Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring the potential of Crotalaria juncea flower extracts as a source of antioxidants, antimicrobials, and cytoprotective agents for biomedical applications

Plants provide an unlimited source of bioactive compounds, possessing tremendous applications in the pharmaceutical industry. In the search for sources of antioxidants and antimicrobial agents against human pathogens, ethanol extracts of Crotalaria juncea flowers (CJ flower extract) were evaluated. The highest total phenolic (5.65 μg GAE/ml) and flavonoid (0.43 μg QE/ml) contents were observed in the 100 μg/ml CJ flower extract. To assess antioxidant activity, three in vitro antioxidant tests were employed: DPPH radical-scavenging, ABTS+ radical-scavenging, and hydroxyl radical-scavenging assay. The CJ flower extract demonstrated significant (P < 0.05) antioxidant activity, dependent on the percentage of solvent extraction and the specific assays utilized. The highest antioxidant activity was obtained with 100% ethanol extraction and using the hydroxyl radical-scavenging assay (56.63%). Antimicrobial activity was assessed against six human pathogens, including the fungi Microsporum gypseum and five Gram-positive bacteria (Propionibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Streptococcus mutans), as well as one Gram-negative bacterium (Escherichia coli ). The CJ flower extract inhibited the growth of both fungal and bacterial pathogens. The cytotoxicity of the CJ flower extract was measured using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, and the highest concentration of the extract (100 μg/ml) did not affect L929 cell viability. Moreover, the CJ flower extract demonstrated the ability to suppress H2O2-induced toxicity in L929 cells. Overall, the CJ flower extract has potential as an alternative source for exploring new antioxidants, antimicrobial agents, and cytoprotectants that could prove valuable for biomedical applications.
International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS)

Received Jun 1, 2022 Revised Nov 6, 2022 Accepted Nov 24, 2022 This study aimed to examine the influence of expectations on vaccines, trust in government, perceived threats, and information overload to cognitive dissonance and its implications for vaccine use, behavioral negotiation, and information avoidance. After we formulated eight hypotheses, all of them was tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLSSEM) method. This study involved 173 community members to fill out a questionnaire with 31 questions. The results showed that expectations of vaccines and information overload affected cognitive dissonance. In contrast, the perceived threat due to the COVID-19 pandemic and trust in the government did not affect cognitive dissonance. We also found that cognitive dissonance negatively and significantly affected vaccine use and positively and significantly affected behavior to continue negotiating and avoiding information related to COVID-19 vaccination. This study is among the first to examine members of the anti-vaccine community quantitatively and practically attempts to intervene in the anti-vaccine community so that they are cognitively dissonant are to increase expectations of vaccination and confuse them by presenting the information overload they receive.
Biophysical Drivers of Coastal Treeline Elevation

Sea level rise is leading to the rapid migration of marshes into coastal forests and other terrestrial ecosystems. Although complex biophysical interactions likely govern these ecosystem transitions, projections of sea level driven land conversion commonly rely on a simplified “threshold elevation” that represents the elevation of the marsh‐upland boundary based on tidal datums alone. To determine the influence of biophysical drivers on threshold elevations, and their implication for land conversion, we examined almost 100,000 high‐resolution marsh‐forest boundary elevation points, determined independently from tidal datums, alongside hydrologic, ecologic, and geomorphic data in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S. located along the mid‐Atlantic coast. We find five‐fold variations in threshold elevation across the entire estuary, driven not only by tidal range, but also salinity and slope. However, more than half of the variability is unexplained by these variables, which we attribute largely to uncaptured local factors including groundwater discharge, microtopography, and anthropogenic impacts. In the Chesapeake Bay, observed threshold elevations deviate from predicted elevations used to determine sea level driven land conversion by as much as the amount of projected regional sea level rise by 2050. These results suggest that local drivers strongly mediate coastal ecosystem transitions, and that predictions based on elevation and tidal datums alone may misrepresent future land conversion.
The effect of shear strain and shear localization on fault healing

The seismic cycle of repeated earthquake failure requires that faults regain frictional strength during the inter-seismic phase, when the fault is locked or undergoing quasi-static creep. Fault healing plays a central role in determining earthquake stress drop, recurrence interval, elastic radiation frequency and other source parameters. In particular, the longer a fault remains quasi-stationary, the stronger it becomes and the larger the potential stress drop can be for the next event. Here we address the role of shear strain and strain localization on fault healing and healing rate. We performed slide-hold-slide friction experiments on quartz gouge in the double-direct shear configuration for shear strain up to 25 and hold times from 10 to 1000 s. The results show that both healing and healing rate increase non-linearly with increasing shear strain. Frictional healing scales with volumetric strain within the laboratory fault zone. Using the volumetric strain upon reshear as a proxy for strain localization, we demonstrate that the capacity of a fault to heal is directly proportional to shear band width and degree of strain localization. The more the deformation is localized, the higher are the healing and healing rate, and thus, the fault strength. Our data provide a framework for understanding variations in fault strength over the seismic cycle and the role of brecciation and strain localization on spatiotemporal variations in fault strength.
Effects of cause-related ads on ethical consumption: An experimental approach

