Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and safety of catnip (Nepeta cataria) as a novel filth fly repellent

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is known for its pseudo-narcotic effects on cats. Recently, it has been reported as an effective mosquito repellent against several Aedes and Culex species, both topically and spatially. Our laboratory bioassays showed that catnip essential oil (at a dosage of 20 mg) resulted in average repellency rates of 96% against stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) and 79% against houseflies, Musca domestica (L.), respectively. This finding suggested that the application of repellent could be used as part of filth fly management. Further evaluations of catnip oil toxicity were conducted to provide a broad-spectrum safety profile of catnip oil use as a potential biting and nuisance insect repellent in urban settings. Acute oral, dermal, inhalation, primary dermal and eye irritation toxicity tests were performed. The acute oral LD50 of catnip oil was found to be 3160 mg/kg body weight (BW) and 2710 mg/kg BW in female and male rats, respectively. The acute dermal LD50 was > 5000 mg/kg BW. The acute inhalation LD50 was observed to be > 10 000 mg/m3. Primary skin irritation tested on New Zealand white rabbits showed that catnip oil is a moderate irritant. Catnip oil was classified as practically non-irritating to the eye. In comparison with other U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved mosquito repellents (DEET, picaridin and p-menthane-3,8-diol), catnip oil can be considered as a relatively safe repellent, which may cause minor skin irritation.
COPD_A_224348 2441..2449

Jean-Marie Grosbois Justine Heluain-Robiquet François Machuron Gaelle Terce Cécile Chenivesse Benoit Wallaert 3,5,6 Olivier Le Rouzic 3,5 1FormAction Santé, Pérenchies F-59840, France; 2CH Béthune, Service de Pneumologie et Réhabilitation Respiratoire, Béthune F-62400, France; 3CHU Lille, Service de Pneumologie et Immuno-Allergologie, Centre de Référence Constitutif des Maladies Pulmonaires Rares, Department of Heart and Lung Diseases, Lille F-59000, France; 4CHU Lille, Department of Biostatistics, University Lille, EA 2694 Santé Publique: Epidémiologie Et Qualité Des Soins, Lille F-59000, France; 5University Lille, Lille F-59000, France; 6Inserm, CNRS, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019 UMR 8204 CIIL Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille, Lille F-59000, France Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) improves exercise tolerance and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), regardless of disease severity. Socioeconomic deprivation has been linked to the incidence of COPD; however, little is known about its impact on PR outcomes. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, 459 COPD patients were enrolled and dichotomized into socially deprived (n=276) and non-socially deprived (n=183) groups based on a cut-off of 30.17 in the EPICES questionnaire (Evaluation of Deprivation and Inequalities in Health Centers), which evaluates socioeconomic disadvantage. The PR program consisted of once-weekly home sessions for 8 weeks, and consisted of an individualized plan of retraining exercises, physical activities, therapeutic education, and psychosocial and motivational support. Exercise tolerance, anxiety and depression, and quality of life were assessed using the 6 min stepper test (6MST), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Visual Simplified Respiratory Questionnaire (VSRQ). Assessments were made before the PR program (baseline) and then at 2 (T2), 8 (T8), and 14 (T14) months after baseline. Results: Compared with the non-socially deprived group, socially deprived patients were younger, more frequently women, active smokers, and living alone, and belonged to lower socioprofessional categories. At baseline, 6MST, VSRQ, and HADS measures were lower for the socially deprived than the non-socially deprived group. At T2, T8, and T14, there were no significant between-group differences in any outcome, and the percentage of patients showing clinically important improvements was the same in both groups. Conclusion: Home-based PR is effective for COPD patients in the short and long term, regardless of socioeconomic status.
International Journal of Instruction

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of self-confidence on mathematics achievement. In this meta-analysis, the effect of self-confidence on mathematics achievement was analysed using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In the first stage of the study, the average effect size of self-confidence on mathematics achievement was determined, and in the second stage, the moderators that may impact average effect size were investigated. For the meta-analysis, 336 independent data belonging to 76 countries included in the TIMSS (2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015) were combined, and a sample of 1,028,567 subjects was obtained. The average effect size was then calculated using the differences between means (Cohen d) based on the random effect model, whereas the significance of the moderator variables was calculated using the Q statistic. The results indicated that self-confidence has a moderate effect on mathematics achievement. In addition, the year in which the survey was conducted, national culture, continent of the country and Human Development Index were found to play a moderator role in the effect of self-confidence on mathematics achievement. In this respect, the economic, cultural and social capital of students are very similar to each other as the economic levels of the countries and individual families increase. These similarities highlight the differences between students’ personal characteristics, wherein traits such as self-confidence have become one of the most important variables that determine students’ mathematics achievement in recent years.
Scientific visualizations

