Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of human follicular fluid and high-density lipoproteins on early spermatozoa hyperactivation and cholesterol efflux

The preovulatory human follicular fluid contains only HDLs as a lipoprotein class with a typically high proportion of preβ HDL. We first examined the role of follicular fluid and HDL subfractions on human spermatozoa capacitation, a process characterized by a hyperactivation of the flagellar movement and a depletion of plasma membrane cholesterol. Whole follicular fluid and isolated HDL, used at constant free cholesterol concentration, were both able to promote an early flagellar hyperactivation. Moreover, incubation of [3H]cholesterol-labeled spermatozoa with follicular fluid induced a rapid cholesterol efflux from spermatozoa that was confirmed by mass measurements of cholesterol transfer. Using isolated HDL, the cholesterol efflux had a similar time course and represented 70% of that mediated by whole follicular fluid. We then analyzed the time course of radioactive labeling of HDL subfractions. In the first minute of incubation, we found that the preβ HDL fraction incorporated the main part of the radioactivity (60%), with the rest being found in α-HDL, but strikingly, the labeling of α-HDL increased with time at the expense of preβ HDL.Thus, our results indicate that HDLs are involved in both spermatozoa hyperactivation and cholesterol effl ux and suggest the role of preβ-HDL particles as fi rst cellular cholesterol acceptors.
Active Power Filter Control Algorithm using Wavelets

This paper presents a wavelet transform (WT) based technique to extract fundamental frequency component from a nonsinusoidal and unbalanced load current in a three phase system. The fundamental frequency component is extracted using multiresolution analysis (MRA). The remaining harmonics can be used by the active filter for compensation. Simulation result obtained for a rectifier load current shows the usefulness of the proposed method.
Sensitivity of Respiratory Virus Culture When Screening with R-Mix Fresh Cells

ABSTRACT Use of R-Mix Fresh Cells has been shown to be a rapid and sensitive method for the detection and identification of respiratory viruses. We prospectively evaluated the impact of incorporation of R-Mix shell vials on the sensitivity and time to detection of seven respiratory viruses recovered in a comprehensive culture during the course of an entire respiratory season in a high-volume clinical laboratory. In this study, R-Mix shell vials were used as part of the culture of 3,803 respiratory specimens. A total of 428 respiratory viruses were recovered. Staining of R-Mix vials after overnight incubation allowed initial detection of 274 of 279 influenza viruses, 33 of 38 parainfluenza viruses, 35 of 51 adenoviruses, and 52 of 60 respiratory syncytial viruses (RSVs). The time to reporting of all positive cultures after in-lab specimen receipt was 2.9 days on average and those initially detected in R-Mix cells were reported in 2.3 days on average. A combination of direct fluorescent-antibody (DFA) staining and virus culture was performed on a subset of 711 respiratory specimens. Of 152 viruses identified, 57 were observed only with DFA testing (55 RSV and 2 influenza A viruses) and 31 were recovered only in cell culture. After overnight incubation, R-Mix cells detected 87.1% of respiratory viruses not observed by DFA testing and 96.9% of viruses positive by both methods. The sensitivities of DFA testing and R-Mix cells for identification of influenza viruses were 70.5% and 96.7%, respectively. The R-Mix method detected influenza virus in 18 samples that were negative by DFA testing.
The effect of microfinance factors on women entrepreneurs’ performance in Nigeria: a conceptual framework

Women play a crucial role in the economic development of their families and communities but certain obstacles such as poverty, unemployment, low household income and societal discriminations mostly in developing countries have hindered their effective performance of that role. As such, most of them embark on entrepreneurial activities to support their families. It is discovered that women entrepreneurship could be an effective strategy for poverty reduction in a country; since women are the worst hit in such situation. However, it is discovered that women entrepreneurs, especially in developing countries, do not have easy access to microfinance factors for their entrepreneurial activity and as such have low business performance than their men counterparts, whereas the rate of their participation in the informal sector of the economy is higher than males, and microfinance factors could have positive effect on enterprise performance. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of credit, savings, training and social capital on women entrepreneurs’ performance in Nigeria. The study involves a survey using structured questionnaire and an indepth interview to solicit responses from women entrepreneurs, and secondary data from microfinance institutions. Data analysis involves the use of Structural Equation Modelling.
Regulation and Differential Secretion of Gonadotropins During Post Partum Recovery of Reproductive Function in Beef and Dairy Cows

© 2013 Crowe and Mullen, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Regulation and Differential Secretion of Gonadotropins During Post Partum Recovery of Reproductive Function in Beef and Dairy Cows
The Role of Brand Orientation in Church Participation: An Empirical Examination

