Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ASSESSMENT OF ANTI-INFLAMATORY ACTIVITY OF STATIN

Objective: Previous studies have reported inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl CoA reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) as the mechanism by which statin drugs reduce excessive endogenous cholesterol biosynthesis and thereby prevent cardiovascular diseases. However, there has been little or no report on its possible anti-inflammatory actions which may be another mechanism by which statin protects against coronary heart disease (CHD). This study investigated anti-inflammatory tendencies of simvastatin in albino rats. Method: Simvastatin was administered for a period of 28 days. Serum concentrations of interleukine-2 (IL-2) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were determined using ELISA method while serum lipids were measured spectrophotometrically. Results: Administration of statin caused a decrease in TNF-α, total cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein cholesterol while a mild increase was observed for IL-2 and high density lipoprotein cholesterol. Conclusion: The reduction in serum concentration of TNF-α in rats given statin may be an indication that statin prevents CHD by way of repressing expression of proteins involved in inflammatory processes .
Cytotoxicity activities against cervical and skin cancer cell lines of Smilax kraussiana and Anthocleista rhizophoroides, two endemic species widely used in traditional medicine in Madagascar

Smilax kraussiana and Anthocleista rhizophoroides are endemic plant species widely distributed in Madagascar and are used as herbal remedies. But their cytotoxicity has never been investigated. We evaluated the cytoxicity of extracts from these species on normal, cervical and skin cancer cell lines. The cell panel analyzed consisted of cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa cells containing the HPV18, SiHa cells carrying the HPV16), Human fibroblast cell (CCL-110), and mouse normal fibroblast cell (NIH3T3). Transformed NIH3T3 carrying oncogenes E6 and E7 were developed. Taxol was used as reference drug. Effects of plant extracts at different dosages and Taxol were analyzed using microscope observations, try pan blue test, and conventional MTT assay. The cytotoxicity activity was inferred by the presence of cell membrane blebbingin the cells treated with plant extracts compared to controls. These characteristics were different from observations made for Taxol that generated trypsinized-like rounded cells. The extracts from S. kraussiana (1.1 mg/kg) and A. rhizophoroides (1.2 mg/kg) exhibited higher cytotoxicity properties on both normal and cancer cell lines from fibroblast and cervix. Their effect was comparable to that of the reference drug Taxol used at low dose. Insertion of E6 and E7 oncogenes in normal fibroblast cells increases their resistance to low dose of plant extracts. All the assays showed dosedependent responses for the cell lines tested. The extracts in the present study like many others currently used in traditional medicine show general toxicity due to a lack of specificity for cancer cells. This prevents their consideration for clinical trials.
Quantum breathing mode of interacting particles in harmonic traps

The breathing mode – the uniform radial expansion and contraction of a system of interacting particles – is analyzed. Extending our previous work [Bauch et al 2009 Phys. Rev. B. 80 054515] we present a systematic analysis of the breathing mode for fermions with an inverse power law interaction potential w(r) ~ r−dwith d = 1,2,3 in the whole range of coupling parameters. The results thus cover the range from the ideal "gas" to the Wigner crystal-like state. In addition to exact results for two particles obtained from a solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation we present results for N = 4,6 from multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree-Fock simulations.
Inferring a Learner's Cognitive, Motivational and Emotional State in a Digital Educational Game.

Digital educational games (DEGs) possess the potential of providing an appealing and intrinsically motivating learning context. Usually this potential is either taken for granted or examined through questionnaires or interviews in the course of evaluation studies. However, an adaptive game would increase the probability of a DEG being actually motivating and emotionally appealing. In order to adapt the game to the learner s motivational and emotional state while engaged with a particular game scenario, an ongoing assessment of these states is required. An explicit assessment, e.g. by questionnaires occurring repeatedly in short time intervals on the screen would probably destroy the learner s flow experience. Thus, it is necessary to apply an approach that assesses the learner s current states in a non-invasive way. In the course of this paper we describe such a noninvasive, implicit assessment procedure which is based on the interpretation of behavioral indicators. A set of behavioral indicators has been elaborated whereby some of them are derived from the theory of information foraging (Pirolli and Card, 1999). Values for each behavioral indicator (e.g. amount, frequency, seconds, etc.) are gathered after equally long lasting time slices. After each time slice, these values serve as weighted predictors to multiple regression equations for the dimensions of a motivation model, an emotion model and a construct called clearness. The motivation model is based on the two dimensions of approach and avoidance motivation. The emotion model encompasses the dimensions valence and activation. Clearness is defined as appropriate problem representation. A comparison of the resulting values on these dimensions between the current and previous time slices covers fluctuations of the learner`s states over time. The assessment of such changes forms the prerequisite for providing in-game adaptations which aim to enhance the learner`s state, targeting towards a full exploitation of DEGs’ pedagogical potential.
Reconsidering transmission electron microscopy based estimates of viral infection of bacterioplankton using conversion factors derived from natural communities

