnosis, and whereas most patients with XLA have a small number of B cells in the peripheral circulation, these cells are not found in patients with defects in µ heavy chain or Igα. Polymorphic variants in the components of the pre‐B cell and B‐cell receptor complex, particularly µ heavy chain and λ5, may contribute to the severity of XLA.
Fast Water Desalination at Complete Salt Rejection by Pristine Graphyne Monolayers

Desalination that produces clean freshwater from seawater holds the promise to solve the global water shortage for drinking, agriculture and industry. However, conventional desalination technologies such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation involve large amounts of energy consumption, and the semipermeable membranes widely used in reverse osmosis face the challenge to provide a high throughput at high salt rejection. Here we find by comprehensive molecular dynamics simulations and first principles modeling that, pristine graphyne, one of the graphene like one-atom-thick carbon allotropes, can achieve 100% rejection of nearly all ions in seawater including Na, Cl, Mg, K and Ca, at an exceptionally high water permeability about two orders of magnitude higher than those for commercial state-of-the-art reverse osmosis membranes at a salt rejection of ~98.5%. This complete ion rejection by graphyne, independent of the salt concentration and the operating pressure, is revealed to be originated from the significantly higher energy barriers for ions than that for water. This intrinsic specialty of graphyne should provide a new possibility for the efforts to alleviate the global shortage of freshwater and other environmental problems.
Millennials' Purchase Intention Towards Online Travel Agent in Indonesia

This study investigates the factors that impact Indonesian millennials when purchasing airline tickets through the Online Travel Agent. Millennials’ purchase intention is the focus of this study because millennial is half of Indonesia’s financially strong population and is tech-savvy. Thus this generation is very likely to shop online. Four factors proposed in this study, namely ease of payment, trust, benefits of online shopping, and information quality, were hypothesized to affect millennial's purchasing decision. Data is gathered from millennials who have bought airline tickets online. The questionnaire is spread online, and data from 94 valid respondents is collected. To test the hypotheses, the data is analyzed with Multiple Linear Regression using SPSS. The adjusted r-square result is 0.483, which means that 48.3% of the variability of the dependent variable is explained by the four independent variables. While the t-test result suggests that, out of the four factors previously found to affect purchase intention in general, only three affect millennials’ purchase intention, namely ease of payment, trust, and benefits of online shopping. Information quality is found to have an insignificant effect towards millennials’ purchase intention.
Tracking Multiple Moving Vehicles in Low Frame Rate Videos Based on Trajectory Information

In this paper, we present a method to track moving vehicles in low frame rate videos which are common in embedded traffic surveillance systems. In general, an embedded surveillance system has limited memory and computing resources, and thus the frame rate of video dramatically decreases. Hence, the features of moving vehicles such as shapes and sizes vary dramatically which is difficult to be handled using appearance and/or feature based conventional methods. In the proposed model, the probability distribution of a tracking vehicle in the next frame is predicted based on a hypothesis which is constructed by trajectory identification model using manifold learning. By the projecting on the low dimensional manifold, the probabilistic similarity between the observed and the predicted probability distributions of the tracking vehicles is measured. The probabilistic distribution with maximum similarity among several candidate hypotheses in the trajectory identification models is considered to include spatial information to track a moving vehicle. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method in tracking moving vehicles, even when the shapes, positions and sizes change rapidly.
The Influence of Librarians’ Opportunity Recognition in Demonstrating Innovative Behavior in Malaysia Higher Education Sector

Academic librarians should demonstrate their entrepreneurial competencies toward innovative behavior in order to support their parent universities’ work and nation development as required by the government. This paper identifies recognizing opportunity and the outcomes measured as innovative behavior practiced in academic libraries. By using a literature review, purposive sampling, multiple case studies and interviews it was discovered that the most relevant antecedents of recognizing opportunities for this study are prior knowledge and experience, selfawareness and social network. These antecedents influence academic librarians’ innovative behavior which was evaluated based on idea generation, idea championing and idea application. This paper explores recognizing opportunity and innovative behavior in Malaysian higher education sector. 
Genetic Polymorphisms in Base-Excision Repair Pathway Genes and Risk of Breast Cancer

