Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunological Properties of Anti Naja haje arabica (The Arabian Cobra) Snake Venom Antibodies Prepared in Chicken

Naja haje arabica (Arabian cobra) is the major cause of snake-bite mortality in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The treatments of the snake bite envenomation occur by anti-snake venom produced in horses previously immunized with a mixture of venom. Therefore, one of the main objectives of the current study is to produce anti Naja haje arabica immunoglobulin in high titer from the yolk of chickens by immunization of two groups of white leghorn chickens (24 weeks old) with 30 μg of Naja haje arabica emulsified in Freund’s Complete Adjuvant. Chickens has been immunized with booster doses of increasing concentrations of venom at two weeks’ time intervals to increase the antivenom titer in the egg yolk. The characteristic IgY band of 180 kDa was observed on SDS-PAGE of the final extracted product. The ELISA antibody values reached the plateau at 2nd weeks following 4th booster dose and remained significantly high up to the end of observation period. The measured antibody titers showed significant increase following the first, second, third booster doses. However, there were no differences between the third and the fourth booster doses. Western blot technique was used to evaluate the specificity of antivenom IgY antibodies. The LD50 of the Naja haje arabica venom has been found to be 0.4 mg kgG body weight of white Swiss mice and 100% protection against 40 LD50 of Naja haje arabica venom could be obtained by15 mg mLG anti Naja haje Arabica specific IgY. The neutralizing power of the anti Naja haje arabica venom IgY and the absence of pyrogen, bacterial and fungal contaminations or toxic products, encourage the use of egg yolk as a cheap source of anti-venom polyclonal antibodies.
The Spillover Effect of Audit Firm Office Acquisition on the Audit Quality of the Existing Client Base

This study investigates accounting firm office acquisitions. It explores whether office acquisitions affect post-acquisition office audit quality, particularly whether there is a spillover effect on the existing client base of the acquiring office. We capitalize on a unique circumstance: the 2002 acquisition of Arthur Andersen (Andersen) offices by other audit firms. This setting involves a set of offices in each of the remaining large international audit firms that acquired entire Andersen local practices and a set of offices that did not acquire Andersen practices. Using a within-audit firm matched sample and a difference-in-differences research design, we find robust evidence of higher audit quality post-acquisition among the audits of existing clients of the acquiring offices. These findings extend the literature on office audit quality and provide initial evidence of the impact of audit firm office acquisitions on the existing client base.
Improved centroid localization algorithm based on possible position set in wireless sensor network

To solve the problem that the localization accuracy of centroid algorithm depends heavily on the anchor density, an improved centroid algorithm based on possible position set is proposed. Firstly, the unknown node uses centroid algorithm to obtain a square region and then searches its possible position set in the square region. Finally, the centroid of all possible positions is the estimated coordinate of the unknown node. The introduction of possible position set fully utilizes the location information of anchors and reduces the localization error. Simulation results represent that our algorithm can provide higher localization accuracy than the centroid algorithm and the advanced centroid algorithm.
CFD approach to steady state analysis of an underwater glider

Underwater glider moves vertically by change in buoyancy and moves horizontally due to wings. In this paper, we validate the experimental lift and drag characteristics of a glider from the literature using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach. This approach is then used for the assessment of the steady state characteristics of a glider under development. Flow behavior and lift and drag force distribution at different angles of attack are studied for Reynolds numbers varying from 105 to 106. The state variables of the glider are the velocity, gliding angle and angle of attack which are simulated by making use of the hydrodynamic drag and lift coefficients obtained from CFD. The effect of net change in buoyancy is examined in terms of the gliding angle, glider velocity, angle of attack and glider saw-tooth trajectory.
Index of refraction of magnesium oxide