The frequency of virus infected bacterial cells (FIC) was estimated in surface waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea using the frequency of visibly infected cells (FVIC) as determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and published average conversion factors (average 5.42, range 3.7 to 7.14) to relate FVIC to FIC. A virus dilution approach was used to obtain an independent estimation of FIC in bacterioplankton, and we provide evidence for the reliability of this approach. Across all investigated environments, FIC ranged from 2.4 to 43.4%. FIC data using both approaches were well correlated; however, the values were higher using the virus dilution approach. This indicates that the TEM approach has the potential to reveal spatiotemporal trends of viral infection; however, it may underestimate the significance of viral infection of bacteria when average conversion factors are used. Using data from the virus dilution approach and the TEM approach, we calculated new conversion factors for relating FVIC to FIC (average 7.11, range 4.34 to 10.78). Virally caused mortality of bacteria estimated from published FVIC data of marine and freshwater systems and using the new conversion factors ranged from not detectable to 129%, thus confirming that viral infection is a significant and spatiotemporally variable cause of bacterial cell death.
Fair evaluation of life insurance policies with periodic rebalancing between asset portfolios and interest rate guarantee

We consider the problem of evaluating at fair rates an innovative life insurance policy with a rebalancing scheme between different asset portfolios and an embedded interest rate guarantee. The premiums are invested in two portfolios of assets characterized by different levels of risk and sums are transferred from one fund to the other at some prefixed dates, depending on the performance of the funds. The dynamics of each fund is approximated by means of binomial lattices but, since the remixing feature makes the evolution of the riskier fund pathdependent, we propose a model based on “representative” values to keep the computational cost of the evaluation problem at a reasonable level. The usual backward induction coupled with linear interpolation allows us to determine the policy value at inception. Mathematics Subject Classification: 91G60
Theoretical Study of the Spectral Response in Near Infrared of III-V Photodetectors Based on Al, Ga, In, and Sb: The Window Layer Effect

The spectral responses are particularly important for the design of photodetectors operating in the wavelength range between 0,78μm to 2,6μm. To elaborate each device; we purpose a theoretical model to calculate the internal quantum efficiency. The theoretical curves of the internal quantum efficiency are obtained, by simulation to define the geometrical and photoelectric parameters, of the photodetectors devices. The modelling of the various devices allows us to analyze the situation at surface and in volume of each model. The results and the theoretical models, of the heterostructures based on Ga 1-x In x Sb, Ga 1-y Al y Sb grown on GaSb substrate, with window layer are shown after simulation of the internal quantum efficiency and sensitivity of each model. Analysis of these results allowed us to appreciate which of these models is more efficient and to identify the photoelectric parameters to improve for better internal quantum efficiency. We found that the presence of the window layer significantly reduces the losses by recombination thereby improving the photodetector performance.
Planetary accretion, oxygen isotopes, and the central limit theorem

Abstract— The accumulation of presolar dust into increasingly larger aggregates such as calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules, asteroids, and planets should result in a drastic reduction in the numerical spread in oxygen isotopic composition between bodies of similar size, in accord with the central limit theorem. Observed variations in oxygen isotopic composition are many orders of magnitude larger than would be predicted by a simple, random accumulation model that begins in a well‐mixed nebula, no matter what size objects are used as the beginning or end points of the calculation. This discrepancy implies either that some as yet unspecified but relatively long‐lived process acted on the solids in the solar nebula to increase the spread in oxygen isotopic composition during each and every stage of accumulation, or that the nebula was heterogeneous (at least in oxygen) and maintained this heterogeneity throughout most of its nebular history. Depending on its origin, large‐scale nebular heterogeneity could have significant consequences for many areas of cosmochemistry, including the application of well‐known isotopic systems to the dating of nebular events and the prediction of bulk compositions of planetary bodies on the basis of a uniform cosmic abundance. The evidence supports a scenario wherein the oxygen isotopic composition of nebular solids becomes progressively depleted in 16O with time due to chemical processing within the nebula, rather than a scenario where 16O‐rich dust and other materials are injected into the nebula, possibly causing its initial collapse.
Assessment Of The Level Of Bean (Fhaseolus Vulgaris L. - Rcsecoco-Glip-2) Seed Htfecn.toi And Contamination By Pseudomonas Syrinsae Pv. Phasbolicola And Its Implications On Disease Incidence And Severity

