Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antioxidant activity, total phenolic and flavonoid contents of selected medicinal plants used for liver diseases and its classification with chemometrics

Liver disease has become one of the major health problems in the world, and the death rate is going rapidly to increase. Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the emerging, development and the progression of liver diseases. Ethnobotanical research has an undoubted profound impact on the development of numerous new drugs. The aim of this research, therefore, was to examine the antioxidant activities of 14 selected plants used for treating liver diseases by traditional healers of Indonesia ethnicities and to classify these plants using chemometrics of principal component analysis (PCA). The extraction using methanol as the solvent was performed with two stages maceration. Total phenolic and flavonoid compounds were determined by Folin-Ciocalteau and AlCl3 method respectively, whereas antioxidant activities were estimated using DPPH free radical scavenging, trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Among 19 methanol extracts of 14 plants, the leaves of Baccaurea racemose, Macaranga subpeltata, and Piper sp. showed the highest antioxidant properties. The phenolics contents correlated with TEAC, FRAP, and DPPH radical scavenging activity, while flavonoid did not significantly affect these antioxidant activities. Principal component analysis (PCA) successfully classified the plant samples using the variables of antioxidant activities and phenolic-flavonoid contents. The selected plants have promising antioxidant properties which support their utilization for either liver diseases medication or oxidative stress-related diseases prevention.
eeds of Opuntia spp . as a novel high potential by-product : hytochemical characterization and antioxidant activity

Most of the nearly 1500 species in Opuntia genus contain health-promoting components. These species are able to grow under adverse conditions, not suitable for other fruits/vegetables. Despite the acknowledge interest of their xoconostle fruits, especially due to their exquisite taste, other botanical parts from Opuntia are being scarcely studied. Herein, it was intended characterize Opuntia spp. seeds for their composition in soluble sugars, organic acids, tocopherols and phenolic compounds, besides evidencing their potential as sources of essential fatty acids. In addition, their antioxidant activity was assessed through eywords: puntia spp. eeds y-products hytochemicals ntioxidant activity PLC–DAD–ESI/MS different in vitro biochemical assays. Seeds of Opuntia spp. presented phytochemical profiles that allow their classification as a high-interest by-product. The levels of linoleic acid, -tocopherol and phenolic acids, as also their high antioxidant activity, are amongst the top characteristics that might endorse Opuntia spp. seeds in novel applications in food or pharmaceutical industries. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Development of next-generation quantum material research platform

The present project aims an international collaboration, mainly between Japan and US, in developing the next-generation quantum material research 'platform' for seamless research with scalable quantum material simulators and data scientific analyzers. In FY2017, our codes were optimized on Oakfores-PACS and shows a good strong scaling. Moreover, novel methodologies for large-scale linear-algebraic solvers were also developed. We started productive simulations, such as organic materials for flexible device. An international workshop was held at 4. Dec. 2017 on University of Tokyo. We found that we can share many issues between Japan and US, such as large-scale non-adiabatic quantum molecular dynamics simulation. Our progress will be reflected on several projects like Priority issue 7 of the post-K computer.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTRASEASONAL VARIABILITY OF PRECIPITATION OVER EASTERN ARGENTINA

An analysis of the intraseasonal variability of precipitation over central and eastern Argentina is presented. Daily precipitation data from Argentinean Weather Service stations that are representative of the different geographical regions have been used for the period 1976-2001. The climatological mean seasonal cycle was first removed from the timeseries. In order to retain the intraseasonal variability associated with the warm season (1 Nov-31 Mar), the anomaly timeseries were normalized and filtered by a 20-90 day Lanczos filter. Daily OLR data for the period 1979-2001 were also used to compare its associated intraseasonal variability with that depicted by the precipitation data. Results show that intraseasonal variability of the daily precipitation observed over central and eastern Argentina explains a significant portion of the total summer variance. Moreover, the explained variance by the intraseasonal variability is largest over eastern Argentina, from subtropical to middle latitudes. OLR, typically used as summer precipitation proxy, is able to reproduce the basic characteristic of the precipitation intraseasonal variability particularly when the amplitude of the intraseasonal oscillations (IO) in precipitation timeseries is relatively large. Although, when the IO amplitude is small, OLR variability only explains a small fraction of the precipitation variability. Furthermore, the OLR is not able either to represent the precipitation variability on synoptic timescales. Positive (negative) events of precipitation intraseasonal variability were defined identifying the dates in which the filtered precipitation series exhibit values above (below) one standard deviation for at least 5 days. Around 50 events were identified for each category over the period considered, with around half of them exhibiting a mean length of 7 days and the others of 12 days. The date associated with the maximum (minimum) filtered precipitation value was identified for each positive (negative) event that was then considered as Day 0 in the computation of daily composites. Composites 200-hPa geopotential-height anomalies for positive precipitation events occurred over subtropical eastern Argentina show a wave train evolving all along the South Pacific over the 10-day period previous to the precipitation peak. The wave train is characterized by quasistationary anomaly centers and a relatively fast eastward wave energy progression. On the other hand, composites for positive precipitation events over extratropical eastern Argentina are associated with the evolution of long-life synoptic waves progressing eastward. Composites of OLR anomalies for positive precipitation events over both subtropical and extratropical eastern Argentina are associated with decreased convection in the SACZ region, in agreement with previous works. Nevertheless, differences in the location and timing of the OLR positive anomalies over the SACZ region were observed for both types of composites that will be further discussed in the Conference.
Mapping quantitative trait loci using four-way crosses