In 1935, shortly after moderate sized artificially grown crystals of magnesium oxide became available, two papers were published dealing with the optical properties of this material. 2 Strong and Brice measured the index of refraction of two prisms, cut from the same crystal, by photographic and visual means over the range from 2536 to 7065 A. Barnes, Brattain, and Seitz investigated the transmittance and reflectance of this material in the infrared region from approximately 1 to approximately 30 /x. They published a curve showing the index of refraction as calculated by means of the Fresnel reflection equations from the measured reflectance. Some time ago two small prisms of magnesium oxide crystals of excellent optical quality were sent to the National Bureau of Standards by Elias Burstein of the Naval Research Laboratory for measurements of the index of refraction and the thermal coefficients of the index of refraction. These prisms, although rather small, were of high optical quality and entirely adequate for precision measurements of index in the visible region of the spectrum. Because of the high sensitivity of the lead sulfide photoconducting cell in the region from about 0.3 to about 2.6 /z, it was found practicable to measure the index of refraction for several ultraviolet and infrared lines of the mercury and cadmium spectra with good accuracy. Beyond 2.6 ju it was possible, by using wide slits and a Golay pneumatic detector, to get data of fair accuracy at the wavelengths of several absorption bands of polystyrene and carbon dioxide. Due to the limitations of the apparatus, the range of the measurements was from 0.36117 \x (cadmium) to 5.35 fi (polystyrene). According to the results referred to in footnotes 1 and 2, magnesium oxide is usefully transparent from 0.2200 to 9 /x.
Schools of Qur'anic Exegesis: Genesis and Development

Introduction 1. Preamble to Qur'anic Exegesis 2. Exegesis and Hadith 3. The Politics of Exegesis 4. Dichotomy Between Tafsir and Ta'wil 5. Evolution of Exegesis 6. The Formative Schools of Exegesis 7. Linguistic and Stylistic Tools of Exegesis 8. Jurisprudential Tools of Exegesis 9. Concluding Remarks
An Evolutionarily Conserved Region in the Second lntron of the Human Nestin Gene Directs Gene Exmession to CNS Progenitor Cells and to Early Neural Ciest Cells

Central nervous system (CNS) progenitor cells transiently proliferate in the embryonic neural tube and give rise to neurons and glial cells. A characteristic feature of the CNS progenitor cells is expression of the intermediate filament nestin and it was previously shown that the rat nestin second intron functions as an enhancer, directing gene expression to CNS progenitor cells. In this report we characterize the nestin enhancer in further detail. Cloning and sequence analysis of the rat and human nestin second introns revealed local domains of high sequence similarity in the 3′ portion of the introns. Transgenic mice were generated with the most conserved 714 bp in the 3′ portion of the intron, or with the complete, 1852 bp, human second intron, coupled to the reporter gene lacZ. The two constructs gave a very similar nestin‐like expression pattern, indicating that the important control elements reside in the 714 bp element. Expression was observed starting in embryonic day (E)7.5 neural plate, and at E10.5 CNS progenitor cells throughout the neural tube expressed lacZ. At E12.5, lacZ expression was more restricted and confined to proliferating regions in the neural tube. An interesting difference, compared to the rat nestin second intron, was that the human intron at E10.5 mediated lacZ expression also in early migrating neural crest cells, which is a site of endogenous nestin expression. In conclusion, these data show that a relatively short, evolutionarily conserved region is sufficient to control gene expression in CNS progenitor cells, but that the same region differs between rodents and primates in its capacity to control expression in neural crest cells.
Does Managerial Power Increase Selective Hedging? Evidence from the Oil and Gas Industry

This study examines the managerial power-hypothesis of selective hedging, which holds that selective hedging is observed more frequently in companies where managers have greater latitude to execute hedging proposals without serious scrutiny or questioning. The hypothesis is tested using hand-collected data on corporate governance and derivative positions from the oil and gas industry. The results support the view that managerial power increases selective hedging. The main governance dimension associated with selective hedging is the extent of inside ownership. Firms with high inside ownership have excessive variability in their derivative portfolios, were more prone to opportunistic behavior following the great rise in the oil price in the mid-2000s, and have lower realized cash flow from hedging.
Remodeling of living human nasal cavity under the assistance of acoustic rhinometry technique

