Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intrinsic motivation a key enabler of African managers’ cultural intelligence

This study sought to determine manager's intrinsic motivation to engage multiculturally in the workplace as the managers varied by demographic background. Participants were a convenience sample of managers on supervisory level, middle level and senior level (n=550; Male 54.9%; Black ethnicity 64.4%). They completed the Motivational Scale of the Managerial Cultural Intelligence Measure. The data were analysed by means analysis of variance procedures to determine workforce diversity ability by managerial level and other demographics. The results showed a managerial level effect in that senior managers were significantly more motivated to get information about other cultures in the work group compared to middle managers and supervisors. Supervisors were significantly more willing to change their views of other cultures with learning as compared to senior managers and middle managers. Generally, managers with a shorter employment history are more motivated to engage with multi-cultural groups compared to those with a longer service history. Managers’ motivation to engage multi-culturally would enhance their competence in working with a diverse workforce and thereby embracing true democracy in the workplace.
Dwell+: Multi-Level Mode Selection Using Vibrotactile Cues

We present Dwell+, a method that boosts the effectiveness of typical dwell selection by augmenting the passive dwell duration with active haptic ticks which promptly drives rapid switches of modes forward through the user's skin sensations. In this way, Dwell+ enables multi-level dwell selection using rapid haptic ticks. To select a mode from a button, users dwell-touch the button until the mode of selection is haptically prompted. Our haptic stimulation design consists of a short 10ms vibrotacile feedback that indicates a mode arriving and a break that separates consecutive modes. We first tested the effectiveness of 170ms, 150ms, 130ms, and 110ms intervals between modes for a 10-level selection. The results reveal that 3-beats-per-chunk rhythm design, e.g., displaying longer 25ms vibrations initially for all three modes, could potentially achieve higher accuracy. The second study reveals significant improvement wherein a 94.5% accuracy was achieved for a 10-level Dwell+ selection using the 170ms interval with 3-beats-per-chunk design, and a 93.82% rate of accuracy using the more frequent 150ms interval with similar chunks for 5-level selection. The performance of conducting touch and receiving vibration from disparate hands was investigated for our final study to provide a wider range of usage. Our applications demonstrated implementing Dwell+ across interfaces, such as text input on a smartwatch, enhancing touch space for HMDs, boosting modalities of stylus-based tool selection, and extending the input vocabulary of physical interfaces.
Pre- and Postcopulatory Traits of Salvator Male Lizards in Allopatry and Sympatry

The reproductive traits of males are under influence of sexual pressures before and after copulation. The strength of sexual selection varies across populations because they undergo varying competition for mating opportunities. Besides intraspecific pressures, individuals seem to be subjected to pressures driven by interspecific interactions in sympatry. Lizards may vary their reproductive strategies through varying sexual characters, body size, gonadal investment, and sperm traits. We evaluated the reproductive traits, involved in pre- and postcopulatory competition, in allopatric and sympatric populations of Salvator lizards. We observed a spatial gradient of male competition among populations, with the following order: allopatric zone of S. rufescens; sympatric zone; and allopatric zone of S. merianae. Accordingly, variation in secondary sexual character, the relative testis mass, and the length of sperm component was observed between allopatry and sympatry in each species, suggesting differences in the investment of reproductive traits. However, we found that these two Salvator species did not differ in secondary sexual characters in sympatry. Interestingly, the trade-off between testes and muscle varied differently from allopatry to sympatry between these Salvator species, suggesting that the influence of social context on reproductive traits investment would affect lizard species differently.
Lipid Based nanoformulation of lycopene improves oral delivery: formulation optimization, ex vivo assessment and its efficacy against breast cancer

Abstract This study aims at developing an optimised nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) of lycopene for efficient absorption following oral administration. The optimised formulation showed an average particle size of 121.9 ± 3.66 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) 0.370 ± 0.97 and zeta potential −29.0 ± 0.83 mV. Encapsulation Efficiency (% EE) and drug loading (% DL) was found to be 84.50% ± 4.38 and 9.54% ± 2.65, respectively. In vitro release studies demonstrated the burst release within 4–9 h followed by sustained release over 48 h. The IC50 value of lycopene extract and optimised NLC for ABTS+• were found to be 172.37 μg Trolox equivalent and 184.17 μg Trolox equivalent whereas, for DPPH•, 117.76 μg Trolox equivalent and 143.08 μg Trolox equivalent respectively. Ex vivo studies and MTT assay revealed that the NLC had better permeation and cause sufficiently more cytotoxicity as compared to drug extract due to higher bioavailability and greater penetration.
Pre-Targeting and Direct Immunotargeting of Liposomal Drug Carriers to Ovarian Carcinoma

