Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hdud, Ismail M. and Ali and Loughna, Paul (2014) Effects of cyclic equibiaxial mechanical stretch on α-BK and TRPV4 expression in equine chondrocytes. SpringerPlus, 3 . 59/1-59/3. ISSN 2193-1801

Background: Chondrocytes are regularly exposed to load-induced stimuli and have the capability to sense and respond to applied mechanical stress. However, the mechanisms involved in chondrocyte mechanotransduction are not clearly understood. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of cyclic equibiaxial mechanical stretch on the expression of α -BK and TRPV4 channels. Findings: Freshly isolated equine articular chondrocytes were subjected to mechanical stress (8% elongation at frequency of 0.5 Hz for 8 h). Western blotting was used to investigate the expression of BK Ca and TRPV4 channel proteins. Mechanical stretch increased the expression of BK Ca channels by 1.8 fold but TRPV4 expression was not affected. Conclusions: Upregulation of BK Ca channel may be the result of direct membrane stretch or elevated intracellular Ca 2+ .
The Dynamics behind the Likelihood of Adopting Inclusive Agrarian Innovations in Disadvantaged Central American Communities

: Although innovation studies form a consolidated ﬁeld in developed countries, the same is not true in disadvantaged countries especially in agriculture, despite the importance of innovation in generating wealth and inclusiveness. With this study, we aim to contribute to the knowledge of the processes of adopting innovation in agrarian contexts of poverty. Thus, we examined the main factors that inﬂuence the probability of accepting a new product, and their interrelationships in a Central American community. Based on a qualitative methodology, we held 42 in-depth interviews with small-scale producers. All the information collected was the subject of a discursive and content analysis, with support from the NVivo 12 software programme. The results show how key factors such as culture, the market, networks, attitudes, expectations, and social references are interrelated and enhanced or hindered by other social dynamics. These ﬁndings underline the idea that the entrepreneur’s relationship with innovation is a dynamic reality where the probability of acceptance is the outcome of combining cultural, individual, institutional, and organisational factors. Any innovation support policy that arises in these contexts should be based on more systemic approaches if the acceptance of inclusive innovation is to be improved.
plankton ecology in the cGEnIE Earth system model.

We present an extension to the carbon-centric Grid Enabled Integrated Earth system model (cGEnIE) that explicitly accounts for the growth and interaction of an arbi-trary number of plankton species. The new package (ECO-GEM) replaces the implicit, ﬂux-based parameterisation of the plankton community currently employed, with explicitly resolved plankton populations and ecological dynamics. In ECOGEM, any number of plankton species, with ecophysiological traits (e.g. growth and grazing rates) assigned according to organism size and functional group (e.g. phytoplankton and zooplankton) can be incorporated at runtime. We illustrate the capability of the marine ecology enabled Earth system model (EcoGEnIE) by comparing results from one conﬁguration of ECOGEM (with eight generic phytoplankton and zooplankton size classes) to climatological and seasonal observations. We ﬁnd that the new ecological components of the model show reasonable agreement with both global-scale climatological and local-scale seasonal data. We also compare EcoGEnIE results to the existing biogeochemical incarnation of cGEnIE. We ﬁnd that the resulting global-scale distributions of phosphate, iron, dissolved inorganic carbon, alkalinity, and oxygen are similar for both iterations of the model. A slight deterioration in some ﬁelds in EcoGEnIE (relative to the data) is observed, although we make no attempt to re-tune the overall marine cycling of carbon and nutrients here. The increased capabilities of EcoGEnIE in this regard will enable future exploration of the ecological community on much longer timescales than have previously been examined in global ocean ecosystem models and particularly for past climates and global biogeochemical cycles.
Aerodynamic interaction between vortical wakes and lifting two-dimensional bodies

Unsteady rotor wake interactions with the empennage, tail boom, and other aerodynamic surfaces of a helicopter have a significant influence on its aerodynamic performance, the ride quality, and vibration. A numerical method for computing the aerodynamic interaction between an interacting vortex wake and the viscous flow about arbitrary two-dimensional bodies was developed to address this helicopter problem. The method solves for the flow field velocities on a body-fitted computational mesh using finite-difference techniques. The interacting vortex wake is represented by an array of discrete vortices which, in turn, are represented by a finite-core model. The evolution of the interacting vortex wake is calculated by Lagrangian techniques. The viscous flow field of the two-dimensional body is calculated on an Eulerian grid. The flow around circular and elliptic cylinders in the absence of an interacting vortex wake was calculated. These results compare very well with other numerical results and with results obtained from experiment and thereby demonstrate the accuracy of the viscous solution. The interaction of a rotor wake with the flow about a 4 to 1 elliptic cylinder at 45 degree incidence was calculated for a Reynolds number of 3000. The results demonstrate the significant variations in the lift and drag on the elliptic cylinder in the presence of the interacting rotor wake.
Hepatoprotective Eﬀect of Microemulsion-Based System of Prunus Cerasus Kernel Extract on CCL 4 -induced Liver Damage in Mice

