Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between proportion and composition of albumins, and in vitro protein digestibility of raw and cooked pea seeds (Pisum sativum L.).

BACKGROUND Peas provide an excellent plant protein resource for human diets, but their proteins are less readily digestible than animal proteins. To identify the relationship between composition and in vitro digestibility of pea protein, eight pea varieties with a wide range of protein content (157.3-272.7 g kg(-1)) were determined for the proportion of albumins and globulins, their compositions using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) before and after heat treatment using a multi-enzyme (trypsin, chymotrypsin and peptidase) method. RESULTS The proportion of albumins based on total seed protein content decreased from 229 to 147 g kg(-1) as seed protein content increased from 157.3 to 272.7 g kg(-1), while the proportion of globulins increased from 483 to 590 g kg(-1). The IVPDs of eight raw pea seeds were 79.9-83.5%, with significant varietal variations, and those were improved to 85.9-86.8% by cooking. Albumins, including (pea albumins 2) PA2, trypsin inhibitor, lectin and lipoxygenase, were identified as proteolytic resistant proteins. Globulins were mostly digested by protease treatment after heating. CONCLUSION The quantitative ratio of albumins and globulins, and the quantitative variations of albumin protein components, including lipoxygenase, PA2, lectins and trypsin inhibitors, appear to influence the protein digestibility of both raw and cooked pea seeds.
Reexamining a Model for Evaluating Information Center Success Using a Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Structural equation modeling is a technique that has been widely used for instrument validation and model testing in research in marketing and organizational behavior. The technique has also been introduced to MIS researchers and used in several studies recently reported in the literature. This article offers an example of how the technique can be used for instrument validation and model testing. The illustration is made through a reexamination of a model for evaluating information center (IC) success. With the growth of end-user computing, the success of an IC is more important than ever. Obtaining a valid model for measuring IC success is thus crucial to organizations with ICs. The results of this study highlight the importance of a strong theoretical base in developing such a valid model, and management should be cautious when using these models to assess the performance of their ICs.
Mainland Chinese 'Foreign Talents' in Singapore

With the escalation of skilled international migration since the late 1980s, the subject matter has emerged similarly as a growing field of academic inquiry. Nevertheless, while the relocation of skilled workers has become prevalent with globalisation, accounts of such migration continue to be narrowly focused on several themes. In contrast, by concentrating on mainland Chinese professionals, this essay will seek to describe the intricacies of skilled migration. Furthermore, as it has developed into a middle class phenomenon, skilled international migration must be evaluated from a highly contextualised framework. Consequently, as it has declared its objective to become a talent centre, Singapore is an ideal case concerning the processes in the recruitment, production and employment of skilled international labour.
Anticarcinogenic effect of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) and its ingredients

Conventional and newly emerging treatment procedures such as chemotherapy, catalytic therapy, photodynamic therapy and radiotherapy have not succeeded in reversing the outcome of cancer diseases to any drastic extent, which has led researchers to investigate alternative treatment options. The extensive repertoire of traditional medicinal knowledge systems from various parts of the world are being re-investigated for their healing properties Crocus sativus L. , commonly known as saffron, is the raw material for one of the most expensive spice in the world, and it has been used in folk medicine for centuries. Chemical analysis has shown the presence of more than 150 components in saffron stigmas. The more powerful components of saffron are crocin, crocetin and safranal. Studies in animal models and with cultured human malignant cell lines have demonstrated antitumor and cancer preventive activities of saffron and its main ingredients, possible mechanisms for these activities are discussed. More direct evidence of anticancer effectiveness of saffron as chemo-preventive agent may come from trials that use actual reduction of cancer incidence as the primary endpoint. This review discusses recent literature data and our results on the cancer chemopreventive activities of saffron and its main ingredients.
Is One Rating Enough?

There are sound reasons why investors should require a second credit rating when screening CDO investments. A rating from one agency may reflect the likelihood that the issue will default while a rating from another may provide a measure of expected loss. It seems that most prudent investors would be interested in both risk measures, or perhaps even better, other measures of risk and reward that are easily incorporated into their risk monitoring systems. While it is often possible to “back out” these risk measures from two or more agency ratings, a better solution would be for each rating agency to publish a second rating (risk measure) to provide a more complete characterization of the risk of a given security.
Analysis of Bordetella pertussis Populations in European Countries with Different Vaccination Policies