Background Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in many solid tumor types, such as ovarian carcinoma. Immunoliposome based drug targeting has shown promising results in drug delivery to the tumors. However, the ratio of tumor-to-normal tissue concentrations should be increased to minimize the adverse effects of cytostatic drugs. Methodology/Principal Findings We studied the EGFR-targeted doxorubicin immunoliposomes using pre-targeting and local intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of the liposomes. This approach was used to increase drug delivery to tumors as compared to direct intravenous (i.v.) administration of liposomes. EGFR antibodies were attached on the surface of PEG coated liposomes using biotin-neutravidin binding. Receptor mediated cellular uptake and cytotoxic efficacy of EGFR-targeted liposomes were investigated in human ovarian adenocarcinoma (SKOV-3 and SKOV3.ip1) cells. In vivo distribution of the liposomes in mice was explored using direct and pre-targeting approaches and SPECT/CT imaging. Targeted liposomes showed efficient and specific receptor-mediated binding to ovarian carcinoma cells in vitro, but the difference in cytotoxicity between targeted and non-targeted liposomes remained small. The relatively low cytotoxic efficacy is probably due to insufficient doxorubicin release from the liposomes rather than lack of target binding. Tumor uptake of targeted liposomes in vivo was comparable to that of non-targeted liposomes after both direct and pre-targeting administration. For both EGFR-targeted and non-targeted liposomes, the i.p. administration increased liposome accumulation to the tumors compared to i.v. injections. Conclusions/Significance Intraperitoneal administration of liposomes may be a beneficial approach to treat the tumors in the abdominal cavity. The i.p. pre-targeting method warrants further studies as a potential approach in cancer therapy.
Fru 2,6‐P2 and citrate: Intracellular distribution in citrus tissues and effect on grapefruit leaf PFP.

Grapefruit leaf PFP was studied for its activation by fructose 2,6‐bisphosphate (Fru 2,6‐P2) in the forward and reverse reactions. In the glycolytic reaction, a Ka of 4.0±0.12 nM was obtained. This constant is affected by the presence of increasing concentrations of citrate (1, 5 and 20 mM) with a Ka(citrate) of 4.5±0.09, 6.9±0.05 and 38.2±1.4 respectively. The inhibition mode of citrate is competitive with Fru 2,6‐P2, but non‐linear in relation of increasing concentrations of the inhibitor. The intracellular distribution and concentration of the key regulatory metabolite Fru 2,6‐P2 was further investigated in citrus leaves and juice cells. Fru 2,6‐P2 was only found in the cytosol of juice cells. Fru 2,6‐P2 was detected under both conditions with higher concentrations found under aerobiosis.
Association between external limiting membrane status and visual acuity in diabetic macular oedema

Aim To evaluate the association between the foveal external limiting membrane (ELM) status and visual acuity (VA) in diabetic macular oedema (DMO). Methods We retrospectively reviewed the spectral domain optical coherence tomography images of 127 eyes from 127 patients with DMO and evaluated the correlation between the logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution (logMAR) VA and the statuses of the foveal ELM, inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) and cone outer segment tips (COST); foveal macular thickness (FMT); and presence or absence of hard exudates (HE), serous retinal detachment (SRD) and vitreous adhesion. The integrity of the ELM, IS/OS, and COST was classified into three categories (absent, disrupted and complete). Results There was a strong correlation between VA and the statuses of the ELM (r=0.699, p<0.001), IS/OS (r=0.716, p<0.001) and COST (r=0.471, p<0.001). There was no correlation between FMT and logMAR VA (r=−0.036, p=0.687). However, when we analysed the correlation between FMT and VA by dividing patients into those with FMT ≤250 μm and those with FMT >250 μm, there was a positive correlation between FMT and VA in eyes with FMT ≤250 μm (r=−0.601, p<0.0001) and a negative correlation in eyes with FMT>250 μm (r=0.290, p<0.01). Other factors HE, SRD and vitreous adhesion did not correlate with VA. Conclusions In DMO, the ELM status may be as closely related to VA as the IS/OS status.
DAG-aware circuit compression for formal verification