Visualizations for three different categories of problems are presented: measurements of object parameters as they vary over time, constructing surfaces from unorganized sets of points, and representing the internal structure of volumes using isosurfaces. Problem backgrounds are discussed as well as the operational details of each visualization. Visualizations were written with ease of use in mind for Spiegel, a programmable visualization environment.
Causes and consequences of timing of breeding in Common Guillemot, Uria aalge, in the Baltic Sea

Timing of breeding in Common guillemots at Stora Karlsö, central Baltic Sea, is determined by the size of the sprat stock and March sea surface temperature. These factors together explains 64 % of the inter-annual variation, based on data from the 1970ths and 2000ths. However, in the recent years, temperature seems less important, and I interpret this as guillemots are nowadays not physically constrained for breeding early because of the increased Baltic Sea sprat stock. Guillemots in the Baltic Sea feed almost exclusively on sprat, which has a spawning period with larger inter-annual variation in timing (several weeks) than guillemots (7-10 days). Using survival data for chicks ringed during the 2000ths, my results suggests that optimal timing of breeding for guillemots varies between years, and is probably linked to spawning timing in sprats.
CREB‐1 reduced TGF‐β1‐stimulated expression of collagen I, activated Smad2/3 and upregulated expression of Smad7. In addition, activated CREB‐1 attenuated the activation of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2 induced by TGF‐β1, expression of Ras homolog gene family, member A (RhoA) and Rho‐ass

Liver fibrosis is a reversible wound‐healing response to liver damage. Following liver injury, activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) cause excessive deposition of collagen and other components of the extracellular matrix, which may eventually impair liver function. Transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) is critical for the development of liver fibrosis, and acts by activating HSCs, stimulating matrix deposition and inducing other profibrotic responses. Certain studies have demonstrated that the transcription factor, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)‐response element binding protein‐1 (CREB‐1) is important in the inhibition of fibrosis; however, the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. The present study hypothesized that CREB‐1 inhibits fibrosis via blocking the TGF‐β1 signaling pathway in HSCs. Treatment with the cAMP‐elevating agent, forskolin stimulated CREB‐1 phosphorylation and transcription activation in HSCs. In addition, treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A extended CREB‐1 phosphorylation. The present study used a pRSV‐CREB‐1 expression vector to upregulate CREB‐1 gene expression. The results indicated that activated CREB‐1 reduced TGF‐β1‐stimulated expression of collagen I, activated Smad2/3 and upregulated expression of Smad7. In addition, activated CREB‐1 attenuated the activation of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2 induced by TGF‐β1, expression of Ras homolog gene family, member A (RhoA) and Rho‐associated coiled‐coil containing protein kinase 1. Thus, post‐translational modification of CREB‐1 inhibited the profibrotic effects of TGF‐β1 in HSCs via Smad‐dependent and ‐independent signaling pathways.
Yekkour, Amine and Tran, Daniel and Arbelet-Bonnin, Delphine and Briand, Joël and Mathieu, Florence and Lebrihi, Ahmed and Errakhi, Rafik and Sabaou, Nasserdine and Bouteau, François Early events induced by the toxin deoxynivalenol lead to programmed cell death in Nicotiana

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin affecting animals and plants. This toxin synthesized by Fusarium culmorum and Fusarium graminearum is currently believed to play a decisive role in the fungal phytopathogenesis as a virulence factor. Using cultured cells of Nicotiana tabacum BY2, we showed that DON-induced programmed cell death (PCD) could require transcription and translation processes, in contrast to what was observed in animal cells. DON could induce different cross-linked pathways involving (i) reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation linked, at least partly, to a mitochondrial dysfunction and a transcriptional down-regulation of the alternative oxidase (Aox1) gene and (ii) regulation of ion channel activities participating in cell shrinkage, to achieve PCD.
www.econstor.eu e Eect of Incentives in Non-Routine Analytical Team Tasks—Evidence from a Field Experiment∗

