Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toxicity assessment of the medicinal plant Cyathula prostrata.

Objectives: To evaluate the potential toxicity of methanolic extracts of the medicinal plant Cyathula prostrata. Methodology and results: Methanolic extract of C. prostrata (MECP) were evaluated at rates of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 mg/kg/bw to assess its impact on biochemical indices of Swiss albino mice. Hematological profile, biochemical assays, activities of liver marker enzymes, antioxidant potential and histopathological examinations were compared between control and experimental animals. The changes in biochemical parameters were statistically insignificant. The treated mice showed conspicuous toxic symptoms only after 150 mg/kg. These observations were supported by histopathological examination of liver and spleen sections. Conclusion and application of findings: These results demonstrate that the methanolic extract of Cyathula prostrata is not toxic and therefore it may be used safely in clinical trials.
Novel configuration for multilevel DC-link three-phase five-level inverter

A new multilevel DC-link three-phase five-level voltage source inverter topology is introduced here. A multilevel DC- link formed from single DC voltage supply and two cascaded half-bridge (CHB) power cells is connected to 12-switch three- phase bridge in such a way that the proposed inverter produces five levels in the output voltage waveform. Compared to comparable inverters, such as symmetrical CHB and hybrid multilevel inverters, the proposed topology maximises the number of voltage levels and reduces the number of utilised DC voltage supplies, switches, gate driver circuits and installation area. A modified fundamental frequency modulation technique based on determination of switching states of inverter is developed, to generate the appropriate switching gate signals. Furthermore, to validate the proposed topology, a low power prototype inverter has been built. The obtained simulation and experimental results ensure the feasibility of the suggested topology and also the compatibility of the used modulation technique.
Analytical Method for Simulation of Buckling andPost-buckling Behaviour of Curved Pates

Ships, ship-shaped offshore structures, land-based structures and aerospace structures typically consist of various curved plate components. It is difficult to simulate the buckling and post-buckling of curved thin and/or thick plates that have characteristics of nonlinear structural mechanics, such as nonlinear behaviour when loading is applied. The elastic post-buckling behaviour of a curved plate is very complex, and accompanied by mode changes due to the occurrence of secondary buckling behaviour. Therefore, it is very important to clarify the elastic post-buckling behaviour when subjected to axial loading. The aim of this study was to derive an analytical calculation based on the formulation of the total potential energy, and a mathematical solution to simulate the elastic buckling and post-buckling behaviour of cylindrically curved plates under axial compression. The accuracy of the proposed method with the aforementioned modelling techniques was verified through comparison with finite element analyses of various curved plate configurations.
In Silico Validation of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Virus Proteins for Better Drug Development

MERS Co-virus protein sequence of N, M, E and S-protein was validated by bioinformatics servers and tools. The study revealed that S-protein shows highest percentage of amino acid and the least in M and E-protein. The bit score also shows the same trend but the E-value is maximum in E and M protein. The amino acid composition revealed that N-protein is rich in glycine and M-protein rich in leucin. Pyrrolysine, Selenocysteine and cystein (N-Protein) are absent in all the protein studied an indication of low thermo stability. The physico-chemical study showed that M, N, and E proteins are positively charged due to specific amino acids (Arginin and lysine) and S-protein is negatively charged due to aspartic acid and glutamic acid. EC is maximum in S-protein. Instability Index (II) shows that E and S-proteins are more stable in test tube than other proteins. Further all proteins are hydrophobic with GRAVY below ‘0’. To get clearer picture of the physical and chemical attribute of the protein we generated 3D model and the model was validated and observed that the 3D structure falls in the accepted limits. The practical implication of the study is that the result will assists the pharmacologist and other drug developers and Government bodies to better knowledge on these proteins and develop possible new vaccine against MERS Co-virus. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3126/ijasbt.v1i4. 9184 Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol. 1(4): 272-278
Fluido-Dynamic and Electromagnetic Characterization of 3D Carbon Dielectrophoresis w ith Finite Element Analysis

