Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cellular Sensing System for Green Tea Polyphenol Epigallocatechin Gallate

The green tea catechin (‐)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG) is known to exhibit various biological and pharmacological properties. We have identified 67-kDa laminin receptor (67LR) as a cell-surface EGCG receptor that confers EGCG responsiveness to many cancer cells at physiological concentrations. Here we provide an overview of several pathways that sense and manage the activities of EGCG. EGCG has been shown to rescue mice from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lethal endotoxemia and downregulate inflammatory responses in macrophages. LPS is one of the most powerful activators of toll-like receptor (TLR)4 signaling and is also well known to induce production of inflammatory mediators. A negative regulator of TLR signaling, Toll-interacting protein (Tollip), is indispensable for mediating the anti-inflammatory action of EGCG, and its protein expression level is upregulated by EGCG through 67LR. Additionally, EGCG can reduce the expression of TLR4 via 67LR. Using a direct genetic screen, eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A (eEF1A) is identified as a component responsible for the anti-melanoma activity of EGCG. EGCG induces the dephosphorylation of myosin phosphatase targeting subunit 1 (MYPT1) at Thr-696 and activates myosin phosphatase through both eEF1A and 67LR. Silencing of 67LR, eEF1A, or MYPT1 in tumor cells results in abrogation of EGCG-induced tumor growth inhibition in vivo. Additionally, we found that eEF1A is up-regulated by EGCG through 67LR. EGCG has been shown to be able to induce apoptotic cell death in multiple myeloma cells through the 67LR, while having no significant effect on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The expression of 67LR was significantly elevated in myeloma cells compared to PBMCs. We found that the apoptosis-inducing activity of EGCG in multiple myeloma cells is attributable to the activation of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) that hydrolyzes sphingomyelin into ceramide. EGCG induces ASM translocation to the plasma membrane and protein kinase C delta (PKCδ) phosphorylation at Ser 664 , which was necessary for ASM/ceramide signaling, via 67LR. Furthermore, EGCG activates PKCδ/ASM/ceramide pathway by activating Akt/eNOS/NO/cGMP signaling through 67LR. We also found that the upregulation of cGMP is a rate-determining process of this cell death pathway, and cancer-overexpressed negative regulator of cGMP, PDE5 attenuates the cell death induced by EGCG. Vardenafil, one of the PDE5 selective inhibitors used for treating erectile dysfunction potentiates the anti-cancer effect of EGCG. These results demonstrate that cGMP elevation caused by targeting the overexpressed 67LR and PDE5 in cancer cells may be a useful approach for cancer-specific chemotherapy.
CDMC 04 / 01 Inequality and Industrialization

Why do some countries industrialize later than others? Recent literature suggests that the prime reason is low agricultural productivity. This paper argues that the initial inequality of human capital could also be a contributing factor to the delayed process of industrialization characterizing some countries. We develop a neo-classical growth model which predicts that countries with a greater initial knowledge gap between rich and poor agents industrialize slowly, and that human capital inequality, although declining, tends to be persistent. Our cross-country data lend support to these predictions. CASTLECLIFFE, SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS & FINANCE, UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS, KY16 9AL TEL: +44 (0)1334 462445 FAX: +44 (0)1334 462444 EMAIL: AWT2@ST-AND.AC. UK WWW.ST-ANDREWS.AC. UK/ECONOMICS/CDMA/CDMA.SHTML
Title Transition , induction and goal achievement : First-yearexperiences of Hong Kong undergraduates

Educators worldwide are faced with challenges of understanding how undergraduates are making their school-to-university transition and becoming inducted into their academic discipline. A recent study investigated Hong Kong first-year Chinese students’ experiences of transition from school to university and induction into their discipline in relation to perceived course experiences, approaches to study and achievement of goals. Analysis of the survey data of this study indicates that although students reported transition difficulties, these were unrelated to perceptions of the course, approaches to study or achievement of goals. Students who reported good understanding of their discipline were those who achieved their goals, had a good course experience and adopted deeper study approaches. These findings suggested that rather than focusing mainly on tackling students’ transition difficulties, efforts of promoting a positive first-year experience for Chinese university students and facilitating their goals achievement should be oriented towards constructing a facilitative learning environment.
Public Attitudes towards Penalties for Sexting by Minors

