Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ANTIHYPERGLYCAEMIC ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF THE STEM OF ADENIA LOBATA ENGL (PASSIFLORACEAE)

Adenia lobata Engl (Passifloraceae) is a woody climber which grows in most African countries mainly the coastal belt. It is an important medicinal plant used to treat haemorrhoids, malaria, fever, diabetes and gonorrhea. In our attempt to find out the constituents of this medicinal plant, the dried stem powder of A. lobata was successively extracted by Soxhlet with petroleum ether and 70% ethanol to obtain the crude petroleum ether (PEAL: yield =1.1w/w %) and ethanol (EEAL: yield = 5.4 w/w %) extracts. The antihyperglycaemic activity of PEAL and EEAL were determined in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (70 mg/kg body weight). The ethanol extract was most active and was subjected to chromatographic separation to isolate its chemical constituents. The isolated compounds were identified using NMR spectroscopic namely 1 H, 13 C NMR, COSY, HSQC and HMBC Spectroscopy with reference to literature. Two compounds isolated from the extract were found to be, palmitic acid and -hydroxy-- valerolactone. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time these compounds are reported from this medicinal plant. INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder in which the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to meet the body's needs or the body cannot properly use the insulin that is produced 1 .
Unusual Complications of Incisional Hernia

Incisional hernia represents a breakdown or loss of continuity of a fascial closure. These hernias are of particular concern not only for the high recurrence rates among them but also for the challenges that follow their repair. It is known to occur in 11-23% of laparotomies. This paper presents two unusual complications of incisional hernia managed by the authors. One ruptured incisional hernia with evisceration of gut and a case of incarcerated gravid uterus in a woman in labour. The case records of the two patients with unusual complications of incisional hernia were pooled and presented to highlight the clinical presentation and management options of this condition. The patient with ruptured hernia and eviscerated gut presented immediately and was resuscitated and the hernia repaired with polypropylene mesh. The patient with incarcerated uterus had caesarean section and mesh repair of the hernia. Incisional hernia can present with unusual complications. The management is very challenging. Good knowledge and skills are required to deal with this condition.
Comparison of meta-analysis approaches for neuroimaging studies of reward processing: A case study

Neural correlates corresponding to a specific cognitive tasks has been made possible with techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging. The increasing number of neuroimaging studies has made meta-analysis methods popular for useful inferencing across multiple studies. The easy availability of neuroinformatic tools has also resulted in increasing the number of meta-analysis studies. We compare different meta-analysis approaches using hand-curated database (Brainmap) and automated database (neurosynth) using the case study of reward-related studies. We combine meta-analysis with atlas-based approaches to quantitatively compare different meta-analysis approaches. Based on our results, we propose further integration of different meta-analytic approaches with automated data mining methods for neuroimaging.
Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Needs of Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Rural-Urban Comparison in Delaware, USA

Background: Older adults in rural areas have unique transportation barriers to accessing medical care, which include a lack of mass transit options and considerable distances to health-related services. This study contrasts non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) service utilization patterns and associated costs for Medicaid middle-aged and older adults in rural versus urban areas. Methods: Data were analyzed from 39,194 NEMT users of LogistiCare-brokered services in Delaware residing in rural (68.3%) and urban (30.9%) areas. Multivariable logistic analyses compared trip characteristics by rurality designation. Results: Rural (37.2%) and urban (41.2%) participants used services more frequently for dialysis than for any other medical concern. Older age and personal accompaniment were more common and wheel chair use was less common for rural trips. The mean cost per trip was greater for rural users (difference of $2910 per trip), which was attributed to the greater distance per trip in rural areas. Conclusions: Among a sample who were eligible for subsidized NEMT and who utilized this service, rural trips tended to be longer and, therefore, higher in cost. Over 50% of trips were made for dialysis highlighting the need to address prevention and, potentially, health service improvements for rural dialysis patients.
Genetic Algorithms and Programming-An Evolutionary Methodology

Genetic programming (GP) is an automated method for creating a working computer program from a high-level problem statement of a problem. Genetic programming starts from a high-level statement of “what needs to be done” and automatically creates a computer program to solve the problem. In artificial intelligence, genetic programming (GP) is an evolutionary algorithm-based methodology inspired by biological evolution to find computer programs that perform a user defined task. It is a specialization of genetic algorithms (GA) where each individual is a computer program. It is a machine learning technique used to optimize a population of computer programs according to a fitness span determined by a program's ability to perform a given computational task. This paper presents a idea of the various principles of genetic programming which includes, relative effectiveness of mutation, crossover, breeding computer programs and fitness test in genetic programming. The literature of traditional genetic algorithms contains related studies, but through GP, it saves time by freeing the human from having to design complex algorithms. Not only designing the algorithms but creating ones that give optimal solutions than traditional counterparts in noteworthy ways.
Hierarchical and high throughput mechanical characterization of titanium alloys using spherical indentation stress-strain curves

