Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects on Chondrocyte Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Adhered to Nano Gradients Functionalized with Transforming Growth Factor Beta-1, -3 and Growth Differentiation Factor 5

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease, causing pain for the patient due to cartilage degeneration and a lot of costs to the society. Due to lack of knowledge regarding disease mechanisms, there is no existing drug based modifying therapy. In this project, the impact of TGFβ-1, TGFβ-3 and GDF5 signaling on the expression of aggrecan in chondrocytederived iPSCs, were elucidated by using a concentration gradient to gain information regarding OA disease mechanisms. The overall aim of the project was to use gold nanoparticle gradients and surfaces to optimize formation of cartilage producing cells from iPSCs where the focus was to induce a high aggrecan expression in the cells. Also, cells were stimulated on gradients and surfaces and then removed from the surfaces and formed to a 3D structure for further differentiation and visualization of the components. Particle gradients were produced by attaching gold nanoparticles to a glass surface with different spacing between particles and the gradients were then functionalized with signaling molecules and seeded with c-iPS cells, differentiated for 5 days and thereafter visualized using fluorescence imaging. Due to the protein concentration gradients, cells were stimulated differently over the gradient and by visualization of the cell behavior at the gradient, an area of interest was observed and new uniform surfaces were produced. No specific aggrecan expression was observed on surfaces differentiated for 5 days, especially not for GDF5 and TGFβ-1. TGFβ-3 indicated an elevated expression at high concentrations. Despite this result, 5 days of differentiation was found to be insufficient time and this result was also confirmed by the study were iPSCs were further differentiated for 6 weeks after removal from surfaces where there was a significant elevation of the aggrecan expression after 3 weeks of differentiation and it is suggested that the time should be prolonged in order to yield high aggrecan expressions. Even though the aim of the project to stimulate the cells to express a high expression of aggrecan was not fully fulfilled, other reactions of interest were observed on the surfaces. GDF5 stimulate cells tended to form a condensed structure where cells clustered together. In low concentrations of TGFβ-1, the effect in cells was indicated to be knocked out by laminin and higher concentrations were indicated to be sufficient for a cellular response of TGFβ-1. For cells on TGFβ-3 surfaces, aggrecan expression was indicated to be elevated in high TGFβ-3 concentrations. It can be concluded that the nanoparticle coated surfaces are effective substrates to use to study the effect of signaling molecules on cells and to optimize the differentiation process in stem cells.
Determination of Particle Effective Density in Urban Environments with a Differential Mobility Analyzer and Aerosol Particle Mass Analyzer

Effective densities of atmospheric aerosols in various locations of the Los Angeles Basin were determined by a DMA-APM technique. Effective density was calculated by comparing voltage distributions of sampled atmospheric aerosols with PSL particles of known density. The five sites chosen for field experiments were: (1) Interstate-710 Freeway, impacted by heavy-duty diesel vehicles; (2) State Route CA-110, open only to gasoline vehicles; (3) Riverside, a receptor site known for secondary particle formation; (4) University of Southern California, a typical urban and industrial environment; and (5) Coast for marine aerosol. The size range selected for this study was from 50 nm to 414 nm. While 50 nm particles exhibited a single effective density multiple effective densities were measured for each of the other particle sizes as significant fractions of these particles are transported from background sources. Regardless of location, 322–414 nm particle effective densities were considerably lower than unity. The lowest effective densities (∼ 0.1 g cm − 3 ) were reported for I-710, confirming that diesel combustion aerosols are rich in chain agglomerates with large void spaces. Riverside exhibited high effective densities (∼ 1.2–1.5 g cm − 3 ) for 50–202 nm particles, which we hypothesize is due to transformations that occur during advection from Los Angeles. Measurements of diurnal variation of effective density at Riverside support this hypothesis. Overall, our results suggest that effective density declines as the particle mobility diameter increases irrespective of location. Fractal dimensions calculated from average effective densities were lowest for I-710 ( D f = 2.41) and CA-110 (D f = 2.54) aerosols, presumably due to the influence of vehicular combustion emission on these sites. By contrast, average fractal dimensions at USC, Riverside and Coast were found to be 2.79, 2.83, and 2.92, respectively. High fractal dimensions at these sites may be the effects of aging, moisture absorption and/or organic vapor condensation on the particles, which fills void space and makes particles more spherical.
Clinical Study Efficiency and Safety of Prolonged Levosimendan Infusion in Patients with Acute Heart Failure

