Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro glucuronidation of trans -Piceid and trans -Piceatannol by human liver microsomes

Aims : The aim of the present investigation was to establish glucuronidation of trans-resveratrol derivates in the liver. Stilbenes are naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds which have been reported to have potential preventive activities in human diseases. Trans-stilbenes, mainly found in grapes and red wine, are important in terms of biological activities. However, little is known about the metabolism of these compounds in human.Methods and results : The glucuronoconjugation of stilbenes was investigated using human liver microsomes and the structure of new metabolites was characterized by LC-MS and proton NMR. For the first time, the structure of the metabolites of trans-piceid and trans-piceatannol was established. The reaction led to the formation of two glucuronides for trans-piceid and three for trans-piceatannol.Significance and impact of study: This study is of particular relevance since the phenolic substances of red wine (especially stilbenes) might be responsible for the potential beneficial effects of moderate and regular wine consumption.
Holding China together : diversity and national integration in the post-Deng era

List of figures and tables List of contributors Holding China together: introduction Barry J. Naughton and Dali L. Yang Part I. The Institutions for Political and Economic Control: Adaptation of a Hierarchical System: 1. Political localism versus institutional restraints: elite recruitment in the Jiang era Cheng Li 2. The institutionalization of elite management in China Zhiyue Bo 3. The cadre evaluation system at the grass roots: the paradox of party rule Susan Whiting 4. Economic transformation and state rebuilding in China Dali L. Yang Part II. Case Studies of Policy Implementation: 5. Policy consistency in the midst of the Asian crisis: managing the furloughed and the farmers in three cities Dorothy J. Solinger 6. Population control and state coercion in China Yanzhong Huang and Dali L. Yang 7. The political economy of industrial restructuring in China's coal industry, 1992-9 Fubing Su 8. The western development program Barry J. Naughton Index.
AROMATIC COMPOUNDS IN THREE VARIETIES OF TURNIP GREENS HARVESTED AT THREE MATURITY LEVELS

Turnip greens (Brassica rapa) are commonly consumed in the southern U.S.A. Typically, they have a bitter taste, which increases with maturity, probably because of increased levels of glucosinolates. While glucosinolate degradation products have been isolated from various members of the Brassica family, the effect of variety and maturity on these products has not been determined. This study focused on the glucosinolate degradation products of three varieties of turnip greens: Purple Top, Seven Top and Tokyo Cross, harvested 45, 60 and 75 days after planting. Four volatile components (benzene acetonitrile, benzene propane nitrile, lH-indole-3-acetonitrile and benzene ethyl isothiocyanate) were isolated, identified and quantified. All increased significantly (P< 0.05) as the greens matured; however, only benzene propane nitrile and lH-indole-3-acetonitrile were significantly affected (P < 0.05) by variety.
Occurrence of Norovirus GI in green and red onion

Several Norovirus cases due to consumption of green onions have been reported during recent years but reports on red onions are not found. Onions are one of the major tastes in Malaysian food which are sometimes consuming raw especially the green onion. Viral contamination in onions can occur due to planting condition and not properly prepared food. This situation can pose the human health risk. A method was developed to detect the Norovirus that might present on different type of onions. In this study, 60 samples were collected from local market. Elution by Tryptose Phosphate Glycine broth and concentration steps using negatively charge filter were applied to enhance the detection of virus in food due to low copies of virus on food surface. The viral RNA was extracted using Qiagen Rneasy Mini kit before further detection using One-step RT-PCR. The total incidence of Norovirus in green onion and red onion was 13.33% (4/30) and 3.33 % (1/30) respectively. This is the first report of the detection of Norovirus in red and green onions in Malaysia. Based on the results, it is concluded that this method is reliable to detect Norovirus on onions and vegetables surface and hence can be applied in the laboratories for routine or food borne outbreak investigation.
Targeting the poor and smallholder farmers : empirical evidence from Malawi

