Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
STUDY OF SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE AND MALONDIALDEHYDE CONCENTRATIONS IN MICE AFTER ADMINISTRATION OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT of Scurrula atropurpurea (BL.)

The aim of this research was to investigate the potential effect of methanolic extract of Scurrula atropurpurea (MESA) in reducing oxidative stress through observation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in mice. In this research, 25 male mice were divided into four groups with five replications. Group I (K1, without MESA) was considered as a control group, while Group II (K2), III (K3), and IV (K4) were given 1000, 2000, and 4000 mg MESA/kg BW, respectively. After 14 days, SOD activity and MDA concentration were measured spectrophotometrically. The SOD activity did not significantly increased (P>0.05) in group K1, K2, K3, and K4 with values were 19.469±2.072, 17.4±1.373, 20.53±3.411, and 23.87±2.528 U/ml, respectively. In contrast, MDA concentration was decreased (P>0.05) with values of 492.750±19.418, 492.750±19.418, 457.125±30.095, 454.625±19.080, and 475.875±37.659 ng/mL in groups K1, K2, K3, and K4, respectively. It can be concluded that the administration of MESA tend to increase SOD activity and decrease MDA concentration in this study, thus might be able to reduce oxidative stress in mice.
Environmental Sustainability 2.0: Empirical Analysis of Environmental Erp Implementation

We examined the implementation of a new and rapidly emerging class of enterprise software system for managing environmental resources such as energy and carbon emissions. Analysis of the implementation of an environmental enterprise resource planning (ERP) system at a leading global software and technology services company, SunGard Data Systems Inc., yielded three primary findings. First, we found that adoption of environmental ERP supported implementation of the corporate environmental sustainability strategy, and at the same time, may transform that very strategy. Second, we uncovered unique data sharing hurdles originating in the upstream energy information value chain. Finally, we identified the role of private equity as one important stakeholder that influences environmental ERP adoption. Overall, our analysis revealed that well-established IS phenomena have unique underlying mechanisms in the environmental sustainability context, inform understanding of cause and effect, and may ultimately enhance managerial practice and inform theoretical understanding.
Essays on robust mechanism design

Chapter 1: Under the average common value function, we select almost uniquely the mechanism that gives the seller the largest portion of the true value in the worst situation among all the direct mechanisms that are feasible, ex-post implementable and individually rational. Chapter 2: Strategy-proof, budget balanced, anonymous, envy-free linear mechanisms assign p identical objects to n agents. The efficiency loss is the largest ratio of surplus loss to efficient surplus, over all profiles of non-negative valuations. The smallest efficiency loss is uniquely achieved by the following simple allocation rule: assigns one object to each of the p−1 agents with the highest valuation, a large probability to the agent with the pth highest valuation, and the remaining probability to the agent with the (p+1)th highest valuation. When “envy freeness” is replaced by the weaker condition “voluntary participation”, the optimal mechanism differs only when p is much less than n. Chapter 3: One group is to be selected among a set of agents. Agents have preferences over the size of the group if they are selected; and preferences over size as well as the “stand-outside” option are single-peaked. We take a mechanism design approach and search for group selection mechanisms that are efficient, strategy-proof and individually rational. Two classes of such mechanisms are presented. The proposing mechanism allows agents to either maintain or shrink the group size following a fixed priority, and is characterized by group strategy-proofness. The voting mechanism enlarges the group size in each voting round, and achieves at least half of the maximum group size compatible with individual rationality.
Cascaded-systems analyses of the DQE of double-Z x-ray detectors including photoelectric, coherent and incoherent interactions

Image quality in diagnostic x-ray detectors is limited by statistical properties governing how, and where, x-ray energy is deposited in a detector. This in turn depends on the physics of underlying x-ray interactions, and the development of theoretical models of x-ray interaction physics is therefore a critical step in optimal detector design and assessment. While cascaded-systems analyses are often used to describe image signal and noise in many systems, it has always been assumed there is only a single element (single Z) with which all x rays interact even though most commonly used and promising candidates are compound materials. In addition, coherent and incoherent scattering and their effects on image quality are usually ignored but may be important in some situa- tion such as in low-Z atoms with high x-ray energies. We present a theoretical model of energy deposition within a double-Z x-ray detector material that addresses the nature of energy absorption following photoelectric and incoherent interactions and the effects of coherent scatter prior to energy deposition by photoelectric interactions. A cascaded systems approach is used to describe the transfer of signal and noise in terms of the modulation transfer function (MTF), Wiener noise power spectrum (NPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE). The model is validated by comparing Monte Carlo simulation results with CsI and PbI2 double-Z materials. Excellent agreement is obtained for each metric over the entire diagnostic energy range up to 10 cycles/mm. It is shown that in all cases tested, a combination of two single-Z models weighted by the atomic density of each atom type gives equivalent results to the more comprehensive double-Z model within a few percent. This result suggests the simpler model is adequate and may be preferred for the optimal design of conventional radiography detectors and the estimation of x-ray imaging performance of novel photoconductor materials.
Density-Based LLE Algorithm for Network Forensics Data