Background. Levosimendan is an inotropic drug with unique pharmacological advantages in patients with acute heart failure. Scope of this study is to determine whether longer infusion patterns without the hypotension-inducing loading dose could justify an effective and safe alternative approach. Methods. 70 patients admitted to the emergencies with decompensated chronic heart failure received intravenously levosimendan without a loading dose up to 72 hours. Clinical parameters, BNP (Brain Natriuretic Peptide) and signal-averaged-ECG data (SAECG) were recorded up to 72 hours. Results. The 48-hour group demonstrated a statistically significant BNP decrease (P < .001) after 48 hours, which also maintained after 72 hours. The 72-hour group demonstrated a bordeline decrease of BNP after 48 hours (P = .039), necessitating an additional 24-hour infusion to achieve significant reduction after 72 hours (P < .004). SAECG data demonstrated a statistically significant decrease after 72 hours (P < .04). Apart from two deaths due to advanced heart failure, no major complications were observed. Conclusion. Prolonged infusion of levosimendan without a loading dose is associated with an acceptable clinical and neurohumoral response.
Analysis of the Relationship between Inflation, Unemployment and Economic Growth in Nigeria: 1987-2012

This paper provides analysis of the relationship between unemployment, inflation and economic growth in Nigeria: 1987-2012. The study utilizes secondary data to analyze the relationship between unemployment, inflation and economic growth. The methodology used for the study was ordinary least squares. The results confirms that in the long run, interest rate and total public expenditure have significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria, while inflation and unemployment has inverse effects on growth in Nigeria. The possible justification for the inverse effect of inflation on price level is that inflation may not be due to aggregate demand pressure but rather due to hiccups in the supply chain of goods both from the domestic and foreign supply outlets. Empirical deductions also signify the presence of significant feedback from the long run to short run disequilibrium. However, there exists a causal linkage between inflation, unemployment and economic growth in Nigeria. In conclusion, the paper recommended that the government must as a matter of necessity to improve or continue to fine-tune macroeconomic policy instruments to achieve a sustainable and enable environment that will enhance increase in domestic output.
A new approach to estimation of global air‐sea gas transfer velocity fields using dual‐frequency altimeter backscatter

[1] A new approach to estimating air-sea gas transfer velocities based on normalized backscatter from the dual-frequency TOPEX and Jason-1 altimeters is described. The differential scattering of Ku-band (13.6 GHz) and C-band (5.3 GHz) microwave pulses is used to isolate the contribution of small-scale waves to mean square slope and gas transfer. Mean square slope is derived for the nominal wave number range 40–100 rad m−1 by differencing mean square slope estimates computed from the normalized backscatter in each band, using a simple geometric optics model. Model parameters for calculating the differenced mean square slope over this wave number range are optimized using in situ optical slope measurements. An empirical relation between gas transfer velocity and mean square slope, also based on field measurements, is then used to derive gas transfer velocities. Initial results demonstrate that the calculated transfer velocities exhibit magnitudes and a dynamic range which are generally consistent with existing field measurements. The new algorithm is used to construct monthly global maps of gas transfer velocity and to illustrate seasonal transfer velocity variations over a 1-year period. The measurement precision estimated from >106 duplicate observations of the sea surface by TOPEX and Jason-1 altimeters orbiting in tandem is better than 10%. The estimated overall uncertainty of the method is ±30%. The long-term global, area-weighted, Schmidt number corrected, mean gas transfer velocity is 13.7 ± 4.1 cm h−1. The new approach, based on surface roughness, represents a potential alternative to commonly used parameterizations based on wind speed.
Biomechanical study of the bone tissue with dental implants interaction

The article deals with the stress-strain analysis of human mandible in the physiological state and after the dental implant application. The evaluation is focused on assessing of the cancellous bone tissue modeling-level. Three cancellous bone model-types are assessed: Non-trabecular model with homogenous isotropic material, nontrabecular model with inhomogeneous material obtained from computer tomography data using CT Data Analysis software, and trabecular model built from mandible section image. Computational modeling was chosen as the most suitable solution method and the solution on two-dimensional level was carried out. The results show that strain is more preferable value than stress in case of evaluation of mechanical response in cancellous bone. The non-trabecular model with CT-obtained material model is not acceptable for stress-strain analysis of the cancellous bone for singularities occurring on interfaces of regions with different values of modulus of elasticity.
CHANGE AND CONFLICT: INTRODUCTION OF THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH IN CHINA

Chinese resistance to the Communicative Language Teaching approach is often dismissed as the classic traditional versus modern approach debate. "The Chinese will soon change. " However, because this is an example of cross-cultural exportation of educational innovations, there are many conflicts that must be resolved. This article examines how the beliefs, pedagogy, and structures that have developed in the Chinese English language classroom culture restrict pedagogical change advocated by foreign and Chinese change agents. The issues raised serve to acquaint the reader with some of the complexities of pedagogical change. The issues are also of significance to educators who are considering teaching in an EFL context.
Do Hardiness And Attitude Promote Self-care Adherence To Physical Activity Among Adults With Diabetes