Acoustic rhinometry could numerically describe up- per airway condition of air draft by drawing a graph plotting the distance from the nostril vs. the cross-sectional area. Some decreases on the graph correspond to the typical anatomic structures of human nasal cavity. The 3-dimensional, computing fluid dynamic model of the same person was developed based on computed tomography scans. The veracity of the CFD model was valued by contrasting the relevant areas of stenosis site between the model and the AR graph. The aim in this study is to make clear how to use an AR to help improve and enrich the CFD model with the information of graph acquired from the measurement. The combination of AR and CT can be used to establish a living human nasal cavity model with higher significant information content.
Inversion Layer Transport and the Radiation Hardness of the Si-SiO2 Interface

A brief review is presented on low temperature transport in Si inversion layers when carriers are localized. The characteristics of transport in this regime are dependent on the post-oxidation annealing treatment received by the interface. The previously proposed model of compensating positive and negative interfacial charge pairs, in which the negative centres act as hole traps, is discussed. It is suggested that the cause of the radiation hardness of an interface is a reduced concentration of the pairs and the annealing treatments which achieve this are an exercise in interface engineering.
Urge urinary incontinence and the brain factor

To evaluate cognitive processing in elderly women with urge incontinence as compared to continent cohorts by measuring performance on neuropsychological tests of working memory, attention and inhibition. To measure speed of information processing, intensity of bladder filling sensation, and urine volume at a first desire (FDV) and strong desire to void (SDV), and level of attentional demands.
INVESTIGATING THE STOCHASTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OWNERSHIP AND FIRM FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: AN EVIDENCE FROM LISTED PSX (PAKISTAN STOCK EXCHANGE) SUGAR COMPANIES OF PAKISTAN

The objective of the study is to investigate the stochastic relationship between ownership and firm financial performance. To achieve an objective, the panel data for the period of 9 years have been collected of the top 10 sugar producing companies listed on Pakistan StockExchange (PSX). The data extracted from annual financial statements and reports of sugar companies. The total 90 observations have been taken to conduct this study after total panel observations adjusted. In addition, some companies have been excluded on the basis of non- availability of data in order to ensure sufficiency of data. Total seven variables have beenapplied in this study, four independent variable (i.e. Board Size, Board Independent Directors, Board Audit Committee, and Owners Equity) and three dependent variables (i.e. Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Earnings Per Share (EPS)). The study concluded and explained the significance of ownership with financial position and it showedthat the sugar Industry has good financial performance on the basis of results. In addition, corporate governance is considered as one of the extensively studied subject and helps inmitigating the divergence of interests among managers and investors. Board size shows negative association with return on assets as Board sizes decreases return on assets increases and vice versa. Furthermore, independent director & audit committee have positive relationwith the earning per share. Keywords: Board Size, Corporate governance, Financial Performance, Independent Directors
Throughput estimation for 2 × 2 MIMO system with single leaky feeder cable

The current paper deals with application of leaky feeder cables (LFCs) in linear-cells MIMO systems. We first revisit the method whereby we can map the measured channel data to throughput in an LTE system. Later we show that feeding an LFC from its both ends by two independent signals can potentially lead to a promising 2 × 2 MIMO system with a desirable throughput. Our results also interestingly demonstrate that feeding an LFC from both ends yields a constant average throughput all along the cable. However, the corresponding average throughput is dependent on the length of the cable and its longitudinal loss. For very long LFCs, the system may also convert to rank one system. We discuss about this case too.
A Kinect-based system for Arabic sign language to speech translation

Speech-based smart systems have come to play an increasingly diverse role in today's pervasive technology. Moreover, it is quite common to experience all kinds of innovations on daily basis, ranging from retina identifiers at banks to electronic fingerprints readers. Such proliferation presents an opportunity and a challenge to integrate speech and hearing-challenged individuals into society by designing sign language to speech translation systems. In this paper, we tackle the problem of Arabic Sign Language to Speech transformation. We make use of commercial off-the-shelf components to capture the Sign Language gestures. Graphical gestures were transformed into Arabic text, which in turn can be translated into any spoken language. Web services were used to generate the spoken sounds. The majority of this paper is dedicated to explaining hand and fingers identification. In addition, motion recognition is also detailed. The accuracy in identifying the implemented characters was shown to exceed 80%.
Dynamical dielectric function of 2DEG in HgTe-based quantum wells in RPA formalism

