Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vernonia polysphaera Baker: Anti-inflammatory activity in vivo and inhibitory effect in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells

Species of the Vernonia genius are widely distributed across the world. In traditional communities, they are commonly used in popular medicine for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of Vernonia polysphaera Baker hydroalcoholic extract. A λ-carrageenan-induced paw edema and peritonitis model was established in BALB/c mice. The in vitro activity of the extract was measured on LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. There was no toxic effect on mice or on the cells treated with the extract. Animals treated with V. polysphaera extract demonstrated inhibition of paw edema in comparison with the untreated animals at all the analyzed doses. In peritonitis, treatment with the extract at a dose of 500 mg/kg resulted in a lower total leukocyte count in the peritoneal fluid and blood and lower levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and PGE-2 than the control group. Cells treated with 50 and 100 μg/mL of the extract exhibited lower levels of nitrite and pro-inflammatory cytokine production and lower COX-2, NF-κB expression. The V. polysphaera extract demonstrated an anti-inflammatory effect, interfering with cell migration, reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and COX-2 expression and consequent interference with PGE-2, as well as inhibiting NF-κB transcription.
A Review of Neurotransmitters Sensing Methods for Neuro-Engineering Research

Neurotransmitters as electrochemical signaling molecules are essential for proper brain function and their dysfunction is involved in several mental disorders. Therefore, the accurate detection and monitoring of these substances are crucial in brain studies. Neurotransmitters are present in the nervous system at very low concentrations, and they mixed with many other biochemical molecules and minerals, thus making their selective detection and measurement difficult. Although numerous techniques to do so have been proposed in the literature, neurotransmitter monitoring in the brain is still a challenge and the subject of ongoing research. This article reviews the current advances and trends in neurotransmitters detection techniques, including in vivo sampling and imaging techniques, electrochemical and nano-object sensing techniques for in vitro and in vivo detection, as well as spectrometric, analytical and derivatization-based methods mainly used for in vitro research. The document analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of each method, with the aim to offer selection guidelines for neuro-engineering research.
WAVELET SUB-BAND ENERGY FOR FEATURE EXTRACTION OF ELECTRO ENCEPHALO GRAPH (EEG) SIGNALS

This research describes the application of back propagation Neural Network as a classification and Discrete Wavelet Transformation for feature extraction by taking energy values on each sub-band of the Electro Encephalo Graph (EEG) signal wave. The purpose of this study was to identify the EEG signal used in the cursor movement. The aim of this study was to provide new communication and control options for people with severe motor disability. The data used are EEG data derived from BCI competition 2003 (BCI Competition 2003). This data contains class 0 data (for upward cursor movement) and class 1 (for downward cursor movement). Decision-making is done in two stages. In the first stage, the energy values in each discrete wavelet sub-band are used to extract features of the EEG signal data. This feature is as the input on back propagation Neural Network. The second stage is identifying process into two classes (class 0 and class 1) of EEG signal data files. There are 260 training data files of EEG signals and 293 of the EEG signal data file testing, so the total is 553 data files of EEG signals. The result obtained for the classification of EEG signals is 73.5% of the tested signal data.
Modified Parker weights for super short scan cone beam CT

Circular cone beam CT (CBCT) acquisitions with less than 180° plus fan angle are desired for practical reasons in the interventional setup. Strong shading artefacts are present with standard FDK reconstruction even for voxels with 180° coverage. The use of modified Parker weights has been proposed to correctly handle redundant data and correct for shading in the limited angle areas. However, this results in discontinuous weighting functions leading to streak artefacts in the FDK reconstruction. We propose to combine the modified Parker weights with a filtered back-projection (FBP) algorithm capable of handling redundancy weights after filtering. Improved image quality is shown for this approach in terms of visual appearance and quantitative measures.
Trot Accelerations of Equine Front and Hind Hooves Shod with Polyurethane Composite Shoes and Steel Shoes on Asphalt

