Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of social media in transforming governement communication: a case study of Ministry of Information And Communications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of social media in transforming government communication. The study was guided by uses and Gratification Theory which grounded in the admission that media messages are no longer considered to be directly or holistically received and engrossed by consumers. Instead of focusing on the supremacy of the message being sent, this theory eliminates the idea of the passive, receptive audience and instead empowers receivers of the media to deliberately select which messages they are exposed to. The study was also guided by the Weak Ties Theory by Manuel Castells which can be used to explain how the characteristics of social networks can be valuable for public communication, through the creation of weak ties, the obscurity provided by the Internet, and the egalitarian design of online communication. Weak ties are useful in availing information and opening up chances at a low cost. The advantage of the internet is that it allows the forging of weak ties with guests, in an egalitarian pattern of interaction where social characteristics are less influential in outlining, or even blocking communication. The sample population was purposively selected and constituted individuals from the Ministry of Information and Communications and users of ministry website. Data collection was done between August 15, 2012 and September 10, 2012. Questionnaires were used in data collection. The study measured the role of social media in transforming government communication. The findings of this study reveal that information technology has taken communication to another level despite the government lagging behind in its full adoption. The study further revealed that the government could immediately benefit by having presence on social media (social networking Websites), principally to build or enhance citizens trust towards government by enhancing communication between the government and its citizens. Through social media information can be disseminated on a timely manner hence enabling the people to get first hand information with the click of the button.
Role of enzymes catalase, peroxidase and amino acid (proline) in Raphanus sativus and Lepidium sativus in exposure levels different water pollution of ion lead

Radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and (Lepidium sativus) is commonly grown in urban and suburban areas where the soil may be polluted with heavy metal such as lead. In this study, short exposure of radish and cress plantlets to (0,10,20,30,50)ppm lead in nutrient solution (three months) in growth chamber conditions elicited an antioxidative response, measured in terms of lipid peroxidation, protein and proline accumulation and peroxidase and Catalase activity. Longer exposure to lead when radish and cress was grown outdoors for 90 days in pots filled with field soil with different lead content also resulted in higher lipid peroxidation and proline accumulation and altered protein content and enzyme activity. The results also showed significant decrease antioxidant enzymes activity with the decreased oxidative stress. Also, the antioxidant enzymes activity (CAT and POD) were more activity after 30 days because of resistant for (50 ppm ,30 ppm) . Besides, at high level, the response of the antioxidant enzymes activity (CAT and POD) and proline accumulation were similar to that observed in control treatment. The highest proline content (81and 96 μmole/g) were recorded by control treatment after 30days radish and cress, respectively. The maximum average increase in peroxidase activity (43.76 and 68.38 unit/ml) were though control level treatment after 30 days, respectively. Maximum results were found in treatments (56.25 and 56.52 unit/ml) after 30 days in radish and cress, respectively.
Indirect influences of a major drought on leaf litter quality and decomposition in a southwestern stream

Climate models predict that the southwestern United States will experience an increase in drought frequency and intensity with global climate change. We tested the hypothesis that leaf litter produced under natural drought conditions would have an altered litter chemistry profile and affect decomposition rates and macroinvertebrate colonization compared to non-drought conditions. To test this hypothesis we collected leaf litter from Populus fremontii, Alnus oblongifolia, and Platanus wrightii grown during an average precipitation year (2001) and a record drought year (2002) and performed an in-stream decomposition study using both litter types. Three major patterns emerged: 1) Drought conditions significantly altered litter chemistry for mature trees of three species; however, the direction and magnitude of change differed among species and litter chemicals; 2) Leaf litter mass loss was influenced by both differences among species and drought; yet, species effects were more pronounced over time than drought effects; and 3) After 69 days of decomposition, the structure of the macroinvertebrate community was uninfluenced by the drought effect on A. oblongifolia or P. wrightii litters, but there was a community-wide drought effect on macroinvertebrate communities colonizing P. fremontii litter. Many recent studies have explored the influence of drought on stream flow and water temperatures, but these results suggest that litter quality can change under different climatic conditions, but the overall decay of leaf material may not be dramatically altered by droughts. Understanding how forest-stream interactions may be altered by the various influences of climate change will allow for better predictions regarding how long-term disturbances may alter stream ecosystem functioning.
comoRbidity: an R package for the systematic analysis of disease comorbidities