The Random-Phase Approximation (RPA) dielectric function for HgTe quantum well with the semimetal conductivity, which allows for real eight band kp approximation energy spectrum, was numerically modeled in this work. To obtain the Lindhard dielectric function dependence on scattering wave-vector and frequency, the simulations were provided for HgCdTe/HgTe/HgCdTe quantum well of 20 nm width with two n-type delta-doped layers in the barriers at the temperature T = 77 K. The obtained Lindhard dielectric function for the HgTe quantum well was compared with the graphene one.
Effect of vitamin B12 treatment on haptocorrin.

BACKGROUND Haptocorrin (HC) carries the major part of circulating cobalamin, but whether HC is altered on treatment with vitamin B12 remains unknown. METHODS Our study included 3 populations: a population of vegan men (n = 174; vegan population), of whom 63 were treated daily with 5 mg of oral vitamin B12 for 3 months; a group of patients with a previous methylmalonic acid (MMA) concentration >0.4 micromol/L (n = 140; population with suspected deficiency), of which 69 were treated with weekly vitamin B12 injections (1 mg) for 4 weeks; and a subgroup of participants in a vitamin B intervention study (n = 88; nondeficient population), of whom 45 were treated daily with 0.4 mg of oral vitamin B12 for 3 months. Total HC and holoHC were measured by ELISA. Cobalamin was measured by an intrinsic factor (IF)-based assay. Samples were collected at baseline and 3 months after start of treatment. RESULTS Compared with baseline results for the 3 study populations, total HC and holoHC increased 30 pmol/L for every 100 pmol/L increase in cobalamin. After treatment with vitamin B12, holoHC (P <0.0001) and total HC (P <0.0001) increased significantly in the vegan population. Only holoHC increased in the population with suspected deficiency (P <0.0001), whereas no alteration was observed in the nondeficient population. CONCLUSIONS The HC concentration is decreased in severely cobalamin-deficient individuals and increases on treatment. The concentration of cobalamin also relates significantly to the HC concentration in nondeficient individuals.
A novel keratocan mutation causing autosomal recessive cornea plana.

PURPOSE Mutations in keratocan (KERA), a small leucine-rich proteoglycan, have recently been shown to be responsible for cases of autosomal recessive cornea plana (CNA2). A consanguineous pedigree in which cornea plana cosegregated with microphthalmia was investigated by linkage analysis and direct sequencing. METHODS Linkage was sought to polymorphic microsatellite markers distributed around the CNA2 and microphthalmia loci (arCMIC, adCMIC, NNO1, and CHX10) using PCR and nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis before KERA was directly sequenced for mutations. RESULTS Positive lod scores were obtained with markers encompassing the CNA2 locus, the maximum two-point lod scores of 2.18 at recombination fraction theta = 0 was obtained with markers D12S95 and D12S327. Mutation screening of KERA revealed a novel single-nucleotide substitution at codon 215, which results in the substitution of lysine for threonine at the start of a highly conserved leucine-rich repeat motif. Structural modeling predicts that the motifs are stacked into an arched beta-sheet array and that the effect of the mutation is to alter the length and position of one of these motifs. CONCLUSIONS This report describes a novel mutation in KERA that alters a highly conserved motif and is predicted to affect the tertiary structure of the molecule. Normal corneal function is dependent on the regular spacing of collagen fibrils, and the predicted alteration of the tertiary structure of KERA is the probable mechanism of the cornea plana phenotype.
Polymorphic microsatellite markers in Euryale ferox Salisb. (Nymphaeaceae)

Eleven polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated and identified in the aquatic plant Euryale ferox Salisb. (Nymphaeaceae). This species, which belongs to basal Magnoliophyta, reproduces sexually. All of these 11 microsatellite markers yielded 25 alleles in a survey of a wild population of 34 individuals. Two or three alleles per locus were detected, with expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.056 to 0.634 and observed heterozygosity from 0.000 to 0.088. These simple sequence repeat markers will be useful for evaluating the genetic structure of the E. ferox population in the future.
Pharmacokinetics of Saquinavir, Atazanavir, and Ritonavir in a Twice-Daily Boosted Double-Protease Inhibitor Regimen