Although a large amount of research has been undertaken into the application of marketing techniques in church organizations, few studies have provided empirical evidence on the effects of brand orientation on church participation. This empirical study sought to contribute to the body of literature via a survey of 344 church attendees of a particular church denomination in Australia. The conceptual model hypothesizes brand orientation as performing direct and indirect effects on church participation through perceived benefits as the mediating variables. A person's perception of the extent to which a church engages in brand-oriented activities and behavior is significantly related with his or her perception of the benefits associated with church activities, which then leads to a higher level of church participation. The results reveal that brand orientation is significantly related with perceived benefits and church participation.
TiO2 nanorods/PMMA copolymer-based nanocomposites: highly homogeneous linear and nonlinear optical material

Original nanocomposites have been obtained by direct incorporation of pre-synthesized oleic acid capped TiO2 nanorods into properly functionalized poly(methyl methacrylate) copolymers, carrying carboxylic acid groups on the repeating polymer unit. The presence of carboxylic groups on the alkyl chain of the host functionalized copolymer allows an highly homogeneous dispersion of the nanorods in the organic matrix. The prepared TiO2/PMMA-co-MA nanocomposites show high optical transparency in the visible region, even at high TiO2 nanorod content, and tunable linear refractive index depending on the nanoparticle concentration. Finally measurements of nonlinear optical properties of TiO2 polymer nanocomposites demonstrate a negligible two-photon absorption and a negative value of nonlinear refractive index, highlighting the potential of the nanocomposite for efficient optical devices operating in the visible region.
Enhancer activity correlates with the oncogenic potential of avian retroviruses.

Avian retroviruses lacking an oncogene, such as Rous‐associated virus 1 (RAV‐1), RAV‐2, and td mutants of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), can nevertheless cause leukemias and other neoplastic diseases. During this process, viral DNA integrates near a cellular proto‐oncogene, such as c‐myc, and thus de‐regulates its expression. The virus RAV‐0, on the other hand, is known to be non‐oncogenic even in long‐term in vivo infections of domestic chickens. The major difference between oncogenic and non‐oncogenic viruses is found within the U3 region of the long terminal repeat (LTR) which is known to harbor the promoter and enhancer elements. We therefore wanted to see whether viral oncogenicity was correlated with enhancer activity. Using a variety of techniques (including the SV40 ‘enhancer trap’ from which we obtained RSV‐SV40 recombinant viruses), we demonstrate that a strong enhancer exists within the LTRs of both RSV and RAV‐1. In contrast, no enhancer is present in RAV‐0, although RAV‐0 has functional promoter elements. Our data therefore strongly support a concept of oncogenesis by enhancer insertion.
Comparative analysis of the national accounting standards of the Czech Republic and Lithuania

The European Union (EU) Regulation 1606/2002 requires all listed companies of the member states to prepare consolidated financial statements based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005. The adoption of IFRS is supported in many countries inside and outside the European Union because it may improve the quality and comparability of financial reporting. In addition to the use of IFRS by listed companies and in some countries also by unlisted companies, many countries have developed their own national accounting standards based on the international ones. Although the national standards are based on IFRS, they are not identical. The Czech Republic and Lithuania are transitional economies that joined the European Union in May 2004. The purpose of the paper is to compare national accounting standards of the Czech Republic and Lithuania with IFRS, look at approaches of these countries to aspects of financial reporting, and analyze differences and similarities in the approaches.
Integrating Tacit Customer Knowledge with Internal Knowledge: In-Progress Research into Customers as Members of Cyberinfrastructure Projects

This paper reports on in-progress research into the coordination of specialized knowledge for projects by “cyberinfrastructure centers” that provide infrastructural services to scientists conducting computationally intensive research. Specifically, we draw from a preliminary analysis of 51 interviews with senior personnel at 11 cyberinfrastructure centers to highlight three findings. First, members of two customer-facing cyberinfrastructure departments (Scientific Applications and Visualization) possess specialized “computational science knowledge,” while members of two “back-end” departments (Systems and Operations and User Services) possess specialized “infrastructural operations knowledge. ” Second, the regular inclusion of front-end employees in back-end projects (and vice versa) has stimulated the development of knowledge coordination practices. Third, the need for Scientific Applications and Visualization Departments to coordinate knowledge with customers also has yielded a formalized approach in which an employee is physically embedded in a scientific project team and/or a member of a scientific project team is embedded in one of these departments.
International evidence on analyst monitoring and earnings management: The roles of corporate disclosure and national culture