In plant species, typical gene mapping strategies use populations initiated from crosses between two inbred lines. However, schemes including more than two parents could be used. In this paper, a new approach is introduced which uses a four-way cross population derived from four inbred lines. The four-way cross design for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) provides tests for QTL segregation in four lines simultaneously in one experiment. Therefore, it is a more economical strategy than one using line crosses between only two lines. The new strategy also increases the probability of detecting QTLs if they segregate in one line cross but not in the other. A multiple linear regression analysis is used for QTL detection. It is proven that the expected residual variance from the regression analysis differs from the pure environmental variance. Correction for the bias is proposed and verified by computer simulations.
mdscore: An R Package to Compute Improved Score Tests in Generalized Linear Models

Improved score tests are modifications of the score test such that the null distribution of the modified test statistic is better approximated by the chi-squared distribution. The literature includes theoretical and empirical evidence favoring the improved test over its unmodified version. However, the developed methodology seems to have been overlooked by data analysts in practice, possibly because of the difficulties associated with the computation of the modified test. In this article, we describe the mdscore package to compute improved score tests in generalized linear models, given a fitted model by the glm() function in R. The package is suitable for applied statistics and simulation experiments. Examples based on real and simulated data are discussed.
04 05 12 3 v 2 3 0 M ay 2 00 5 Reflection Symmetries for Multiqubit Density Operators

For multiqubit density operators in a suitable tensorial basis, we show that a number of nonunitary operations used in the detection and synthesis of entanglement are classifiable as reflection symmetries, i.e., orientation changing rotations. While one-qubit reflections correspond to antiunitary symmetries, as is known for example from the partial transposition criterion, reflections on the joint density of two or more qubits are not accounted for by the Wigner Theorem and are well-posed only for sufficiently mixed states. One example of such nonlocal reflections is the unconditional NOT operation on a multiparty density, i.e., an operation yelding another density and such that the sum of the two is the identity operator. This nonphysical operation is admissible only for sufficiently mixed states.
The Black Vault

: In November 1983 a routine NATO nuclear readiness exercise code-named Able Arcber could have led to a Soviet nuclear strike against the West. What is remarkable about this possible Soviet strike is that it was perceived by the Soviets as a defensive and pre-emptive strike. Therefore, the Soviets somehow believed that there was an impending Western nuclear attack that they had to pre-empt. American rearmament, NATO missile deployment, and Reaganite rhetoric somehow convinced the Soviets that the nuclear endgame was near. These fears climaxed in November J 983 during a seemingly innocuous nuclear-readiness exercise by the West.
A neural network for synthesizing the pitch of an acoustic source

The authors describe a neural network model capable of generating a spatial representation of the pitch of an acoustic source that can be naturally imbedded in an architecture for signal separation. The model is a type of pattern matching model. The input to the pitch detecting module is a spectral representation, which is discussed. Pitch is one of several auditory percepts used by humans to separate multiple sound sources in the environment from each other. The model provides a neural instantiation of a type of harmonic sieve. It is capable of quantitatively simulating a large body of psychoacoustical data, including new data on octave shift perception. <<ETX>>
PERFORMANCES OF LIMESTONE MODIFIED PORTLAND CEMENT AND CONCRETE

Fine limestone has been added to Portland cement fo r decades. This is normally achieved by “intergrinding” it with Portland cement clinker in the cement mill. Under normal operating conditions this will result in a surface area of the limestone fraction of between 800 and 1100 m/kg (depending on the grindability of the limestone) for a surface area of the clinker fraction of in the region of 400 m /kg. Less often the limestone is ground separately and blended with Portland cement. Separa te ddition of limestone to concrete as a clinker replacement is not widely practiced in co ventional concrete, but is used as filler for modifying the rheology of self-compacting concr ete.
ffects of organic farming on plant and arthropod communities : A case study in editerranean dryland cereal