Despite the prevalence of non-routine analytical team tasks in modern economies, lile is known about how incentives inuence performance in these tasks. In a eld experiment with more than 3000 participants, we document a positive eect of bonus incentives on the probability of completion of such a task. Bonus incentives increase performance due to the reward rather than the reference point (performance threshold) they provide. e framing of bonuses (as gains or losses) plays a minor role. Incentives improve performance also in an additional sample of presumably less motivated workers. However, incentives reduce these workers’ willingness to “explore” original solutions. JEL codes: C92, C93, J33, D03, M52
Sustainable Timber Trade: are Discrepancies in Trade Data Reliable Indicators of Illegal Activities? Castaño, Jairo Senior Statistician, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Timber trade statistics published by international organizations such as ITTO and FAO often reveal discrepancies between what is reported as exported by a supplying country as compared with what is reported as imported by the receiving country. The discrepancies appear particularly large in the case of tropical wood products. Factors that might explain discrepancies in trade data can be categorized into “primary normal factors” (e.g. FOB vs. CIF prices), “secondary normal factors” (e.g. differences in product classifications) and “abnormal factors” (e.g. illegal activities). A study undertaken in 2004 involving 10 case studies examined the extent to which discrepancies might be considered abnormal.
Computational Methods to Vocalize Arabic Texts

Arabic Language has two kinds of vowels: Long vowels which are written as normal letters; and short vowels which are written as punctuation marks, above or below letters. Those short vowels are normally omitted in Arabic texts because the reader can fill them and guess the meaning based on his knowledge of the language, and the context in which the words are. However, with the widespread usage of computers in linguistics application; Arabic texts need to be supplied with short vowels in order to be analyzed. Search engines, text to speech engines, and text mining tools are just some examples of applications that need Arabic texts to be vocalized before being processed. In this paper, we present a new method to supply those vocals. The approach emphasizes on unsupervised machine methods, because public Arabic corpora are not available. Arabic rich morphology and diverse orthography present serious challenges for this approach. An algorithm is developed and a system is implemented in Java. The techniques presented in this dissertation can be applied to similar Semitic or other languages that have the same problem.
WST 48.11-12 SWTP 06 corr

Increasing demand for high degree of treatment as well as existence of highly resistant organics in wastewaters such as micropollutants has caused wider and ever increasing use of chemical treatment processes. In this paper developments in the chemical treatment as applied to mostly industrial wastewater in the last two decades are summarized and discussed. Two purely chemical means of treatment, chemical oxidation and chemical precipitation were considered and proven and widely used methods of treatment based on these principles were delineated. The review covers theoretical development, application areas and application bases. A brief evaluation of the state of development, advantages, drawbacks and need for further research was given for the processes reviewed.
N ov 2 01 9 Orientational order parameters for arbitrary quantum systems

The concept of quantum-mechanical nematic order, which is important in systems such as superconductors, is based on an analogy to classical liquid crystals, where order parameters are obtained through orientational expansions. We generalize this method to quantum mechanics based on an expansion of Wigner functions. This provides a unified framework applicable to arbitrary quantum systems. The formalism is demonstrated for the cases of Fermi liquids and spin systems. Moreover, we derive new order parameters for molecular systems, which cannot be properly described with the usual nematic tensors.
Preventive Effects of Methanolic Extract of Seeds of Nigella sativa Linn. on PMA Induced Apoptosis in Human Blood Lymphocytess

Although radiation therapy is widely used for cancer-treatment but it is associated with several side effects. It involves free radical/PKC mediated pathway to induce DNA damage and apoptosis in target cells. The tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antioxidants and PKC inhibitors have been reported to be radio-protective. However, new radio-protector, especially from herbal origin is always in demand, as they have comparatively lesser side effects, because of their natural origin.
Current consensus on the management of primary sclerosing cholangitis

ummary Guidelines for the management of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) have recently een published by both the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) and the merican Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The current review focuses on the anagement of PSC, based on these guidelines. There is no established medical therapy for PSC. he role for UDCA in slowing the disease progression and improving survival is as yet unclear, and here are no specific recommendations for the general use of UDCA in this condition. Guidelines ecommend that dominant bile duct strictures with significant cholestasis should be treated with iliary dilatation, with or without stenting. Prospective studies to define type, duration, optimal requency and long-term effects of endoscopic therapy are needed. Liver transplantation is ecommended for end stage disease and has excellent results. PSC patients with dysplasia in iliary brush cytology specimens should also be considered for transplantation. There is no vidence-based algorithm for the follow-up of PSC patients, but some regular investigations re recommended (surveillance colonoscopies in patients with IBD and ultrasound to detect allbladder mass lesions).
IIITH Submission for Blizzard Challenge 2017: A BLSTM based SPSS System using MatNN