This paper develops low cost, reasonably accurate, and simple models for improving the targeting efficiency of development policies in Malawi. Using a stepwise logistic regression (weighted) along with other techniques applied in credit scoring, the research identifies a set of easily observable and verifiable indicators for correctly predicting whether a household is poor or not, based on the 2004-05 Malawi Integrated Household Survey data. The predictive power of the models is assessed using out-of-sample validation tests and receiver operating characteristic curves, whereas the model? s robustness is evaluated by bootstrap simulation methods. Finally, sensitivity analyses are performed using the international and extreme poverty lines. The models developed have proven their validity in an independent sample derived from the same population. Findings suggest that the rural model calibrated to the national poverty line correctly predicts the status of about 69% of poor households when applied to an independent subset of surveyed households, whereas the urban model correctly identifies 64% of poor households. Increasing the poverty line improves the model? s targeting performances, while reducing the poverty line does the opposite. In terms of robustness, the rural model yields a more robust result with a prediction margin ±10% points compared to the urban model. While the best indicator sets can potentially yield a sizable impact on poverty if used in combination with a direct transfer program, some non-poor households would also be targeted as the result of model? s leakage. One major feature of the models is that household score can be easily and quickly computed in the field. Overall, the models developed can be potential policy tools for Malawi.
Shaping and manipulation of light fields with bottom-up plasmonic structures

A new interdisciplinary topic which aims at self-assembling, interconnecting and characterizing resonant metallic nanostructures able to funnel, confine, and propagate light energy from a conventional laser source to a single molecular entity is currently emerging in different laboratories. With this technique, several orders of magnitude in the miniaturization scale of optical devices, spanning from tens of micrometres down to the molecular scale, can be expected. With the main objective of overcoming the current limitations of an exclusive top-down approach to plasmonics, we present in this paper some recent experimental and theoretical results about plasmonic structures made by self-assembling or surface deposition of colloidal metallic particles. More specifically, the interest of these objects for tailoring original near-field optical properties will be exposed (near-field optical confinement, local density of electromagnetic state squeezing, etc). In particular, it is shown that a bottom-up approach is not only able to produce interesting nanoscale building blocks but also able to easily produce complex superstructures that would be difficult to achieve by other means.
Vascular epiphyte distribution patterns: explaining the mid‐elevation richness peak

1 We examined in situ diversity and distribution of vascular epiphytes, as well as site environmental variables at six sites along a continuous elevational gradient (30–2600 m a.s.l.) of old‐growth forest in Costa Rica. 2 A total of 555 species of vascular epiphytes from 130 genera of 53 families were identified to species or morphospecies. The ferns were the most diverse group, with 138 species, followed by orchids (112 species). Cloud forest at 1000 m was the richest site, representing the maximum of a pronounced mid‐elevation peak in epiphyte species richness. 3 Spatial randomizations of recorded elevational ranges suggest that the overall elevational richness pattern of most epiphyte groups on this transect is substantially influenced by the mid‐domain effect (MDE, the mid‐elevation overlap of large‐ranged species). Among the environmental factors considered (rainfall, temperature and canopy light environment), only rainfall was significantly correlated with richness. 4 Different patterns of richness for vascular epiphytes and for trees indicate that mechanisms differ between life forms. 5 We collected 26% of the estimated epiphyte species of Costa Rica along a single mountain transect. This, together with the finding that different groups and life forms varied in the elevation at which species richness peaked, highlights the need to conserve the few remaining intact elevational gradients in Latin America.
Refractory inclusions and aluminum‐rich chondrules in Sayh al Uhaymir 290 CH chondrite: Petrography and mineralogy