Background: Liver diseases are among the public health concerns that signiﬁcantly contribute to the global burden of mortality and illness. Herbal medicines are always used to treat a great number of diseases such as hepatotoxicity worldwide. Objectives: The current study aimed at investigating the hepatoprotective activity of microemulsion (ME)-based system Prunus cerasus kernel extract against carbon tetrachloride (CCL 4 )-induced hepatic injury in mice. Methods: In the current experimental study, 56 male Swiss albino mice (weighed 25 - 30 g) were randomly divided into 7 groups. Theplantextractwasadministeredorallyinmiceindosesof 2.5%,5%,and10% withorwithoutCCL 4 for10daysandthen,theirblood and liver were used for biochemical and histopathological analyses, respectively. Results: The ﬁndings of the current study revealed that the increased serum enzymes activity and various pathological changes in micereceivedCCL 4 weresigniﬁcantlyaﬀectedbythehepatoprotectiveactivityof Prunuscerasus kernelextractinthegroupstreated with 2.5% ME, 5% ME and 1000 mg/kg non-ME. Conclusions: In the current experimental conditions, 5% ME extract and 1000 mg/kg non-ME extract had almost similar hepatoprotective eﬀects on CCL 4 -induced liver injury.
Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University

—Software systems are often developed and released without formal speciﬁcations. For those systems that are formally speciﬁed, developers have to continuously maintain and update the speciﬁcations or have them fall out of date. To deal with the absence of formal speciﬁcations, researchers have proposed techniques to infer the missing speciﬁcations of an implementation in a variety of forms, such as ﬁnite state automaton (FSA). Despite the progress in this area, the efﬁcacy of the proposed speciﬁcation miners needs to improve if these miners are to be adopted. We propose SpecForge , a new speciﬁcation mining approach that synergizes many existing speciﬁcation miners. SpecForge decomposes FSAs that are inferred by existing miners into simple constraints, through a process we refer to as model ﬁssion. It then ﬁlters the outlier constraints and fuses the constraints back together into a single FSA (i.e., model fusion). We have evaluated SpecForge on execution traces of 10 programs, which includes 5 programs from DaCapo benchmark, to infer behavioral models of 13 library classes. Our results show that SpecForge achieves an average precision, recall and F-measure of 90.57%, 54.58%, and 64.21% respectively. SpecForge outperforms the best performing baseline by 13.75% in terms of F-measure.
ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF CURCUMA CAESIA ROXB RHIZOME IN INDIAN ADULT EARTHWORM

Curcuma caesia Roxb , popularly known as black termeric in India belongs to family Zingiberaceae. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the in-vitro anthelmintic potency of the ethyl acetate extract of Curcuma caesia rhizome using Indian earthworms ( Pheretima posthumad) . The various concentrations (25, 50, and 75 mg/ml) of the ethyl acetate extract were tested in-vitro for anthelmintic potency by determination of time of paralysis and time of death of worm. Albendazole (15mg/ml) used as standard. The result of present study indicates that the Curcuma caesia . potentiate to paralyze earthworm and also caused its death after some time. The shortest time of paralysis was observed at higher dose (75 mg/ml) of ethyl acetate extract was found to 30.86 min. Thus, the present study demonstrate that the Curcuma caesia as an anthelmintic has been confirm as the ethyl acetate extract of leaves displayed activity against the earthworm used in study.
Prevalence of Stress and Coping Styles in Resident Doctors: A Cross Sectional Study

Medical education is becoming complex posing extra burden on students. This increases stress in students, which has serious effects on their health, if it is not managed properly. Coping strategies are effective ways in reducing stress when used judiciously. Studies in postgraduate medical students (residents) focusing on these aspects are sparse. Aim is to assess the stress levels its correlates and coping strategies used by residents. Study is done on resident doctors working in three different hospitals and a medical college. Opt in method was used to include participants into the study. Single cross sectional assessment was done. All residents were approached for the study, consenting residents were asked for socio demographic details and administered Perceived stress scale and Brief COPE. Data was analyzed using SPSS software package 16 for windows. Spearman’s correlation, Kruskal Wallis test, Independent t test, Mann Whitney U test, ANOVA and factor analysis were done. Totally 251 residents were analyzed, 80% reported stress. Female gender, personal and workplace problems and sleep deprivation correlated with stress. Coping styles used were Self-distraction, Active coping, Emotional support, Instrumental support, Positive reframing, Planning and Acceptance. They differed with respect to gender, marital status, year of post-graduation, stress levels and choosing the subject. Principal component analysis of coping strategies grouped into three categories. In conclusion, Stress was highly prevalent in resident doctors and has more significance to personal factors. Adaptive coping strategies were used by the residents though they had inter-group differences.
FROM VAGABOND TO TOURIST: Second-Generation Turkish-German Deportees’ Narratives of Self-Healing and Well-being