Simple Summary In the present study, the acceleration occurring during trot on asphalt with two types of horseshoes were compared in horses commonly used for carriage driving in the city of Vienna. Both types of shoes were nailed onto the hooves; one shoe was a traditional steel shoe, while the other one was a steel shoe whose ground surface was covered with soft polyurethane (PU). Four horses were used to measure hoof accelerations during trotting in hand on an asphalt track, similar to a city street. With the polyurethane-covered shoes, hooves experienced less abrupt deceleration during landing; moreover, they also experienced more acceleration after push off from the ground. Front and hind hooves showed similar accelerations when shod with the polyurethane-covered shoe, while front hooves were undergoing harder deceleration than hind hooves when shod with the traditional steel shoe. Finally, with the softer shoes horses trotted faster and with longer strides than with the steel shoes. This indicates that PU shoes may aid in reducing the overload present in the front limbs of horses. Abstract The present study investigated accelerations of the front and hind hooves of horses comparing two different shoe types. A standard steel shoe, with studs, pins, and in some instances with toe grabs, was compared to a steel shoe covered on the bottom with a layer of polyurethane. Four horses were used; they trotted in hand on an asphalt track at their self-selected speed. The results showed significantly reduced decelerations during the stance phase with the polyurethane-covered shoes (10th percentile median steel −2.77 g, polyurethane −2.46 g; p = 0.06) and significantly increased decelerations in front hooves compared to hind hooves with steel shoes (70th percentile median −1.04 g front hooves, 0.12 g hind hooves, p = 0.04). Horses trotted faster using longer strides with the polyurethane-covered shoes compared to the steel shoes. The results show that effects of shoe types should be investigated simultaneously in front and hind hooves, and that PU shoes may aid in reducing the overload present in the front limbs of horses.
The Flexible Inverse Logit Model∗

This paper develops the flexible inverse logit model, a structural inverse demand model which is able to describe the behavior of heterogeneous, utility-maximizing consumers choosing from a choice set of possibly many products that are differentiated in a way that is both observed and unobserved by the modeller. The FIL model is easy to estimate by linear instrumental variables regression to deal with the endogeneity issues of prices and market shates due to the modelling of unobserved product differentiation. Furthermore, the FIL model accommodates rich substitution patterns, including complementarity in demand. In particular, simulations show that it is able to match the substitution patterns of the random coefficient logit pretty well and to get quite right predictions of a merger’s price and share effects. ∗First Draft: January, 2019. I would like to thank Steven Berry, Debopam Bhattacharya, Philippe Choné, Olivier De Groote, André de Palma, Xavier D’Haultfoeuille, Roxana Fernandez, Alfred Galichon, Gautam Gowrisankaran, Laura Grigolon, Ulrich Kaiser, Laurent Linnemer, Hugo Molina, and Pasquale Schiraldi as well as participants at the internal seminar in microeconomics at CREST, at the Paris Young Economists Seminar on the Economics of Digitization (Telecom Paris), at the 2nd Workshop on Platforms, E-commerce and Digital Economics (CRESTTelecom Paris), at the external ALISS Seminar (INRAE), at the 10th conference on Industrial Organization and the Food Industry (TSE), at the 46th EARIE Annual Conference, 12th Econometric Society World Congress, at the DSE WINTER SCHOOL 2020. This paper is based on Chapter 2 of my doctoral dissertation at École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay. †CREST, ENS Paris-Saclay, University Paris-Saclay; jmonardo@ens-paris-saclay.fr.
Labour flexibility practices in Dutch SMEs