Abstract— Here we report the petrography, mineralogy, and bulk compositions of Ca,Al‐rich inclusions (CAIs), amoeboid olivine aggregate (AOA), and Al‐rich chondrules (ARCs) in Sayh al Uhaymir (SaU) 290 CH chondrite. Eighty‐two CAIs (0.1% of the section surface area) were found. They are hibonite‐rich (9%), grossite‐rich (18%), melilite ± spinel‐rich (48%), fassaite ± spinel‐rich (15%), and fassaite‐anorthite‐rich (10%) refractory inclusions. Most CAIs are rounded in shape and small in size (average = 40 μm). They are more refractory than those of other groups of chondrites. CAIs in SaU 290 might have experienced higher peak heating temperatures, which could be due to the formation region closer to the center of protoplanetary disk or have formed earlier than those of other groups of chondrites. In SaU 290, refractory inclusions with a layered texture could have formed by gas‐solid condensation from the solar nebula and those with an igneous texture could have crystallized from melt droplets or experienced subsequent melting of pre‐existing condensates from the solar nebula. One refractory inclusion represents an evaporation product of pre‐existing refractory solid on the basis of its layered texture and melting temperature of constituting minerals. Only one AOA is observed (75 μm across). It consists of olivine, Al‐diopside, anorthite, and minor spinel with a layered texture. CAIs and AOA show no significant low‐temperature aqueous alteration. ARCs in SaU 290 consist of diopside, forsterite, anorthite, Al‐enstatite, spinel, and mesostasis or glass. They can be divided into diopside‐rich, Al‐enstatite‐rich, glass‐rich, and anorthite‐rich chondrules. Bulk compositions of most ARCs are consistent with a mixture origin of CAIs and ferromagnesian chondrules. Anorthite and Al‐enstatite do not coexist in a given ARC, implying a kinetic effect on their formation.
The Influence of Ill Health on Chronic and Transient Poverty: Evidence from Uganda

The paper uses nationally representative household panel data to investigate if ill health is important in influencing poverty persistence and transitions in Uganda, a country that was both at the centre of Africa's HIV/AIDS pandemic and experienced impressive poverty reduction during the 1990's. Through a combined discrete choice and micro growth level approach we find that ill health and long term sickness, such as that associated with HIV/AIDS, is particularly associated with households moving into poverty. However, households affected by ill health also experience larger land and livestock reductions, providing some support for participatory evidence that has found land and asset sales to be a major coping mechanism for Uganda's poor.
NITRIC ACID ACTIVATION OF La-DOPED ZnO PHOTOCATALYST FOR WATER DECONTAMINATION

An original patented procedure was applied to obtain activated ZnO powder and then it was doped with 1.5 mass % La to improve the photocatalytic performance. The effect of a nitric acid treatment (index a.t.) of the La/ZnO investigated by comparing with the non-treated La/ZnO samples, manifests a higher photocatalytic efficiency of the former in the oxidative degradation of the model textile wastewater pollutant azo dye Reactive Black 5. The acidically treated La/ZnO powders have been obtained by impregnation in 0.1 M HNO 3 acidic solution, followed by thermal treatment at 100 o C, 350 o C and 500 o C. The materials have been characterized by the XRD, XPS and single point BET methods. The XRD analysis shows the presence of three crystallographic phases: wurtzite, Zn(NO 3 )(OH). H 2 O and 4ZnO(OH) 2 . Zn(NO 3 ) 2 . H 2 O. The XPS data give evidence of N-atoms in ZnO after the acidic treatment. The best photocatalytic performance is shown by the La/ZnO a.t. dried at 100 o C due to its highest nitrogen content.
Identifying And Evaluating Jelly Fish Attack Using Aodv Protocol

Routing is a process of exchanging information from one station to other stations of the network. The characteristics of self-organization and wireless medium make Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) easy to set up and thus attractive to users. The open and dynamic operational environment of MANET makes it vulnerable to various network attacks. A common type of attacks targets at the underlying routing protocols. Jelly Fish Attack has opportunities to modify or discard routing information or advertise fake routes to attract user data to go through themselves.
Comparing three spaceborne optical sensors via fine scale pixel based urban land cover classification products