The following work presents the fluido-dynamic and electromagnetic characterization of an array of 3D electrodes to be used in high throughput and high efficiency Carbon Dielectrophoresis (CarbonDEP) applications such as filters, continuous particle enrichment and positioning of particle populations for analysis. CarbonDEP refers to the induction of Dielectrophoresis (DEP) by carbon surfaces. The final goal is, through an initial stage of modeling and analysis, to reduce idea-to- prototype time and cost of CarbonDEP devices to be applied in the health care field. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is successfully conducted to model flow velocity and electric fields established by polarized high aspect ratio carbon cylinders, and its planar carbon connecting leads, immersed in a water-based medium. Results demonstrate correlation between a decreasing flow velocity gradient and an increasing electric field gradient toward electrodes' surfaces which is optimal for selected CarbonDEP applications. Simulation results are experimentally validated in the proposed applications. Copyright © 2008 IFSA.
Signs and Tools of Algebraic Reasoning: A Study of Models among Fifth Grade Students

Abstract This study focuses on the types of models created by students during algebraic pattern finding tasks. Attention is also given to the change in models over time. This is an important area of study because a closer look is needed to better understand the models created during mathematical activity, especially in the elementary classroom. It is reported here how fifth grade students used given concrete models and created new representations of models to reason algebraically about pattern finding tasks. Twenty-five fifth grade students participated in the three-day teaching experiment. Results indicate that students’ recursive models were abandoned and then transformed to explicit models, and finally adopted from others during whole class discussions. These adopted models in most cases were enduring over a six-week period.
Seeds of Distrust : Con ict in Uganda

We study the e¤ect of civil conict on social capital, focusing on the experience of Uganda during the last decade. Using individual and county-level data, we document large causal e¤ects on trust and ethnic identity of an exogenous outburst of ethnic conicts in 2002-05. We exploit two waves of survey data from Afrobarometer 2000 and 2008, including information on socioeconomic characteristics at the individual level, and geo-referenced measures of ghting events from ACLED. Our identi cation strategy exploits variations in the intensity of ghting both in the spatial and cross-ethnic dimensions. We nd that more intense ghting decreases generalized trust and increases ethnic identity. The e¤ects are quantitatively large and robust to a number of control variables, alternative measures of violence, and di¤erent statistical techniques involving ethnic and spatial xed e¤ects and instrumental variables. Controlling for the intensity of violence during the conict, we also document that post-conict economic recovery is slower in ethnically fractionalized counties. Our ndings are consistent with the existence of a self-reinforcing process between conicts and ethnic cleavages. The title of the rst version (April 2011) was "Seeds of Distrust? Conict in Uganda". We thank David Schönholzer and Nathan Zorzi for excellent research assistance, and are grateful for comments to Erwin Bulte, Stefano Della Vigna, Oeindrilla Dube, Ernst Fehr, Pauline Grosjean, Andreas Itten, Hannes Müller, Nathan Nunn, Florian Pelgrin, Torsten Persson, David Strömberg, Jakob Svensson, Marie-Anne Valfort, Leonard Wantchekon, and conference and seminar participants at the University of Neuchâtel (6.5.2011), "Concentration on Conict" meeting in Barcelona (21.5.2011), Annual Meeting of the Society of Economic Dynamics in Ghent (8.7.2011), University of Gothenburg (7.9.2011), IIES-Stockholm University (8.9.2011), "First Meeting on Institutions and Political Economy" in Lisbon (8.9.2011), Workshop on the "Political Economy of Governance and Conicts" in Namur (26.11.2011), Keio University (20.1.2012) and University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (16.2.2012). We also thank Henrik Pilgaard from UNHCR for sharing with us data on internally displaced people in Uganda. Dominic Rohner acknowledges nancial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no. 100014-122636). Fabrizio Zilibotti acknowledges nancial support from the ERC Advanced Grant IPCDP-229883. yDepartment of Economics, University of Zurich. Email: dominic.rohner@econ.uzh. ch. zDepartment of Economics, University of Lausanne. Email: mathias.thoenig@unil.ch. xDepartment of Economics, University of Zurich. Email: fabrizio.zilibotti@econ.uzh. ch.
THE IMPACT OF BARS ON DISK BREAKS AS PROBED BY S4G IMAGING