We examine country-level determinants of private information search incentives, and whether analysts’ role in constraining managers’ opportunistic earnings management varies across countries. In a sample of 31,312 firm-year observations originating from 30 countries, we document that: (1) analyst coverage is negatively (positively) related to the level of corporate disclosure (how secretive the national culture is); (2) the negative association between analyst coverage and earnings management is observed in stronger investor protection countries but not in weaker investor protection countries; and (3) analyst monitoring fails to mitigate culturedriven earnings manipulations in countries with more individualistic and uncertainty-tolerant cultures. Taken together, financial analysts’ role in constraining opportunistic earnings management across countries appears to vary with corporate disclosure and cultural environments. JEL Classification Codes: G34; M16; M40
Refined avian risk assessment for aldicarb in the United States

Aldicarb was recently reviewed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for re‐registration eligibility. In this paper, we describe a refined avian risk assessment for aldicarb that was conducted to build upon the screening‐level methods used by USEPA. The goal of the refined ERA was to characterize and understand better the risks posed by aldicarb to birds in areas where the pesticide is applied. Aldicarb is a systemic insecticide sold in granular form under the trade name Temik®. It is applied directly to soil and is used to control mites, nematodes, and aphids on a variety of crops (e.g., cotton, potatoes, peanuts). Consumption of grit is necessary for proper digestion in many bird species, particularly for granivores and insectivores. Thus, aldicarb granules may be mistaken for grit by birds. The Granular Pesticide Avian Risk Assessment Model (GranPARAM) is described in a companion paper and was used to estimate the probability and magnitude of effects to flocks of birds that frequent aldicarb‐treated fields. One hundred thirty‐five exposure scenarios were modeled that together include a range of bird species, crops, application methods and rates, and regions in the United States. The results indicated that, even for the most sensitive bird species, the risks associated with the agricultural use of granular aldicarb are negligible to low. There are several reasons for the limited risk: 1) the Temik formulation includes a gypsum core and a graphite coating and is black in color, all of which have been shown to be unattractive to birds, and 2) the pesticide is applied subsurface and rapidly dissolves following contact with water. The fact that no bird kill incidents involving appropriate label uses of aldicarb have been conclusively documented in the United States over its 38 years of use supports the results of this refined risk assessment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2010; 6:83–101. © 2009 SETAC
A Thermally Dependent Fuel Cell Model for Power Electronics Design

In the dawn of the fuel cell era, it may seem that their development and use would still be immature. However, this is not true - fuel cells are finding use in everything from cell phones to automobiles quite quickly. Regardless of their application, the fuel cell must be accurately modeled in the system it will be used in. Such a model must be simple, easy to use, and fast to simulate. Chemistry, material science, and physics must be transformed into electrical components and systems that work easily in programs like Pspice, Saber, Labview, and the like. Herein, such a model is presented in its latest form, incorporating dynamic effects of heating and cooling of the stack
Rule-Based Network Intrusion Detection System for Port Scanning with Efficient Port Scan Detection Rules Using Snort

In the field of network security, researchers have implemented different models to secure the network. Intrusion Detection System is also one of them and Snort is an open source tool for Intrusion Detection and Prevention System. Today intrusion Detection System is a growing technology in network security and mostly researchers have focused in this field, some of them used signature or rule-based technique and some are anomaly based techniques to improve security of network. In this paper we propose a rule-base Intrusion Detection System with our self generated new Efficient Port Scan Detection Rules (EPSDR). These rules will be used to detect naive port scan attacks in real time network using Snort and Basic Analysis Security Engine (BASE). BASE is used to view the snort results in font-end web page because Snort has no graphic user interface. In This rule-based Intrusion Detection System we will match the signature with our Efficient Port Scan Detection Rules (EPSDR) from captured packet. As a definition of signature based IDS this new EPSDR based IDS will be useful to reduce the false positive alarm.
Physical activities in daily life and functional capacity compared to disease activity control in acromegalic patients: impact in self-reported quality of life.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the quality of life and its association with daily physical activity and disease control in acromegalic patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A cross-sectional, case series study, composed of 42 patients recruited from the Neuroendocrinology Unit of the University Hospital of Brasilia. Level of physical activity was accessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ 6-short-form), which evaluates the weekly time spent on physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity in different contexts of life. Quality of life was evaluated by The Medical Outcome Study Questionnaire Short Form (SF-36). Data was compared to growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels. Students' t test and Fisher test were used, p < 0.05, SPSS 17.0. RESULTS Twenty-two women, aged 51.33 ± 14.33 and 20 men, aged 46.2 ± 13.18 were evaluated. Arthralgia was present in 83% of cases. In men, the most common sites of pain were the knees (73%), spine (47% lumbar, and 53% thoracic and cervical segments), hands and wrists (40%). Higher scores on SF-36 were observed in patients with intermediate or high levels of physical activity, in the domains social functioning (75 CI 57.3-92.6), general health (75.5 CI 60.4-90.5), mental health (70 CI 57.8-82.1). CONCLUSIONS In this study, the presence and severity of physical disability and pain were not associated with initial GH and IGF-1 levels or time of exposure to GH excess. However, the patients considered controlled, with normal a normal age-adjusted IGF-1, presented higher scores in SF-36, in physical and emotional domains, compared with patients with persistent hypersomatotrophism. These findings suggest benefits of metabolic control in self-reported quality of life.
Multimodality treatment of pediatric lymphatic malformations of the head and neck using surgery and sclerotherapy.