In a network forensic system, there are huge amounts of data that should be processed, and the data contains redundant and noisy features causing slow training and testing processes, high resource consumption as well as poor detection rate. In this paper, a schema is proposed to reduce the data of the forensics using manifold learning. Manifold learning is a popular recent approach to nonlinear dimensionality reduction. Algorithms for this task are based on the idea that the dimensionality of many data sets is only artificially high. In this paper, we reduce the forensic data with manifold learning, and test the result of the reduced data.
Clinical application of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs in children and adolescents

= Abstract = Although the increasing incidence of central precocious puberty (CPP) in Korea has recently raised public concerns about health and growth problems, there are many areas of uncertainty regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of CPP. In this paper, we review the definition of precocity, the assessment of CPP, and the hormonal abnormalities that support the diagnosis. In addition, we review the practical guidelines regarding the clinical use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs in children with CPP. Indications for treatment, determination of dosage, monitoring during treatment, and discontinuation of therapy are discussed. (Korean J Pediatr 2010;53:294-299)
Direct Numerical Simulation and Subgrid Analysis of a Transitional Droplet Laden Mixing Layer

Direct numerical simulations of a temporally developing, droplet laden mixing layer undergoing transition to mixing turbulence are conducted. The formulation includes complete two-way couplings of mass, momentum, and energy. As many as 18×10^6 grid points are used to discretize the Eulerian gas phase equations and up to 5.7×10^6 initially polydisperse evaporating droplets are tracked in the Lagrangian reference frame. The complete transition to mixing turbulence is captured for several of the higher Reynolds number simulations and it is observed that increasing the droplet mass loading ratio results in a more “natural” turbulence characterized by increased rotational energy and less influence of the initial forcing perturbations. An increased mass loading also results in increased droplet organization within the layer. An a priori subgrid analysis is then conducted which shows that neglecting subgrid velocity fluctuations in the context of large eddy simulations may result in significant errors in predicting the droplet drag force for Stokes numbers St∼1 (with the flow time scale based on the mean velocity difference and initial vorticity thickness). Similar possible errors of lesser magnitude are also observed for the droplet heat flux and evaporation rate when thermodynamic subgrid fluctuations are neglected. An extension of the eddy interaction model commonly used in Reynolds-averaged simulations is then proposed in order to account for the missing subgrid information. Probability density functions (PDFs) of the subgrid fluctuations calculated across homogeneous planes are shown to be highly intermittent, particularly near the laminar–turbulent boundaries of the mixing layer. However, the actual subgrid PDFs calculated locally are much less intermittent and may be adequately modeled by the Gaussian distribution throughout the majority of the mixing layer. A scale similarity model is then employed to predict both the velocity and thermodynamic subgrid variances. The similarity model is well correlated with the actual subgrid variances and shows good agreement in predicting the local fluctuation intensities when a filter width-dependent model constant is used. The subgrid fluctuation variances acting on the droplets are then shown to be well modeled if the Eulerian subgrid variance model is interpolated to the droplet locations.
Flexibilization, Globalization, and Privatization: Three Challenges to Labour Rights in Our Time

Three dynamics are coalescing to reshape labor relations in the 21st century in the United States: They are flexibilization, globalization and privatization. "Flexibilization" refers to the changing work practices by which firms no longer use internal labor markets or implicitly promise employees lifetime job security, but rather seek flexible employment relations that permit them to increase or diminish their workforce, and reassign and redeploy employees with ease. "Globalization" refers to the increase in cross-border transactions in the production and marketing of goods and services that facilitates firm relocation to low labor cost countries. And "privatization" refers to the rise of neo-liberal ideology, the attack on big government and the dismantling of the social safety net that have dominated public policy in the U.S. in recent years. All three of these dynamics have been detrimental to U.S. employment standards and union strength. This article describes how each of these dynamics has undermined labor rights and then asks, what prospects are there, in light of this environment, for protecting employment rights, re-invigorating unions, and security a social safety net? The author answers by pointing to the many areas of social life in which the spread of the global leads to the re-emergence of the local. She argues that the response to the global threat to labor standards lies in a revival of collective action at the local level. She further contends that the combined forces of flexibilization, globalization, and privatizations make collective action at the local level not only necessary, but also possible.
Evaluating Interval Estimates for Comparing Two Proportions with Rare Events