We have analyzed the radial distribution of old stars in a sample of 218 nearby face-on disks, using deep 3.6 μm images from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies. In particular, we have studied the structural properties of those disks with a broken or down-bending profile. We find that, on average, disks with a genuine single-exponential profile have a scale length and a central surface brightness which are intermediate to those of the inner and outer components of a down-bending disk with the same total stellar mass. In the particular case of barred galaxies, the ratio between the break and the bar radii (R br/R bar) depends strongly on the total stellar mass of the galaxy. For galaxies more massive than 1010 M ☉, the distribution is bimodal, peaking at R br/R bar ∼ 2 and ∼3.5. The first peak, which is the most populated one, is linked to the outer Lindblad resonance of the bar, whereas the second one is consistent with a dynamical coupling between the bar and the spiral pattern. For galaxies below 1010 M ☉, breaks are found up to ∼10 R bar, but we show that they could still be caused by resonances given the rising nature of rotation curves in these low-mass disks. While not ruling out star formation thresholds, our results imply that radial stellar migration induced by non-axisymmetric features can be responsible not only for those breaks at ∼2 R bar, but also for many of those found at larger radii.
Understanding and interpreting generalized ordered logit models

ABSTRACT When outcome variables are ordinal rather than continuous, the ordered logit model, aka the proportional odds model (ologit/po), is a popular analytical method. However, generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds models (gologit/ppo) are often a superior alternative. Gologit/ppo models can be less restrictive than proportional odds models and more parsimonious than methods that ignore the ordering of categories altogether. However, the use of gologit/ppo models has itself been problematic or at least sub-optimal. Researchers typically note that such models fit better but fail to explain why the ordered logit model was inadequate or the substantive insights gained by using the gologit alternative. This paper uses both hypothetical examples and data from the 2012 European Social Survey to address these shortcomings.
NMR protein conformers described by network parameters: a preliminary study.

NMR spectroscopy is one of the techniques of choice for the determination of protein structures. Its use has a number of positive aspects, among which the possibility to observe the influence of the solvent on the molecular structure, as well as the local movement of small molecular domains. However, due to the intrinsic flexibility of protein tertiary structures in solution, the NMR information does not lead to a single structure but to a set of conformers. Using the topological representation of such conformers we analyzed the corresponding network parameters, to enlight their association with some specific molecular feature. In this frame we showed that: i) the node degree parameter positively correlates with molecular ’compactness’, ii) the average shortest path length parameter positively correlates with molecular flexibility, and iii) as expected, the two parameters are anticorrelated between each other.
Organizational Resources, External Environment, Innovation and Firm Performance: A Critical Review of Literature

Explaining why organizations in the same industry and markets differ in their performance remains a fundamental question within strategic management circles. Researchers have partly attributed the variation to a number of factors among them industry structure, resources of a firm, and continuous innovation that keep a firm a head of competition. On a global scale, there is continued search for the sources of variation in firm performance. As part of this effort, this paper reviews literature on factors that have partial explanation to variation in organization performance namely: organizational resources, external environment and innovation. It is apparent from literature that organization resources have a direct impact on performance. However, this influence is subject to other factors key among them the external environment and innovation. In an attempt to bring out extant gaps on how the resource - performance relationship is influenced by the external environment and innovation, this paper observes that these factors have been found to have independent effect on performance. However, their role in this respect remain scanty, both conceptually and empirically. To contribute to the current state of knowledge in this front, the paper proposes a conceptual model that can guide an empirical investigation on the influence of external environment and innovation on the relationship between organizational resources and performance. The empirical research, it is hoped will address the identified gaps.
Full-Sky Analysis of Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy with IceCube and HAWC

