Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxidative Stress in Leaves, Stems and Roots of Withania somnifera on Copper Exposure

The response to Cu 2+ exposure (10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 mM as CuSO4.5H2O) on fifteen days post-emergent Withania somnifera L. Dunal growing under natural environment in pots vis a vis Cu accumulation and antioxidative activity was studied on leaves, stems and roots. The duration of the experiment was for 2 months (Mid August-October, 2013) and interval between successive exposures was 7 days. As compared to control the following results were obtained. Copper (Cu 2+ ) content in plant tissues increased markedly with increasing soil Cu 2+ concentrations, and was highest in roots. Translocation factor (TF) and Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) values calculated were < 1, indicating a limited ability to accumulate and translocate Cu 2+ by the plant. Hydrogen peroxide formation was highest in roots and displayed a progressive increase in response to Cu 2+ exposure. With increasing Cu 2+ proline (non-enzymatic antioxidant) content was highest in leaves however, proline accumulation followed the order: leaves (220.4 %) < stems (523.87%) < roots (534.47%). Activities of both superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) increment were observed in order: leaves ˃ stems ˃ roots and reached a peak at 50 mM of Cu 2+ exposure, whereas 100 mM and 200 mM Cu 2+ in the soil of led to inhibition of activity. Stimulation of Ascorbate Peroxidase (APX) activity observed was in the order: roots ˃ stems ˃ leaves. This may possibly be due to rising H2O2 levels in the respective plant parts. The present study infers that W.somnifera as used as ayurvedic herbal treatment plant, has limited tolerance to Cu 2+ toxicity and that this tolerance is dependent largely on the action of APX, rapid translocation of
Revision 3 Coupled substitution of Fe 3 + and H + for Si in wadsleyite : a study by polarized infrared and Mössbauer spectroscopies and single-crystal X-ray diffraction

Coupled substitution of Fe and H for Si in wadsleyite was studied by polarized infrared and Mössbauer spectroscopies and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Single crystals of Fe-bearing hydrous wadsleyite were synthesized at 16 GPa and 1870 K using a Kawai-type multianvil apparatus. Water and Fe contents of the sample were 0.19-0.26 wt% H2O and Fe/(Mg + Fe) of 0.099(2), respectively. Mössbauer spectra showed 13(4) % Fe/ΣFe and Fe at the tetrahedral site with 5(3) % Fe/ΣFe. Crystal structure refinement by single-crystal X-ray diffraction indicated that Fe (presumably Fe) occupied 4.9(5) % of the tetrahedral site. Infrared light polarized with the electric vector E // a and c was absorbed at 3477(2) cm
TaxoPhrase: Exploring Knowledge Base via Joint Learning of Taxonomy and Topical Phrases

Knowledge bases restore many facts about the world. But due to the big size of knowledge bases, it is not easy to take a quick overview onto their restored knowledge. In favor of the taxonomy structure and the phrases in the content of entities, this paper proposes an exploratory tool TaxoPhrase on the knowledge base. TaxoPhrase (1) is a novel Markov Random Field based topic model to learn the taxonomy structure and topical phrases jointly; (2) extracts the topics over subcategories, entities, and phrases, and represents the extracted topics as the overview information for a given category in the knowledge base. The experiments on the example categories Mathematics, Chemistry, and Argentina in the English Wikipedia demonstrate that our proposed TaxoPhrase provides an effective tool to explore the knowledge base.
CREA Discussion Paper 2013-07 Commodities Inventory Effect

Does commodity price volatility increase when inventories are low? We are the first ones to document this relationship. To that aim, we estimate asymmetric volatility models for a large set of commodities over 1994-2011. Since inventories are hard to measure, especially for high frequency data, we use positive return shocks as a new original proxy for inventories and find that asymmetric GARCH models reveal a significant inventory effect for many commodities. The results look robust. They hold if we allow the unconditional variance to vary over time and if we relax the parametric form.
Microencapsulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 43121 with prebiotic substrates using a hybridisation system

Summary The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of prebiotic substrates on the growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 43121 and to investigate the utilisation of these prebiotic substrates as coating materials for microencapsulation. The cell growth of L. acidophilus ATCC 43121 was significantly increased in the presence of fructooligosaccharide, lactulose and raffinose. The microencapsulation of L. acidophilus ATCC 43121 cells was carried out by dry surface reforming process (hybridisation) using the selected prebiotic substrates and the enteric coating material, SuretericTMsans. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the double-microencapsulated bacteria exhibited smooth, rounded external surfaces, with a thick external coating composed of the prebiotic substrates and the Sureteric. The acid (artificial gastric juice) or heat tolerance (55 °C) of the double-microencapsulated preparations (prebiotic and enteric coating) was significantly higher than that of the uncoated and single-coated (enteric coating) preparation at prolonged acid (5 h) or heat exposure (3 h). On the contrary, no significant differences were found in salt tolerance. During the storage up to 20 days at 25 and 37 °C, the stability of L. acidophilus ATCC 43121 was significantly improved by double-microencapsulation.
Title Membrane and nuclear estrogen receptor a collaborate to suppress adipogenesis but not triglyceride content Permalink

