Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Saussurea lappa root extract accelerates the reversion of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in rats

Background and aim of work Liver fibrosis is a major health problem associated with high morbidity and mortality, particularly in Egypt. It is mainly regulated by hepatic stellate cells, which acquire a fibrogenic character in response to oxidant stress and inflammatory cytokines. We tried to test the efficacy of Saussurea lappa (Sl) root extract on the reversion of the already established liver fibrosis as this extract was reported to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Materials and methods A total of 24 albino rats were divided into four groups: negative control group, carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) fibrosis model group, spontaneous resolution group, CCl 4 followed by Sl root extract group. In all rats, serum alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, liver malonaldehyde and liver reduced glutathione were measured. Histopathological assessment were carried out through haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), sirius red staining and α-smooth muscle actin immunohistochemical staining with evaluation of the fibrosis grade and percentage of the area occupied by collagen fibres. Results Administration of Sl root extract for 4 weeks, after 8 weeks of CCl 4 injection, caused a significant decrease in CCl 4 -induced rise in plasma levels of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase, liver malonaldehyde and the percentage of collagen area and an increase in liver glutathione with almost preserved liver architecture, less inflammatory infiltration, less collagen deposition, fewer thinner septa, less bridging fibrosis and less positive reaction for α-smooth muscle actin as compared with the spontaneous resolution group. Conclusion These data indicate that Sl root extract can accelerate matrix degradation and reversion from liver fibrosis induced by CCl 4 in rats. This might be through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory activities and through inhibition of the activated hepatic stellate cells or probably inducing their apoptosis.
Target Tracking in Wireless Sensor Networks

A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) consists of a group of tiny devices called sensors that communicate throughwireless links. Sensors are used to collect data about some parameters and send the collected data for furtherprocessing to a designated station. The designated station is often called command and control center (CCC),fusion center (FC), or sink. Sensors forward the collected data to their leaders or cluster heads, which in turn sendit to the centralized station. There are many applications of a WSN such as environmental monitoring, raisingalarms for fires in forests and multi-storied buildings, monitoring habitats of wild animals, monitoring children ina kindergarten, support system in play grounds, monitoring indoor patients in a hospital, precision agriculture,detection of infiltration along international boundaries, tracking an object or a target, etc.
Controlling the Content and Morphology of Phase Constituents in Nanobainitic Steel Containing 0.6%C to Obtain the Required Ratio of Strength to Plasticity

The phase composition of nanobainitic steel 0.56–0.60%C, 1.68–1.95%Mn, 1.58–1.80%Si, 1.30–1.47%Cr, 0.57–0.75%Mo is described in this paper. The phase composition is controlled in order to obtain diversified mechanical properties for specific applications, such as armor plates. The effect of temperature and time of isothermal heat treatment on both the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the steel were determined. Dilatometric studies, as well as measurements of volume fraction and size distribution of retained austenite were carried out. Analysis of the kinetics of isothermal transformation in the temperature range of 200–225 °C for times of up to 144 h were also carried out, and the parameters of the production process of the steel were determined. A microstructure consisting of nanolathy carbideless bainite and blocky and lathy retained austenite, providing tensile strength of at least 2000 MPa, yield strength of at least 1300 MPa, and total elongation of at least 10% has been found.
Investigating ERP Readiness Enablers and Inhibitors Among Egyptian Higher Education Institutions

In light of higher education institutions (HEIs) need to implement intelligent, innovative systems for their digital strategic transformation to stay competitive, the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can tailor solutions to such technological problems through its integration characteristic. The present study sheds light on the emergence of enablers and inhibitors, explaining technological readiness insight for ERP adoption. The study aims to understand better ERP readiness among HEIs to ease the substantial change required for the adoption process. The findings show a profound perception of ERP systems among 112 Egyptian HEIs, demonstrating that HEIs are technologically ready for adoption. Results reveal that HEIs have positive ERP readiness, although HEIs’ managers are still uncertain and expect some ERP inhibitors. Therefore, ERP adoption is principally contingent on perceiving enablers and eliminating any inhibitors comprising ERP technological readiness. This study delivers practical verification to the higher education context by advancing ERP concepts and characteristics from the HEIs’ perspective. This study, finally, suggests that ERP adoption is beneficial for HEIs
Epidemiologia da Doença de Alzheimer em Sergipe no período de 2008 a 2018: morbidade hospitalar e mortalidade