Abstract Current child pornography laws in Australia extend to cases where minors transmit sexually explicit material of themselves or others via digital communication (‘sexting’). This is the first study examining attitudes of the Australian adult public regarding criminal laws that can apply to sexting by minors. A sample of 285 Australian adults completed an online questionnaire that presented a scenario concerning adolescent sexting. Participants completed measures of perceived responsibility and deservingness of penalty for both the sext sender and recipient who, in some cases, also forwarded the sext. Overall, support for legal penalties for adolescent sexting was low, except in the case of non-consensual distribution of sexts. The results highlight the public's concern with the non-consensual forwarding of sexts, providing support for calls to distinguish between consensual and non-consensual sexting in legislation and educational and public campaigns.
The effects of macroeconomic variables on Asian stock market volatility: A GARCH MIDAS approach

This paper aims to investigate the effects of macroeconomic variables on stock market volatility in three Asian countries by applying GARCH MIDAS model. The study covers the period from 01/2003 to 06/2014. The GARCH MIDAS framework allows to incorporate macro variables directly in the model and obtain long-term and short-term volatility separately. Empirical findings show that some macroeconomic variables significantly affect stock market volatility. While Chinese and South Korean stock market reacts to either inflation or industrial production growth information, Japanese stock market is sensitive to both factors. In addition, macroeconomic factors influence three markets at different magnitude. The results also indicate that three markets behave differently to the same factors. Real oil price shock stems from aggregate demand significantly lowers Japanese stock market volatility. In contrast, South Korean and Chinese stock market volatility is positively influenced by the same shocks.
The Role of Entertainment and External Values in Consumers Intention to Use Social Network Mobile

While people use more social network mobile games, research on SNMG is gaining more attention. This article presents results of entertainment and external drivers function in intention of social network mobile game and we suggest a research model that extend TAM model by adapting values from social network mobile game nature. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to measure relationships. We found that three factors, social norm, conditional value and perceived entertainment positively influence to intention. In conclusion, firms would use result of research to develop more favorable social network mobile game applications by reflecting values explored in this paper. In past, mobile game was not a main stream in game industry because lack of device quality prohibited developers to make better software with high quality graphic or various functions. In today, while improvement of smart phone has been dramatical, mobile game industry also has been growing rapidly. Smartphone not only provide better hardware quality but also network functions like Wi-Fi or LTE which was not often used in feature phones because of high cost. Moreover, developers utilize friendly OS environment such as Android or iOS which decreases level of difficulty and offers almost PC-like developmental environment. These improvements of devices and OS accelerate the growth of mobile game industry. The purpose of this study is to identify the role of entertainment and values which affect to entertainment in intention to use social network mobile games (SNMG). A structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the model. To explore antecedents of intention, this study did a qualitative research of personal in depth interview.
Morality Rebooted: Exploring Simple Fixes to Our Moral Bugs

Ethics research developed partly in response to calls from organizations to understand and solve unethical behavior. Departing from prior work that has mainly focused on examining the antecedents and consequences of dishonesty, we examine two approaches to mitigating unethical behavior: (1) values-oriented approaches that broadly appeal to individuals’ preferences to be more moral, and (2) structure-oriented approaches that redesign specific incentives, tasks, and decisions to reduce temptations to cheat in the environment. This paper explores how these approaches can change behavior. We argue that integrating both approaches while avoiding incompatible strategies can reduce the risk of adverse effects that arise from taking a single approach.
Nanostructured Thin Films β-Al-Mg Obtained Using PLD Technique

In this work, the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique was used to grow AlMg thin films from a β-Mg2Al3 target with nominal composition: 39.09 at. % Mg and 60.91 at. % Al. The paper presents the study of β-Mg2Al3 thin films deposited using the pulsed laser deposition technique. AlMg thin films were prepared on Si (400) substrates and deposited by means of using a QS-Nd:YAG laser (λ = 266, 355 nm). Samples were prepared with laser fluence (1.1 J/cm and 1.6 J/cm) and at two different substrate (Si) temperatures (25 ◦C and 200 ◦C). The target possessed columnar structure and changes in chemical composition took place as a result of the influence of the laser irradiation. Investigations focused on structure and chemical composition showed that the films generally had nanocrystalline structure and that the quantity of Al and Mg varied in the films.
Neurofeedback as a Treatment for ADHD: A Methodological Review with Implications for Future Research

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) represents one of the most common psychiatric disorders in childhood,resulting in serious impairment across a variety of domains. Research showing that a high proportion of children with ADHD exhibit a dysfunctional electroencephalogram (EEG), relative to aged-matched peers, provides a rationale for the use of neurofeedback as an intervention. The aim of neurofeedback training is to redress any EEG abnormality, resulting in a concomitant improvement in the behaviour and/or cognitive performance of these children. This review focused on studies using neurofeedback to treat children with ADHD, with particular emphasis on the methodological aspects of neurofeedback training. Specifically, the review examined the modality of feedback provided, the different training parameters and their underlying rationale, and the particular montages used. In addition, the review also focused on the duration, frequency and total number of training sessions required to obtain a positive effect in terms of a change in the individual’s EEG, behaviour and/or cognitive performance. Finally, the long-term effects of neurofeedback and the potential negative side effects were reviewed. Throughout, the review provides a number of directions for future research.
Antibacterial Evaluation of Fronds of Christella dentata (Forssk.) Brownsey & Jermy