Estrogen and estrogen receptor (ER)-a suppress visceral fat development through actions in several organs via unclear mechanisms that we sought to identify. Using mice that express only nuclear ER-a [nuclear-only ER-a (NOER)mice]orplasmamembraneER-a [membraneonly ER-a (MOER)mice], we found that 10-wk-oldmice that lacked either receptor pool showed extensive abdominal visceral fat deposition and weight gain compared with wild-type (WT) mice. Differentiation of cultured bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) into the adipocyte lineage was suppressed by 17-b-estradiol (E2) inWT femalemice but not in NOER orMOERmice. This finding correlated with E2 inhibition of prominent differentiation genes in WT BMSCs. In contrast, triglyceride content in differentiated BMSCs or 3T3-L1 cells was suppressed as a result of membrane ER-a signaling through several kinases to inhibit carbohydrate response element–binding protein-a and -b. We concluded that extranuclear and nuclear ER-a collaborate to suppress adipocyte development, but inhibition of lipid synthesis in mature cells does not involve nuclear ER-a. —Pedram,A. ,Razandi,M. ,Blumberg,B. ,Levin,E.R. Membrane and nuclear estrogen receptor a collaborate to suppress adipogenesis but not triglyceride content.FASEB J. 30, 230–240 (2016). www.fasebj. org
Optimization of a small-scale polygeneration system for a household in Turkey

With environmental concerns, alternative solutions for generating electricity while decreasing the consumption of fossil fuels have gained a great importance. Polygeneration is one of these solutions which is also capable to increase the technical performance of electricity generation. Polygeneration systems are available in large scale, medium scale and small scale. This study focuses on small scale polygeneration systems specifically for residential applications. Type and size of the components and the system’s operational strategy plays a significant role in polygeneration system design as these factors affect the system cost and also environmental impacts. This study aims to propose a guide for component selection, sizing and addressing a suitable operational strategy for a predefined system configuration. Decision making criteria is defined for component selection by a comprehensive literature review. Internal combustion engines, Stirling engines, micro gas turbines and fuel cells are investigated within these criteria. This provides the user an insight on component selection. When combined with factors such as market conditions, location and especially household demand profile, a selection can easily be made by the customer. For component sizing and operational strategy, a model has been implemented in Matlab. A baseline case model with a predefined system configuration and operational strategy was defined. The baseline case system includes a prime mover, a back-up auxiliary boiler, a vapor compression refrigeration chiller, a thermal energy storage and solar thermal collectors for the domestic hot water demand. The operational strategy is defined as thermal load following. For the case study, this model was altered for different cases with alterations on the operational strategy and the system configuration in order to identify the optimal solution for the user where the total annual cost is minimized while satisfying all kinds of end-use demands of a single-family household in Ankara, Turkey. The results also give insights on the effect of having solar thermal collectors and a thermal energy storage coupled with a CHP unit on the overall system.
Replicating Hofstede in Jordan: Ungeneralized, Reevaluating the Jordanian Culture

Hofstede was credited with completing the largest cross-cultural study applicable to international management theory and a review of the literature indicates that the dimensions identified by Hofstede capture the essence of many dimensions and value orientations proposed by other researchers. The effect of culture on people’s life is so great that it will even affects the motives and choices of people’s behavior. The aim of the study is to update the Hofstede cultural value dimensions. We argue that scores (findings) obtained by Hofstede in his previous studies conducted in Arab countries and then generalized to Jordanian culture are not scientifically valid. This study replicates Hofstede’s study with data obtained from students studying for their master degrees in different universities in Jordan. Throughout the history of studying national cultures, a number of researchers, through their intense investigation of cultures, explored different cultural frameworks. This paper begins by reviewing the literature on culture and cultural frameworks. In the section after that, a replication of Hofstede’s study was conducted and findings were obtained. The final section concludes with a discussion of findings, and why findings obtained differ from those found earlier by Hofstede himself in previous research.
Challenges of adoption and adaptation of land and water management options in smallholder agriculture: synthesis of lessons and experiences.

