Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Effects of YAP-small interfering RNA on the proliferation and apoptosis of human periodontal ligament stem cells].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting YAP on the proliferation and apoptosis of human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs). METHODS Synthesized sequences of siRNA were transfected into hPDLSCs by Lipofectamine™ 2000. The expression of YAP was identified by using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis. Proliferation activity was detected by using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8). Changes in the cell cycle and apoptosis rate were detected by using flow cytometry. Results were analyzed by using SPSS 19.0, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Expression of YAP mRNA and protein were significantly downregulated after 48 h of transfection (P < 0.001). No obvious difference was found in the expression levels of YAP protein between 48 and 72 h, thus indicating that siRNA could inhibit the expression of YAP persistently and effectively. Proliferation activity was inhibited, and apoptosis rate was increased. Cell cycle was changed as the proportion of G₁and S phases increased (P < 0.01) and G₂ phase decreased (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Knocking down YAP gene by siRNA could inhibit proliferation activity, induce apoptosis, and change the cell cycle of hPDLSCs. Thus, YAP could regulate the proliferation and apoptosis of hPDLSCs.
Does Engagement in Corporate Social Responsibility Reduce Firm Risk? Evidence from China

We set out in this study to examine whether social responsibility (CSR) engagement can reduce firm risk, using data from the Southern Weekend Journal, China Securities Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) and Taiwan Economic Journal (TEJ) databases covering the years from 2008 to 2012. In general, we document evidence of a negative relation between CSR engagement and firm total risk, supporting risk-reducing hypothesis. Moreover, during the financial crisis period, we find that a firm's CSR engagement can effectively decrease its downside risk and increase investor utility, and the magnitude of utility change are more pronounced as investor risk aversion increases. Our evidence is generally consistent with Godfrey's (2005) argument that CSR carries ‘insurance-like’ effect for firm value at bad times. Overall, the general implication of this study is that firms can use CSR engagement as a risk management tool.
Complementary double spiral resonators localized on embedded capacitance for ultra-wideband suppression of simultaneous switching noise

In this paper, we present a novel design for suppressing simultaneous switching noise (SSN) propagation in high-speed PCB circuits. This design is a localized topology, where complementary double spiral resonators are etched on the metallic layer of embedded capacitance. The SSN coupling can be reduced sufficiently within an ultra-wideband from 0.26 GHz to 15 GHz under the noise mitigation margin of -60 dB. Furthermore, good signal integrity (SI) performance is achieved with small discontinuity of the return current path.
Secure Electronic Cash Using Elliptic Curve Cryptography Based on Zero Knowledge Proof

The security of electronic cash is an important research topic to push electronic cash into practice. However, the double-spending problem will cause a great loss to the bank and spend electronic cash anonymity will be problem to the user. In this paper we present new electronic cash system using elliptic curve cryptography based on zero knowledge proof. In this scheme the user generates two secret keys such that one of them can be revealed by the bank when double spending is occurred and another cannot be revealed. The benefit of this scheme is that, the user can not open an account again when the coin is spent more than once because the bank can reveal only one secret key, which is not enough to get another secret key of the user. Another benefit of this scheme is secure blind electronic cash. Since electronic cash is secure blind then the bank cannot get any information about electronic coin (zero knowledge proof). This scheme is also unforgeability and unlinkability.
Biodiversity Economics: The Value of Pollination Services to Egypt

Pollinator populations are under severe pressure worldwide because of man-made intensification in land use, including the use of pesticides and fertilizers. The majority of wild and crop plants are fully or partially dependent on pollinators for their reproduction. Loss of pollinators has already caused measurable declines in the populations of many wild plants in Europe. Many Egyptian crops are fully or partially dependent on pollinators for their yields, and data exist on the market values of Egyptian crops. We therefore use these to estimate the 2004 costs to the Egyptian economy of a catastrophic loss of pollinators. The annual cost to the Egyptian economy of losing its pollinators would be approximately LE 13.5 billion ($2.4 billion), 3.3% of the 2003 GDP.
Pre-service Special Education Teachers Acceptance and Use of ICT: A Structural Equation Model