Organic farming is considered an important way to preserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. However, more work is still necessary to enable a full appraisal of the potential benefits of this way of farming, since studies differ in the evaluation of its effectiveness. Studies are particularly scarce in the Mediterranean region, where different climatic and ecological conditions prevent simple extrapolations from work carried out at northern latitudes. In the present study, an analysis of weed and arthropod communities was conducted in 28 pairs of organic and conventional fields in a dry cereal farmland in central Spain. Plants were identified to the species level, and arthropods to the family level. Pitfalls and sweep nets were used to sample respectively, ground-dwelling and plant-visiting arthropods. Abundance (total numbers of individuals), richness (total numbers of plant species or arthropod families), diversity (Shannon–Wiener index) and biomass (milligrams per pitfall/sweep-net) were calculated for each field and compared between organic and conventional fields using Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs). To explore the effect of predictor variables on weed richness and arthropod biomass, GLMMs were used. Organic fields showed higher abundance of weeds and arthropods (3.01 and 1.43 times, respectively), higher weed richness and diversity (2.76 and 2.33 times, respectively), and a 24% reduction in cereal plants. Arthropod diversity was lower in organic fields due to the presence of three dominant groups: Collembola, Chloropidae (Diptera), and Aphididae (Hemiptera). Weed richness increased as cereal cover decreased in organic fields. Total arthropod biomass was slightly higher in organic fields, and was affected by weed abundance and diversity. The differences between organic and conventional fields found in this study were higher than those reported for northern latitudes. This could be explained by the richer weed flora in the Mediterranean region, and a higher weed seed availability favored by the two-year Iberi n dry rotation system typical of to preserve biodiversity i
Tannlegetidende 1-2017

Forfattere Timo Närhi, professor, ph.d., Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Stomatognathic Physiology, University of Turku, Finland and Clinic of Oral Diseases, Turku University Central Hospital. Anna-Maija Syrjälä, docent, ph.d., senior research fellow periodontology and geriatric dentistry, Unit of Oral Health Sciences Research, University of Oulu Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Finland Demographic changes and an increasing number of older adults is a big challenge for the oral health care in all the Nordic countries. The risk for dental diseases increases in older populations because morbidity, and reduced daily functioning and cognition complicate oral hygiene practices and the ability to organise dental visits. Futher, many morbidities and multiple drugs have effects on salivary flow which increases the risk for dental caries. On the other hand, aging itself has effects on the immune system, increasing the severity of periodontitis and the prevalence of oral mucosal diseases, for example. Consequently, dental diseases seem to be concentrating in older age groups. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the unique aspects of dental diseases among older people, emphasizing the occurrence of root caries and periodontal diseases, which are the main dental diseases that typically involve a large number of dentate older people. It also attempts to describe management strategies and highlights minimally invasive treatment concepts for older people.
The Discrete Time Non-Persistent CSMA Protocol with Functions of Monitoring and Multichannel Mechanism Based on Binary Tree Conflict Resolution in WSN

In wireless sensor networks, the average cycle method is used to analyze the proposed protocol: the discrete time non- persistent CSMA protocol with functions of monitoring and multichannel mechanism based on binary tree conflict resolution; accurate mathematical expressions of related indicators are got through rigorous mathematical derivation. By simulation, the correctness of the model is verified; by comparing to the system performance with the conventional non-persistent CSMA protocol, the former is more stable and controllable. On the basis of ensuring fairness in the allocation of resources, more network resources is assigned to the channel of higher priority, channel utilization improved greatly. With multichannel mechanism, system throughput has been significantly improved. Keywords-wireless sensor network; conflict resolution; functions of monitoring; multichannel; non-persistent CSMA; throughput
Effects of dietary fi sh oil on cytochrome P 450 3 A expression in the liver of SHR / NDmcr-cp ( cp / cp ) rats , an animal model for metabolic syndrome