Conservation and management of land and water resources for sustainable intensification of agriculture and poverty reduction in many developing regions has remained one of the most challenging policy issues for a long time. The increasing degradation of agroecosystems gradually deprives the poor of key productive resources and affects communities whose livelihoods heavily rely on utilization of these resources. Degradation of land and water resources gradually diminishes the capacity of individual farmers and communities to undertake critical investments needed to reverse the situation. This in turn reduces opportunities for addressing nutritional and other necessities and depletes the ability to buffer shocks, thereby increasing vulnerability of livelihoods. The potential nexus between worsening poverty and degradation of natural resources also raises fundamental questions on strategies for poverty reduction, equitable distribution of income and intergenerational equity.
The evaluation of thermal comfort conditions in simplified urban spaces: the COMFA+ model

One of the main elements to consider in urban space design is the modification of the microclimate in order to improve the thermal comfort conditions of people living in urban spaces. Sometimes it is very important to design very specific conditions for particular activities, time of days and season of the year. Design for thermal comfort requires therefore tools to provide an assessment of energy flows between townscape elements - persons and therefore an understanding of comfort conditions. The COMFA model is a comfort evaluation tool based on the energy balance of the person in a given outdoor space, originally developed by Brown and Gillespie for landscape evaluation. In this study an upgrade of the COMFA, named COMFA+, to be applied to urban spaces is presented. The main effetcs of the urban fabric on the heat flows between the person and the environment are described and taken into account. Finally the COMFA+ is applied to a case study, showing the potential and limits of the model.
Valuing Acquisitions in Emerging Markets: An Extreme Scenario Framing Approach

Emerging markets are prone to event risk - major political, economic and institutional catastrophes that can radically change the attractiveness of an acquisition target almost overnight. Traditional risk measures are unable to capture these unusual yet highly disruptive events. This paper introduces Extreme Scenario Framing (ESF), a method to help decide real-asset investments in markets that are prone to major jolts. Whether in economic boom or bust, ESF helps avoid the narrow framing biases that may conduce managers to overpay (or underbid) for the target. ESF is illustrated via a case study in which a Brazilian firm is deciding to acquire an Argentine closely held company in the aftermath of Argentina’s 2002 crisis.
Presidents’ visual presentations in their official photos: A cross-cultural analysis of the US and South Korea

Abstract While the ways heads of states are visually portrayed in their official photos may differ depending on their cultures, particularly whether they have an individualistic culture or a collectivistic culture, little scholarly attention has been paid to examining such differences. The present study investigates how US and South Korean presidents, Barack Obama and Myung-bak Lee, strategically presented themselves during their first year of presidency. Analysis of White House and Blue House photos (N = 467) reveals significant differences between the individualistic country (US) and the collectivistic country (South Korea). While the US uses a variety of techniques to frame Obama as a compassionate family man supported by ordinary citizens, South Korea relies heavily on the statesmanship frame to portray Lee as a world-class leader. Overall, the two administrations had different approaches to photos: one as storytelling, and the other as a ritual.
PERFORMANCE OF n-Ti02/dye/p-CuI INCORPORATED WITH NEW CHELATING AGENT FOR SOLID STATE DYE SENSITIZED SOLAR CELL APPLICATIONS

A new approach to produce Cul-related composite film for dye-sensitized solar cell applications is demonstrated. This paper introduced an alternative organic chelating agent, called tetramethylethylenediamine (TMED@TMEDA), to be used as Cul crystal growth inhibitor and as an alternative to the previously used chelating agents in the fabrication of DSSCs. Investigation was conducted on the use of the proposed chelating agent in conjunction with ecofriendly p-type materials in the preparation of dye-sensitized solar cells. It is found that highly (111) oriented Cul film with improved quality could be easily prepared on FTO glass substrate using TMED. Furthermore, the TMED-chelate Cul film exhibit improved band-gap photoluminescence, indicating that TMED is a kind of reagent in inorganic synthesis that is more effective than using either 1-methyl-3-ethylimidazolium thiocyanate (MEISCN) or triethylamine hydrothiocyanate (THT). So far, the use of TMED in Cul solution in the fabricating of solid-state DSSC has not yet been reported. Subsequently, an n-Ti02/dye/p-CuI solid-state DSSC cell was fabricated and characterized. The chelating agent or ligand that was introduced not only controls the Cul crystal growth and acts as a protective coating for Cul nanocrystals but improves the electrical contact between Titanium dioxide (Ti02) particles thus improving the cell performance. Current-voltage characteristics highlighted a larger conversion efficiency of fabricated samples.
Some statistical aspects of spatial distribution models for plants and trees

The paper is an account of some statistical analyses carried out in conjuction with a silvicultural research project in the department of Operational Efficiency, College of Forestry, Garpenberg. Sweden (Eriksson, L & Eriksson, O in preparation 1981). In Section 2, a statistic due to Moran (1950) is used to detect spatial interaction amongst counts of the numbers of young trees in sample plots laid out in a systematic grid arrangement. Section 3 discusses the construction of bivariate distributions for the numbers of wild and planted trees in a sample plot. Section 4 considers the relationship between the distributions of the number of trees in a plot and their total basal area. Section 5 is a review of statistical methods for ute in connection with preliminary surveys of large areas of forest. In particular, Section 5 discusses tests of spatial randomness for a single species, tests of independence between two species, and estimation of the number of trees per unit area.
Capital Structure and the Informational Role of Debt

This paper provides a theory of capital structure based on the effect of debt on investors' information about the firm and on their ability to oversee management. The authors postulate that managers are reluctant to relinquish control and unwilling to provide information that could result in such an outcome. Debt is a disciplining device because default allows creditors the option to force the firm into liquidation and generates information useful to investors. The authors characterize the time path of the debt level and obtain comparative statics results on the debt level, bond yield, probability of default, probability of reorganization, etc. Copyright 1990 by American Finance Association.
Comparison of actual and predicted blue oak age structures.