The choice of representation for circuits and Boolean formulae in a formal verification tool is important for two reasons. First of all, representation compactness is necessary in order to keep the memory consumption low. This is witnessed by the importance of maximum processable design size for equivalence checkers. Second, many formal verification algorithms are sensitive to redundancies in the design that is processed. To address these concerns, three different auto-compressing representations for Boolean circuit networks and formulas have been suggested in the literature. We attempt to find a blend of features from these alternatives that allows us to remove as much redundancy as possible while not sacrificing runtime. By studying how the network representation size varies when we change parameters, we show that the use of only one operator node is suboptimal, and demonstrate that the most powerful of the proposed reduction rules, two-level minimization, actually can be harmful. We correct the bad behavior of two-level optimization by devising a simple linear simplification algorithm that can remove tens of thousands of nodes on examples where all obvious redundancies already have been removed. The combination of our compactor with the simplest representation outperforms all of the alternatives we have studied, with a theoretical runtime bound that is at least as good as the three studied representations.
Primary sclerosing cholangitis is associated to an extended B8‐DR3 haplotype including particular MICA and MICB alleles

Susceptibility to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is associated with HLA‐B8, ‐DR3, ‐DR2, and ‐DR6. It is not established whether these HLA genes or closely linked genes confer the primary disease susceptibility. MICA and MICB genes are found in the class I region between HLA‐B and DRB. MICA is expressed in gastrointestinal epithelium and activates γδ T cells in the gut. Because PSC is strongly associated with inflammatory bowel disease, we investigated whether MICA and MICB contribute to the HLA‐associated genetic susceptibility to develop PSC. The study included 130 PSC patients and 306 healthy controls, previously typed for HLA class I and II genes, typed for 5 MICA and 15 MICB microsatellite alleles. The phenotype frequencies of MICA5.1 and MICB24 were significantly increased among PSC patients compared with controls (90% vs. 74%; odds ratio [OR] = 3.2; Pc = 3 × 10−3 and 58% vs. 29%; OR = 3.3; Pc < 1 × 10−7, respectively). When stratified for B8‐ or DR3‐positive and ‐negative individuals, the association of these markers to PSC was no longer evident. However, we observed that B8 and DR3 were associated to PSC only in the presence of both MICA5.1 and MICB24 markers. The frequency of individuals carrying all 4 alleles was significantly increased among the PSC patients compared with controls (49% vs. 18%; OR = 4.5; Pc < 1 × 10−7). Our data indicate that PSC is associated to the extended B8‐MICA5.1‐MICB24‐DR3 haplotype.
A Fault-tolerant Controller for Unknown Nonlinear System Based on Neural Networks

A new neural-network-based fault-tolerant controller for nonlinear system is proposed. First a neural-network (NN) model is built for the unknown nonlinear system. The NN model is only trained during the initial period when the system is faultless. Then a fault-tolerant controller is designed. It consists of two parts, a main controller and a compensator. The main controller is designed for high performance. Using the residual signal generated from the differences between the nonlinear system and NN model, a NN-based compensation loop is constructed. Two controllers can be designed separately. The stability of the closed-loop is proved. The simulation results show the faulty system can be well compensated.
Clock-Skew-Based Computer Identification: Traps and Pitfalls

Each clock has built-in deficiencies since the manufacturing process is not precise on atomic level. These inaccuracies cause each clock to drift in a unique way. Clock skew has been already studied and used to identify computers. Based on the previous research in clock-skew-based identification, this paper provides a summary of use cases and methods for clock-skew-based identification. Nevertheless, the main contribution of the paper is following: (1) A formal evaluation of the requirements for precise clock skew estimations. The formal approach is accompanied with an empirical study of 24,071 clock skew measurements. (2) A method that links IPv4 and IPv6 addresses of a single computer. (3) A scenario, during which a malicious attacker mimics clock skew of another computer and consequently, for example, penetrates through authentication mechanisms considered during previous research. (4) Even though the real network observations expose that current precision in clock skew estimation is not sufficient to uniquely identify devices in moderately-sized network, some IPv4 and IPv6 addresses can be linked based on unique clock skew shifts of a computer, for example caused by a running NTP daemon.
Abscisic Acid Induces Resistance against Bamboo Mosaic Virus through Argonaute 2 and 31[OPEN]