The paper explores the social integration, well-being and self-healing strategies and outcomes of a sample of second-generation Turkish-Germans who were deported to Turkey due to conviction for youth crimes. Based on the life-story narratives of 14 male participants living and working in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, I analysed the way in which this tourist city offers spaces for self-discovery and socioeconomic integration, based on profitable work in the tourist economy. Although deportation was a traumatic event, it facilitated possibilities for life transformation – from ‘vagabond’ to ‘tourist’.
Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Diversification in Hedge Fund Portfolios

We explore the diversification benefits of increasing the number of hedge funds in an investment portfolio. Conventional wisdom suggests that investors should construct a portfolio of 20 to 30 hedge funds in order to achieve a reasonably low portfolio variance. We show using Monte Carlo simulations that the marginal benefit of including an additional hedge fund in a fund portfolio diminishes significantly once the number of hedge funds increases beyond ten. Specifically, the annualized standard deviation of a fund portfolio diminishes from 16.55 percent to 7.40 percent as we increase the number of funds from one to ten. However, the standard deviation only drops by an additional 0.55 percent when we increase the number of funds to 15. Investors can crimp portfolio variance further by spreading their capital judiciously across multiple hedge fund strategies. These findings are especially relevant for investors who are transiting from indirect investments via funds of hedge funds to direct investments in single-manager hedge funds.
Multi-dimensional analysis of the chemical and physical properties of spiral galaxies

In this thesis, wide-field 2D spectroscopy is employed in order to characterise the nebular properties of late-type field galaxies. The observations performed for this dissertation represent the first endeavour to obtain full 2D coverage of the disks of a sample of nearby spiral galaxies, by the application of the Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) technique, under the PPAK IFS Nearby Galaxies Survey: PINGS. A self-consistent methodology is defined in terms of observation, data reduction and analysis techniques for this and upcoming IFS surveys, as well as providing a whole new set of IFS visualization and analysis software made available for the public domain (PINGSoft). The scientific analysis comprises the study of the integrated properties of the ionized gas and a detailed 2D study from the emission line spectra of four selected galaxies. Evidence is found suggesting that measurements of emission lines of classical HII regions are not only aperture, but spatial dependent, and therefore, the derived physical parameters and metallicity content may significantly depend on the morphology of the region, on the extraction aperture and on the signal-to-noise of the observed spectrum. Furthermore, observational evidence of non-linear multi-modal abundance gradients in normal spiral galaxies is found, consistent with a flattening in the innermost and outermost parts of the galactic discs, with important implications in terms of the chemical evolution of galaxies.
NSS_A_371388 1533..1544

1Sleep Medicine Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Emergency, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefectural People’s Hospital, Shangri-La, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Intensive Care Unit, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefectural People’s Hospital, Shangri-La, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Respiratory Medicine, Sleep Disorders Center, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; 5Mental Health Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 7State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China
The loss of taste genes in cetaceans this access benefits you. Your matters

Background: Five basic taste modalities, sour, sweet, bitter, salt and umami, can be distinguished by humans and are fundamental for physical and ecological adaptations in mammals. Molecular genetic studies of the receptor genes for these tastes have been conducted in terrestrial mammals; however, little is known about the evolution and adaptation of these genes in marine mammals. Results: Here, all five basic taste modalities, sour, sweet, bitter, salt and umami, were investigated in cetaceans. The sequence characteristics and evolutionary analyses of taste receptor genes suggested that nearly all cetaceans may have lost all taste modalities except for that of salt. Conclusions: This is the first study to comprehensively examine the five basic taste modalities in cetaceans with extensive taxa sampling. Our results suggest that cetaceans have lost four of the basic taste modalities including sour, sweet, umami, and most of the ability to sense bitter tastes. The integrity of the candidate salt taste receptor genes in all the cetaceans examined may be because of their function in Na + reabsorption, which is key to osmoregulation and aquatic adaptation.
NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF VISCOUS FLOW PAST A SOLID SPHERE WITH THE CONTROL VOLUME FORMULATION

The control volume formulation with the QUICK finite difference scheme is used to solveincompressible liquid flow past a solid sphere in terms of stream function and vorticity.Several tech-nical points are addressed on improving the accuracy and efficiency of numerical simulation of similarproblems of fluid flow.In particular,the importance of suitable specification of the distortion func-tion to enforcing the far field boundarv conditions is emphasized.
POMDP Based Throughput Maximization Scheme For Wireless Powered Cognitive Radio Network