Epidemiologic studies frequently try to estimate the impact of a specific risk factor. The risk difference and the risk ratio are generally useful measurements for this purpose. When using such measurements for rare events, the standard approaches based on the normal approximation may fail, in particular when no events are observed. In this paper, we discuss and evaluate several existing methods to construct confidence intervals around risk differences and risk ratios using Monte-Carlo simulations when the disease of interest is rare. The results in this paper provide guidance how to construct interval estimates of the risk differences and the risk ratios when no events are detected. In epidemiologic research estimates of disease frequency are the basis for the comparison of popu- lations and the identification of disease determinants. The comparison of two frequencies can be combined into a single summary parameter that estimates the association between an exposure and the risk of developing a disease. This can be accomplished by calculating the risk difference and the risk ratio. The risk difference(RD) is defined as the difference between the risk in the exposed and non-exposed groups and provides information about the absolute effect of the exposure or the excess risk of disease in those exposed over those non-exposed. The RD describes the absolute change in risk attributable to the exposure and is useful in answering the question how much of the disease can be prevented if the exposure in question is eliminated. In epidemiology a more frequent measure of the difference between two proportions is their ratio referred to as the risk ratio, rate ratio, or relative risk, depending on the type of study. A risk ratio(RR) or relative risk is the ratio of the incidence of disease in the exposed group divided by the corresponding incidence of disease in the non-exposed group. Both RD and RR can be used to determine the existence and the strength of an association between exposure and outcome in cohort studies but are not appropriate for the analysis of case-control
Does Disclosure of D&O Liability Insurance Policies Influence Investor Perceptions of Earnings Management?

In response to the financial frauds that precipitated the “Great Recession of 2007,” Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in July of 2010. In addition to enhancing the budget of the enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the act also provides new monetary incentives for whistleblowers to report fraud. As a result of the act’s passing, shareholder litigation against company directors and officers is expected to increase dramatically in future years (Polikoff and Huskins 2011). While many of these future securities lawsuits will result in substantial financial settlements paid to shareholders, the majority of these payouts will not be funded by the companies themselves, but by their insurance carriers. 1 Directors’ and Officers’ (D&O) insurance policies, which are purchased by a substantial portion of U.S. corporations, can be structured to cover, not only the costs of defending litigation, but also the related settlement or judgment (Towers & Watson 2011). Therefore, director and officer exposure to liability is at the forefront of the new legislation. Unlike some international regulatory regimes, the SEC does not require U.S. registrants to disclose the details of their D&O insurance policies and few firms voluntarily provide this information (Griffith 2005). 2 As a result, existing empirical research on the effects of the
Dynamic assessment of pragmatics: The impact of dynamic assessment on EFL Learners' interlanguage pragmatic development

Dynamic assessment as a tool to construct the students’ learning tunnel on their weak points and in a way they need on the bases of observations and tests, has the capacity to push the pragmatic knowledge forward in a visible manner. For this study; forty six students were divided into an experimental and control groups. The video-and-questionnaire task by Bardovi-Harlig and Dornyei (1998) was used as Pre-test for both groups, which looks for a general ability in Pragmatic knowledge in students. The results of it revealed very close results in the two groups when comparing with each other, following their previously taken proficiency test. While the experimental group equipped with Dynamic Assessment treatment on the field of Pragmatics, the control group continued their normal classes on the bases of Translation and Awareness rising with same material. The open ended Multimedia Elicitation Task by Gila. A Schauer (2009) with additional emphasis on the one by one student double peer interviews was used as the Post-test to make Pragmatic ability exactly sensible. The results were analyzed twice by two raters and then the correlation has been taken between scores. The results of comparing their post-test scores indicated significant differences between the control and experimental groups on their ability to use language. The results of the study will enable language teachers to equip their students with more powerful ability in making proper language item choices. The instruction is not time consuming and easy to be performed while it will have very effective role in students’ language training.
MODEL INDEPENDENT OBJECT EXTRACTION FROM DIGITAL SURFACE MODELS