A Doença de Alzheimer é a doença neurodegenerativa mais comum e principal causa de demência em todo o mundo, sendo um dos grandes desafios da saúde no século XXI. Nos últimos anos, a demência representou a quinta principal causa de morte no mundo, com cerca de 2,4 milhões de óbitos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar os dados epidemiológicos da morbidade hospitalar e a mortalidade ocasionadas pela Doença de Alzheimer no Estado de Sergipe, entre os anos de 2008 e 2018. Trata-se de um estudo epidemiológico descritivo, retrospectivo e transversal realizado com dados do DATASUS. No período analisado, foram registradas apenas 21 internações, sendo treze do sexo feminino, doze atendimentos foram feitos em pacientes com 80 anos ou mais. Dados como raça/cor foram ignorados em 18 pacientes atendidos. Com relação a mortalidade, foram registrados 979 óbitos. A maioria dos moradores, 547, eram residentes de Aracaju. O sexo feminino foi o mais acometido com 645 casos e a faixa etária mais acometida foi a de pacientes com 80 anos ou mais, com 697 casos. Através do estudo foi possível avaliar a falta alimentação do sistema, principalmente no Sistema de Informações Hospitalares, uma vez que há poucos casos para serem analisados e algumas informações não são adequadamente registradas. É preciso ressaltar também a importância e contribuição de bases de dados como o DATASUS, pois a disponibilidade de informações públicas é essencial para execução de medidas de ação em saúde, realizadas de acordo com as características epidemiológicas das enfermidades estudadas.
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In this article, we introduce a new extension of classical convexity which is called generalized exponentially - preinvex functions. Also, it is seen that the new definition of generalized exponentially - preinvex functions describes different new classes as special cases. To prove our main results, we derive a new - integral identity for the twice - differentiable function. By using this identity, we show essential new results for Hermite–Hadamard-type inequalities for the - integral by utilizing differentiable exponentially - preinvex functions. The results presented in this article are unification and generalization of the comparable results in the literature.
Green Marketing Strategies on Online Platforms: A Mixed Approach of Experiment Design and Topic Modeling

This study aimed to examine the effects of two types of green information conveyed via online platforms and the moderating role of environmental consciousness on customers’ green perceptions, positive attitudes, and behavioral intentions. This study performed a 2 (firm-initiated green information: absent, present) × 2 (customer-generated green information: absent, present) experiment. These mixed methods were further implemented by using both open-ended surveys and structured measurements. Open-ended survey answers were analyzed with structural topic modeling to discover customers’ green perceptions. The results highlighted the importance of customer-generated green information to support firm-initiated green marketing, consequently leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Although displaying green information generated by both the company and its customers is effective in enhancing green perceptions, customers may react differently depending on their levels of environmental consciousness.
The Role of IgM-Enriched Immunoglobulin (Pentaglobin) in Septic Patients with Hematological Disease

Background: Patients with hematological disease are 15 times more likely to develop sepsis than the general population. The patient with hematological disease and, mainly, those undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), develop a severe secondary humoral immunodeficiency, with low serum levels of IgM, which may take more than a year to be restored. Materials andMethods: This is a retrospective, controlled and observational study that analyzed 51 patients with underlying hematological disease, who were diagnosed with sepsis or septic shock during the study period, to evaluate whether IgM-rich Ig replacement decreases the 30-day mortality. Results: Of the 51 patients, 35 patients received IgM-rich immunoglobulin (group A) and 16 (31%) received conventional therapy. Eleven (69%) patients in the control group were alive after 30 days compared to 11 (34%) patients in the intervention group, p= 0.013. Conclusion: There are no apparent benefits in the use of IgM-rich immunoglobulin in septic patients with hematological disease.
Socio-technical-pedagogical usability of online courses for older adult learners

ABSTRACT Given the increasing popularity of online learning, the study of the user experience in online courses is relevant for the design of meaningful online learning. While there exist many checklists for online course evaluation, they focus on different items and lack consensus of common usability factors. Traditional usability studies focus on technology issues; however, as literature shows, they neglect pedagogical and social usability. In addition, online courses have been studied with undergraduate or graduate students neglecting the population of older adults (55+ years old). In this study, we explored usability factors regarding social, technical, and pedagogical items with a focus on older adult learners. We applied the mental model approach to understand the adult learner experience by collecting qualitative data. The results present the following key factors: (a) usability related to social presence, instructor, and adult learner interaction; (b) usability related to technology, including access to the course and course navigation; and (c) usability related to pedagogy including learning objectives, content organization, instructional activities, and assessment. These findings have implications for instructors who are involved in teaching online courses for older adult learners.
Flexibility of joint production in mixed fisheries and implications for management

Over the past decade, efforts have been made to factor technical interactions into management recommendations for mixed fisheries. Yet, the dynamics underlying joint production in mixed fisheries are generally poorly captured in operational mixed fisheries models supporting total allowable catch advice. Using an integrated ecological–economic simulation model, we explore the extent to which fishers are likely to alter the species composition of their landings in a mixed fishery managed with individual transferable quotas, the Australian Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery. Our simulations capture three different types of joint production problems, highlighting the flexibility that exists in terms of achievable catch compositions when quota markets provide the economic incentives to adapt fishing practices to quota availability. These results highlight the importance of capturing the drivers of fishing choices when advising TAC decisions in mixed fisheries. We also identify a hierarchy of species in this fishery, with harvest targets set for primary commercial species determining most of its socio-economic performance.
Research on climate change in social psychology publications: A systematic review