To my family, especially my wife, Alicia, and my daughter, Frances iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my advisor, Surya Kalidindi, who has provided support in many tangible and intangible ways throughout the entire tenure of my PhD. In particular, he has provided the technical knowledge and practical wisdom needed for being successful. I want acknowledge Professors Shriram Pillapakkam and Parsaoran Hutapea who encouraged me to explore research during my undergraduate studies at Temple University. I also wish to thank Dr. Rick Ricker who showed me the breadth of problems in materials science and engineering at N.I. S.T. that ultimately sent me down this path. I am greatly indebted to my fellow graduate students who have provided training, solutions, entertainment, and their perspectives on all sorts of subject matter. Specifically, I am grateful for simulation results from Mr. Matthew Priddy and Mr. Dipen Patel and insights into hexagonal materials from Mr. Ali Khosravani. opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF or the ARO. Lastly, I wish to thank my family and friends who have supported and encouraged me through the completion of my PhD.
Ultra-wide Band Noise-signal Radar Utilizing Microwave Chaotic Signals and Chaos Synchronization

In this paper, we present a new scheme for the realization of a wide-band noisesignal RADAR utilizing wide-band chaotic signal generated from microwave chaotic Colpitts oscillator. System simulations show that such RADAR can still work in an environment when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is −20 dB.
Text analysis of academic papers archived in institutional repositories

This paper attempts to use more than a million academic papers available in institutional repositories in Japan, and their possibilities as a language resource are verified. The verification is performed with (1) word length distribution of extracted noun words from collected academic papers in PDF and (2) word analogy tasks by using word2vec. The results suggest that words are separated at meaningless positions without pre-processing where full text are extracted from academic papers in PDF, and related words can be analogized by similarity calculation among words on a feature space. We conclude that academic papers in institutional repositories in Japan have possibilities as a language resource, although preprocessing for distributed files should be addressed.
Managing technologies within an industrial cluster: a case from a toolmakers cluster of Slovenia

This paper investigates the competitive and cooperative behaviour of firms within an industrial cluster. The theory suggests that industrial clusters are a playground where even competitors cooperate on specific issues. It is for this reason that we have made clear distinctions between different technology areas within industrial clusters and present when and where cooperation between firms occurs. This research suggests that distinctions between key supporting and new/emerging technologies are of extreme relevance. Firms show reluctance to cooperate in the joint development of key technologies, especially when those key technologies are similar and thus they compete regarding similar products. No such reluctance can be observed when new and emerging technologies are considered. The cooperation mechanism also prevails in the cases of supporting technologies that are common to other cluster members.
Combination of vector quantization and hidden Markov models for Arabic speech recognition

We present experiments performed to recognize isolated Arabic words. Our recognition system is based on a combination of the vector quantization technique at the acoustic level and Markovian modelling. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are widely used in a number of practical applications and are especially suitable in speech recognition because of their ability to handle variability of the speech signal. In our system, a word is analysed and represented as a set of acoustic vectors, then transformed into a symbolic sequence using the vector quantizer. This observation sequence is compared to reference Markov models. The word associated with the model obtaining the highest score is declared to be the recognized word.
Assessment of available anatomical characters for linking living mammals to fossil taxa in phylogenetic analyses

Analyses of living and fossil taxa are crucial for understanding biodiversity through time. The total evidence method allows living and fossil taxa to be combined in phylogenies, using molecular data for living taxa and morphological data for living and fossil taxa. With this method, substantial overlap of coded anatomical characters among living and fossil taxa is vital for accurately inferring topology. However, although molecular data for living species are widely available, scientists generating morphological data mainly focus on fossils. Therefore, there are fewer coded anatomical characters in living taxa, even in well-studied groups such as mammals. We investigated the number of coded anatomical characters available in phylogenetic matrices for living mammals and how these were phylogenetically distributed across orders. Eleven of 28 mammalian orders have less than 25% species with available characters; this has implications for the accurate placement of fossils, although the issue is less pronounced at higher taxonomic levels. In most orders, species with available characters are randomly distributed across the phylogeny, which may reduce the impact of the problem. We suggest that increased morphological data collection efforts for living taxa are needed to produce accurate total evidence phylogenies.
A copper-based reversible electrochemical mirror device with switchability between transparent, blue, and mirror states