Impaired base-excision repair (BER) function can give rise to the accumulation of DNA damage and initiation of cancer. We evaluated whether genetic variation in six BER pathway genes (XRCC1, ADPRT, APEX1, OGG1, LIG3, and MUTYH) is associated with breast cancer risk in two large population-based case-control studies in the United States (3,368 cases and 2,880 controls) and Poland (1,995 cases and 2,296 controls). A detailed evaluation was first done in a subset of 1,898 cases and 1,514 controls with mouthwash DNA samples in the U.S. study. Significant findings were followed up in the remainder of the U.S. study population that provided cytobrush DNA samples and in the Polish study. Using data from U.S. study participants with mouthwash DNA, we found no significant overall association between breast cancer risk and XRCC1 R280H and R194W, ADPRT V726W, APEX1 D148E, OGG1 S326C, LIG3 R780H, or MUTYH 5′ untranslated region. These data suggested a decreased risk for XRCC1Q399R homozygous variants compared with homozygous wild-type in premenopausal women, but these findings were not confirmed when data from cytobrush DNA samples were added [combined odds ratio (OR), 0.8; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.6-1.1] or in the Polish study (OR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.7-1.5). Meta-analyses based on our data and published data from studies of two single nucleotide polymorphisms in XRCC1 showed no evidence of an overall association between breast cancer risk and homozygous variants versus wild-type for Q399R (OR, 1.1; 95% CI, 1.0-1.2) or R194W (OR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.7-1.8), although there was a suggestion for an association in Asian populations for Q399R (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.4; P = 0.02). In conclusion, our results do not support that the polymorphisms evaluated in six BER pathway genes play a major role in breast carcinogenesis, particularly in Caucasian populations. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(2):353–8)
Elimination of transverse coherences in FLASH MRI

Fast low‐angle shot (FLASH) imaging enables TI‐weighted scans to be acquired in a few seconds. However, the diagnostic image quality is severely compromised by the appearance of artifactual bands parallel to the frequency encode direction. We show that the band structure arises from differences in the ability of the phase encode gradient to spoil transverse coherences that build up between successive repetition intervals. A theoretical understanding of the mechanisms involved leads to a comparison between various methods of spoiling the unwanted echoes throughout the whole field of view. Spoiler gradients whose amplitudes change linearly with phase encode step number are treated in detail. The theory predicts that the spoilers will rotate and rescale the band structure and these results are confirmed experimentally. The effect of the spoilers at a given location along the gradient is equivalent to the effect on the entire field of view of an incremented phase shift applied to the radiofrequency pulse. An appropriate rf phase shift scheme should therefore provide ideal spoiling characteristics for FLASH imaging. © 1988 Academic Press, Inc.
Boost-zeta high step-up PV module integrated converter

This paper proposes a novel single-switch DC/DC converter for the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) System to implement the Distributed Renewable Energy Resources (DRER). The DRER is responsible for the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) of the PV module and also the charging method of battery pack. Experimental and Simulation results are presented for the purpose of operating the converter and also the operation of the system.
The Crc/CrcZ-CrcY global regulatory system helps the integration of gluconeogenic and glycolytic metabolism in Pseudomonas putida.

In metabolically versatile bacteria, carbon catabolite repression (CCR) facilitates the preferential assimilation of the most efficient carbon sources, improving growth rates and fitness. In Pseudomonas putida, the Crc and Hfq proteins and the CrcZ and CrcY small RNAs, which are believed to antagonize Crc/Hfq, are key players in CCR. Unlike that seen in other bacterial species, succinate and glucose elicit weak CCR in this bacterium. In the present work, metabolic, transcriptomic and constraint-based metabolic flux analyses were combined to clarify whether P. putida prefers succinate or glucose, and to identify the role of the Crc protein in the metabolism of these compounds. When provided simultaneously, succinate was consumed faster than glucose, although both compounds were metabolized. CrcZ and CrcY levels were lower when both substrates were present than when only one was provided, suggesting a role for Crc in coordinating metabolism of these compounds. Flux distribution analysis suggested that, when both substrates are present, Crc works to organize a metabolism in which carbon compounds flow in opposite directions: from glucose to pyruvate, and from succinate to pyruvate. Thus, our results support that Crc not only favours the assimilation of preferred compounds, but balances carbon fluxes, optimizing metabolism and growth.