Detection of Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola (Burkholder, 1926) Young et_ al., 1978 inside and outside the bean seeds was carried out using dilution plate method. The seeds used were collected from farmers in Kisii, Nyeri and Meru districts. A sample of commercial bean seeds from Kenya Seed Company was also included. Only 4 bean seed samples did not have the pathogen both on the surface and inside the seeds; 12 bean seed samples had the pathogen on the surface only; 12 bean samples had the pathogen both on the surface and inside the seeds; the pathogen was only detectable inside the commercial seeds but not outside. Subsequently determination of the level of infection of bean seeds by F\ syringae pv. phaseolicola was carried out on the 12 bean seed samples that had the pathogen both inside and outside the seeds plus the commercial seed stock using dilution plate method coupled with most probable number method. The infection levels in farmers' seeds varied between 0.1% and 1.1% as compared to 0.3% for commercially certified seeds. The confirmatory tests used in these experiments were flourescein production, oxidase, arginine dihydrolase, leval production, gelatin liquefaction, nitrate reductase, phaseolotoxin bioassay and pathogenicity tests. Relationship between seed infection and subsequent seedling infection was carried out in the greenhouse. The ratio of the level of seed infection to the level of seedling infection was found to be approximately 1 : 1 for surface sterilized seeds. The contaminant pathogenic bacteria on the seed surface was found to increase primary infections in the greenhouse. Field studies were carried out to determine the relationship between time of inoculation and halo-blight severity on the bean plants,
Intra-varietal Agronomical Variability in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cannonau Investigated by Fluorescence, Texture and Colorimetric Analysis

To date, innovative, rapid and non-invasive techniques have been used to assess variations in morphological and technological characteristics between grape cultivars. In order to improve knowledge of the qualitative expression of the genetic traits of cv. Cannonau (syn. Grenache), fluorescence, texture and colorimetric analyses were performed on 85 biotypes attributable to this variety. Eighty-five Cannonau biotypes cultivated in the same vineyard were analysed in order to evaluate their morphological and agronomical characteristics. As regards the morphological traits, of the six descriptors observed, five were able to discriminate the Cannonau population according to different expression levels. Must composition, berry colour (using the Minolta tristimulus colorimeter), texture (assessed using the TaxT2i plus texturimeter) and fluorescence (using the Multiplex III detector) were determined on clusters harvested at the same time. Cluster analysis was able to separate the Cannonau population into five groups, characterised by differences in the following criteria: L*, a* and b*, berry skin thickness, FERARI, TSS, pH and titratable acidity, total polyphenols and total anthocyanins. The FERARI index was highly and positively correlated with total anthocyanins and negatively correlated with grape colour, while berry weight and berry skin thickness were not correlated with any variable assessed. The remarkable intra-variability encountered for the qualitative and quantitative characters in the Cannonau variety suggests that new biotypes could be selected for different oenological purposes, using techniques such as the measure of fluorescence and colorimetry. This is the first study carried out within the cv. Cannonau using innovative and classical techniques suitable to investigate intra-varietal variability.
Link between Knowledge Management and Managerial Accounting: Impacts of Environment and Structure

Knowledge plays a significant role in offering competitive advantages to firms, which helps do better than their rivals do. However, knowledge management is conditional on various conditions, for example the usefulness of knowledge management, business environments and firm structure as well as the adoption of managerial accounting in business. In the current research project, quantitative analyses was employed, particularly using confirmatory factor analyses, ordinary least square regressions and instrumental variable regressions to explore the relationships among knowledge management, its usefulness, business environments, firm structure and the adoption of managerial accounting in business. The empirical results disclose that the adoption of knowledge management is statistically related to its usefulness, firm structure and business environments as well as to the application of managerial accounting in business. This research project makes some implications on how the executives, who face different kinds of firm structure, high uncertainty of business environments, high application levels of managerial accounting in business and high usefulness of knowledge management, should adopt knowledge management in business.
Numerical Modeling of Soil Evaporation Process and Its Stages Dividing during a Drying Cycle