Herein, a reversible electrochemical mirror (REM) device was electrochemically tuned to achieve dual transmittance and reflectance modulations in a single device. Conventional REM devices reversibly switch between transparent and mirror states. However, it is a significant challenge to maintain the mirror state of the REM devices due to the diffusion of anions into the metal film at the open-circuit state. In this study, we report a Cu-based REM device that offers reversible switching between transparent, blue, and mirror states via a judicious selection of electrolyte and controllable electrodeposition. The blue state can be obtained through the formation of copper(I) chloride (CuCl) when copper(II) chloride (CuCl2) undergoes electrochemical reduction. Moreover, the polymer host PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) plays an important role in reducing the surface roughness of the electrodeposited mirror film, improving film uniformity, and maintaining the mirror state of the device during the voltage-off state.
MMOG Game-Based Knowledge Conversion: An Ecological View Of Mutualistic Co-Presence

This research-in-progress study aims to extend the research on Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) collaborative learning by theoretically exploring the role of virtual co-presence from an ecological perspective. Although a growing number of researchers has started to investigate learning behaviors of digital native in the MMOG virtual environment, the study for theoretical justification of collaborative behavior and motivational profile of players in MMOG is still under-researched. To bridge this gap, this study applies concepts from ecology, namely biological interactions, and integrates with technology-based collaborative learning streams of research to theoretically explore the patterns of knowledge conversion in MMOG. Based on existing literatures, this study proposes two constructs of co-presence based on the theory of symbiosis in the field of ecology on biological interaction to explain and predict gamers’ motivational profile and participation in knowledge conversion mode in the MMOG game-based learning, Also, this study proposes a multiple method approach (including field observation, self-reported survey and focus group interview) to test four hypotheses that advocate the research potentials of MMOG in future research.
Functional Induction of P-glycoprotein in the Blood-Brain Barrier of Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats: Evidence for the Involvement of Nuclear Factor-κB, a Nitrosative Stress-Sensitive Transcription Factor, in the Regulation

The objective of this study was to investigate the transport kinetics of cyclosporin A, a well known substrate for P-glycoprotein (P-gp), across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and the expression of the transporter in the brain of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The in vivo transport clearance of cyclosporin A was significantly reduced in diabetic rats compared with that in the control. The decreased transport was associated with the increased level of mRNA and the protein for P-glycoprotein in the rat brain. The functional activity of the efflux transporter in mouse brain capillary endothelial (MBEC4) cells, an in vitro model of the BBB, was also stimulated when slow nitric oxide (NO)-releasing donors were present, whereas the stimulation was absent in the case of rapid NO-releasing donors (e.g., S-nitroso-N-acetyl-dl-penicillamine and diethylenetriamine). The stimulatory effect was highest for sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and the functional induction associated with the increased mRNA and protein level of the transporter. The pretreatment of the cell with SNP along with ascorbate, methylene blue, or superoxide dismutase attenuated the induction of function and expression for P-glycoprotein, suggesting that the reaction product between superoxide and NO is involved in the induction of function and expression. The level of nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and DNA binding activity of nuclear extracts to the NF-κB consensus oligonucleotide was increased in MBEC4 cells pretreated with SNP. Taken together, these observations suggest that nitrosative stress leads to the up-regulation of the message for the efflux transporter and, ultimately, to the enhanced function, probably via a NF-κB-dependent mechanism.
Online Gamers' Preferences for Online Game Charging Mechanisms: The Effect of Exploration Motivation

Online games construct a virtual world where gamers can explore and experience various exciting environments. However, studies on gamer behavior rarely investigated the relationships between motivations and spending for online games. Understanding these relationships helps online game service providers manage gamers' motivations and develop better revenue models. This study investigated the relationships between one core motivation for playing online games-exploration motivation-and online gamers' willingness to spend for online games. Analytical results indicated that exploration motivation is positively related to gamer willingness to pay monthly access fees for playing online games, and is negatively related to gamer intention to buy or to bid for virtual items. The implications are discussed and suggestions to game service providers are offered.
Fabrication of thermo-regulating hexadecane-polyurethane core-shell composite nanofibrous mat as advanced technical layer: Effect of coaxial nozzle geometry