—In wireless powered Cognitive Radio Network (CRN), a Cognitive radio User (CU) can receive the wireless power transferred from an energy source for its operation. In this paper, we consider the operations of a CU in the CRN with wireless powered transfer. The operations of the CU include three modes in terms of Data Transmission (DT), Receive Wireless Power (WP) and Sleep (SL). In order to consider the effect of the future operation on the current reward of the CU, we formulate the problem to choose an optimal operation mode of the CU as a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP), in which the two states in terms of belief about the channel state and remaining energy are utilized as main factors to determine an optimal operation of the CU. Simulation results show the efﬁciency of the proposed scheme.
Computation of Finite Time Lyapunov Exponents using the Perron-Frobenius operator

The problem of phase space transport which is of interest both theoretically and from the point of view of applications has been investigated extensively using geometric and probabilistic methods. Two of the important tools for this that emerged in the last decade are the Finite time Lyapunov exponents (FTLE) and the Perron-Frobenius operator. The relationship between these approaches has not been clearly understood so far. In this paper a methodology is presented to compute the FTLE from the Perron-Frobenius operator, thus providing a step towards combining both the methods into a common framework.
Identi¢cation of Mga1, a G-protein a -subunit gene involved in regulating citrinin and pigment production in MonascusruberM7

The ﬁlamentous fungi Monascus spp. , which have been used in traditional fermented food in Asia for centuries, are well-known producers of a group of bioactive metabolites that are widely used as food additives and nutraceutical supplements worldwide. However, its potential to produce the mycotoxin citrinin poses a threat to food safety. Here, a G-protein a -subunit-encoding gene, Mga1 ( Monascus G-protein alpha-subunit 1), which encodes a protein showing a high degree of identity to Group I a -subunits of fungal heterotrimeric G-proteins, was cloned from Monascus ruber M7. An Mga1 -disrupted strain was obtained by homologous recombination. The disruptant produced approximately nine times more citrinin and 71% more pigments than the wild-type strain M7, indicating that the G-protein a -subunit encoded by Mga1 is involved in a signal transduction pathway regulating citrinin and pigment biosynthesis in M. ruber
Dexmedetomidine alleviates microglial activation of neuropathic pain by modulating miR-23a /PDE10A axis in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice

Purpose: To elaborate the functional role of dexmedetomidine (DEX) in alleviating microglial activation of diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) and explore the involved signaling pathways. Methods: The viability of BV-2 cells was measured using a commercial kit. Levels of interleukin 1 β (IL- 1 β ) and tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF- α ) were measured using commercial ELISA kit. The mRNA target was predicted and confirmed using TargetScan and luciferase assay. Protein expression levels were determined by western blotting. Diabetes was indiced in C57BL/6J mice using streptozotocin (STZ) and antidiabetic parameters evaluated in vivo. Results: DEX suppressed HG-induced microglial activation in BV-2 cells. The levels of IL-1 β and TNF- α increased in HG-treated cells, but this was counteracted following DEX treatment. Phosphorylation of p65 (p-p65) was upregulated in cells treated with HG, while DEX repressed this upregulation. MiR-23a was downregulated in BV-2 cells treated with HG, but upregulated by addition of DEX. MiR-23a mimics repressed the induction of IL-1 β and TNF- α levels and expression of p-p65. Results from TargetScan and luciferase assays showed that the 3-untranslated region (UTR) of PDE10A was directly targeted by miR-23a. The in vivo studies showed that miR-23a agomir relieved neuropathic pain and reduced the expressions of PDE10A and p-p65 in STZ-induced diabetic mice, but these effects were aggravated by DEX. Conclusion: The results show that upregulation of miR-23a, DEX alleviates microglial activation of neuropathic pain and reduces levels of inflammatory factors in STZ-induced diabetic C57BL/6J mice. The underlying mechanism was at least partially mediated by PDE10A.
Antibacterial activity of mexican sunflower leaf A.Gray Aqueous extract against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The research of antibacterial activity of Mexican sunflower leaf Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A.Gray aqueous extract against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was carried out. The research aimed to observe the antibacterial activity of Mexican sunflower leaves aqueous extract to inhibit the growth of MRSA with concentrations of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50%. The extracts were obtained by the maceration method, and the antibacterial activity was tested using the agar well diffusion method. Characterization of Mexican sunflower leaves simplicia were obtained with water level 9%, water-soluble level 21,6%, ethanol-soluble level 10,3%, and total ash level 14,36%. Characterization of Mexican sunflower leaves aqueous extracts were obtained with water level 26,36%, water-soluble level 53,13%, ethanol-soluble level 26,36%, and total ash level 19,98%. Phytochemical screening revealed that aqueous extract of Mexican sunflower leaves contained secondary metabolites of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, and saponins. The largest inhibitory zone was shown at a 50% extract concentration with a diameter of 12,40 mm. The aqueous extract of Mexican sunflower leaves was capable to form the inhibition zone on the MRSA growth.