Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structure elucidation and in vitro biological evaluation of sulfated exopolysaccharide from LAB Weissella paramesenteroides MN2C2

The introduction of new bio-product for human diseases treatment is still a great challenge in drug delivery field. This study aimed to extract, purify and characterize exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Weissella paramesenteroides MN2C2 which identified by 16S rDNA under accession number of MK530206 in gene bank. The chemical and spectroscopic analysis using UV, FTIR, NMR and HPLC were applied. The results revealed that the product composed of 80% fructose, 9.3% glucose and 5.6% sucrose with acetyl groups. EDX analysis demonstrated that it formed of high ratios of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous and sulfur. The three-dimensional structure showed irregular compacted lumps with smooth surface. The anticancer activity revealed that the partially purified EPS was strong anticancer agent and highly selective against Colon Caco-2, Breast MCF-7 and Liver HepG-2 cancer cell lines compared to the crude ones. Both EPSs showed antiviral activity (99.99%) against Coxsackie virus (CVB3). Their DPPH antioxidant activity acted in a dose dependent manner. From the obtained results it was concluded that our EPS can serve as a promising candidate for drug delivery.
Short communication: Savanna-forest boundary on Mount Rinjani, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstract. Sutomo, van Etten E, Iryadi R. 2021. Short communication: Savanna-forest boundary on Mount Rinjani, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 726-731. Seasonally dry tropical forests tend to be bordered by or are mixed with savanna ecosystems. This research investigates the location and nature of forest-savanna boundary on Mt. Rinjani and hypothesizes on potential causes of such boundary formation. The field survey locations were based on MODIS burnt area data. We made 30 plots (50 x 50 m) established along transects to obtain vegetation and environment data across boundaries. For data analysis, we use community correspondence index (CCI), vegetation composition using Importance Value Index (IVI), and Analysis of Similarity (ANOSIM) to detect differences in floristic and environmental characteristics across boundaries. Species composition in the transition zone (based on highest IVI results) comprises Ficus septica, Macaranga tanarius, Lindera sp. , Engelhardia spicata, Saurauria sp. , Rytidosperma penicillatum, and Athyrium sp. The Non-Metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling (NMDS) based on environmental data showed clear separation between savanna and forest, although boundaries were floristically similar to forest. Micro- and macro-environmental factors, as well as, fire disturbances, are also important features of the forest-savanna boundary on Mt. Rinjani. We present evidence of boundary dynamics in the form of forest advance on the Mt. Rinjani south-west slope.
Micropatterned κ-carrageenan-PVP-PEG hydrogels as a templet for head and neck cancer spheroid culture

Hydrogels have been demonstrated to exhibit distinct efficacy as matrices for 3D cell culture. As this research field advances, the needs for matrices combining both the benefits of natural and synthetic polymer hydrogels are becoming more apparent. In this study, kappa-carrageenan-PVP-PEG (κCA-PVP-PEG) hydrogels have been micropatterned with microwells to enhance human squamous carcinoma (HTB43TM) spheroid growth. It was found that the hydrogels’ swelling ratios (SR) were 11.91, 11.67, and 11.67 for day 2, day 4, and day 8, respectively. A stable SR indicated no further swelling of hydrogels in the cell culture media, hence allowing spheroid growth in an intact mold without the rupture or dissolution of microwell templet. The comparison between unirradiated and irradiated hydrogel Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra showed a slight shift of O-H (stretch) from 3,327 to 3,382 cm−1 and CH and CH2 (stretch) from 2,919 to 2,921 cm −1, respectively, whereas other functional peaks remained unchanged, suggesting the formation of interpenetrating network as the primary mechanism for hydrogels formation. The morphological study revealed the spherical shape of spheroids with measurements between 130 and 220 μm. Spheroids emit a signal in 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FIT-C) channels indicating spheroid viability. In conclusion, micropattern κCA-PVP-PEG hydrogels deemed suitable as a templet for generation and HTB43TM spheroid growth for 3D cell culture application.
ePublic Health: Fresh Approaches to Infection Prevention and Control Social media in public health

Prevention and control of infectious diseases suffer from deficient compliance with preventive measures or guidelines of both professionals and general audience. This poses a threat to public health. Current approaches to prevent risk behavior are in need of innovation. Fresh approaches to education, information and communication are needed. In this study five social media tools i.e., (micro)blogs, social networks, podcasts, mobile applications, RSS feeds, are (re)designed and operated with regard to four areas of infection prevention and control. They are evaluated according to their impact on public and professional adherence, compliance rate and other indices. Here we present outcomes of the first part of the study; a literature review of social media use in public health, specifically in the Netherlands. Empirical studies are scarce. However anecdotic studies, practices and experiences are reported that imply a range of innovative possibilities and potential impact of social media in the field of prevention and control of infectious diseases, as well as in public health at large.
Language-Agnostic Integrated Queries in a Managed Polyglot Runtime