The soil water evaporation is a critical component of both the surface energy balance and water balance, affecting the mass and energy exchange between the land and the atmosphere. Evaporation process is involved in the highly complex interactions between media properties, transport processes, and boundary conditions. So, it is difficult to accurately determine these near-surface highly dynamic processes based only on the sparse field data and on the measurement-based methods. The objective of this paper was to obtain a detailed description of the soil water evaporation process and to better understand the evolutions of variables involved in the evaporation process during different stages of evaporation. To do this, a numerical simulation experiment in a bare silt soil was conducted to reproduce the soil drying process during a 20-d period after a 2-cm rainfall event. According to simulation results, the whole 20-d simulation period was divided into two main stages as well as a transient period from stage 1 to stage 2. Diurnal patterns of energy and water balance components, soil moisture, soil temperature, water fluxes, evaporation rate, dry surface layer (DSL), and evaporation zone during this drying process were fully described, which, in turn, could be as the possible indicators for judging the shift of stages of evaporation.
Improving customer retention management through cost-sensitive learning

Purpose – Retailers realize that customer churn detection is a critical success factor. However, no research study has taken into consideration that misclassifying a customer as a non-churner (i.e. predicting that (s)he will not leave the company, while in reality (s)he does) results in higher costs than predicting that a staying customer will churn. The aim of this paper is to examine the prediction performance of various cost-sensitive methodologies (direct minimum expected cost (DMECC), metacost, thresholding and weighting) that incorporate these different costs of misclassifying customers in predicting churn. Design/methodology/approach – Cost-sensitive methodologies are benchmarked on six real-life churn datasets from the retail industry. Findings – This article argues that total misclassification cost, as a churn prediction evaluation measure, is crucial as input for optimizing consumer decision making. The practical classification threshold of 0.5 for churn probabilities (i.e. when the churn probab.
Heuristic solution approach for the capacitated lot-sizing and scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times and retunrs

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Contract, renegotiation, and hold up: Results on the technology of trade and investment

This paper examines a class of contractual relationships with specific investment, a non-durable trading opportunity, and renegotiation. Trade actions are modeled as individual and trade-action-based option contracts ("non-forcing contracts") are explored. The paper introduces the distinction between divided and unified investment and trade actions, and it shows the key role this distinction plays in determining whether efficient investment and trade can be achieved. Under a non-forcing dual-option contract, the party without the trade action is made residual claimant with regard to the investment action, which induces efficient investment in the divided case. The unified case is more problematic; here, efficiency is typically not attainable but the dual-option contract is still optimal in a wide class of settings. More generally, the paper shows that, with ex post renegotiation, constraining parties to use "forcing contracts" implies a strict reduction in the set of implementable value functions.
Cloud Classification of Ground-Based Images Using Texture–Structure Features

AbstractCloud classification of ground-based images is a challenging task. Recent research has focused on extracting discriminative image features, which are mainly divided into two categories: 1) choosing appropriate texture features and 2) constructing structure features. However, simply using texture or structure features separately may not produce a high performance for cloud classification. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed that can capture both texture and structure information from a color sky image. The algorithm comprises three main stages. First, a preprocessing color census transform (CCT) is applied. The CCT contains two steps: converting red, green, and blue (RGB) values to opponent color space and applying census transform to each component. The CCT can capture texture and local structure information. Second, a novel automatic block assignment method is proposed that can capture global rough structure information. A histogram and image statistics are computed in every block and are con.
Probiotic Properties and Bile Salt Hydrolase Activity of Some Isolated Lactic Acid Bacteria

EIGHT lactic acid bacterial (LAB) isolates were obtained from food and non-food sources and identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Based on the sequencing results, the isolates belong to two species of lactobacilli, Lactobacillus plantarum and L. rhamnosus. These strains were then compared with a reference strain, Lactobacillus casei, to assess various probiotic properties, such as haemolytic activity, histamine formation ability, stress tolerance under certain stress conditions, antibiotic susceptibility and in vitro adhesion ability. Moreover, bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity was evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results showed that none of the isolates demonstrated any haemolytic activity or histamine formation. The isolated strains were also tolerant to acidic and alkaline conditions (pH 2.5, 3.5 and 9) for 3 and 6 h, as well as osmotic (3 M NaCl) and heat (55 and 70°C) stress, but were more responsive to oxidative and bile stress. The bacterial isolates also expressed high amounts of BSH, ranging from 90 to 142 U/mg in active cells, compared to L. casei (74 U/mg), which may be useful in cholesterol reduction. All bacterial isolates were resistant to vancomycin and susceptible to amoxicillin, cloxacillin and penicillin. All isolates were also highly hydrophobic (>70%), indicating that they are not easily flushed from the intestines.