Hexadecane-polyurethane core-shell nanoweb with thermo-regulating property has potential application in technical textiles such as protective clothing. However, there are challenges in preparation of hexadecane-polyurethane core-shell nanofibers due to non-conductivity of hexadecane as well as its low viscosity. The geometry of coaxial nozzle is one of the most important process parameters which plays vital role in the formation of core-shell structured materials such as hexadecane-polyurethane nanofibers. To study the effect of coaxial nozzle geometry on success level of forming core-shell structures, coaxial nozzles with different lengths of inner nozzles were applied. Core-shell structure with suitable phase separation was formed as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The presence of both materials (polyurethane and hexadecane) in the nanofibrous mats was established by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal properties of the nanowebs were studied using differential scanning calorimetry and thermal gravimetric analysis. The results showed that the coaxial nozzle geometry had a significant influence on producing the core-shell structured hexadecane-polyurethane nanofibers. After obtaining core-shell structure by optimizing coaxial nozzle geometry, the core content of nanofibers was increased from 13% to 33% by adding surfactant to the core material. These results showed that the core-shell structured nanofibers with high loading of hexadecane in their core could be obtained by modifying process and materials in co-electrospinning method.
Bismuth incorporation into gallium phosphide

Gallium phosphide bismide (GaP1-xBix) epilayers with bismuth fractions from 0.9% to 3.2%, as calculated from lattice parameter measurements, were studied with Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) to directly measure bismuth incorporation. The total bismuth fractions found by RBS were higher than expected from the lattice parameter calculations. Furthermore, in one analyzed sample grown by molecular beam epitaxy at 300 °C, 55% of incorporated bismuth was found to occupy interstitial sites. We discuss implications of this high interstitial incorporation fraction and its possible relationship to x-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements of GaP0.99Bi0. 01.
BlueDetect: An iBeacon-Enabled Scheme for Accurate and Energy-Efficient Indoor-Outdoor Detection and Seamless Location-Based Service

The location and contextual status (indoor or outdoor) is fundamental and critical information for upper-layer applications, such as activity recognition and location-based services (LBS) for individuals. In addition, optimizations of building management systems (BMS), such as the pre-cooling or heating process of the air-conditioning system according to the human traffic entering or exiting a building, can utilize the information, as well. The emerging mobile devices, which are equipped with various sensors, become a feasible and flexible platform to perform indoor-outdoor (IO) detection. However, power-hungry sensors, such as GPS and WiFi, should be used with caution due to the constrained battery storage on mobile device. We propose BlueDetect: an accurate, fast response and energy-efficient scheme for IO detection and seamless LBS running on the mobile device based on the emerging low-power iBeacon technology. By leveraging the on-broad Bluetooth module and our proposed algorithms, BlueDetect provides a precise IO detection service that can turn on/off on-board power-hungry sensors smartly and automatically, optimize their performances and reduce the power consumption of mobile devices simultaneously. Moreover, seamless positioning and navigation services can be realized by it, especially in a semi-outdoor environment, which cannot be achieved by GPS or an indoor positioning system (IPS) easily. We prototype BlueDetect on Android mobile devices and evaluate its performance comprehensively. The experimental results have validated the superiority of BlueDetect in terms of IO detection accuracy, localization accuracy and energy consumption.
Combining event-and state-based norms

Institutions oer a mechanism to regulate the behaviour of agents without the need for these agents to internalise the norms of the system. Current formalisms can be divided in two groups depending on whether norms are expressed on the state of the normative structure or the events that bring about normative change. This paper argues that for complex systems both types are needed. To this extend, we introduce ESI, a formal model for institutions incorporating the concepts for both event- and state-based normative modelling. We demonstrate our approach with a simplied legal case-study.
Language teaching in a mixed reality games environment

How do you develop a game that is provably educational, that is engaging from pre-school to adult, and that independently targets different language ability and world experience/maturity? Our purpose is to teach students of German or English as a Second Language in the same way that a baby learns a First Language. Children acquire language automatically without overt teaching, without conjugating verbs, looking up dictionaries or taking complex classes in syntax and morphology. They acquire through being immersed in an environment in which they have to learn to communicate in the language in order to achieve a variety of social and personal goals. In this project we provide a mixed environment with real toys for the learner to play with, and a simulated environment and a simulated teacher/caregiver to interact with. Whilst young children may be happy building towers and bridges out of wooden blocks, older children and adults cannot be expected to find motivating goals from the same tasks as a baby tackles as s/he simultaneously learns about the world and his/her language, culture and society. This paper explores the methodology we are developing to independently control for degree of language knowledge and degree of world experience.