Purpose: In light of the rapid proliferation of socially responsible corporate practices, this study aims to verify the effects of cause-related ads. Specifically, we seek to investigate four factors that influence the effectiveness of cause-related ads: customers' perception of cause-related ads, brand-consumer relationships, brand attachment, and loyalty. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study conducted a combination of experimentation and a questionnaire survey on 324 undergraduate students in an in-class setting. Pretests were performed on 100 participants to select two video ads featuring two different themes with contrasting appeals (rational vs. affective). Findings: The result shows that customers' perception of cause-related ads positively influenced the consumer-brand relationship. In addition, the brand-consumer relationship significantly influenced brand attachment and customer loyalty. Conclusion: This result confirms that corporate social responsibility activities or cause-related ads form a favorable corporate image, resulting in a positive relationship with the company's product or service brand, repurchase or repurchase of the company's products, and positive word of mouth. Practical Implications: The result suggests that the formation of an amicable image with brands through attachment to corporate brands can increase corporate love and loyalty. Therefore, to create highly loyal customers, companies will need to create a favorable image through a continuous influx of socially responsible ads.
Investigation of Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina and Trypanosoma vivax in the brain and spleen of dairy cows of Rio Grande do Sul

Cattle tick fever and bovine trypanosomosis are diseases that negatively impact cattle production in Brazil, causing considerably productive losses and animals death. In this study, the objective was to investigate the presence of the four hemoparasites that mostly affect dairy herds (A. marginale, B. bovis, B. bigemina and T. vivax) using the qPCR technique in discarded dairy cows in the northwestern region of Rio Grande do Sul. For this purpose, brain and spleen tissue biopsies were collected at a local slaughterhouse from 64 dairy cattle from this region. DNA extraction from the samples was performed using the Brazol® reagent, their quantity and purity were obtained through spectrophotometer analysis with NanoDropTM. In the brain samples, DNA detection was performed for T. vivax and B. bovis, and in the spleen, DNA of the four agents was verified. From a total of 64 brain samples analyzed, 14.06 % were positive for Babesia bovis. For spleen samples, Babesia bovis was detected in 17.19 % of the samples, while 29.69 % tested positive for B. bigemina and 37.50 % for Anaplasma marginale. Regarding Trypanosoma vivax, none of the analyzed samples resulted in a positive diagnosis in both tissues. Thus, the findings highlighted that B. bovis, B. bigemina and A. marginale are present in the dairy cattle herd of the northwestern regions of Rio Grande do Sul, with a higher percentage of A. marginale; on the other hand, T. vivax was not diagnosed in the present study.
Model Predictive Path Planning of AGVs Mixed Logical Dynamical Formulation and Distributed Coordination

—Most of the existing path planning methods of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are static. This paper proposes a new methodology for the path planning of a fleet of AGVs to improve the flexibility, robustness, and scalability of the AGV system. We mathematically describe the transport process as a dynamical system using an ad hoc mixed logical dynamical (MLD) model. Based on our MLD model, model predictive control is proposed to determine the collision paths dynamically, and the corresponding optimization problem is formulated as 0-1 integer linear programming. An alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM)-based decomposition technique is then developed to coordinate the AGVs and reduce the computational burden, aiming for real-time decisions. The proposed methodology is tested on industrial scenarios, and results from numerical experiments show that the proposed method can obtain high transport productivity of the multi-AGV system at a low computational burden and deal with uncertainties resulting from the industrial environment.
The phenotypic and genetic effects of drought-induced stress on wood specific conductivity and anatomical properties in white spruce seedlings, and relationships with growth and wood density