There is increasing interest in understanding the role of management on the current lack of blue oak (Quercus douglasii H. & A.) recruitment on California foothill rangelands. Age structure analysis has been suggested to relate when and how much recruitment occurred under past management as an indication of current management effects on recruitment. Previous estimates of blue oak age structure were based on unquantified correlations between age and diameter. Using regression analysis we found that diameter at breast height (DBH) accounted for 42-71% of the variation in tree age at 2 sites. Actual age structures were significantly different than age structures predicted from all regression equations at both sites. We suggest that the use of age structures to infer the role of management on blue oak population dynamics requires direct age measurement.
Running title : Rice Protein and Molecular Antioxidant Mechanism Rice protein suppresses ROS generation and stimulates antioxidant gene expression via Nrf 2 activation in adult rats

To elucidate the effects of rice protein on the detoxification and antioxidant defense via the Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway, adult rats were fed casein and rice protein under cholesterol-free and -enriched dietary conditions. Nrf2 proteins and gene expressions were stimulated by rice proteins with respect to caseins accompanied by up-regulating the expression of gene encoding antioxidant and phase II detoxification in the rice protein groups. In the liver, compared with caseins, rice proteins significantly increased hepatic contents of reduced glutathione (GSH) and mRNA levels of glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), glutamate cysteine ligase modulatory subunit (GCLM), glutathione S-transferase (GST), heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), whereas hepatic accumulations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) were markedly depressed in adult rats fed rice proteins. The present study demonstrates the endogenous antioxidant potential of rice proteins via mechanism through which Nrf2 activation plays an essential role in inducing Phase II antioxidants/detoxification enzymes and preventing ROS generation. This novel antioxidative function of rice protein is independent of dietary cholesterol during in adult rats.
Empathy and Sympathy as Mediators Between Parental Inductive Discipline and Prosocial Behavior in Colombian families

The objective of this study was to evaluate the mediation of adolescent empathy and sympathy between parental inductive discipline and adolescent prosocial behavior, as well as to understand whether there are differences between male and female adolescents regarding moral emotions and prosocial behavior and differences between fathers and mothers regarding inductive discipline. The study enrolled 717 participants: 239 fathers, 239 mothers, and one adolescent child of each paired mother and father. Two models of mediation were undertaken, one for empathy and another for sympathy, both resulted statistically significant. Significant differences were also found between male and female adolescents in empathy but not in sympathy or prosocial behavior; specifically, female adolescents tended to be more empathetic than male adolescents. We suggest future studies focus on prosocial behavior associated with parental socioeconomic and educational levels.
Safely Exploring Policy Gradient

Exploration is a fundamental aspect of reinforcement learning (RL) agents. In real-world applications, such as the control of industrial processes, exploratory behavior may have immediate costs that are only repaid in the long run. Selecting the right amount of exploration is a challenging task that can significantly improve overall performance. Safe RL algorithms focus on limiting the immediate costs. This conservative approach, however, carries the risk of sacrificing too much in terms of learning speed and exploration. Starting from the idea that a practical algorithm should be as safe as needed, but not more, we identify an interesting safety scenario and propose Safely-Exploring Policy Gradient (SEPG) to solve it. To do this, we generalize the existing bounds on performance improvement for Gaussian policies to the case of adaptive variance and propose policy updates that are both safe and exploratory. We evaluate our algorithm on simulated continuous control tasks.
Argas vespertilionis (Ixodida: Argasidae): A parasite of Pipistrel bat in Western Iran

Ticks (suborder Ixodida) ecologically divided into two nidicolous and non-nidicolous groups. More argasid ticks are classified into the former group whereas they are able to coordinate with the specific host(s) and living inside/adjacent to their host’s nest. The current study focused on an argasid tick species adapted to bats in Iran. Tick specimens collected on a bat were captured in a thatched rural house located in suburban Koohdasht in Lorestan province, west of Iran. Tick’s larvae and nymphs were identified as Argas vespertilionis (Latreille, 1796) by using descriptive morphological keys. This argasid tick behaves as a nidicolous species commonly parasitizing bats. We suggest that future studies be conducted on ticks parasitizing wild animals for detection of real fauna of Iranian ticks.