Language-integrated query (LINQ) frameworks offer a convenient programming abstraction for processing in-memory collections of data, allowing developers to concisely express declarative queries using general-purpose programming languages. Existing LINQ frameworks rely on the well-defined type system of statically-typed languages such as C # or Java to perform query compilation and execution. As a consequence of this design, they do not support dynamic languages such as Python, R, or JavaScript. Such languages are however very popular among data scientists, who would certainly benefit from LINQ frameworks in data analytics applications. In this work we bridge the gap between dynamic languages and LINQ frameworks. We introduce DynQ, a novel query engine designed for dynamic languages. DynQ is language-agnostic, since it is able to execute SQL queries in a polyglot language runtime. Moreover, DynQ can execute queries combining data from multiple sources, namely in-memory object collections as well as on-file data and external database systems. Our evaluation of DynQ shows performance comparable with equivalent hand-optimized code, and in line with common data-processing libraries and embedded databases, making DynQ an appealing query engine for standalone analytics applications and for data-intensive server-side workloads.
Continuous and interval aerobic sessions: effects on triglyceride concentrations

The regular practice of physical exercise, primarily aerobic, has been recommended as a component of the non-pharmacological treatment for dyslipidemias. However, there is a lack of studies in the literature comparing the acute effects of different aerobic exercise models (continuous and interval) on triglycerides concentrations. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the magnitude of change on triglycerides concentrations after a single session of interval and continuous exercise in persons with dyslipidemia. This study was a randomized crossover clinical trial. Fifteen volunteers performed two different aerobic sessions, a continuous and an interval session. The intensity of the continuous session was maintained between 85-90% of the heart rate at anaerobic threshold (HRAT). The interval session consisted of 9 sets of 4 minutes at 85-90%HRAT followed by one minute below 85%HRAT. Triglycerides concentrations were assessed before, immediately after and at the end of 30 minutes after all sessions. Both sessions models resulted in alterations in triglycerides concentrations immediately after exercise (p = 0.005), without difference between them (p = 0.446). Continuous session increased triglycerides concentrations by 34.9% from pre-exercise to immediately post-exercise and the interval session, by 7.9%. Thirty minutes after exercise, triglyceride concentrations showed no significant difference in relation to the pre-exercise and immediately after exercise moments in both session models. Therefore, it is concluded that aerobic exercise promotes responses in triglycerides concentrations of dyslipidemic patients, independently of the exercise method, either continuous or interval.
Arranging for Safety Checks with Hardware Traps

Many programming languages are untyped and perform all type checks at run-time. This requires that type information for objects is kept around for as long as the objects are live. One way of achieving this involves tagging all pointers with the type of the object to which they refer. The compiler inserts safety checks before all object references in order to provide safe semantics and error reporting. The run-time safety checks can however be expensive and compilers sometimes provide an option to use unsafe semantics. The resulting programs are faster and more compact, but there are some obvious drawbacks. This paper describes a technique whereby a compiler can generate code that arranges for the processor to perform safety checks. The technique is usable on commodity hardware.
Developing technologies for the documentation and description of the low-resource Uralic languages Zyrian Komi and North Saami

The Uralic languages are spoken in northern Eurasia, and most of them (with the exception of Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian) are non-national endangered languages with varying official support and resources. Language technology can play a major role in better documenting and describing endangered languages and in making the related workflows faster and more efficient. However, applying contemporary methods effectively in this context remains a challenge. In our own projects, we have developed language technologies focusing on low-resource scenarios, specifically for the two Uralic languages Zyrian Komi and North Saami. In addition to providing an overview of this work, we detail what we see as the remaining obstacles and main challenges for our work. Although we focus on individual languages, our experiments translate to the wider situation of endangered languages in Northern Eurasia and beyond
Renal Resistive Index in Patients with Septic Shock: Changes in the Renal Resistive Index as a Parameter of Tissue Perfusion in the Assessment of Response to Treatment during Resuscitation of Patients with Septic Shock; a Prospective Observational Study