Accessibility to higher resolution earth observation satellites suggests an improvement in the potential for fine scale image classification. In this comparative study, imagery from three optical satellites (WorldView-2, Pleiades and RapidEye) were used to extract primary land cover classes from a pixel-based classification principle in a suburban area. Following a systematic working procedure, manual segmentation and vegetation indices were applied to generate smaller subsets to in turn develop sets of ISODATA unsupervised classification maps. With the focus on the land cover classification differences detected between the sensors at spectral level, the validation of accuracies and their relevance for fine scale classification in the built-up environment domain were examined. If an overview of an urban area is required, RapidEye will provide an above average (0.69 κ) result with the built-up class sufficiently extracted. The higher resolution sensors such as WorldView-2 and Pleiades in comparison delivered finer scale accuracy at pixel and parcel level with high correlation and accuracy levels (0.65-0.71 κ) achieved from these two independent classifications.
From underground cult to public policy for citizens: democratizing an open source artifact at a policy level in South Korea

Purpose – This study aims to explore the feasible use of free and open source software (FOSS) at a policy level in South Korea, which is reacting against being locked into only one technology company, Microsoft.Design/methodology/approach – Based on participatory democratic theory, this paper suggests that the normative role of the state is as a public mediator in the development of an information technology (IT) infrastructure, encouraging greater freedom of choice and the establishment of an electronic environment – such as the community‐based use of software technology – for citizens to use easily and freely.Findings – South Korean policymakers have explored FOSS as a kind of a political metaphor: at the international level, FOSS offers a rare opportunity to free the country from its technological dependence on transnational software vendors. At the national level, it is an engine for technological innovation and for market competition. However, the market or business paradigm has dominated most discus.
Příprava a modifikace biodegradabilních polyesterů pro medicinální aplikace

The work presented here summarizes the very latest advances in the synthesis, modification and degradation of biodegradable polyesters. This body of recognized knowledge was applied to specific polymer systems based on lactic acid - polylactides. Within the experimental part of this work, most attention is paid to polylactide synthesis optimization, involving non-metallic and non-toxic catalyst. Furthermore, chemical modification, through introducing specific groups into the polylactide structure, in addition to chain length prolongation of polymers, by using special postpolycondensation techniques, were undertaken and thoroughly studied in order to meet the relevant requirements for complex polymer applications in medicine. Degradation studies of the polylactides developed under various conditions that simulate the human body provide a comprehensive view on the topic under study.
Human Resource Management Practices in the Hotel Industry in Sri Lanka

Human Resource Management as a discipline has been in existence for decades. However researchers have continued investigating various HRM practices and whether these practices are influenced by various demographic factors pertaining to industries and organizations. Researchers of this study are in pursuit of identifying HRM practices in the hotel industry in Sri Lanka in relation to demographic factors such as ownership of hotel and type of hotels. For the purpose of this study, ownership is defined as whether the hotel is owned by a foreign investor or domestic investor. Type of hotel is defined as whether the hotel belongs to a hotel chain or an independent hotel. The set of HRM practices of hotels was identified using the list of HRM practices prepared by Hoque for his research on HRM practices and performance of hotel in UK. Hoque’s list of HRM practices covers eight areas of HRM practices and each area comprises of several HRM practices belonging to that particular area of HRM. Seventy six hotels responded to the questionnaire belonging to six tourist destinations in Sri Lanka. Overall there are 25 HRM practices in the list. Based on finding, it was concluded that there is a significant relationship between the type of hotel and HRM practices. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.4038/kjm.v2i2. 6552 Kelaniya Journal of Management Vol.2(2) 2013:88-98
A compact disc-shaped printed antenna using parasitic element on ground plane for super wideband applications