Abstract Motivation The study of comorbidities is a major priority due to their impact on life expectancy, quality of life and healthcare cost. The availability of electronic health records (EHRs) for data mining offers the opportunity to discover disease associations and comorbidity patterns from the clinical history of patients gathered during routine medical care. This opens the need for analytical tools for detection of disease comorbidities, including the investigation of their underlying genetic basis. Results We present comoRbidity, an R package aimed at providing a systematic and comprehensive analysis of disease comorbidities from both the clinical and molecular perspectives. comoRbidity leverages from (i) user provided clinical data from EHR databases (the clinical comorbidity analysis) and (ii) genotype-phenotype information of the diseases under study (the molecular comorbidity analysis) for a comprehensive analysis of disease comorbidities. The clinical comorbidity analysis enables identifying significant disease comorbidities from clinical data, including sex and age stratification and temporal directionality analyses, while the molecular comorbidity analysis supports the generation of hypothesis on the underlying mechanisms of the disease comorbidities by exploring shared genes among disorders. The open-source comoRbidity package is a software tool aimed at expediting the integrative analysis of disease comorbidities by incorporating several analytical and visualization functions. Availability and implementation https://bitbucket.org/ibi_group/comorbidity Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Formula-Based Public School Funding System in Victoria: An Empirical Analysis of Equity

This article explores the formula-based school funding system in the state of Victoria, Australia, where state funds are directly allocated to schools based on a range of equity measures. The impact of Victoria’s funding system for education in terms of alleviating inequality and disadvantage is contentious, to say the least. It is difficult to adopt the belief that equity funding can alter the unequal levels of capacity that pupils bring into the classroom as a result of their varied socio-economic backgrounds. This study highlights a number of contextual factors that challenge the equity considerations of the Victorian school funding system. Among these factors include: the ability of individual schools to raise their own funds; allocation of a significant proportion of formula funding for staff salaries without directly addressing educational disadvantages; and the unnecessary complexity of formulas and limited community access to funding information. Nevertheless, the formula-based school funding system in Victoria presents a model in which funding is tied directly to the needs of both students and schools; a uniform criteria to apply impartially to each school; an increased level of accessible information on how the funds have been deployed; a reduced level of complexity presented compared to overlapping funding models from state, district and local authorities in other jurisdictions; and an opportunity for meaningful analysis generated on the school level to explore the impact of funding and incorporate improvements in a single funding system.
Sensitivity analysis for the block Cholesky downdating problem

ABSTRACT Some improved rigorous perturbation bounds with normwise perturbation for the block Cholesky downdating problem are first derived by combining the modified matrix-vector equation approach with the strategy for Lyapunov majorant function and the Banach fixed point theorem. Then, we investigate four distinct kinds of condition numbers, i.e. two normwise ones, and mixed and componentwise ones, for this problem, and present their explicit expressions. Furthermore, using the probabilistic spectral norm estimator and the small-sample statistical condition estimation method, we also consider the statistical estimation of these condition numbers and design two algorithms. The obtained results are illustrated by numerical examples.
NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale profiles predict developmental outcomes in a low-risk sample.

BACKGROUND Latent profile analysis (LPA) has been used previously to classify neurobehavioral responses of infants prenatally exposed to cocaine and other drugs of abuse. The objective of this study was to define NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) profile response patterns in a cohort of infants with no known cocaine exposure or other risks for neurobehavior deficits, and determine whether these profiles predict neurobehavioral outcomes in these low-risk infants. METHODS NNNS exams were performed on 355 low-risk infants at approximately 5 weeks after birth. LPA was used to define discrete profiles based on the standard NNNS summary scales. Associations between the infant profiles and neurobehavioral outcomes at one to three years of age were examined. RESULTS Twelve of the 13 summary scales were used and three discrete NNNS profiles identified: social/easy going infants (44%), hypotonic infants (24%), and high arousal/difficult infants (32%). Statistically significant associations between NNNS profiles and later neurobehavioral outcomes were found for psychomotor development and externalizing behaviors. Hypotonic infants had both lower psychomotor development and lower externalizing scores compared to the other two profiles. CONCLUSIONS Three distinct profiles of the NNNS summary scores were identifiable using LPA among infants with no known cocaine exposure. These profile patterns were associated with early childhood neurobehavioral outcome, similar to findings reported in a study of infants with substantial cocaine exposure, demonstrating the utility of this profiling technique in both exposed and unexposed populations.
Selection of Trichogramma species for controlling the Diamondback moth

Biological characteristics of the egg parasitoids Trichogramma acacioi, T. atopovirilia, and T. bennetti were studied to select the one with better performance on the control of the Diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. Parasitism rate, viability, and sex ratio were studied. Parasitism rate ranged from 1.67 to 41.33%. T. atopovirilia and T. acacioi were respectively the most and less aggressive species. The viability ranged from 6.20% for T. acacioi to 53.34% for T. atopovirilia. There were no differences on sex ratio (P < 0.05) that remained above 0,88. T. atopovirilia was the species with best performance in the laboratory when rearing on the Diamondback moth eggs.
Private Secure , Trusted , Flexible Personal Storage System in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a subscription-based service where obtain network storage space and computer resource. A lot of personal information & potentially secure data that people share on their computer . This information is transferred to the cloud now a day. So, we proposed, restoring to cloud for improving the storage service of F2F system by characteristic of data availability & small friend group. We present personal storage system that is trusted friends with cloud storage.Personal storage system is secure & private offsite storage service. Personal storage system is the efficiently combines resources from trusted friends and cloud services to provide a flexible, trusted and private personal storage system.
Planar cell polarity signaling coordinates oriented cell division and cell rearrangement in clonally expanding growth plate cartilage