BackgroundSeptic shock, a complication characterized by altered tissue perfusion, is associated with high mortality if left untreated. Renal resistive index (RRI) reflects changes in intrarenal perfusion. Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating changes in RRI during resuscitation of patients with septic shock and evaluating its relationship with other micro- and macrociculatory perfusion parameters.MethodsThe present prospective observational study was performed on all patients referring to the emergency department intensive care unit (ED-ICU) diagnosed with septic shock from July 2018 to September 2019. Demographic characteristics of the study subjects were recorded and their hemodynamic, paraclinical, and RRI values were measured at three time points of on arrival, and 30 and 120 minutes and six hours after admission, by ultrasound.ResultsA total of 109 subjects entered data analysis; their mean age was 67.62 ± 14.67 years, of which 65 (59.1) were male. The RRI values were 0.71 ± 0.27, on arrival, at 30 and 0.70 ± 0.1 on 60 minutes, at six hours after treatment onset, respectively, showing that RRI values decreased during the study, which was statistically significant (P-value= 0.00). ConclusionA decrease in RRI value during resuscitation is associated with an increase in MAP in patients with septic shock. Accordingly, RRI can be used as an indicator of microcirculatory perfusion in the treatment process and volume assessment of patients with septic shock.
In vitro evaluation of antioxidant potentiality and estimation of total phenolic and flavonoid content of the whole stem of Coffea benghalensis B. Heyne ex Schult

This study was carried out for the first time to evaluate the antioxidant properties and total phenolic and flavonoid content of the methanolic extract along with its organic and aqueous soluble fractions of the whole stem of Coffea benghalensis growing in Bangladesh. For evaluation of antioxidant properties DPPH scavenging assay, ferric reducing capacity, hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and phospho molybdenum assay was used. In the DPPH free radical scavenging assay, the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the crude methanol extract revealed the highest free radical and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity with IC50 value of 3.22 ± 0.17 μg/ml and 12.88 ± 0.305 μg/ml, respectively while the standard BHT was 4.39 ± 0.02 μg/ml and 9.38 ± 0.075 μg/ml, respectively. All the test samples and the standard BHT exhibited good linear relationship in the ferric reducing capacity and phospho molybdenum assay. Also, the test samples showed significant activities in the ferric reducing capacity and phospho molybdenum assay compared to the reference standard in a dose dependent manner. It was observed that the test samples contained considerable amount of bioactive compounds including total phenolic (ethyl acetate soluble fraction giving the highest 22.631 ± 0.085 GAE/gm of dried sample) and flavonoid (pet ether soluble fraction giving the highest 54.513 ± 1.500 CE/gm of dried sample) content. It can be concluded from the results that the crude methanolic extract along with it’s four soluble fractions of the whole stem of Coffea benghalensis growing in Bangladesh are a good source of natural antioxidants.
Third-Party Consequences of Changes in Managerial Fiduciary Duties: The Case of Auditors’ Going Concern Opinions

This study examines the effect of managerial fiduciary duties on the likelihood of firms receiving going concern (GC) opinions from their auditors. We exploit an influential 1991 legal ruling that expanded fiduciary duties of corporate directors and officers in favor of creditors for near-insolvent Delaware firms. Our difference-in-differences test reveals an increase in GC opinions following the ruling for near-insolvent Delaware firms. Further tests indicate an increase in Type I audit opinion errors and no change in audit risk after the ruling. Additional analysis shows that after the ruling near-insolvent Delaware firms are less likely to dismiss their auditors following the receipt of a GC report. Overall, our findings are consistent with managers and directors with increased fiduciary duties toward creditors exerting less pressure on auditors and allowing them to reveal more GC opinions. Our results highlight important third-party consequences of changes in managerial fiduciary duties.
Cyclicality of Diaspora Remittances in Zimbabwe

The study examines the cyclicality of diaspora remittances in Zimbabwe. The cyclicality of diaspora remittances aid in confirming whether migrants are moved by altruistic or self-interest motives. The study used annual national income data and diaspora remittances flows data for the country Zimbabwe for period 2009-2019. Data for the two variables were properly transformed to enable good results derivation. Using the trend and correlation statistic the study found that diaspora remittances are pro-cyclical. Migrants send money back home for investment purposes more than for altruistic purposes. The study recommends improvement in the investment climate in order to attract more monies from migrants abroad. Continuous diaspora engagement is emphasized to learn more from the wishes of Diasporas that may drive the economy towards stability and growth.
Firms That Age Well: Life Cycles and Default Risk

The evolution of firms is not necessarily uniform. Exploring how this affects credit risk models, we find that firm life cycle provides additional explanatory power not captured by age. Firm age has an ambiguous effect on default risk and its impact during periods of high volatility is insignificant. Unobserved firm heterogeneity is an important determinant of credit default swap spreads and, when accounted for, riskier growth firms command a lower spread compared to mature firms that commonly benefit from the lowest spreads. Firms that age well by maintaining a growth profile are rewarded with lower cost of capital.
Extreme Rainfall and Institutional Investor Behavior