Information and communication technology (ICT) supported education helps the individuals with special educational needs to take their attention to the course content and to concentrate their attention on the task they need to perform. The mechanical advantages of ICT tools make them attractive for individuals with special educational needs. If special education teachers integrate technological tools and innovative instructional methods into their classes properly, they can use strong tools for communication with individuals with special educational needs and also present different types of vocational, educational and enjoyable activities. The effective and correct use of technology in the lessons is related to special education professionals’ qualifications in ICT supported education and ICT usage frequency in their classes and daily lives. The aim of this research was to examine pre-service special education teachers’ acceptance and usage frequency of technology in their classes and daily lives. This research analyzed the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in order to determine the factors that affect pre-service special education teachers’ ICT acceptance and usage decisions. To examine these factors, a Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used. According to findings, special education teachers’ perceptions of usefulness (PU) of ICT, as well as opinions of people (SN) they care about regarding use of technology, shape their behavioral intentions (BI) towards ICT. In addition, opinions of people (SN) they care about regarding use of technology predict their perceptions of usefulness (PU) of these technologies.
On Undecidability of Counter Reachability Games in Dimension One

In this paper we show undecidabillity of universality problem for weighted one counter automata over inﬁnite words by direct reduction from any Inﬁnite Post Correspondence Problem ( ω PCP ). Obviously, this increases the structural complexity of weighted automata comparing to our previous work, but provides more general reduction without taking into account speciﬁc constraints of encoding from the proof of undecid-ability for ω PCP . Moreover, our result on integer weighted automata reveals a problem in a chain of previously claimed decidability results (in PSPACE ) for several one-dimensional reachability games under different update semantics (Counter Reachability Game, Games on Vector Additional System with States and non-blocking Vector Additional System with States). In particular we show that the problem of checking the winning strategy for above mentioned games is undecidable, including the subcases where all updates are with values from {− 1 , 0 , 1 } .
The impact of institutional quality on social networks and performance of entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs exert much effort in pursuit of new ideas that can lead to innovations. Relevant knowledge and resources can often be found outside an entrepreneur’s immediate competencies and expertise. For this reason, entrepreneurs use social relations to get access to these resources. This paper analyzes the role of such social relations when it comes to entrepreneurial performance; it also explores how entrepreneurial choices regarding social networks depend on the quality of the institutions for whom they work. Low-quality institutions create environmental uncertainties that have significant effects on an entrepreneur’s strategic choices and the usage and usefulness of their social networks. This paper uses cross-sectional survey data from entrepreneurial firms in the Middle East and North Africa to show that institutional context directly influences various characteristics of entrepreneurial network choices and that it also affects the relevance of strong and weak ties with significant impact on entrepreneurial performance.
Role of wave impedance in the formation of photonic band gaps in one-dimensional magnetic star wave guide structure

The present paper describes the study of reflection properties and role of wave impedance in the formation of photonic band gaps in one-dimensional magnetic star waveguide structure (MSWG). From the analysis of the dispersion characteristics, it is found that in magnetic SWG structure existence of band gaps does not require the contrast in the wave impedance of the constituent materials whereas the contrast in wave impedance is must for the existence of band gap in normal magnetic photonic crystal (MPC) structure. Moreover, magnetic SWG structures show wider photonic band gaps in comparison to normal magnetic PC structure for the same contrast in the wave impedance.
Performance Measurement Perceptions in Romanian Higher Education

Performance measurement in Romanian higher education is of high interest. On one hand, this topic would be significant because public funding depends on the performance of the universities. On the other hand, when measuring performance, the objectives have to be drafted in order to have a comparison basis with what universities achieved. Starting from these two issues, this chapter provides information regarding performance measurement in Romanian higher education. Thus, the main objective of the chapter consists in finding the perceptions of performance measurement at both top and middle management levels. This study is based on a qualitative case study approach and the authors used interviews as a data collection method. The authors used an interpretive research approach to obtain a deeper understanding of the process. Even if performance is hard to define, the results show that depending on the primary purpose of the universities performance receives a definition. Universities use various types of indicators when are measuring performance.
Digital Marketing Strategy Text And Cases

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Titanium Allergy: A Literature Review

Titanium has gained immense popularity and has successfully established itself as the material of choice for dental implants. In both medical and dental fields, titanium and its alloys have demonstrated success as biomedical devices. Owing to its high resistance to corrosion in a physiological environment and the excellent biocompatibility that gives it a passive, stable oxide film, titanium is considered the material of choice for intraosseous use. There are certain studies which show titanium as an allergen but the resources to diagnose titanium sensivity are very limited. Attention is needed towards the development of new and precise method for early diagnosis of titanium allergy and also to find out the alternative biomaterial which can be used in place of titanium. A review of available articles from the Medline and PubMed database was done to find literature available regarding titanium allergy, its diagnosis and new alternative material for titanium.
Preliminary Studies on Injection Locking of Oscillators