Both oriented cell divisions and cell rearrangements are critical for proper embryogenesis and organogenesis. However, little is known about how these two cellular events are integrated. Here we examine the linkage between these processes in chick limb cartilage. By combining retroviral-based multicolor clonal analysis with live imaging, the results show that single chondrocyte precursors can generate both single-column and multi-column clones through oriented division followed by cell rearrangements. Focusing on single column formation, we show that this stereotypical tissue architecture is established by a pivot-like process between sister cells. After mediolateral cell division, N-cadherin is enriched in the post-cleavage furrow; then one cell pivots around the other, resulting in stacking into a column. Perturbation analyses demonstrate that planar cell polarity signaling enables cells to pivot in the direction of limb elongation via this N-cadherin-mediated coupling. Our work provides new insights into the mechanisms generating appropriate tissue architecture of limb skeleton.
Impact of Reference and Target Region Selection on Amyloid PET SUV Ratios in the Phase 1b PRIME Study of Aducanumab

SUV ratios (SUVRs) are commonly used to quantify tracer uptake in amyloid-β PET. Here, we explore the impact of target and reference region-of-interest (ROI) selection on SUVR effect sizes using interventional data from the ongoing phase 1b PRIME study (NCT01677572) of aducanumab (BIIB037) in patients with prodromal or mild Alzheimer disease. Methods: The florbetapir PET SUVR was calculated at baseline (screening) and at weeks 26 and 54 for patients randomized to receive placebo and each of 4 aducanumab doses (1, 3, 6, and 10 mg/kg) using the whole cerebellum, cerebellar gray matter, cerebellar white matter, pons, and subcortical white matter as reference regions. In addition to the prespecified composite cortex target ROI, individual cerebral cortical ROIs were assessed as targets. Results: Of the reference regions used, subcortical white matter, cerebellar white matter, and the pons, alone or in combination, generated the largest effect sizes. The use of the anterior cingulate cortex as a target ROI resulted in larger effect sizes than the use of the composite cortex. SUVR calculations were not affected by correction for brain volume changes over time. Conclusion: Dose- and time-dependent reductions in the amyloid PET SUVR were consistently observed with aducanumab only in cortical regions prone to amyloid plaque deposition, regardless of the reference region used. These data support the hypothesis that florbetapir SUVR responses associated with aducanumab treatment are a result of specific dose- and time-dependent reductions in the amyloid burden in patients with Alzheimer disease.
Rapid root closure after fire limits fine root responses to elevated atmospheric CO 2 in a scrub oak ecosystem in central Florida , USA

Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) often stimulates the growth of fine roots, yet there are few reports of responses of intact root systems to long-term CO2 exposure. We investigated the effects of elevated CO2 on fine root growth using open top chambers in a scrub oak ecosystem at Kennedy Space Center, Florida for more than 7 years. CO2 enrichment began immediately after a controlled burn, which simulated the natural disturbance that occurs in this system every 10–15 years. We hypothesized that (1) root abundance would increase in both treatments as the system recovered from fire; (2) elevated CO2 would stimulate root growth; and (3) elevated CO2 would alter root distribution. Minirhizotron tubes were used to measure fine root length density (mm cm ) every three months. During the first 2 years after fire recovery, fine root abundance increased in all treatments and elevated CO2 significantly enhanced root abundance, causing a maximum stimulation of 181% after 20 months. The CO2 stimulation was initially more pronounced in the top 10 cm and 38–49 cm below the soil surface. However, these responses completely disappeared during the third year of experimental treatment: elevated CO2 had no effect on root abundance or on the depth distribution of fine roots during years 3–7. The results suggest that, within a few years following fire, fine roots in this scrub oak ecosystem reach closure, defined here as a dynamic equilibrium between production and mortality. These results further suggest that elevated CO2 hastens root closure but does not affect maximum root abundance. Limitation of fine root growth by belowground resources – particularly nutrients in this nutrient-poor soil – may explain the transient response to elevated CO2.
Generation of Spectral–Temporal Response Surfaces by Combining Multispectral Satellite and Hyperspectral UAV Imagery for Precision Agriculture Applications