There is a strong scientiﬁc consensus that anthropogenic climate change is happening and that its impacts can put both ecological and human systems in jeopardy. Social psychology, the scientiﬁc study of human behaviours in their social and cultural settings, is an important tool for understanding how humans interpret and respond to climate change. In this article, we offered a systematic review of the social psychological literature of climate change. We sampled 130 studies on climate change or global warming from 80 articles published in journals indexed under the “Psychology, social” category of Journal Citation Reports . Based on this sample, we observe that social psychologists have produced an impressive canon of research on this pressing topic, the strengths of which include diversity of research designs, outcome variables, and theoretical angles. However, there are some gaps in this literature, including weak presence of authors and data from non-Western, developing, and nondemocratic societies, lack of cross-cultural comparisons, reliance on young and Amazon MTurk samples, lack of attention to some crucial outcome variables, and overemphasis on intrapersonal and intrapsychic processes. We recommend that future social psychological research on climate change needs to broaden geographical and demographic representation, examine study outcomes other than mitigation behaviour, and adopt more “social” theoretical perspectives. We also offer suggestions as to how these needs can be addressed.
Non-aggregated boron–fluorine derivatives with photodynamic activity

Novel non-aggregated boron–fluorine derivatives with large Stokes shift were facilely synthesized and characterized. These dyes show moderate absorptive coefficients and intense fluorescence emission, and excellent photo-stability in solvents and also in solid state. According to X-ray single-crystal analysis, non-covalent intermolecular interactions provide a rigid structure, which inhibits aggregate formation. These non-aggregated dyes can generate singlet oxygen under light irradiation, which makes them good candidates for photodynamic therapy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Structure-Function Relationship of Flaxseed Gum from Flaxseed Hulls

STRUCTRUE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIP OF FLAXSEED GUM FROM FLAXSEED HULLS Ke-Ying Qian Co-advisor: Prof. H. Douglas Goff University of Guleph, 2014 Co-advisor: Prof. Steve W. Cui Soluble dietary fibre with low viscosity can be included in the diet in a significant amount to show health benefits without over-texturization. Soluble flaxseed gum has recently been the subject of increasing research attention due to its low viscosity, which is favored as a potential fibre fortifier. In this work, soluble flaxseed gum (SFG) extracted from flaxseed hulls was fractionated into a neutral (NFG) and an acidic (AFG) fraction gum using ion exchange chromatography. The physicochemical properties, structure and conformation of both fractions were investigated. The protein and uronic acid content were 11.8 and 38.7 % in SFG, and 8.1 and 23.0 % in AFG, respectively. NFG contained no protein or uronic acid. NFG and AFG exhibited pseudoplastic and Newtonian flow behavior, respectively. The ranking of intrinsic viscosities (mL g) in a decreasing order was: SFG (446.0) >NFG (377.5) >AFG (332.5). AFG was expected to have higher chain flexibility due to its lower value of Huggins constant (0.16) compared to that of NFG (0.54) and SFG (0.48). AFG had a highly branched rhamnogalacturonan-I backbone substituted iii at O-3 of →2)-α-L-Rhap-(1→ which was mostly terminated by a monomeric sugar unit (19.6 % T-α/β-D-Galp, 4.5 % T-α-L-Fucp, and 3.1 % T-β-D-Xylp) or occasionally by a longer side chain with a similar structure as its backbone. NFG contained β-1,4-linked xylose backbone being mono-, dior unsubstituted at O-2 and/or O-3 positions by one to three linearlylinked sugar residues (24.8 % arabinose, 15.5 % xylose and 9.4 % galactose/glucose). Static and dynamic light scattering results showed that NFG exhibited random coil conformation with a molecular weight of 616±19 kDa. The star-like conformation of AFG (with a molecular weight of 285±25 kDa) also coincided with the presence of longer side chains along its rather flexible RG-I backbone. The random coil and star-like conformation of NFG and AFG, as well as their relatively small molecular sizes, explained the overall low viscosity of flaxseed gum extracted from flaxseed hulls.
Patency and Clinico-Haematological Pathologies Sequel to Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma evansi Induced Infections in Yankasa Sheep I