Injection locking characteristics of oscillators are reviewed both theoretically and experimentally. Theoretical results coupled with experimental findings are presented. A simple method of deriving the equation for locking range is reported. A self oscillating system or a self-oscillator is a primary source of oscillations operating under self-exciting conditions. Any oscillator is a nonlinear system converting the dc power of a source into ac energy. At the moment of starting the self-oscillator, free oscillations are generated in its oscillatory system due to switching on the power source, breaking the circuits, electric fluctuations etc. The positive feedback amplifies these initial conditions, in which case during the initial stage of the process, when the amplitudes are small, we may consider the system to be linear as the amplification is practically linear. From energy considerations, the process which increases the amplitudes is explained by the fact that the amount of energy supplied by the amplifier to the inertia load network is greater than the amount of energy dissipated in the system. The nonlinearity of the system (curvature of the current-voltage characteristic of the amplifying element) begins to manifest itself with the rise of the amplitudes, and consequently the gain of the system drops. The amplitudes stop increasing when the amplification is reduced to the level at which the damping of the oscillations in the load circuit is balanced; in this case the energy supplied by the amplifier per period proves to be equal to the energy consumed in the circuit load during the same time. An oscillator operating under steady-state conditions is a conventional nonlinear amplifier excited by the oscillations produced in the oscillator itself; these oscillations are fed from the oscillatory system of the amplifier and applied to its input through a feedback loop. When the amplitude and phase of oscillations satisfy certain conditions, the behavior of a self-oscillator is identical to that of a separately excited oscillator. In the last stage of the transient conditions the behavior of the oscillator is determined mainly by the nonlinear character of the system, so that the steady state of the oscillator cannot be described without taking the nonlinearity into account.
Immunity tests of implantable cardiac pacemaker against CW and pulsed ELF fields: experimental and numerical results

The aim of the present work is to investigate pacemaker (PMK) immunity against high-level extremely low frequency (typically 50 Hz) magnetic fields that can be found in industrial environment where high power machines operate. To that purpose, a test bench has been set up using a Helmholtz coil for producing extremely low frequency magnetic fields and a trunk simulator rightly fed by cardiac signals. A widely used PMK was tested, and results have been reported, under different operating conditions, for both continuous waves and variously pulsed excitations. A numerical tool has also been developed to analyze the realized test bench, based on a proper discretization of a human trunk simulation and on the construction of an equivalent three-dimensional (3-D) network. Numerical results have showed a good agreement with the experimental results
An efficient micropropagation system for Eclipta, alba—A valuable medicinal herb

SummaryAn efficient rapid and large-scale in vitro clonal propagation of the valuable medicinal herb Eclipta alba (Asteraceae) by enhanced axillary shoot proliferation in cotyledonary node segments was designed. The medium type, various carbon sources, plant growth regulators, and coconut water markedly influenced in vitro propagation of Eclipta alba. An in vitro plantlet production system has been investigated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with the synergistic combination of benzyladenine (4.4μM), kinetin (4.6μM), 2-isopentenyladenine (4.9μM), gibberellic acid (1.4μM), 5% coconut water, and 3% sucrose which promoted the maximum number of shoots as well as beneficial shoot length: Subculturing of cotyledonary node segments on a similar medium enabled continuous production of healthy shoots with similar frequency. Rooting was highest (94.3%) on full strength. MS medium containing 9.8 μM indolebutyric acid. Micropropagated plants established in garden soil, farmyard soil, and sand (2∶1∶1) were uniform and identical to the donor plant with respect to growth characteristics as well as floral features. These plants grew normally without showing any morphological variation.
Ubiquitous User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction

Today, computer systems are an integral part of almost every service we use and many devices we rely on in daily life. For example, we may interact directly with devices such as ATMs, information kiosks or ticket machines or with online services for movie rental or shopping. Alternatively theses services can operate in the background, to support activities such as food ordering, medical treatment, flight booking and boarding and many more. Such services have the potential to be personalized to users' preferences and needs in ways that make them more friendly and useful. To achieve this, systems need knowledge of who is using them or possibly “a target user”. However, it is impractical to repeatedly ask users for their preferences and needs; that would be time consuming for the user, inefficient and irritating. In addition, services are now delivered everywhere and in changing environments, i.e. the context of use can vary in terms of changing devices, Internet connectivity and location, along with sensed, inferred or implicit inputs (Quigley 2009). In short, we are approaching an era of truly ubiquitous personalization.
Restan virus, a new group C arbovirus from Trinidad and Surinam.