Pathophysiological and nutritional conditions often affect the expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes. SHR/NDmcr-cp (cp/cp) rats (SHR/NDcp) are highly suitable as a metabolic syndrome (MS) model. Nevertheless, little is known about the expression profile of cytochrome P450 (CYP) in the liver of SHR/NDcp. We thus attempted to clarify the expression profile of CYP genes and the effect of fish oil (FO) on this profile in the liver of SHR/NDcp. Lower levels of CYP3A2 mRNA and CYP3A activity (testosterone 6β-hydroxylation) were distinctive features in SHR/NDcp compared with their controls (Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY), spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), stroke-prone SHR and lean littermates of SHR/NDcp). Differently from CYP3A2, the expression of other CYP isoforms was largely unchanged in SHR/NDcp. The changes in CYP profile observed in SHR/NDcp are similar to those of patients with diabetes and simple hepatic steatosis. Feeding on FO at a high dose (18.8% in the diet) upregulated CYP3A2 gene expression and CYP3A activity in the liver; the extent of these increases was greater in SHR/NDcp than in WKY and lean littermates of SHR/NDcp. This effect was not observed with FO at a normal dose (5% in the diet). These results indicate that, in the context of the CYP profile, SHR/NDcp is an animal model that is suitable for studying MS and imply that FO intake is critical in determining the efficacy or adverse effects of drugs in patients with MS.
聴覚刺激を用いた異なる視点に基づく 協同問題解決に関する実験的検討 A Laboratory Study on Collaborative Problem Solving by Taking Different Perspectives with Auditory Stimuli 松原 正樹 † ,松井 淑恵 † ,林 勇吾

This paper describes an experimental design of collaborative problem solving by taking different perspectives with auditory stimuli and reports a laboratory case study of a prototype experiment. Previous study showed that one of the participants shifted his/her perspective towards the opponents’ perspective and revealed that the egocentric bias affects misinterpretation of opponents’ perspective in collaboration. In this study we employ auditory stimuli instead of visual stimuli to focus on the process of the comprehension of opponents’ perspective. Dialog analyses of case study showed that egocentric bias restrict participants’ perspective as previous study showed. We also discussed types of strategy of collaborative problem solving.
Performance Incentives and Information Communication Technologies in Ugandan Agricultural Extension Service Delivery

Agriculture is the backbone of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, lack of efficient extension systems to support agricultural development is widely seen as a missing link in agricultural transformation in the region. International development agencies have in the past four decades invested heavily in various extension models such as the Training and Visit and Farmer Field School systems in order to enhance the performance of extension workers. Despite such investments, the performance of extension agents does remain sub-optimal in many contexts. Studies in other sectors show that incentivizing worker performance through nudges such as incentive realignment schemes that tie worker performance to a pay/bonus system could enhance worker productivity. However, there is a lack of incentive realignment studies that estimate the performance of extension agents in sub-Saharan Africa. A potential hindrance to the application of such scheme to extension is the absence of monitoring mechanisms to track the performance of extension agents who often work across diverse local contexts to reach smallholder farmers with extension advice. This study empirically estimates the effect of an information communication technology (ICT)-based payment incentive system that tracks the performance of extension workers in rural Uganda. It undertakes a quasi-experimental ex-post impact assessment of a payment incentive realignment as an exogenous shift in the price of labor for extension services by Ugandan Community Knowledge Workers (CKWs) in 2011. This study applies a difference–in–difference with propensity score matching technique to estimate the effect of an ICT-based incentive re-alignment scheme in 2011, on the performance of 461 CKWs in rural Uganda. The study shows that CKWs in rural Uganda respond positively to an ICT-based performance incentive scheme that affects the price of labor. Results suggest that such performance systems can enhance the productivity of CKWs – an exemplar of rural extension agents in Uganda and elsewhere in developing countries. It also finds that younger CKWs respond more productively to higher incentives than their older counterparts. Therefore, the study suggests that extension policies that tie extension agents’ performance to ICT-based payment incentives could enhance their performance and contribute towards the sustainable developments goals on food security, among others, through multiplier effects. study addresses the gap in the literature about inducing extension agents’ performance through ICT-based monitoring schemes. It analyzes the effect of an incentive re-alignment scheme on the performance of community knowledge workers (CKWs) who work as rural extension agents in Uganda. It undertakes an ex-post impact assessment of the effect of an ICT-based monitoring incentive scheme introduced by Grameen Foundation in Uganda for
Corporate Scandals , Capital Structure and Contagion E ¤ ect

A wave of corporate scandals has recently hit the market reviving attention on the e¤ects of these events on shareholdersvalue, corporate governance and stock market reaction. The documented far-reaching e¤ects of corporate scandals on security prices may have a market timing value that managers may be willing to exploit. In this paper we analyze whether companies involved in a security class action do exhibit di¤erential capital structure decisions and if the information revealed by a corporate scandal a¤ects security issuances by industry peers. Our ndings show that before a SCAS is led, companies engaged in a scandal had a higher number of security o¤erings and due equity mispricing they were more likely to use equity as a nancing mechanism. Following the SCAS ling they also exhibit decreasing book and market leverage. nally we observe signi cant contagion e¤ects on industry peers. These result suggest that investors tend to process company-speci c news as a more industry-wide information.