Christella dentata is a common pteridophyte. Fronds of Christella dentata are evaluated for its antibacterial potential and phytochemical contents in various solvent extracts of the plant in increasing polarity towards pathogenic bacteria. Antibacterial activity was primarily evaluated by disc diffusion method. The results indicated that the plant exhibited antibacterial activity in acetone extract. The acetone extract of the plant showed maximum level of activity towards Staphylococcus aureus. Medium polar compounds are extracted during acetone extraction and these compounds are responsible for antibacterial activity. Petroleum ether and water extracts did not show any antibacterial activity towards any of the tested organisms. Flavonoids and phenols were observed in various extracts. Flavonoid content in acetone extract of the plant may be one of the reasons for their antibacterial activity. Acetone extract of the plant exhibited minimum inhibitory concentration as 50 mg/mL and minimum bactericidal concentration as 100 mg/mL towards Staphylococcus aureus . The plant showed lower level of inhibition towards Klebsiella pneumoniae compared to the other bacterial strains.
Beyond the Cosmopolis: Sustaining Hyper-Diversity in the Suburbs of Peel Region, Ontario

Globalization has increased the flow of transnational migrants into many European and North American cities. These shifting socio-demographic patterns have resulted in the rapid development of ‘cosmopolitan’ urban centres where difference and diversity are ubiquitous (Sandercock, 2003). However, as ethnic enclaves form outside the urban core in suburban communities, there is uncertainty about whether cultural homogeneity is desirable or sustainable in a multicultural country. Indeed, planning communities for increasing diversity and difference will remain, what Leonie Sandercock (2004) calls, “one of the greatest tasks for planners of the 21st century”. Thus, this article uses the theory of hyper-diversity to illuminate how immigrants’ interactions with their local suburban community represents cultural pluralism and diversity beyond ethnicity. Specifically, this study explores differing attitudes, activities and lifestyles among diverse immigrant populations in the Region of Peel, one of the fastest growing and most culturally diverse areas in Canada. Focus groups with 60 immigrant youth and 55 immigrant adults were conducted to qualitatively capture perspectives and experiences in ethnic enclaves. The findings highlight the existence of attitudes in favor of multicultural lifestyles, activities that take newcomers beyond the borders of their enclaves, and lifestyles that require additional infrastructure to support sustainability of immigration in the suburbs. In conclusion, this article adds to the debate on cultural pluralism and ‘homogeneous’ ethnic enclaves by using the emergent concept of hyper-diversity as a way to think about the future sustainability of suburbs in an era of global migration.
THE APPLICATION OF A MULTI-PHYSICS TOOLKIT TO SPATIAL REACTOR DYNAMICS

Traditionally coupled field nuclear reactor analysis has been carried out using several loosely coupled solvers, each having been developed independently from the others. In the field of multiphysics, the current generation of object-oriented toolkits provides robust close coupling of multiple fields on a single framework. This paper describes the initial results obtained as part of continuing research in the use of the OpenFOAM multi-physics toolkit for reactor dynamics application development. An unstructured, three-dimensional, time-dependent multi-group diffusion code DiffusionFOAM has been developed using the OpenFOAM multi-physics toolkit as a basis. The code is based on the finite-volume methodology and uses a newly developed blockcoupled sparse matrix solver for the coupled solution of the multi-group diffusion equations. A description of this code is given with particular emphasis on the newly developed block-coupled solver, along with a selection of results obtained thus far. The code has performed well, indicating that the OpenFOAM toolkit is suited to reactor dynamics applications. This work has shown that the neutronics and simplified thermal-hydraulics of a reactor may be represented and solved for using a common calculation platform, and opens up the possibility for research into robust closecoupling of neutron diffusion and thermal-fluid calculations. This work has further opened up the possibility for research in a number of other areas, including research into three-dimensional unstructured meshes for reactor dynamics applications. Nuclear reactor analysis deals with the coupled solution of the many physical processes taking place in a nuclear reactor. The solution of these individual physical processes has traditionally been carried out using several loosely-coupled solvers, each having been developed independently from the others. In particular, the calculation of the distribution of neutrons in space, energy and time is traditionally separated completely from the heat transfer calculation. This separation was introduced in the past for a number of reasons, namely; the solution of each class of problem is typically undertaken by specialists in each field, the complexities of the problems differ, and there are numerical differences between the classes of problems being modeled. This separation leads to problems when coupling the solvers. Often differences in data
Improving Suffix Tree Clustering Algorithm for Web Documents