Abscisic acid affects the expression of several genes in the RNA silencing pathway, contributing to plant resistance to viruses and regulating multiple defense mechanisms in Arabidopsis. Plant resistance to pathogens is tuned by defense-related hormones. Of these, abscisic acid (ABA) is well documented to moderate resistance against fungi and bacteria. However, ABA’s contribution to resistance against viruses is pleiotropic. ABA affects callose deposition at plasmodesmata (therefore hindering the viral cell-to-cell movement), but here, we show that when callose synthase is down-regulated, ABA still induces resistance against infection with Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV). By examining the potential connections between the ABA and RNA-silencing pathways in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), we showed that ABA regulates the expression of almost the whole ARGONAUTE (AGO) gene family, of which some are required for plant resistance against BaMV. Our data show that BaMV infection and ABA treatment regulate the same set of AGOs, with positive effects on AGO1, AGO2, and AGO3, no effect on AGO7, and negative effects on AGO4 and AGO10. The BaMV-mediated regulation of AGO1, AGO2, and AGO3 is ABA dependent, because the accumulation of these AGOs in BaMV-infected ABA mutants did not reach the levels observed in infected wild-type plants. In addition, the AGO1-miR168a complex is dispensable for BaMV resistance, while AGO2 and AGO3 were important for ABA-mediated resistance. While most ago mutants showed increased susceptibility to BaMV infection (except ago10), ago1-27 showed reduced BaMV titers, which was attributed to the up-regulated levels of AGO2, AGO3, and AGO4. We have established that ABA regulates the expression of several members of the AGO family, and this regulation partially contributes to ABA-mediated resistance against BaMV. These findings reveal another role for ABA in plants.
Dietary glycine and renal denervation prevents cyclosporin A-induced hydroxyl radical production in rat kidney.

Cyclosporin A (CsA) nephrotoxicity is associated with renal hypoxia and increases in free radicals in the urine. This study was designed to elucidate the mechanism of radical production caused by CsA. Pretreatment of rats with CsA (25 mg/kg, i.g.) for 5 days decreased glomerular filtration rates by 65%, an effect largely prevented by both dietary glycine (5%) or renal denervation. CsA dissolved in olive oil produced a 6-line alpha-(4-pyridyl 1-oxide)-N-tert-butylnitrone (4-POBN)/free radical signal in the urine, which partitioned predominantly into the aqueous phase after chloroform extraction (i.e., it is water soluble). Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is attacked by the hydroxyl radical to produce a methyl radical; administration of CsA with [(12)C]DMSO produced two radical species in urine, one with hyperfine coupling constants similar to the 4-POBN/methyl radical adduct found in aqueous solution. CsA given with [(13)C]DMSO produced a 12-line spectrum, confirming the formation of hydroxyl radicals. The methyl radical produced by the hydroxyl radical represented 62% of radicals detected in urine but only 15% in bile. Therefore, hydroxyl radicals are produced largely in the kidney. Free radicals in urine were increased about 5-fold by CsA, an effect completely blocked by the inhibitory neurotransmitter, glycine, or by renal denervation. CsA infusion for 30 min increased efferent renal nerve activity 2-fold, and dietary glycine (5%) totally blocked this phenomenon. Taken together, these data are consistent with the hypothesis that CsA increases hydroxyl radical formation by increasing renal nerve activity resulting in vasoconstriction and hypoxia-reoxygenation. Glycine blunts the effect of CsA on the renal nerve, which explains, in part, prevention of nephrotoxicity.
Prophylactic efficacy of S-2(2-aminoethylamino)ethyl phenyl sulfide (DRDE-07) against sulfur mustard induced lung toxicity in mice