Trypanosomosis remains one of the most deadly protozoan diseases that pose a significant impact on livestock health in the tropics. Sixteen (16) rams aged between 24 to 30 months and weighed between 22-25kg were acclimatized under standard animal housing conditions. Twelve (12) of the sheep deemed fit and healthy were randomly divided into four groups (I, II, III, and IV) of three sheep each. Each sheep in groups I and II was inoculated intravenously with 2 mL containing 2 X 106 trypomastigote forms of Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma evansi, respectively. While group III, each sheep received 2 mL containing 2 X 106 mixed inoculums of T. brucei and T. evansi (50% each by volume of the infective inoculums). Sheep in group IV served as the non-infected control. Post-infection animals were monitored for 14 weeks for parasitaemia, clinical signs, and haematological pathologies. The patent infection became evident in groups I, II, and III between 5-21 days post-infection with average patency of 7, 20, and 8.5 days respectively. The infection was characterized by intermittent pyrexia with a significant decrease (p< 0.001) in mean weekly packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), live weight gain, plasma protein, which significantly decreased (p< 0.001) in all the infected groups. Pearson’s correlation (r) indicates a strong positive correlation (r= 0.991) between parasitaemia and pyrexia, and principal component analysis (PCA) biplot increased the predictabilities of these two indices as the major precursors in the progression of the trypanosomes pathogenesis in sheep. Keywords: Trypanosomosis; Patency; Clinico-haematological pathologies; Trypanosoma brucei; Trypanosoma evansi; Yankasa sheep
Critical implementation issues of excitation signals for embedded wearable bioimpedance spectroscopy systems with limited resources

Wideband excitation signals are essential in bioimpedance spectroscopy for measurements in a time ensuring a quasi-stable measurement condition. In particular, for wearable biomedical systems, due to limited system resources, several aspects regarding measurement time, crest factor, slew rate requirements, frequency distribution, amplitude spectrum, and energy efficiency need to be thoroughly investigated. In this paper, we present an investigation of excitation signals, which includes not only the theoretical aspects but also aspects of real implementation on microcontroller-based systems. At a fixed number of samples and sampling rate, we investigate the implementability of signal frequencies and the resulting spectral efficiency. We focus on sources of signal distortion due to timer and amplitude deviations. The results show that for 4096 samples and a sampling frequency of 1 MHz, wideband signals are 2.76 times faster than a stepped frequency sweep. The multisine signal provides a better energy efficiency and has a lower slew rate requirement on hardware (around 0.3 V µs−1), but has a relatively high crest factor, even after optimization. An exemplary investigation of the distortion of the time/frequency and amplitudes following implementation on a standard industrial advanced RISC machines microcontroller has shown that a sampling rate compensation is required to overcome timer inaccuracies. Furthermore, non-return-to-zero binary signals are more sensitive to distortion due to hardware-related issues and have a lower signal-to-distortion-and-noise (SINAD) ratio than 24 dB, which is lower than the multisine signal, having a SINAD of 31 dB.
Functional diversity and redundancy of subalpine meadows subjected to anthropogenic disturbances

The aims of this study were to assess how functional diversity (FD) and functional redundancy respond to subalpine meadow ecosystem degradation under anthropogenic disturbance and how species contribute to functional redundancy along the disturbance gradient. The study was carried out in the subalpine meadow in Mount Jade Dragon, which is located at the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Four disturbance intensities [no disturbance (ND), weak disturbance (WD), moderate disturbance (MD) and severe disturbance (SD)] were identified. Species richness, soil properties and five key plant functional traits were assessed along the disturbance gradient. Simpson’s diversity index, FD based on the Rao algorithm, functional redundancy, community-weighted mean of each functional trait and species-level functional redundancy were determined. Unimodal change pattern of FD and functional redundancy along the disturbance gradient were found in the present study, with their maximum in MD and WD, respectively. Species diversity showed a decreasing trend with increasing disturbance intensity. As disturbance intensified, species with traits related to conservative growth strategies, such as low specific leaf area (SLA) and high leaf dry matter content (LDMC), decreased, whereas species with resource acquisitive strategies, such as small plant, high SLA and low LDMC, increased in the community. At the species level, species showed species-specific roles in functional redundancy. Notably, some species were important in the community in terms of their unique function. For instance, Ligularia dictyoneura in ND and Potentilla delavayi in MD and SD.
Quality assessment of enterprise risk management programs

Abstract Enterprise risk management (ERM) is an important process for organizations to manage risks and identify opportunities in a holistic manner. Earlier studies have explored antecedents and consequences of ERM programs considering organizational, procedural, technical, and other related factors. However, limited evidence is available regarding the effectiveness of ERM programs. Using semi-structured interviews with ERM experts, this paper explores how experts assess the efficacy and quality of ERM programs and whether they adopt project management (PM) and total quality management (TQM) tools for implementing and improving the ERM program. Further, the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) technique is used to explore causality among factors influencing the efficacy of an ERM program. The findings of this study provide useful insights to both practitioners and researchers to better understand the importance of assessing and enhancing the quality of ERM programs, and establish cause-effect relationships across factors influencing the efficacy of such programs.