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) cope with the need for labour flexibility. Most previous studies ignore the labour flexibility practices of SMEs, especially in times of economic growth and tight labour markets. Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case study approach is applied, with ten Dutch SMEs located in one small province with a similar labour market. A survey was executed as an intake, followed by 48 interviews with the entrepreneurs, HR and other managers and employees, and two focus groups in each company. The findings are based on an analysis of the approved case descriptions. Findings: SMEs, like big companies, do not rely on one flexibility practice. Volume fluctuations are countered with all flexibility strategies, the mix fluctuations and the product innovations are mostly countered with flexible functions and flexible production technology. In general, the data suggest that flexibility strategies of SMEs can be characterised as ad hoc, reactive and with a short-term orientation. Research limitations/implications: Future research should include other sectors and regions enabling to generalise the findings. Future research should have a longitudinal design to include the pathway dependencies of flexibility practices. Practical implications: This study identifies the need to analyse flexibility demands; reduce flexibility demands before investments in flexibility practices; create production process flexibility; invest in labour flexibility practices only after the first three steps are taken; and develop basic and more advanced levels of flexible contracts, flexible functions and flexible working times. Originality/value: This study contributes to the authors’ knowledge on the use of labour flexibility practices in SMEs. In addition, it brings empirical data on how these labour flexibility practices relate to the needs for flexibility and how they relate to other sources of organisational flexibility, such as a flexible market approach and flexible production technologies. Dynamic capabilities should include the suggested operationalisation of the flexibility practices. © 2019, Jan De Leede, Linda Drupsteen, Esther Schrijver, Anneke Goudswaard, Nihat Dag, Joost Van der Weide and Sarike Verbiest.
The Future for ELT Materials in Asia

In this paper I raise a number of controversial issues which are currently being debated in relation to the development of materials for language learning. For each issue I summarise recent literature relevant to the issue, I relate the issue to the current situation as regards language learning materials in Asia, I state my own position in relation to the issue and I make recommendations for developments in Asia. The first issue I raise relates to the debate about whether learners of English in Asia should be helped to learn International English rather than be taught a standard native-speaker variety of English. Corpora of successful users of international English are referred to and the position is put forward that for most learners of English in Asia Standard British English and General American English are neither necessary nor attainable models. Another major issue considered is the debate concerning the benefits of implicit and explicit teaching and the connected discussion of the optimum ways of helping learners to gain from explicit learning. The current literature on the issue is referred to and recommendations are made that English teaching materials in Asia should both include many more opportunities for implicit learning from engaged exposure to language in use as well as opportunities to make explicit discoveries for themselves about how English is used to achieve effect. Other recommendations made are that content approaches should be made more use of in English materials for Asia, that materials for young children should focus much more on enjoyment, fun and creativity and that Asia should not be reluctant to make use of culturally novel approaches providing they are sensitively introduced rather than imposed.
Is Balanced Harvest a good idea? An ecosystem modelling approach to rebuild fisheries and trophic structure of the Celtic Sea

1600 caractères maximum) : Balanced harvest has been suggested as a new paradigm of fisheries management in order to minimize the impacts of fisheries on marine ecosystems, by distributing the fishing pressure on all species and trophic levels, proportionally to the productivity of each group, to maintain their relative abundance in the ecosystem. However, this exploitation pattern has been criticized by a few scientists arguing that exploitation of all trophic levels may lead to a large ecosystem impact, due to the cumulative effects of fishing along the food web. There is no consensus within the literature about Balanced Harvest implementation and effects because scarce knowledge. Using Ecopath with Ecosim model of the Celtic Sea as case studies, we assessed the impacts of Balanced Harvest on the trophic structure of these ecosystems. Results confirmed that exploiting all species or trophic boxes proportionally to their productivity might lead to an unbalanced structure, characterized by a large impact on predators. Alternative scenarios were tested in order to identify a less impacting fishing strategy on ecosystems. Mots-clés : Balanced harvest, gestion des pêches, Ecopath with Ecosim, mer Celtique
Enhancing Dye Adsorption of Wool Fibers with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium Chloride Ionic Liquid Processing