ABSTRACT Despite the widespread use of pertussis vaccines during the last decades, pertussis has remained an endemic disease with frequent epidemic outbreaks. Currently two types of vaccines are used: whole-cell vaccines (WCVs) and recently developed acellular vaccines (ACVs). The long-term aim of our studies is to assess the effect of different vaccination policies on the population structure of Bordetella pertussis and ultimately on the disease burden in Europe. In the present study, a total of 102 B. pertussis isolates from the period 1998 to 2001 from five European countries (Finland, Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands, and France) were characterized. The isolates were analyzed by typing based on variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR); by sequencing of polymorphic genes encoding the surface proteins pertussis toxin S1 and S3 subunits (ptxA and ptxC), pertactin (prn), and tracheal colonization factor (tcfA); and by fimbrial serotyping. The results reveal a relationship between geographic location and VNTR types, the frequency of the ptxC alleles, and serotypes. We have not observed a relationship between the strain characteristics we studied and vaccination programs. Our results provide a baseline which can be used to reveal changes in the B. pertussis population in Europe in the coming years.
Evaluation of Multi-Asset Value at Risk: Evidence from Taiwan

Under the internal model approach (IMA) stipulated by Basel II, financial institutions are allowed to develop and employ proprietary internal models to evaluate various risk. However, the flexibility to develop a proprietary model leads to the question of which computing method delivers the most accurate and reliable estimates of value at risk (VaR). This research employs the new backtesting method proposed by PA©rignon and Smith (2008) to determine the best method for computing integrated value at risk. It tests three major VaR computation methods â€” historical simulation, Monte Carlo simulation, and variance-covariance methods. The portfolio on which VaR is computed includes equities, government bonds, foreign exchange, and index options, all of which are commonly traded by financial institutions. The empirical analysis indicates that historical simulation is the best VaR computation method, which is consistent with the result of PA©rignon and Smith (2008).
Using the Generalized Inverted Pendulum to generate less energy-consuming trajectories for humanoid walking

This paper proposes an analysis of the effect of vertical position of the pivot point of the inverted pendulum during humanoid walking. We introduce a new feature of the inverted pendulum by taking a pivot point under the ground level allowing a natural trajectory for the center of pressure (CoP), like in human walking. The influence of the vertical position of the pivot point on energy consumption is analysed here. The evaluation of the energy consumption is done using a sthenic criterion in a 3D dynamics simulation of the humanoid robot ROMEO (Aldebaran Robotics) and shows a consequent reduction of the robot torque solicitation with a pivot point under the ground.
Re-Engineering Values into the Youth Education System: A Needs Analysis Study in Brunei Darussalam

This study aimed to present a practical framework for designing values teaching program in youth education system. The choice of content, the nature of the students with respect to learning and their perception about the selected content for teaching values were studied. The study follows a Needs analysis design which drew upon document analysis and questionnaire. There were 104 respondents consisting of students from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) coming from different background and nationalities. Although qualitative paradigm was adopted, quantitative strategy was also used in order to gather views from a large sample size. Document analysis and questionnaire survey were used for data collection. The finding reveals that majority of respondents have strong interest in the selected content and exhibit most of Generation Y characteristics with respect to learning. Although they are technology addicts, they unexpectedly show a different approach to values learning; they preferred personal contact with teachers rather than online-based mode. Inferring from results, the authors recommend the content and method of teaching values in Universiti Brunei Darussalam and the need for further research on the effect of cultural and religious background on the adoption of global culture by students.
The influence of maturation, body size and physical self-perceptions on longitudinal changes in physical activity in adolescent girls

Abstract The aim of this study was to adopt a longitudinal design to explore the direct effects of both absolute and relative maturation and changes in body size on physical activity, and explore if, and how, physical self-perceptions might mediate this effect. We recruited 208 girls (11.8 ± 0.4 years) at baseline. Data were collected at three subsequent time points, each 6 months apart. At 18 months, 119 girls remained in the study. At each time point, girls completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children, the Pubertal Development Scale (from which, both a measure of relative and absolute maturation were defined) and the Physical Self-Perception Profile, and had physical size characteristics assessed. Multilevel modelling for physical activity indicated a significant negative effect of age, positive effect for physical condition and sport competence and positive association for relatively early maturers. Absolute maturation, body mass, waist circumference and sum of skinfolds did not significantly contribute to the model. Contrary to common hypotheses, relatively more mature girls may, in fact, be more active than their less mature peers. However, neither changes in absolute maturation nor physical size appear to directly influence changes in physical activity in adolescent girls.
Property rights and the agency problem in China's enterprise reform