We investigate institutional investor behavior and firm valuation surrounding extreme rainfall conditions in rain-sensitive firms. Using Indian monsoon data and exploiting extreme rainfall conditions as ongoing natural experiments, we show that institutional investors significantly increase (decrease) their ownership in rain-sensitive firms during the excess (deficit) rainfall years. Despite the extreme rainfall conditions we show that institutional investors gain from investing in rain-sensitive firms during excess periods, as those firms have superior financial performance in the following period. Further analysis shows that although both domestic and foreign institutional investors increase their ownership in rain-sensitive firms following excess rainfall periods, only domestic institutional investors significantly divest from rain-sensitive firms in deficit periods. Our results support the view that extreme climate conditions can impact firm value and change investor behavior.
An ESG Ratings Free Assessment of Socially Responsible Investment Strategies

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings feature statistical and economic problems undermining their reliability as valid proxies for corporates’ social performance. To overcome this ratings providers specific bias, we focus on global sample of ESG-oriented Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Studying passive and pre-committed strategies provide us with several economic and econometric advantages, allowing us to document that Socially Responsible Investments (SRI)-oriented strategies generate significantly higher average stock market returns and liquidity. However, the identified overperformance is concentrated in months of extreme climate activity, while the effect reverses during financial crisis. These findings confirm that investors react to non-pecuniary shocks by increasing the weights assigned to SRI investments in their portfolio, but their preference shifts back towards traditional strategies during economic downturns.
Stress and Risk - Preferences versus Noise

We analyze the impact of acute stress on risky choice in a pre-registered laboratory experiment with 194 participants. We test the causal impact of stress on the stability of risk preferences by separating noise in decision-making from an actual shift in preferences. We find no significant differences in risk attitudes across conditions on the aggregate, using both descriptive analyses as well as structural estimations for risk aversion and different noise structures. Additionally, in line with the previous literature, we find statistically significant evidence for lower cognitive abilities being correlated with more noise in decision-making in general. We do not find a significant interaction effect between cognitive abilities and stress on noise levels.
Doing Well by Doing Good: Drivers of Firms’ Economic Motivation for Environmental Management Control System Implementation

This paper contributes to the field of environmental management control systems (EMCSs). We approach EMCSs from an economic perspective and theorize internal and external contingency factors that drive both the economic performance and the decision to implement an EMCS. We argue that the level of environmental costs induced by a firm’s pollution intensity drives the economic benefits and thus the firm’s economic motivation to implement an EMCS. We further expect that this relationship is contingent on the level of environmental awareness in the institutional environment (i.e., Green parties, Greenpeace, and media attention). We develop a framework to assess the extent of EMCS implementation on a multinational and longitudinal dataset comprising 5,599 firm-year observations from Europe and the USA between 2005 and 2016. The results provide support for our predictions. We discuss implications for policy makers and society.
Study on the Factors affecting Customer Perception towards Website Usefulness of Indian Banks

Banking industry is advancing rapidly across the globe. With technology affecting all spheres of life, banking industry too has not been left behind. Today, majority of the banks are offering Internet banking features and services to their customers that are standardized in nature. To become successful in providing a rich customer experience, the banks need to understand which aspects of internet banking influence the customer behavior. The objective of the paper is to study the perception of the customers towards website usefulness which can be defined as a combination of ‘Functionality’ and ‘Usability’ attributes of the banks’ websites. The study was undertaken on 150 users who avail e-banking services in Delhi-NCR. The data was analyzed using Factor Analysis, ANOVA and Levene’s t-test. Three factors namely ‘Navigation’, ‘Content’ and ‘Response’ were identified which influence the customer perception towards Website Usefulness. The influence of demographic parameters like age, gender and occupation on these factors was also studied. It was found that age influences the Navigation factor only; gender does not influence the website’s usefulness while occupation influences all the three factors. The banks can use these research findings and incorporate the factors on their websites which would result in higher levels of customer satisfaction.
Empirical Models of Industry Dynamics with Endogenous Market Structure

This article reviews recent developments in the study of firm and industry dynamics, with a special emphasis on the econometric endogeneity of market structure. The endogeneity of market structure follows from the presence of serially correlated unobservable shocks to the profitability of firms’ dynamic decisions, a feature common to many empirical settings. Methods that ignore endogeneity can lead to misleading parameter estimates and misleading counterfactual results. We pay particular attention to extensions of standard two-step methods that leverage instrumental variables to address endogeneity in both single-agent and oligopoly models. A first step set-identifies dynamic policy functions together with serial correlation parameters, and a second step quickly solves for profit function parameters using an extension of existing forward-simulation methods. We discuss how these new methods provide a general solution to initial-conditions problems and how they can yield practical estimation strategies.