A descriptive correlational study was conducted to determine the relationship between health-related hardiness (HRH), patient attitude toward compliance (PAC), and self-care adherence to physical activity (SCA) among adults (N=155) with diabetes. Data were obtained through individual questionnaires mailed to the subjects identified from local hospital database. Theory of Reasoned Action and Orem's Self-Care Theory were integrated to guide the study. HRH was significantly positively correlated with SCA. The correlation between commitment/challenge part of HRH and SCA was significant and positive, while that between control and SCA was not. The variation in SCA due to control (1.4%), and commitment/challenge (7.7%) together was 9.1% compared to 5.2% due to unified HRH. Separating the HRH into its sub-components of control, and commitment/challenge may explain the individual differences in SCA better than the unified HRH characteristic. Individuals with higher commitment/challenge characteristic may adhere to health professionals' recommendations more than those with higher control characteristic. Those with higher control characteristic may follow self-management strategies other than exercise to control diabetes.
Local practices for production of rice husk biochar and coconut shell biochar: production methods, product characteristics, nutrient and field water holding capacity.

Application of biochar is widely reported to enhance soil quality and decrease leaching of nutrients. In this study, biochar from rice husk and coconut shells were used to determine physico-chemical characteristics, ability on nutrients and water holding capacity in soil. These biochars were produced using conventional processes of rotary husk (for rice husk) and kiln-drum furnaces (for coconut shells). It was found that coconut shell biochar (CSB) was very effective in retaining nitrogen compared to rice husk biochar (RHB). Leaching analysis over 19 days (100 ml each day) has identified 15 g/kg of CSB in Bungor series soil to consistently maintain a leaching rate of nitrogen at below 5 mg/litre as compared to other samples. Meanwhile, RHB was very effective in retaining water compared to CSB with highest water retention at 31.2%. Overall results indicate that conventionally made biochar has great potential to reduce nutrient leaching and improve water holding capacity in soil. CSB is more effective in reducing nutrient leaching, particularly nitrogen while RHB was most effective in increasing field water holding capacity. Further research is required to study its effectiveness on nutrient plant uptake.
Hedge Strategies of Corporate Houses

This paper compares and contrasts the hedge strategies through derivative instruments by Indian and USA corporate houses. The derivative instruments have little predictive power in explaining corporate hedging strategies both in the USA and Indian firms. The purpose of the study is to provide a setting where reconciling conflicting results from the literature may be appropriate and to compare different hedge strategies in a specific period in two different countries (USA and India). The evidence based on multivariate empirical relations between hedging in American firms and firm’s characteristics fails to provide any support for any of the tested hypotheses except for profitability represented by dividend yield. We conclude that the relationship between hedging and dividend yield in the proposed model is negative. The same analysis conducted for Indian companies has shown that there is no statistically significant explanatory variable for hedging; therefore, it is not dependent on any of the predicted theories of hedging. On the other hand, we find some significant relationships between firms’ characteristics. Large Indian firms use internal hedge strategies rather than market strategies, such as derivatives. The derivative market development then could play a major role in terms of risk management of firms across countries.
Curved Drill Guide Inferior Suture Anchor Placement During Arthroscopic Bankart Repair : Influence of Portal Placement

http://ajs.sagepub. com/content/early/2014/02/26/0363546514523722 The online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1177/0363546514523722 published online February 27, 2014 Am J Sports Med Cole, Bernard R. Bach, Jr, Matthew T. Provencher and Nikhil N. Verma Rachel M. Frank, Nathan A. Mall, Deepti Gupta, Elizabeth Shewman, Vincent M. Wang, Anthony A. Romeo, Brian J. and Curved Drill Guide Inferior Suture Anchor Placement During Arthroscopic Bankart Repair: Influence of Portal Placement
Shock-absorbing algorithm for front-end loader modified for agricultural purposes with an electro-hydraulic directional valve

A front-end loader for agricultural purposes is the most commonly used implement for agri-tractors in Korea. As it is operated to raise, lower and carry various objects in a farming field, it bringsa large amount of stress to a tractor, causing vibrations and often leading to a mechanical breakdown. These high stresses are observed at the starting and ending points of operation, that is, the points at which the highest acceleration and deceleration occur. To reduce the sudden change of the speed, soft-start & end operation were tested with an electrohydraulic directional valve, which has a built-in ramp time spool control function. This valve was controlled by SAE-J1939 associated messages via CAN bus. This shock-absorbing system contains three electronic control unit(ECUs): a loader ECU for receiving and transmitting loader position data, a joystick ECU to convert a lever position that is constantly being changed by an operator into CAN messages, and a valve ECU to regenerate all messages into the J1939 standard to be understood by the electrohydraulic directional valve. By sensing the loader position and speed, the ramp activation point wasdetermined. As expected, applying ramp time control to the front-end loader control system proved to be effective for reducing the shock level, in contrast to that of the conventional control using a hydraulic manual valve.
A method for the rapid detection and identification of halo blight pathogen on common bean