This paper analyzes problems in China's enterprise reform from property rights and agency problem perspectives. Reform efforts by the mid 1980s are interpreted as dealing with only the agency problem by relocating the decision process among agents, but not solving the hierarchical collusion problem. The shareholding system experiment is the first effort to deal with property rights relations. Although it seems to have contributed to some improvement in enterprise performance, there still remains the problem of expropriation of state assets by agents seeking irregular private gains. Copyright 1993 by Oxford University Press.
Theoretical Restrictions on Farm‐Retail Price Transmission Elasticities: A Note

ABSTRACT Zero restrictions implied by Gardner's ( ) model are exploited to develop a simple test for perfect price transmission. Applying the test to the domestic marketing channels for U.S. beef and pork, we reject the hypothesis of competitive market clearing for pork, but not for beef. A retest using the four‐firm concentration ratio in U.S. meat packing as a proxy for market power affirms results from the simple test. [JEL Classification: Q11, Q13].
Sequential or Simultaneous Placement of Self-expandable Metallic Stents for Palliation of Malignant Biliary and Duodenal Obstruction Due to Unresectable Pancreatic Head Carcinoma

Background Pancreatic cancer is generally not amenable to curative resection, and self-expanding metallic stents have been used to relieve obstruction of bile duct and duodenum in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer. However, both relative experience with sequential or simultaneous endoscopic stents placement in biliary and duodenal stricture and long-term efficacy of these stents are limited. The aim of this study was to present our experience on the effectiveness of this form of endoscopic treatment. Patients and Methods We performed a retrospective review of all patients undergoing sequential or simultaneous biliary and duodenal stent placement for biliary and symptomatic duodenal obstruction due to unresectable pancreatic head carcinomas in 4 tertiary endoscopic centers. Data were collected from endoscopy and outpatient clinic reports, x-rays, and telephone calls. All patients were followed until their death. Endpoints included technical and clinical success, stent long-term patency, and survival. Results Thirty-nine patients with unresectable pancreatic head cancer were included. Biliary or duodenal stenting was unsuccessful in 7 patients (17.9%). The remaining 32 patients (median age: 77 y; range: 52 to 82 y), with locally advanced (n=21) or metastatic disease (n=11), were studied. Twenty-one patients (65.6%) received at least first-line chemotherapy. Overall median survival was 9 months (range: 2 to 22 mo), being higher in locally advanced (median survival: 11.5 mo, range: 4 to 22 mo) than metastatic disease (median survival: 3 mo, range: 2 to 5.5 mo) (P<0.001). Median duodenal and biliary patency was 3 months (range: 1 to 12 mo) and 9 months (range: 2 to 22 mo), respectively (P<0.05). Nine of 32 patients (28.1%) required reintervention for recurrent symptoms. No major complications or death occurred in relation to endoscopic treatment. Conclusions Placement of self-expandable metal stents is a safe and efficacious palliation method for biliary and duodenal obstruction due to unresectable pancreatic head carcinoma. The majority of patients do not require reintervention and those who require can usually be managed nonoperatively.
The regulation of neovascularization of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors.

The process of new capillary formation from preexisting vessels, angiogenesis, is a complex physiological event which is strictly controlled, occurring only very rarely under normal conditions. In contrast, there are a number of serious diseases, among them solid tumor growth, rheumatoid arthritis and several eye diseases, which are characterized by unrestricted new capillary growth and which are described as "angiogenic diseases. " One of the key events required for successful angiogenesis is extracellular proteolysis. Increased attention has been focused on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family of enzymes whose activity is a rate-limiting step in extracellular matrix remodeling. This review will present the accumulating body of evidence, from a number of laboratories, which documents the important role of MMP activity in the regulation of angiogenesis. Taken together, these data suggest that one strategy for controlling the deregulated angiogenesis characteristic of these serious angiogenic diseases may be one which is operative at the level of the control of MMP activity.
Collective intelligence in the online social network of yahoo!answers and its implications

Question and Answer (Q&A) websites such as Yahoo! Answers provide a platform where users can post questions and receive answers. These systems take advantage of the collective intelligence of users to find information. In this paper, we analyze the online social network (OSN) in Yahoo! Answers. Based on a large amount of our collected data, we studied the OSN's structural properties, which reveals strikingly distinct properties such as low link symmetry and weak correlation between indegree and outdegree. After studying the knowledge base and behaviors of the users, we find that a small number of top contributors answer most of the questions in the system. Also, each top contributor focuses on only a few knowledge categories. In addition, the knowledge categories of the users are highly clustered. We also study the knowledge base in a user's social network, which reveals that the members in a user's social network share only a few knowledge categories. Based on the findings, we provide guidance in the design of spammer detection algorithms and distributed Q&A systems. We also propose a friendship-knowledge oriented Q&A framework that synergically combines current OSN-based Q&A and web Q&A. We believe that the results presented in this paper are crucial in understanding the collective intelligence in the web Q&A OSNs and lay a cornerstone for the evolution of next-generation Q&A systems.
Analysing the Welfare State in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia: An Ideal‐Typical Perspective