In this paper, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid (IL) which has good solubility for wool keratin, was employed to treat the wool fibers. The characterization of IL treatment on the wool fibers was first investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the Allwörden reaction and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Then, the effect of the IL treatment on the wool adsorption properties for an acid dye was studied through the dyeing rate test. The IL treatment was proven to be an effective process for wool characterization. The scales of the IL-treated wool fibers were eroded and even dislodged when the treatment temperature was increased according to the SEM observations. The Allwörden reaction showed that the epicuticle of wool fibers was damaged and became incomplete after the IL treatment. XRD indicated that the IL treatments could cause the decrease in the degree of crystallinity of wool fibers. Furthermore, the adsorption and diffusion behaviors of the IL-treated wool samples showed that the ionic liquid modification could improve the sorption properties of the wool fibers as represented by the increases in the dyeing rate.
A Study of the Twisted Strength of the Whirled Airflow in Murata Vortex Spinning

In Murata vortex spinning, the highspeed whirled airflow twists the open-end trailing fibers converged at the inlet of the hollow spindle into a yarn. The twisted strength acting on the vortex spun yarn by the whirled airflow was investigated by an analytical model based on simulating the flow field inside the nozzle block. The results showed that the twisted strength acting on the vortex spun yarn by the vortex could be regarded as the following functions: (1) the number of jet orifices, the jet angle, the inner diameter of the jet orifice and the nozzle block; (2) the distance from the inlet of the nozzle block to the inlet of the hollow spindle; (3) the projecting height of open-trail-end fibers twined over the top exterior of the hollow spindle; (4) the vortex spun yarn diameter; and (5) the velocity at exit of the jet orifice (i.e. corresponding to nozzle pressure). Increasing the velocity at exit of the jet orifice increased the strength twisted by the whirled airflow. The strength twisted by the whirled airflow increased with decreasing inlet diameter of the nozzle block, and was enhanced with increasing outer diameter of the hollow spindle. The strength twisted by the whirled airflow was weaker when the distance from the inlet of the nozzle block to the inlet of the hollow spindle was bigger. The numerical results validated the effectiveness of the analytical model.
A novel bioactive fabric dyed with unripe Citrus grandis Osbeck extract part 1: dyeing properties and antimicrobial activity on cotton knit fabrics

In order to explore the potential use of Citrus grandis Osbeck in biomedical applications for improving human’s skin health, cotton knit fabric was dyed with the citrus extract under varied conditions including temperature, duration, pH, and dye concentration and evaluated for fastness and antimicrobial activity. The fabric was optimized for maximum dye uptake at a pH of 3, dyeing temperature of 60°C, dyeing duration of 60 min, and dye concentration of 800% owf. The dye fastness to rubbing, washing, perspiration, and light were reasonably good for 800% owf dyed fabrics. In terms of antimicrobial efficacy, fabric dyed with the high concentration showed excellent bacterial reduction rates against Staphylococcus aureus for up to five repetitions of laundering, which implies there is a need to improve antimicrobial durability. In a following work, the optimally dyed fabric will be tested for in-vivo dermal effects.
Fabrication and mechanical properties of UV-curable glass fiber-reinforced polymer—matrix composite

A UV-curable glass fiber-reinforced composites was investigated in order to develop a cost-effective fabrication approach for manufacturing polymer—matrix composites. The effects of glass fiber-treating process and UV exposure power on the tensile strength were studied through scanning electron microscopy, contact angle determination, and curing degree test. The experimental results showed 11.5% increase in tensile strength for the UV-cured composite reinforced with heat-treated glass fiber, and 51.4% increase with glass fiber treated by coupling agent. The optimal exposure power was 0.94 J/mm2 to obtain the optimized mechanical properties. However, overexposure could seriously result in the loss of tensile strength. The maximum tensile strength and shear strength of composite cured by UV approach in this study were 902.09 and 25.04 MPa, respectively.
Psittacosis