Precision agriculture requires detailed crop status information at high spatial and temporal resolutions. Remote sensing can provide such information, but single sensor observations are often incapable of meeting all data requirements. Spectral-temporal response surfaces (STRSs) provide continuous reflectance spectra at high temporal intervals. This is the first study to combine multispectral satellite imagery (from Formosat-2) with hyperspectral imagery acquired with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to construct STRS. This study presents a novel STRS methodology which uses Bayesian theory to impute missing spectral information in the multispectral imagery and introduces observation uncertainties into the interpolations. This new method is compared to two earlier published methods for constructing STRS: a direct interpolation of the original data and a direct interpolation along the temporal dimension after imputation along the spectral dimension. The STRS derived through all three methods are compared to field measured reflectance spectra, leaf area index (LAI), and canopy chlorophyll of potato plants. The results indicate that the proposed Bayesian approach has the highest correlation (r = 0.953) and lowest RMSE (0.032) to field spectral reflectance measurements. Although the optimized soil-adjusted vegetation index (OSAVI) obtained from all methods have similar correlations to field data, the modified chlorophyll absorption in reflectance index (MCARI) obtained from the Bayesian STRS outperform the other two methods. A correlation of 0.83 with LAI and 0.77 with canopy chlorophyll measurements are obtained, compared to correlations of 0.27 and 0.09, respectively, for the directly interpolated STRS.
Toxicarioside N induces apoptosis of human gastric cancer BGC-823 cells through NF-kB-mediated activation of Fas/FasL pathway

Toxicarioside N (TN) is a strophanthidol cardenolide isolated from the seeds of Antiaris toxicaria (Pers.) Lesch. (Moraceae) and showed cytotoxic activity against cancer cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic activity and possible molecular mechanism of TN against human gastric cancer BGC-823 cells using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), flow cytometry and western blot assays. The results of CCK-8 assay indicated that TN showed cytotoxic activity against BGC-823 cells with a dose-dependent manner (IC50=24.87 μg/ml). The results of flow cytometry assay exhibited that TN induced apoptosis of BGC-823 cells, suggesting that the cytotoxic activity of TN against BGC-823 cells was related to apoptosis. The results of western blot assay revealed that TN-induced apoptosis in BGC-823 cells was characterized by down-regulations of phosphorylated inhibitors of NF-κB-α (p-IκBα), phosphorylated IκB kinase β (p-IKKβ), IKKβ and nuclear NF-κB p65 and up-regulation of IκBα, and also featured by up-regulations of Fas, FasL, Fas-associated protein with death domain, cleaved-caspase-8 (c-caspase-8), c-caspase-10, c-caspase-3. In conclusion, TN showed cytotoxic activity against BGC-823 cells, and the cytotoxic activity was related to apoptosis. The mechanism of action was associated with NF-κBmediated activation of Fas/FasL pathway. Thus, TN may be a promising candidate drug for treatment of gastric cancer. This, however, needs to be further investigated to explore the actual potentials of TN.
Prices, Markups and Quality at the Firm-Product Level ∗

In this paper, we analyze price and markup dynamics at the firmproduct level in Belgian manufacturing over more than a decade and relate these to firm-product productivity and quality dynamics. We use a detailed dataset that provides information about firms’ product portfolio composition and the value and quantity sold for each product. We estimate a firm-product level marginal cost accounting for the multiproduct nature of production and compute a firm-product markup variable. We then estimate demand elasticity and product quality following Berry (1994). As a next step, we estimate a multi product production function (MPPF) using physical quantity as dependent variable and obtain a firm-product measure of TFP. We relate all these variables to better understand what is driving price and markup dynamics over a long time period. We find that our methodology generates sensible estimates in line with recent theoretical models of international economics with endogenous markups.
Bromine, iodine and sodium in surface snow along the 2013 Talos Dome–GV7 traverse (northern Victoria Land, East Antarctica)

Abstract. Halogen chemistry in the polar regions occurs through the release of halogen elements from different sources. Bromine is primarily emitted from sea salt aerosols and other saline condensed phases associated with sea ice surfaces, while iodine is affected by the release of organic compounds from algae colonies living within the sea ice environment. Measurements of halogen species in polar snow samples are limited to a few sites although there is some evidence that they are related to sea ice extent. We examine here total bromine, iodine and sodium concentrations in a series of 2 m cores collected during a traverse from Talos Dome (72°48' S, 159°06' E) to GV7 (70°41' S, 158°51' E) analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) at a resolution of 5 cm. We find a distinct seasonality of the bromine enrichment signal in most of the cores, with maxima during the austral spring. Iodine shows average concentrations of 0.04 ppb with little variability. No distinct seasonality is found for iodine and sodium. The transect reveals homogeneous air-to-snow fluxes for the three chemical species along the transect due to competing effects of air masses originating from the Ross Sea and the Southern Ocean.