Drought frequency and intensity are projected to increase with climate change, thus amplifying stress on forest trees. Resilience to drought implicates physiological traits such as xylem conductivity and wood anatomical traits, which are related to growth and wood density. Integrating drought-stress response traits at the juvenile stage into breeding criteria could help promote the survival of planted seedlings under current and future climate and thus, improve plantation success. We assessed in greenhouse the influence of drought-induced stress on 600 two-year-old white spruce (Picea glauca) seedlings from 25 clonal lines after two consecutive growing seasons. Three levels of drought-induced stress were applied: control, moderate and severe. Seedlings were also planted at a 45° angle to clearly separate compression from normal wood. We looked at the phenotypic and genetic effects of drought stress on xylem specific hydraulic conductivity, lumen diameter, tracheid diameter and length, and the number of pits per tracheid in the normal wood. We detected no significant effects of drought stress except for tracheid length, which decreased with increasing drought stress. We found low to high estimates of trait heritability, which generally decreased with increasing drought stress. Genetic correlations were higher than phenotypic correlations for all treatments. Specific conductivity was genetically highly correlated positively with lumen diameter and tracheid length under all treatments. Tracheid length and diameter were always negatively correlated genetically, indicating a trade-off in resource allocation. Moderate to high genetic correlations sometimes in opposite direction were observed between physico-anatomical and productivity traits, also indicating trade-offs. A large variation was observed among clones for all physico-anatomical traits, but clonal ranks were generally stable between control and drought-induced treatments. Our results indicate the possibility of early screening of genetic material for desirable wood anatomical attributes under normal growing conditions, thus allowing to improve the drought resilience of young trees.
Preparation of Dye Semiconductors via Coupling Polymerization Catalyzed by Two Catalysts and Application to Transistor

Organic dye semiconductors have received increasing attention as the next generation of semiconductors, and one of their potential applications is as a core component of organic transistors. In this study, two novel diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) dye core-based materials were designed and separately prepared using Stille coupling reactions under different palladium catalyst conditions. The molecular weights and elemental compositions were tested to demonstrate that both catalysts could be used to successfully prepare materials of this structure, with the main differences being the weight-average molecular weight and the dispersion index. PDPP-2Py-2Tz I with a longer conjugation length exhibited better thermodynamic stability than the counterpart polymer PDPP-2Py-2Tz II. The intrinsic optical properties of the polymers were relatively similar, while the electrochemical tests showed small differences in their energy levels. The polymers obtained with different catalysts displayed similar and moderate electron mobility in transistor devices, while PDPP-2Py-2Tz I possessed a higher switching ratio. Our study provides a comparison of such dye materials under different catalytic conditions and also demonstrates the great potential of dye materials for optoelectronic applications.
Evaluating Influenza Vaccination Practices among COPD Patients

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) stands as a global health concern linked to considerable morbidity and mortality. In Jordan, the prevalence of COPD is substantial, but research in this area is limited. Exacerbations of COPD can lead to severe outcomes, including hospitalization and increased cardiovascular risk. Influenza is a significant trigger of exacerbations in COPD patients, and vaccination is recommended. However, studies have shown negative attitudes towards the influenza vaccine. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and intentions of COPD patients in Jordan regarding influenza vaccination. Data were collected through a custom-designed questionnaire from 300 COPD patients. The study revealed low influenza vaccination rates, with forgetfulness and lack of knowledge about vaccine effectiveness being the main barriers. Higher knowledge and positive attitudes were associated with greater intention to vaccinate. To tackle these challenges, it is recommended to implement customized health education campaigns, foster collaborations with healthcare providers, and engage in community-focused initiatives to enhance acceptance of the influenza vaccine among COPD patients in Jordan. These findings underscore the importance of addressing knowledge gaps and negative attitudes to enhance vaccine uptake and improve health outcomes for COPD patients.
ENTREPRENEURS’ SATISFACTION WITH JOB AND LIFE IN THE SUB-SAHARA AFRICAN DIASPORA: DUAL EMBEDDEDNESS IN HOME-SOCIETY AND HOST-SOCIETY

The research question here is, for the migrants in the Sub-Sahara African diaspora, how does their satisfaction with job and life compare to the satisfaction of natives in Sub-Sahara Africa and in the West? The more abstract research question here is, how are migrants dually embedded in their home-society and their host-society? Froma sample of 58,999 migrants from Sub-Sahara Africa and natives in Sub-Sahara Africa and in the West who reported their satisfaction, satisfaction with work and life was found to be higher in the West than in Sub-Sahara Africa. Migrants from Sub-Sahara Africa to the West had a level of satisfaction that was in between. In their satisfaction, thus, migrants were embedded both in their home-society and in their host-society, a dual embeddedness The study contributes, concretely, to understanding entrepreneurs’ and non-entrepreneurs’ satisfaction with work and life in the Sub-Sahara African diaspora. More theoretically, the study contributes to understanding migrants’ dual embeddedness in home-society and in host-society. Keywords:migrants, natives, entrepreneurs, dual embeddedness, sub-sahara africa.
Digital Commons @ DU Digital Commons @ DU