Publicado originalmente em American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Baltimore, v. 16, n. 1, p. 74 78, Jan. 1967. University of the West Indies, Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, W.I. Laboratorium voor Medische Microbiologie der Rijksuniversiteit, Leiden, Netherlands. Laboratório de Vírus de Belém, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Fundação Serviço Especial de Saúde Pública, Belém, Pará, Brasil. ♦
Organic Molecular Beam Deposition: Growth Studies beyond the First Monolayer

We review recent work on organic molecular beam deposition (OMBD) with emphasis on growth studies beyond the first monolayer, i.e. the evolution of the film structure and morphology. First, we briefly discuss general issues related to growth physics, including epitaxial relations, surface and interface energies, growth modes, correlation functions, dynamic scaling, and growth exponents. We also point out the general features that distinguish organic systems from inorganic systems, such as the different interaction potentials and the internal degrees of freedom of organic molecules. Then we discuss selected case studies, organised according to the role of the substrate (insulators, metals, semiconductors), covering examples from various organic semiconductors, namely perylene-derivatives (in particular diindeno-perylene (DIP) and 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA)), phthalocyanines, and oligoacenes (anthracene, tetracene, pentacene). Finally, we briefly discuss organics-based heterostructures and indicate some open problems and future directions. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Human babesiosis in Taiwan: asymptomatic infection with a Babesia microti-like organism in a Taiwanese woman

An asymptomatic Babesia infection was confirmed by laboratory diagnoses. The intraerythrocytic protozoan (designed TW1) isolated from a 51-year-old Taiwanese woman appeared to be morphologically consistent with small-form piroplasm, and measurements indicated that it had a body size of 1.5 to 2.5 microm in diameter. The typical features of ring, binary, and tetrad forms were observed in Giemsa-stained thin blood smears. A persistent and low-grade parasitemia was established after hamster inoculation. Indirect immunofluorescent-antibody reactivities indicate that this strain (TW1) of Babesia was serologically related to, but not identical to, the Babesia species (B. microti) that infects rodents. Antibody titers in the patient's sera combined with the clinical symptoms suggested that the present case was a chronic and subclinical babesial infection. A neighborhood human serologic survey indicated that the infection may have been acquired accidentally from an infected rodent and localized within the same family. Indeed, rodents from areas around the neighborhood were trapped, and a high prevalence (83%) of babesial infection was observed. The possible vector responsible for the transmission remains to be identified.
Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) in Interdisciplinary Research and Application: a Critical Review

An interdisciplinary approach is necessary for the sustainable management and governance of renewable natural resources, in which “Local Ecological Knowledge” (LEK), a quintessentially interdisciplinary field, is regarded as an essential source of information. But the effective use of LEK for this purpose would first demand the recognition and correction of the serious limitations of LEK social research. A recent literature analysis by Davis and Ruddle (2010) demonstrated that the basic problems characterising social research on LEK are the use of unsophisticated theories or concepts with often undocumented and non-systematic research designs and methodologies that result in unwarranted or indefensible outcomes. In addition, standards of accountability and transparency must be raised, beginning with the elementary requirement that researchers provide descriptions of research designs and methodologies that enable assessment of the reliability and representativeness of findings, and facilitate comparison, generalisation and evidence-based conclusions. The related issues of the problems inherent in applying an interdisciplinary approach and the manipulation of the publications process to suppress undesirable opinions and research results are examined.
A New Text Feature Conversion Method for Text Classification

Keywords normally carry large amount of category information. In order to fully utilize this kind of information for text classification, this paper proposes a new text feature conversion method based on the SKG model. The method uses the classified texts with the listed key words as the training data to train the classifier. To expand the keyword space, we construct the KWB model and do the text classification by combining the KWB model and the SKG model. The experiment results demonstrate the advantages of this new method.