Web document clustering results can help users quickly locate the information they need among the results search engines returned. According to the characteristics of the suffix tree structure and the flaws of similarity calculation in STC algorithm's cluster merging, this paper proposes an improved suffix tree clustering method. The method combines vector space model with Pearson correlation coefficient, calculates the relevant of clusters based on document vector of all clusters, and then utilizes the relevant vectors of clusters and the correlations between them to calculate the similarity for cluster merging, improves the clustering process of documents. Analysis of the experimental results shows that the method outperforms the original STC algorithm on Web documents clustering.
Pattern Identification and Predictions in Data Analysis

Data Mining is an analytic process to explore data in search of consistent patterns and/or systematic relationships between variables, and then to validate the findings by applying the detected patterns to new sets of data. The main target of data mining application is prediction. Predictive data mining is important and it has the most direct business applications in world. The paper briefly explains the process of data mining which consists of three stages: (1) the Initial exploration, (2) Pattern identification with validation, and (3) Deployment (application of the model to new data in order to generate predictions). Data Mining is being done for Patterns and Relationships recognitions in Data analysis, with an emphasis on large Observational data bases. From a statistical perspective Data Mining is viewed as computer automated exploratory data analytical system for large sets of data and it has huge Research challenges in India and abroad as well. Machine learning methods form the core of Data Mining and Decision tree learning. Data mining work is integrated within an existing user environment, including the works that already make use of data warehousing and Online Analytical Processing (OLAP). The paper describes how data mining tools predict future trends and behavior which allows in making proactive knowledge-driven decisions.
European Option Pricing with Transaction Costs in Lévy Jump Environment

The European option pricing problem with transaction costs is investigated for a risky asset price model with Levy jump. By the aid of arbitrage pricing theory and the generalized Ito formula (which includes Poisson jump), the explicit solution to the risk asset price model is given. According to arbitrage-free principle, we first discretize the continuous-time model. Then, in each small time interval, the transaction costs are introduced. By using the -hedging strategy, the explicit solutions of the European options pricing formula with transaction costs are given for the risky asset price model with Levy jump.
Optimization of extraction of phenolic antioxidants from peanut skins

This work was conducted to optimize the extraction conditions for the best recovery of antioxidant compounds from peanut skins. The extracts from the peanut skins were obtained by different extraction methods. The extraction conditions were: different ethanol proportions as the solvent (0, 30, 50, 70 and 96% v/v in distilled water), different peanut skin particle sizes (0–1, 1–2 and 2–10 mm and non-crushed skins), different proportions of solvent/skins (20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 ml g−1), different extraction times (by maceration and shaking) and different numbers of extractions. The different extracts obtained under different extraction conditions were compared with special regard to yield, total phenolic compounds and radical scavenging activity. The results showed that the best delivery of phenolic compounds was reached using 70% ethanol, non-crushed peanut skins, ratio of solvent/solid of 20 ml g−1, at 10 min shaking and three extractions. The maximum yield of 0.118 g g−1 was recorded for phenolic compounds when extracted at the optimum conditions. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry
Using public procurement to achieve social outcomes

The use of public procurement to achieve social outcomes is widespread, but detailed information about how it operates is often sketchy and difficult to find. This article is essentially a mapping exercise, describing the history and current use of government contracting as a tool of social regulation, what the author calls the issue of ‘linkage’. The article considers the popularity of linkage in the 19 th century in Europe and North America, particularly in dealing with issues of labour standards and unemployment. The use of linkage expanded during the 20 th century, initially to include the provision of employment opportunities to disabled workers. During and after World War II, the use of linkage became particularly important in the United States in addressing racial equality, in the requirements for non-discrimination in contracts, and in affirmative action and set-asides for minority businesses. Subsequently, the role of procurement spread both in its geographical coverage and in the subject areas of social policy that it was used to promote. The article considers examples of the use of procurement to promote equality on the basis of ethnicity and gender drawn from Malaysia, South Africa, Canada, and the European Community. More recently, procurement has been used as an instrument to promote human rights transnationally, also by international organizations such as the International Labour Organisation. The article includes some reflections on the relationship between ‘green’ procurement, ‘social’ procurement, and sustainable development, and recent attempts to develop the concept of ‘sustainable procurement. ’