In one dimension, soﬁc shifts are fairly well-understood and special examples of shift spaces which must satisfy very restrictive properties. However, in multiple dimensions there are very few known conditions which guarantee nonsoﬁcity of a shift space. In this paper, we show that for any Z d soﬁc shift X which satisﬁes a uniform mixing condition called block gluing in all directions ~e 2 ,. , ~e d , the set of legal rows of X in the ~e 1 -direction has a synchronizing word. This allows us to deﬁne a (new) large class of nonsoﬁc Z d shift spaces.
UR Scholarship Repository UR Scholarship Repository

The current paper integrated Fiske and colleague’s (2002) Stereotype Content Model (SCM) with the implicit theoretical approach to investigate the stereotyping process against obese individuals. Two studies evaluated the proposition that implicit theories of weight, the belief that weight is fixed (entity theorist) versus malleable (incremental theorist), and implicit person theories, the belief that human attributes are fixed or malleable, will predict how people categorize and discriminate against obese individuals. A pilot study found that entity and incremental theorists of weight have equal knowledge of societal stereotypes against obese individuals. Study 1 revealed those whose endorse an entity theory of weight are less likely to hire an obese individual in a hypothetical scenario, because they perceive them as less sincere.
A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background:Persistent and intractable hiccups are a common clinical symptom that cause considerable physical pain to patients and severely damage their quality of lives. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that acupuncture applied at acupoints dominated by Cuanzhu (BL2) can be used as one of the nonpharmacological therapies for controlling intractable hiccups. However, there is insufficient evidence evaluating the safety and effectiveness of those interventions. Therefore, this study is intended to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to provide evidence for a further study investigating alternative treatment options for persistent and intractable hiccups. Methods and Analysis: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of adult patients aged >18years who meet the criteria for intractable hiccup diagnosis will be included, regardless of gender, nationality, and education level. Eight electronic databases will be searched, including 4 Chinese databases (CNKI, SinoMed, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database), 4 English databases (Web of Science, Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library), from their date of establishment to September 2020. Two independent reviewers will evaluate the title summary for each RCT. Disagreements will be discussed with a third commentator. Data integration, heterogeneity analysis, subgroup analysis, and sensitivity analysis, will be performed using R-3.3. 2 software. The RevMan 5.3 software will be used for the meta-analysis, and the “risk of bias” assessment will be conducted based on the methodological quality of the included trials recommended by the Cochrane Handbook 5.1. The quality evaluation of this study will be completed by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Results: This study will summarize all the selected trials aimed at estimating the effectiveness, as well as safety, of applying acupuncture at acupoints dominated by Cuanzhu (BL2) to persistent and intractable hiccups. Conclusions: This systematic review will provide evidence to assess the validity and safety of applying acupuncture at acupoints dominated by Cuanzhu (BL2) for persistent and intractable hiccups, which may provide clinicians with more choices in the treatment of this disease. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020114900. Abbreviation: RCT = randomized controlled trial.
A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), an intricate and multifactorial disease, has characteristics of diverse clinical, metabolic and endocrine disorder. It represents a primary cause of infertility in reproductive women, which seriously affects the physical and mental health of patients. Several small studies have indicated that inositol and alpha lipoic acid (ALA) supplementation can ameliorate the outcomes in terms of menstrual cyclicity, ovulation and hyperinsulinemia in PCOSwomen. However, there is a lack of sufficient evidence to affirm this practice. Consequently, we aim to objectively review and estimate the efficacy and safety of inositol plus ALA in adult women suffering from PCOS. Methods and analysis: We will retrieve PubMed, EMBASE, The Web of Science, The Cochrane Library of Controlled Trials, Clinical Trials.gov, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP database), Wan-Fang database with no specific limitations on language. Simultaneously we will manually retrieve reference lists and grey literature to acquire potential eligibility. We will restrict our search to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of inositol in combination with ALA for PCOS. Researchers will separately identify studies, extract data and evaluate the quality of studies. We will conduct risk of bias estimates, data synthesis and analysis using Review Manager 5.3 software. Results and conclusion: The study will comprehensively determine the effectiveness and safety of inositol conjunct with ALA therapy for PCOS. Meanwhile we intend to disseminate the final findings in a peer-reviewed journal to help patients, clinicians and health policymakers select treatment strategy of PCOS by providing high-quality evidence. Abbreviations: ALA = alpha lipoic acid, DCI = D-chiro-inositol, IR = insulin resistance, MI =myo-inositol, OS = oxidative stress, PCOS = polycystic ovary syndrome, RCTs = randomized controlled trials.