This paper is devoted to analyze and improve a recently introduced technique that may be applied to Digital Surface Models (DSMs) produced by different sensors (Interferometric SAR, for instance, or LIDAR, or even photogrammetry) for object detection and extraction. The proposed approach, based on modified image analysis techniques, does not need to specify any surface or object model of the object to be recognized. To this aim, we apply a jointly regularization and segmentation algorithm to the original data, so that it is easy to partition them into significant structures, the background, and uninteresting areas from a 3D point of view). The criteria applied to segment the data are geometric ones, involving the principle of segment and plane-fitting. By means of this approach we will show that it is possible to better characterize urban scenes in terms of buildings, trees, roads and other natural and geometrical structures. In particular, looking at their 3D structure we may be able to discard natural objects without referring to given object models. The original data resolution is exploited as much as possible, and the method provides a high robustness to noise.
The influence of pedagogical leadership on the construction of professional identity: a systematic review

Introduction: This article corresponds to a systematic review analyzes the relationship of pedagogical leadership with professional identity, both concepts highly demanded by international research. Methods: The process has followed the guidelines recommended by the PRISMA statement, to predict its systematic nature. During the same, a thorough search was made of articles located in the databases Scopus and Web of Science, during the period 2007 to 2017. After the application of the inclusion criteria, 24 articles constituted the sample of the present article. Results: the selected articles highlight the strong influence of leadership in the construction of the professional identity of both the management and the teaching staff. In turn, the selected studies also contemplated the impact of professional identity on the figure of the teacher as a school leader. Discussion: There is a certain coincidence in highlighting the importance of certain factors such as teacher collaboration, greater flexibility of organizational structures or the empowerment of teachers as a way to potential the professional capital of the professional while generating internal changes in the organization leading to a school improvement.
A New TDR Multiplexing System for Reliable Electrical Conductivity and Soil Water Content Measurements

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is a standard method to estimate soil water content and bulk soil electrical conductivity. In many applications, several TDR probes are installed in soil columns or field setups, and TDR measurements are acquired using a multiplexing system. Commercially available multiplexers share a common ground, which might lead to inaccurate TDR measurements when probes are installed close together or at sites with high electromagnetic noise. Therefore, a new eight‐channel differential multiplexer (50C81‐SDM) was developed that allows communication with standard TDR equipment. In a first step, the new multiplexer was tested to analyze channel noise and channel to channel variability for open reflection coefficients and travel times. The results indicate that there is no significant difference between the channels for both the open reflection coefficient and travel times. Second, the 50C81‐SDM multiplexer was tested using TDR probes installed in electrolyte solutions and a sand tank. In contrast to multiplexers with a common ground, they showed no interference of closely spaced TDR probes (spacing ranging from 5 to 95 cm). On the other hand, the SDMX50 multiplexer showed absolute differences in bulk electrical conductivities of >0.001 Sm−1 for high volumetric water contents and high bulk electrical conductivities. Measurements at a test site with high electromagnetic noise showed the applicability of the 50C81‐SDM multiplexer in such environments, but only if the entire TDR setup was disconnected from the permanent power supply.
Factors affecting bank profitability in Europe: An empirical investigation

The aim of this paper was to explore the relationship between bank-specific characteristics and profitability in European banking sector in order to determine the impact of internal factors on achieving high profitability. A regression analysis was done on an unbalanced panel dataset related to 28 European banks over the period of 2006-2015. The largest bank for any single country of the European Union was selected. Regression results show that capital ratio and size have positive impacts on bank profitability in Europe,; while higher asset quality results in lower profitability levels. Findings also suggest that banks with higher deposit ratio tend to be more profitable. The study provides interesting insights into the characteristics and practices of profitable banks in Europe. Few econometric studies have empirically explored the determinants of profitability in Europe banking sector so far, even though similar studies have been conducted in several developed countries. Key words: Bank profitability, determinants of bank performance, internal factors of bank profitability, European banking sector.
A Fuzzy Controlled Incremental Conductance Method for Z-Source PV Inverter MPPT

Based on conventional incremental conductance (IncCond) method, a fuzzy controlled incremental conductance controller is proposed for Z-source PV inverter to realize its maximum power point tracking (MPPT). The principle of Zsource PV inverter is illustrated. Then an improvement of SVPWM for Z-source inverter is introduced for DC-AC conversion. The fuzzy rules and membership functions are designed to generate adaptive voltage step size of incremental conductance. Simulation and experiment results reveal that proposed fuzzy controlled Inc-Cond method can track maximum power point (MPP) much faster and achieve less fluctuation at the vicinity of MPP. Experimental results also verified proposed fuzzy algorithm is feasible to realize with DSP controllers, and the improved SVPWM combined with proposed algorithm can be easily implemented with Z-source PV inverter. Keywords-MPPT; Z-source inverter; photovoltaic; fuzzy control; incremental conductance