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of atazanavir (ATV), saquinavir (SQV), and ritonavir (RTV) in a boosted double-protease inhibitor (PI) therapy regimen without reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs). The study design was as follows. Patients with limited RTI options received a PI combination of 300/100 mg ATV/RTV once daily and 1,000 mg SQV twice daily (group 1; n = 49) without RTI comedication. The results were compared to the plasma concentrations of PIs of patients taking either 300 mg ATV/100 mg RTV once daily plus RTIs (group 2; n = 72) or patients taking 1,000 mg SQV/100 mg RTV plus RTIs (group 3; n = 90). The study methods were as follows. Patients were given a 12/24-h pharmacokinetic assessment at steady state. Drug concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The minimum and maximum concentrations (Cmin and Cmax), area under the concentration-time curve under steady-state conditions (AUCss), elimination half-life, time of maximum concentration and lag time were subject to statistical analysis. The results show that patients treated with ATV/SQV/RTV exhibited significantly high SQV concentrations and moderate enhancement of the AUCss of ATV in comparison to those of patients of the control groups: for SQV in groups 1 and 3, the geometric mean (GM) of the AUCss was 22,794 versus 15,759 ng·h/ml (GM ratio [GMR] = 1.45; P < 0.05), the GM of the Cmax was 3,257 versus 2,331 ng/ml (GMR = 1.40; P < 0.05), and the GM of the Cmin was 438 versus 437 ng/ml (GMR = 1.00); for ATV in groups 1 and 2, the GM of the AUCss was 39,154 versus 33,626 ng·h/ml (GMR = 1.16), the GM of the Cmax was 3,488 versus 2,924 ng/ml (GMR = 1.20), and the GM of the Cmin was 515 versus 428 ng/ml (GMR = 1.21). RTV levels were comparable for all groups. A subgroup analysis detected only marginal differences in ATV plasma exposure if combined with tenofovir-disoproxilfumarate and without it. We conclude that our pharmacokinetic results support the use of a boosted double-PI regimen of ATV/SQV/RTV as a treatment option for patients who need antiretroviral therapy without RTIs.
Leptin repletion restores depressed β‐adrenergic contractility in ob/ob mice independently of cardiac hypertrophy

Impaired leptin signalling in obesity is increasingly implicated in cardiovascular pathophysiology. To explore mechanisms for leptin activity in the heart, we hypothesized that physiological leptin signalling participates in maintaining cardiac β‐adrenergic regulation of excitation–contraction coupling. We studied 10‐week‐old (before development of cardiac hypertrophy) leptin‐deficient (ob/ob, n= 12) and C57Bl/6 (wild‐type (WT), n= 15) mice at baseline and after recombinant leptin infusion (0.3 mg kg−1 day−1 for 28 days, n= 6 in each group). Ob/ob‐isolated myocytes had attenuated sarcomere shortening and calcium transients ([Ca2+]i) versus WT (P < 0.01 for both) following stimulation of the β‐receptor (with isoproterenol (isoprenaline)) or at the post‐receptor level (with forskolin and dibutryl‐cAMP). In addition, sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ stores were depressed. Leptin replenishment in ob/ob mice restored each of these abnormalities towards normal without affecting gross (wall thickness) or microscopic (cell size) measures of cardiac architecture. Immunoblots revealed alterations of several proteins involved in excitation–contraction coupling in the ob/ob mice, including decreased abundance of Gsα‐52 kDa, as well as alterations in the expression of Ca2+ cycling proteins (increased SR Ca2+‐ATPase, and depressed phosphorylated phospholamban). In addition, protein kinase A (PKA) activity in ob/ob mice was depressed at baseline and correctable towards the activity found in WT with leptin repletion, a finding that could account for impaired β‐adrenergic responsiveness. Taken together, these data reveal a novel link between the leptin signalling pathway and normal cardiac function and suggest a mechanism by which leptin deficiency or resistance may lead to cardiac depression.