This article applies ideal-typical welfare state theory in analysing the recent transition and the current position of welfare state systems in Eastern Central Europe, taking the cases of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia. The article argues that Eastern Central European welfare state systems have returned to their historical and cultural roots of welfare state formation and development, to the time before the onset of state socialism in Soviet times. First, social security policies and social and labour laws were established when the vast bulk of Eastern Central European countries were member states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, sharing the same political economy, legal system and culture. Over the last 20 years, the socialist system of employment-based social services and benefits has been replaced with Bismarckian-type social security policy and systems. While there are major alterations here and there – in ideal-typical perspective – the four countries under scrutiny share all the major traits of Continental European (Christian Democratic) welfare regimes.
Legal Briefing: Informed Consent

This issue’s “Legal Briefing” column covers legal developments pertaining to informed consent. Not only has this topic been the subject of recent articles in this journal, but it also been the subject of numerous public and professional discussions over the past several months. Legal developments concerning informed consent can be usefully grouped into nine categories: 1. General disclosure standards in the clinical context2. Shared decision making3. Staturorily mandated abortion disclosures4. Staturorily mandated end-of-life counseling5. Other staturorily mandated subject-specific disclosures6. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling and federal pre-emption of state informed consent law7. Relaxed informed consent for HIV testing8. General disclosure standards in the research context9. Issues on the horizon General disclosure standards in the clinical context Shared decision making Staturorily mandated abortion disclosures Staturorily mandated end-of-life counseling Other staturorily mandated subject-specific disclosures U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling and federal pre-emption of state informed consent law Relaxed informed consent for HIV testing General disclosure standards in the research context Issues on the horizon
Active forearm blood flow adjustments to handgrip exercise in young and older healthy men.

1. Our purpose was to test the hypothesis that ageing impairs the active muscle hyperaemia consequent to dynamic exercise in humans. 2. Eleven young (19‐29 years) and eleven older (60‐74 years) healthy, non‐obese men with similar chronic physical activity levels and forearm size performed two protocols of dynamic handgrip exercise: (a) brief (1 min), incremental loads to exhaustion, and (b) sustained (8 min), submaximal loads. Active forearm blood flow (FBF) was measured at rest and during a brief period of relaxation at the end of each minute of exercise. Arterial blood pressure was recorded to calculate active forearm vascular conductance (FVC). Sustained forearm ischaemia plus handgrip was used to elicit a peak forearm vasodilatatory response. 3. There were no differences in pre‐exercise levels of any variable between the young and older men. During exercise, ratings of perceived effort, the peak workload attained, and the ability to sustain submaximal workloads were all similar for the two groups. 4. During brief exercise, both submaximal and peak levels of FBF were similar in the two groups; however, the peak increases in FVC were greater in the older men. During sustained exercise, FBF and FVC were not different in the two groups at the lowest loads, but the increases became relatively greater in the older men with increasing workloads. 5. Peak levels of FBF and FVC in response to the peak vasodilatatory stimulus were similar in the young and older men. 6. These findings fail to support the postulate that ageing results in impaired active muscle hyperaemia and vasodilatation during small‐muscle dynamic exercise. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The impact of weather on crop yield distribution in Taiwan: some new evidence from panel data models and implications for crop insurance

This study examines the impact of weather on the yields of seven major crops in Taiwan based on pooled panel data for 15 prefectures over the 1977-1996 period. The unit root tests and maximum likelihood methods involving a panel data model are explored to obtain reliable estimates. The uncertain yield outcome is incorporated into a discrete stochastic programming model to address a comparison between sector analysis with and without considerations of a crop insurance policy under different climate change scenarios. Simulation results suggest that crop insurance may stabilize revenues and protect farmers from exposures to increasing weather-related risk. Copyright 2005 International Association of Agricultural Economics.
The interconnections of the inferior colliculi through their commissure

Much is known of the sources and manner of termination of ascending and descending input to the inferior colliculus (IC) but its commissural connections are less well understood. Most studies of the commissure have utilized small lesions or tracer deposits; while all agree that commissural axons terminating in the IC do so in its superficial and dorsomedial sectors, it is not clear where projecting cell bodies are located in the IC.