During the past two decades, experiments in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres have observed a small but measurable energy-dependent sidereal anisotropy in the arrival direction distribution of galactic cosmic rays. The relative amplitude of the anisotropy is $10^{-4} - 10^{-3}$. However, each of these individual measurements is restricted by limited sky coverage, and so the pseudo-power spectrum of the anisotropy obtained from any one measurement displays a systematic correlation between different multipole modes $C_\ell$. To address this issue, we present the preliminary status of a joint analysis of the anisotropy on all angular scales using cosmic-ray data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the South Pole ($90^\circ$ S) and the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory located at Sierra Negra, Mexico ($19^\circ$ N). We describe the methods used to combine the IceCube and HAWC data, address the individual detector systematics and study the region of overlapping field of view between the two observatories.
Thermal requirements, growth and yield of pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] genotypes under different agroclimatic zones of Punjab

A field experiment was carried out at four locations i.e. Ludhiana, Bathinda, Faridkot and Gurdaspur to study the influence of diverse environments on symbiotic traits, thermal requirements, growth in terms of plant height (cm) and yield (kg/ha) of pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. ] genotypes under different agroclimatic zones of Punjab. Results indicated that crop sown on 15 May recorded the higher grain yield than later sowing dates of 1 June and 15 June at all the locations; 15 May sowing provided 23.3, 22.1 and 46.7% higher grain yield over 1 May, 1 June and 15 June sowing, respectively. Early sown crop acquired higher agro-climatic indices than delayed sowings. The crop sown on 15 May provided the maximum gross returns, net returns and B:C ratio as evident from the additional income of Rs 13599, 13040 and 22865 Rs/ha over 1 May, 1 June and 15 June sowing, respectively. Among the genotypes, AL 201 at Ludhiana and Gurdaspur, AL 1578 at Bathinda and PAU 881 at Faridkot resulted in the highest grain yield and maximum returns. The genotype AL 201 took more days to 50% flowering and maturity at all the locations. It can be concluded that 15 May is the optimum sowing date and AL 201 and PAU 881 are the promising genotypes for providing high productivity of pigeonpea under different agroclimatic zones of Punjab.
Effect of Saline Irrigation Water and Humic Acid Application on Growth and Productivity of Two Cultivars of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp)

Two field experiment was carried out in the Experimental Farm of the Desert Research Center at Ras Sudr, South Sinai Governorate, during the two successive summer seasons of 2008 and 2009 to study the effect of the combinations between two cowpea cultivars, i.e. Kafr El- Shekh and Cream 7 with three saline irrigation water treatments, i.e., (3500, 4500 and 5500 ppm) and four levels of humic acid application (0, 2, 4 and 6 kg/ fed.) on growth, yield and its components, also chemical compositions of leaves and seeds of cowpea plants. Results revealed that: 1.Kafr El-Shekh cultivar surpassed than cream 7 cultivar in plant fresh weight, total pods yield, N, P, K uptake in addition to K/Na and Ca/Na ratio. Also, N, P, K, protein and carbohydrate content in cowpea seeds tissues. 2. The lowest values of plant growth, total pods yield N, P, K uptake and K/Na, Ca/Na ratio. Also, N, P, K, protein and carbohydrate content in cowpea seeds tissues were observed by the highest salinity level (5500 ppm). But this level significantly increased Na, Ca and Cl uptake by plant leaves, in addition to Cl and proline content in seeds tissues. 3. The effect of humic acid on the vegetative growth of cowpea plant i.e. plant height, number of branches, fresh weight, leaf area/ plant, total pods yield, N, P, K uptake and K/Na, Ca/Na ratio. Also N, P, K, protein and carbohydrate content in cowpea seeds showed significant increase with increasing the rate of humic acid application from 0, 3, 4.5 up to 6 kg/fed. 4. The interaction between cultivars and water salinity with humic acid application showed no statistical differences in both seasons.
Unsustainable Land-Based Source Pollution in a Climate of Change: A Roadblock to the Conservation and Recovery of Elkhorn Coral Acropora palmata (Lamarck 1816)