A diagnostic method based on nested-PCR, followed by ELISA and conventional bacteriology tests, for the rapid and reliable detection of halo blight pathogen Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. phaseolicola (Psp) collected from infected bean leaves and seeds is described. Psp formed white, small and flat colonies on nutrient agar medium, creamy white, flat and circular on Milk-Tween agar medium and light yellow, convex and shiny on modified sucrose peptone agar medium. Eighteen Gram-negative, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative strains were subjected to nested PCR with primers P 5.1/P 3.1 and P 5.2/P 3.2, which directed the amplification of the 450 bp target DNA fragment in all tested strains. According to the results of DAS- and PTA-ELISA with respect to reactivity to specific antibodies, all analyzed strains belonged to Psp bacterium. Pathogenicity was tested on bean pods and cotyledon leaves, on which greasy spots were formed. Psp did not cause hypersensitive reaction on the leaves of tobacco and geranium. Strains produced levan, fluorescent pigment, oxidative metabolism of glucose, did not reduce nitrate, did not produce indole and H2S, did not hydrolyze starch, gelatin and esculin; they produced acid from glucose, mannose, sucrose and glycerol, and did not produce acid from maltose, starch, esculin, dulcite, sorbitol, inositol and erythritol. This article has been retracted. Link to the retraction 10.2298/ABS150609074E
X Mediation Effects of Educational Loan Repayment Model

In this paper we identify six constructs of student loan repayments; perception that loan repayment will affect the quality of life after graduation, awareness of loan repayment issues, perception towards loan agreement, parental influence, students’ attitude towards loan repayment and intention to repay loan. We then apply structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to test the mediation effects concerning the relationships between the constructs in our theoretical model. The results show that the students’ attitude construct mediates partially the relationship between parental influence and intention to repay loan, and between perceptions of the impact of loan after graduation and intention to repay loan. The relationship between students’ attitude and awareness of loan repayment issues created by media is fully mediated by parental influence.
1 Seeing Metadata : Representing Digital Collection Metadata

Creators of digital content are often narrowly focused on each individual collection or project. In the face of the ever increasing scale of digital collections, it is challenging to step back and evaluate the metadata of the repository as a whole. This project outlines methods to visualize, evaluate, and use metadata in ways that overcome limitations inherent in the traditional management tools and workflows. The results demonstrate that visual analytic approaches have the potential to open up metadata from a new, more holistic perspective—freeing us from the item-level tabular view to grasp the larger patterns and structures in the data. Creating visual representations of metadata will be a valuable tool for management, analysis, and exploration. Copyright: All authors in see also retain full copyright of their material. All content in See Also is published under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 license. 1 Seeing Metadata: Representing Digital Collection Metadata Evan Peter Williamson evanpeterw@gmail.com Evaluating the consistency of metadata describing digital collections is an essential task as the sheer number and diversity of items hosted online by cultural institutions increases. Digital Collections at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have grown to over 100,000 items of diverse genre, type, and format (UBC Library, n.d.). Divided into more than 50 collections, in-house metadata practices and standards have evolved over time. A close examination of item-level metadata reveals many inconsistencies and anomalies within and across collections. As Dushay and Hillmann (2003) observe, digital repositories face a challenge where: Instead of trained library workers applying well documented content standards to describe a relatively small number of resource formats, there are untrained people working largely in isolation (and without adequate documentation) to describe an increasingly complex array of resources. (2003, p.1) Welcome to the metadata “Wild West”! At UBC, the temporary student work force, evolving standards, and limitations in content management systems make quality control of metadata a cumbersome and difficult project. However, as aggregations of digital resources become larger, the impact of semantic and structural inconsistency in the metadata increases for users and administrators (Shreeves et al., 2005). Metadata that may have been suitable See Also: 2015 Spring
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN APPAREL INDUSTRY: A TRANSSHIPMENT PROBLEM WITH TIME CONSTRAINTS HAZIR GİYİM ENDÜSTRİSİNDE TEDARİK ZİNCİRİ YÖNETİMİ: ZAMAN KISITLI BİR AKTARIM PROBLEMİ

Supply chain management is one of the main sources of competitive advantage for companies. As a useful tool for inventory and transportation management in supply chains, transshipment points provide an effective mechanism for correcting discrepancies between demand and available inventory. This study aims to model the transshipment problem of a company in the apparel industry with multiple subcontractors and customers, and a transshipment depot in between. Unlike a typical transshipment problem that considers only the total cost of transportation, our model also considers the supplier lead times and the customer due dates in the system and it can be used for both supplier selection and timely distribution planning. The proposed model can also be adapted easily by other companies in the industry.