The disease known as psittacosis lias always been one ol the curiosities of medicine, but the present widespread incidence of the disease m countries as remote from one another as South America, the United States, Germany, Switzeiland, and Great Britain has naturally aroused the attention of both the medical and lay pi ess. Psittacosis is defined by Dorland as a contagious influenza-like disease of parrots, c0"1niunicable to man, and characterized in man b} a typhoidor paratyphoid-like disease associated with severe pulmonary symptoms and high fever. The literature in the medical journals for 1929-30 is already so extensive that it is difficult to summarize it, but as cases may have occurred or may be occurring in India, we may draw attention to it. The parrot has always been notorious for its language; its morals have always been under suspicion; it is now somewhat unfortunate for this domestic
Exact Solutions for Rectangular Bidirectional Composites and Sandwich Plates

In a continuing study, three-dimensional elasticity solutions are constructed for rectangular laminates with pinned edges. The lamina tion geometry treated consists of arbitrary numbers of layers which can be isotropic or orthotropic with material symmetry axes parallel to the plate axes. Several specific example problems are solved, in cluding a sandwich plate, and compared to the analogous results in classical laminated plate theory.
Performance and Priorities: A Cross-sectional Study of Local Health Department Approaches to Essential Public Health Services

Objectives: Despite a push for increased local public health capacity, no clear baseline for performance of local health departments (LHDs) exists. The objectives of this study were to quantify the self-reported performance of LHDs on the 10 Essential Public Health Services (EPHSs) and describe the relationships between performance and characteristics of LHDs. Methods: We used data on 2000 LHDs from the 2013 National Profile of Local Health Departments survey to develop principal components analysis–based scores to evaluate each LHD on the performance of EPHSs. Scores ranged from 0 to 100. LHDs that performed no activities within an EPHS had a score of 0, and LHDs that performed all activities within an EPHS had a score of 100. We explored the relationships between EPHS scores and LHD characteristics by using multivariate linear regression and cluster analysis. Results: Performance scores varied greatly by LHDs and EPHSs; however, LHDs typically scored <50, indicating that they performed fewer than half of the activities evaluated. LHDs that served larger populations (vs smaller populations) and LHDs that had higher per-capita funding (vs lower per-capita funding) had higher EPHS scores. We identified 6 EPHS performance score–based LHD clusters, which suggests similarities in which EPHSs LHDs focused on. Conclusions: Our results suggest weaknesses in many LHDs’ fulfillment of the EPHSs, particularly in low-population and low-funding settings. LHDs should be given the resources to increase capacity and ensure the EPHSs are met in communities.
Fields of bounded deformation for mesoscopic dislocations

In this paper we discuss the consequences of the distributional approach to dislocations in terms of the mathematical properties of the auxiliary model fields such as displacement and displacement gradient which are obtained directly from the main model field here considered as the linear strain. We show that these fields cannot be introduced rigourously without the introduction of gauge fields or, equivalently, without cuts in the Riemann foliation associated with the dislocated crystal. In a second step we show that the space of bounded deformations follows from the distributional approach in a natural way and discuss the reasons why it is adequate to model dislocations. The case of dislocation clusters is also addressed, as it represents an important issue in industrial crystal growth while from a mathematical point of view, peculiar phenomena might appear at the set of accumulation points. The elastic–plastic decomposition of the strain within this approach is also given a precise meaning.
Transverse mobility prediction of non-Newtonian fluids across fibrous porous media

This work is an extension of our previous work [Wang JF and Hwang WR. Permeability prediction of fibrous porous media in a bi-periodic domain. J Compos Mater 2007; 42: 909—929], in which a finite-element fictitious-domain mortar-element technique was developed to investigate the permeability of fibrous porous media in the bi-periodic domain, to non-Newtonian shear-thinning fluid. Considering the amount of shear-thinning, the pressure drop, the fiber microstructure, and the porosity as parameters, we investigate (i) the (normalized) mobility and its dependence on both the amount of shear-thinning and the given pressure drop; (ii) mechanisms leading to the main flow path in a highly shear-thinning fluid in randomly distributed fiber problems, and (iii) inter-tow and intra-tow non-Newtonian flow characteristics in a fiber bundle problem. The dependence of the mobility on shear-thinning has been found to appear completely opposite according to given pressure drop values.