─ A microstrip line-fed monopole antenna is proposed and investigated using a structure of parasitic element for super-wideband applications. The parasitic element consists of 4 rectangular embedded slots on the ground plane. This parasitic element on the ground plane leads the UWB frequency band into the SWB frequency band. This proposed monopole antenna is fed by a microstrip line and is printed on low dielectric FR4 material of 1.6 mm thickness. All the simulations are performed using commercially available, finite element method (FEM) based Ansoft high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) software and CST Microwave Studio. Measured results exhibit that the proposed disc-shaped antenna shows a wide bandwidth which covers from 2.90 GHz to more than 20 GHz, with a compact dimension of 25 mm × 33 mm for VSWR <2, observing an extended ultra-wideband frequency. A good combination is noticed between simulation and measurement. This proposed SWB antenna delivers impedance bandwidth covering the L, C, X, Ku bands and points out sharply surface current flow and nearly omnidirectional radiation patterns, which is appropriate for UWB or SWB applications. Index Terms ─ Microstrip line, parasitic element, Super Wide Band (SWB), Ultra-Wide Band (UWB).
Chemical Fractionation of Trace Elements in Biosolid‐Amended Soils and Correlation with Trace Elements in Crop Tissue

Abstract A previous study indicated that agricultural biosolid applications increased the concentration of EPA3050‐digestible trace elements in soils on Pennsylvania production farms but could not indicate potential trace‐element environmental availability. This study was conducted to determine if biosolid application had altered the distribution of trace‐elements among operationally defined soil fractions and the relationship of trace element concentrations in soil and crop tissues. Biosolid‐amended and unamended soils from production farms in Pennsylvania were extracted using a modified Bureau Communautaire de Référence (BCR) sequential fractionation technique and analyzed for chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn). Trace‐element concentrations in crop tissues (soybean silage, sudangrass, corn grain, alfalfa hay, and orchardgrass hay) from the same farms were also determined. Fractionation results indicated that the proportion of Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn that is potentially bioavailable is quite small in unamended soils. Biosolid applications significantly (P≤0.1) increased concentrations of Cu in all soil fractions (average increase over unamended soil=1.14, 8.27, 6.04, and 5.84 mg kg−1 for the exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual fractions, respectively), Ni (0.41, 1.65 mg kg−1 for the reducible and residual fractions, respectively), Pb (5.12 and 1.49 mg kg−1 for the reducible and residual fractions, respectively), and Zn (8.28, 7.12, 4.44, and 8.98 mg kg−1 for the exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual fractions, respectively) but did not significantly increase Cr in any soil fraction. Concentrations of Cu in all soil fractions were significantly (P≤0.01) correlated with concentrations of Cu in orchardgrass tissue (r=0.70, 0.66, 0.76, and 0.69 for the exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual soil fractions, respectively). Concentrations of exchangeable and reducible Zn were significantly correlated with Zn in sudangrass tissue (r=0.81 and 0.67), and reducible Zn was significantly correlated with Zn concentrations in orchardgrass tissue (r=0.65). Application of biosolids had little effect on bioavailability of Cr, Ni, or Pb, whereas higher loadings of Cu and Zn led to a shift toward the more labile soil fractions. Loadings of Cu and Zn were much smaller than cumulative loadings permitted under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Part 503 regulations. Chemical soil fractionation was able to detect increases in labile soil Cu and Zn that relate to increased phytoavailability.
Application of SS-VF Bed for the Treatment of High Concentrated Reject Water from Autothermal Termophilic Aerobic Sewage Sludge Digestion

The autothermal termophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) technology is used in the municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with personal equivalent up to 30.000. The process provides a high level of sewage sludge stabilization and its hygienization. The main operation problems are caused by the high concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in the reject water from sewage sludge treatment and air purification (odor removal). Reject water usually is returned to the main sewage treatment, which has a negative impact, especially on the sewage treatment systems based on the sequence batch reactors (SBR). Applying high-performance and expensive separate reject water treatment methods such as SHARON, Anammox or CANON in small facilities is not justified economically. The article presents the research results concerning the effectiveness of applying subsurface vertical flow constructed wetlands (SS VF) for reject water treatment from the ATAD process. An innovative type of bed filling was used, which was produced from waste (ash from a heat and power plant). The efficiency of reject water treatment during the research period was on average at 45.6% for ammonia nitrogen, 32.3% for total phosphorus and 85.1% for BOD5. Applying SS VF beds for separate reject water treatment might ensure a stable and effective functioning of municipal WWTPs by decreasing the load of biological part of a WWTP.