OBJECTIVES To describe a multimodality approach to the management of pediatric head and neck lymphatic malformations using surgery, sclerotherapy, or both and to review the outcomes of these approaches. DESIGN Retrospective case series. SETTING A single pediatric tertiary care referral center. PATIENTS Ninety-seven pediatric patients (aged 1 month to 16 years) diagnosed as having lymphatic malformations of the head and neck during a 7-year period. Follow-up ranged from 3 months to 7 years. INTERVENTIONS All of the patients underwent clinical and radiologic (magnetic resonance imaging) assessment. Treatment modality was selected according to disease location, cyst size, and parental preference. Treatments included surgery (open excision, tongue reduction, electrocautery, and laser treatment), sclerotherapy with OK-432 (Picibanil) or a fibrosing agent (Ethibloc), and a combination of modalities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Clinically determined responses to treatment, complications, and number of treatments required. RESULTS All isolated neck disease had complete or near-complete responses, with no nerve palsies sustained. Although most patients achieved complete or near-complete responses, disease with parotid, laryngopharyngeal, or oral components had poorer outcomes and frequently required multiple treatments. Significant long-term neural injury was sustained in 3 of 6 surgical patients for mediastinal disease and in only 4% (n = 4) of other surgical procedures. CONCLUSIONS Surgery retains an important role in the treatment of pediatric head and neck lymphatic malformations despite the advent of sclerotherapy. Isolated neck disease has an excellent outcome with either modality. Treatment decisions were made via a problem-based approach and were individualized according to anatomical location and disease classification.
The impact of relationship history on negotiation strategy expectations: A theoretical framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how the history of a supply chain relationship impacts expectations concerning negotiation strategy use. Design/methodology/approach – Following a grounded theory approach, experienced buyers and suppliers were interviewed to enhance understanding of the complexity of supply chain negotiations. Findings – Qualitative analysis developed a theoretical framework emphasizing the impact of relationship history on negotiation strategy expectations in long-term buyer-supplier relationships. Data supports that previous negotiation interactions build a history between the involved organizations. This relationship history creates expectations. When negotiation strategy use is consistent with expectations, the relationship history will continue to develop in the same manner as it has previously. When negotiation strategy expectations are violated, the relationship impact will differ depending on evidence of an Extrarelational Factor that leads to the strategy change.
Corporate Groups and the Duty of Directors to Act in Their Company's Best Interests

The nature of the group structure creates conflicts of interest for directors who have to reconcile both commercial and personal conflicts with this legal duty. This article examines the fiduciary duty of directors to act in the best interests of their company and highlights the complexities of this duty as it relates to corporate groups. The common law is ambiguous as demonstrated by English and Australian decisions, with cases offering different tests to determine the required standard. Landmark Australian litigation is analysed in this article: The Bell Group Ltd (in liq) v. Westpac Banking Corporation [No 9] [2008] WASC 239; and its appeal, Westpac Banking Corporation v. Bell Group Ltd (in liq) (No 3) [2012] WASC 157, where the duty to act in the best interests of a company within a corporate group is a substantive issue. Law reform proposals are also examined, including CASAC’s Corporate Groups Final Report 2000 that recommended a whole of enterprise approach be applied to the regulation of corporate groups and subsequent academic commentary. The consolidation regime that permits corporate groups to be considered as a single entity for the purposes of income taxation is also briefly considered as an example of the complexities of an enterprise approach being applied to the regulation of corporate groups.
Improved Characters Feature Extraction and Matching Algorithm Based on SIFT

According to SIFT algorithm does not have the property of affine invariance, and the high complexity of time and space, it is difficult to apply to real-time image processing for batch image sequence, so an improved SIFT feature extraction algorithm was proposed in this paper. Firstly, the MSER algorithm detected the maximally stable extremely regions instead of the DOG operator detected extreme point, increasing the stability of the characteristics, and reducing the number of the feature descriptor; Secondly, the circular feature region is divided into eight fan-shaped sub-region instead of 16 square sub-region of the traditional SIFT, and using Gaussian function weighted gradient information field to construct the new SIFT features descriptor. Compared with traditional SIFT algorithm, The experimental results showed that the algorithm not only has translational invariance, scale invariance and rotational invariance, but also has affine invariance and faster speed that meet the requirements of real-time image processing applications. DOI : http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/telkomnika.v12i1. 4000