In this paper, text-to-speech (TTS) system submitted by IIITH team for Blizzard Challenge 2017 is described. This year’s Blizzard Challenge is a continuation to previous year’s task of synthesizing children’s audio books. Our TTS system is based on statistical parametric speech synthesis (SPSS) paradigm. It is quite challenging to statistically model large variations in prosody that are unique to the expressive audio book data given in the challenge. We have explored two neural architectures for acoustic modeling in SPSS to model them, they are: (1) bidirectional long short-term memory (BLSTM) recurrent neural networks and (2) a deep hybrid architecture consisting of two feedforward layers, followed by four highway layers with a BLSTM stacked on top. Based on the objective scores on a held out test set, we have submitted the former system for the challenge. Details of various architectural choices and training are presented. From the results, it is clear that our system convincingly outperforms the baseline deep neural network and hidden Markov model based SPSS systems in most evaluations with statistical significant value (p) set to 0.01.
A Cross-Sectional Study Examining Adult Smoking Rates and Recent Quit Attempts in the Republic of Georgia

BACKGROUND: Former Soviet Union countries have high tobacco use prevalence, with rates higher among men than women. However, there is limited research regarding correlates of smoking behaviors among Georgian adults. Thus, we examined correlates of current smoking among Georgian adults, and among smokers, correlates of past-year quit attempts. METHODS: We conducted secondary analysis of the Georgia STEPS Survey of Chronic Disease Risk-factors data from 2010 (N=6,497). We examined correlates (sociodemographics, smoking history, comorbid health conditions) associated with current smoking and, among smokers, recent quit attempts among men and women, respectively. RESULTS: Overall, 4.4% women and 53.0% men reported current smoking; 36.0% of smokers reported recent quit attempts. The multivariate regression examining correlates of current smoking among men included younger age (p<.001), being Georgian (p=.003), being employed (p=.050), being married/living with a partner (p=.050), and alcohol consumption (p<.001); among women, predictors included not being Georgian (p=.001), having a college education (p=.001), higher monthly income (p<.001), being single (p=.001), and using alcohol (p<.001). Correlates of having made a quit attempt among male smokers included younger age (p=.025) and more cigarettes smoked per day (p=.032), whereas the only correlate of having made a quit attempt among female smokers was younger age (p=.012). CONCLUSIONS: The high smoking prevalence among Georgian adults, particularly men, and the low prevalence of recent quit attempts indicate the importance of addressing nicotine dependence and smoking-related morbidity and mortality.
INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS ON THE ACCURACY OF ANATOMICAL SFF MODELS DERIVED FROM CT DATA

Computerized Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are gold standards for crosssectional images of the human body. Furthermore, several images reformatting softwares have been developed in order to assist pre-operating diagnosis and treatment planning. These softwares offer the possibility to interface scanning equipments with Solid Free-form Fabrication (SFF) systems, to build a custom made replica of the anatomical site. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Sterolitography (SLA) manufacturing techniques are two kinds of SFF processes that produce physical models through a selective solidification of a variety of fine powders and liquids. SLS and SLA technologies are getting a great amount of attention, particularly in oral and maxillofacial surgery. When applying 3-D medical models to clinical cases, model accuracy is a major concern. We investigate the influence of different SFF manufacturing techniques and materials on the shape accuracy of anatomical models, derived from CT acquisition of a dry mandible, using full-field measurement system such as fringe projection techniques. The application of such a method, allows for objective decisions regarding the precise location of bony anatomical landmarks.
Importance of Search and Evaluation Strategies in Neural Dialogue Modeling

We investigate the impact of search strategies in neural dialogue modeling. We first compare two standard search algorithms, greedy and beam search, as well as our newly proposed iterative beam search which produces a more diverse set of candidate responses. We evaluate these strategies in realistic full conversations with humans and propose a model-based Bayesian calibration to address annotator bias. These conversations are analyzed using two automatic metrics: log-probabilities assigned by the model and utterance diversity. Our experiments reveal that better search algorithms lead to higher rated conversations. However, finding the optimal selection mechanism to choose from a more diverse set of candidates is still an open question.
Consistency Across Geosocial Media Platforms

The increasing use of geosocial media in research to draw quantitative and qualitative conclusions about urban environments bears questions about the consistency of the data across the different platforms. This paper therefore presents an initial comparative analysis of data from six different geosocial media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google, Foursquare, Flickr, and Instagram) for Washington, D.C., using population and zoning data for reference. We find that there is little consistency between the different platforms at small spatial units and even semantically rich datasets have severe limitations when predicting functional zones in a city. The results show that researchers need to carefully evaluate which platform they can use for a particular study, and that more work is needed to better understand the differences between the different platforms.