Chronic eutrophication and turbidity are critical detrimental factors impacting coral reef ecosystems, adversely affecting their ecological functions, services, benefits, and resilience across multiple spatial scales and over prolonged periods of time. Inadequate land use practices and lack of appropriate sewage treatment can adversely contribute to increase land-based source pollution (LBSP) impacts in coastal waters and to magnify impacts by sea surface warming trends associated to climate change. Fringing coral reefs off Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, support extensive remnant patches of Elkhorn coral Acropora palmata (Lamarck 1816), which was listed in 2006 as a threatened species under the US Endangered Species Act. Chronic impacts by LBSP have significantly affected local downstream fringing reefs. We characterized the spatial extent of a water quality stress gradient across 12 reefs along the Vega Baja coast through monthly measurements of multiple physico-chemical parameters. Most parameters, particularly PO4, , chlorophyll-a, and the concentration of optical brighteners (OABs), showed a statistically significant increase (PERMANOVA, p 4, , and chlorophyll-a, exceeded recommended concentrations for coral reef ecosystems by factors of 7 - 50 times, 600 - 1240 times, and 17 - 83 times, respectively, depending on the source of the effluents and the distance from sewage pollution sources. Also, water turbidity exceeded 4 - 10 times the recommended value for pristine coral reefs. Coral reefs showed significant decline in close proximity to the polluted zone, showing a significantly different benthic community structure (PERMANOVA, p i.e., macroalgae, algal turf) and bare substrate. Percent coral cover and abundance of A. palmata, showed a significant increase with distance. Coral species richness, species diversity index, and the variance in taxonomic distinctness were very low on reef patches adjacent to the polluted zone, increased at a moderate distance with increasing coral cover and co-existence of multiple species, and declined far from the pollution source due to dominance exerted by A. palmata. This study suggests that chronic LBSP resulted in a major decline of one of the largest and most dense remnant stands of A. palmata across the northeastern Caribbean and that nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentrations were unsustainable for coral reefs. This situation requires immediate solution to prevent further damage to these unprecedented resources. It further suggests that chronic LBSP may synergistically magnify sea-surface warming impacts driving corals to an increased state of risk in face of forecasted climate change impacts. Actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts on coral reefs must require a priori controls of LBSP to be effective.
Product Change Management: Assessing the challenges to maintaining design integrity throughout the product lifecycle

The designs of high-value, long-life products such as aircraft, trains and industrial plant continually evolve, both at the time of manufacture but also during their operating lives. Such products are invariably managed in complex multi-stakeholder environments. It is important that regulatory systems are able to monitor that the design integrity established when a product is first created is maintained through-life. The purpose of this paper is to assess the challenges to maintaining design integrity throughout the product lifecycle. Discussions with a number of organisations undertaken by the authors have indicated that managing product information in the context of the product change process continues to be problematic. There is a fundamental need to improve the alignment between through-life design management processes, information technology and the management models used to guide decision making. To quantify the challenges currently being experienced a survey was undertaken. The results of the survey have been used to support the development of ten guiding principles to inform the thinking needed to resolve the challenges experienced with the management of design change for large complex products.
Soft Computing Based Cavity Temperature Control of Plastic Injection Molding system

The plastic parts having complex three dimensional structures are produced by Plastic injection molding system. Thequality of the product is determined by controlling the temperature of the mold cavity. The mold cavity temperature controlwith the conventional ON/OFF, PI, and PID controllers have several disadvantages. This paper proposes the method toreduce settling time and undershoot in cavity temperature control with selected evolutionary algorithms. The controllerparameters are optimized with Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) Algorithm for PID and I-PDcontrollers by considering Mean Square Error (MSE) as fitness function. Compared to conventional methods theparameter optimization using soft computing methods such as GA and PSO improves the performance indices of PID andI-PD controllers.