Abstract Objective: The present study was planned to investigate the prophylactic efficacy of S-2(2-aminoethylamino)ethyl phenyl sulfide (DRDE-07), against topically applied SM induced pulmonary toxicity in mouse. Materials and methods: Animals were pretreated with S-2(2-aminoethylamino)ethyl phenyl sulfide (DRDE-07) (249.4 mg/kg by oral gavage) 30 minutes before SM exposure. The SM (6.48 mg/kg) was applied on hair clipped dorsocaudal region (percutaneous) of the animal. The animals were sacrificed on day 1, 3, 5 and 7. The biochemical changes those were observed in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and lung tissue included protein, LDH, MPO, β-glucuronidase, MMP-2, MMP-9, activated macrophages, reduced glutathione and lipid peroxidation level. Results and discussion: Pretreatment with DRDE-07 (0.2 LD50) attenuated SM-induced changes at all time point tested. BAL fluid biochemical endpoints indicated epithelial and endothelial cell damages as evidenced by increase in BAL protein, LDH level and increased number of activated macrophages. The increased myeloperoxidase activity and β-glucuronidase level exhibited the degranulation of neutrophils due to SM toxicity in lung. The zymogrphy analysis of BAL fluid showed a significant increase in matrix metalloproteases (MMP) activity due to inflammatory cells accumulation. Conclusion: Thirty minutes pretreatment with DRDE-07 decreased vascular permeability reduced the inflammation and oxidative stress, hence may be recommended as a potential prophylactic agent for SM intoxication.
Shape Dimension and Intrinsic 
Metric from Samples of Manifolds

Abstract We introduce the adaptive neighborhood graph as a data structure for modeling a smooth manifold M embedded in some Euclidean space Rd. We assume that M is known to us only through a finite sample P \subset M, as is often the case in applications. The adaptive neighborhood graph is a geometric graph on P. Its complexity is at most \min{2^{O(k)n, n2}, where n = |P| and k = dim M, as opposed to the n\lceil d/2 \rceil complexity of the Delaunay triangulation, which is often used to model manifolds. We prove that we can correctly infer the connected components and the dimension of M from the adaptive neighborhood graph provided a certain standard sampling condition is fulfilled. The running time of the dimension detection algorithm is d2O(k^{7} log k) for each connected component of M. If the dimension is considered constant, this is a constant-time operation, and the adaptive neighborhood graph is of linear size. Moreover, the exponential dependence of the constants is only on the intrinsic dimension k, not on the ambient dimension d. This is of particular interest if the co-dimension is high, i.e., if k is much smaller than d, as is the case in many applications. The adaptive neighborhood graph also allows us to approximate the geodesic distances between the points in P.
Cell Cycle–coupled Relocation of Types I and II Topoisomerases and Modulation of Catalytic Enzyme Activities

We visualized DNA topoisomerases in A431 cells and isolated chromosomes by isoenzyme-selective immunofluorescence microscopy. In interphase, topoisomerase I mainly had a homogeneous nuclear distribution. 10–15% of the cells exhibited granular patterns, 30% showed bright intranucleolar patches. Topoisomerase II isoenzymes showed spotted (α) or reticular (β) nuclear patterns throughout interphase. In contrast to topoisomerase IIα, topoisomerase IIβ was completely excluded from nucleoli. In mitosis, topoisomerase IIβ diffused completely into the cytosol, whereas topoisomerases I and IIα remained chromosome bound. Chromosomal staining of topoisomerase I was homogeneous, whereas topoisomerase IIα accumulated in the long axes of the chromosome arms and in the centriols. Topoisomerase antigens were 2–3-fold higher in mitosis than in interphase, but specific activities of topoisomerase I and II were reduced 5- and 2.4-fold, respectively. These changes were associated with mitotic enzyme hyperphosphorylation. In interphase, topoisomerases could be completely linked to DNA by etoposide or camptothecin, whereas in mitosis, 50% of topoisomerase IIα escaped poisoning. Refractoriness to etoposide could be assigned to the salt-stable scaffold fraction of topoisomerase IIα, which increased from <2% in G1 phase to 48% in mitosis. Topoisomerases I and IIβ remained completely extractable throughout the cell cycle. In summary, expression of topoisomerases increases towards mitosis, but specific activities decrease. Topoisomerase IIβ is released from the heterochromatin, whereas topoisomerase I and IIα remain chromosome bound. Scaffold-associated topoisomerase IIα appears not to be involved in catalytic DNA turnover, though it may play a role in the replicational cycle of centriols, where it accumulates during M phase.