Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protective effect of Rhizoma drynariae extract on osteoporosis in ovariectomized rat model

Purpose : To investigate the therapeutic effect of Rhizoma Drynariae extract (RDE) on ovariectomyinduced osteoporosis in rats. Methods : Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a sham-operated group (control) and five ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups: OVX with vehicle (OVX), OVX with 17s-estradiol (E2, 25 μg/kg/day), and OVX with RDE doses (40, 80, and 160 mg/kg/day). Daily oral administration of E2 or RDE started 4 weeks after OVX and lasted for 16 weeks. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the L4 vertebrae and right femurs was estimated. The length of each femur was measured with a micrometer gauge, and the center of the diaphysis determined. Three representatives L4 vertebrae were selected to evaluate the trabecular microarchitecture. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), urinary calcium (U-Ca), urinary phosphorus (U-P), urinary creatinine (Cr) and osteocalcin (OC) levels were measured. Results : The study showed that high-dose of RDE significantly inhibited the bone mineral density (BMD) reduction of L4 vertebrae (0.20 ± 0.02 g/cm3, p < 0.05) and femurs (0.18 ± 0.02 g/cm3, p < 0.05) caused by OVX and prevented the deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture (p < 0.05), which were accompanied by a significant decrease in skeletal remodeling (p < 0.05) as evidenced by the lower levels of bone turnover markers. High-dose of RDE improved morphometric parameters, namely, Tb-N (3.8 ± 0.2 mm, p < 0.05), Tb-Th (0.083 ± 0.011 mm, p < 0.05) and Tb-Sp (0.19 ± 0.01 mm, p < 0.05) in L4 vertebrae significantly. The present study indicates that the administration of RDE at higher doses over a 16-week period can prevent OVX-induced osteoporosis in rats without hyperplastic effects on the uterus. Conclusion : Thus, RDE is a potential natural alternative for postmenopausal osteoporosis treatment in elderly women. Keywords : Rhizoma Drynariae, Postmenopausal osteoporosis, Ovariectomy, Bone mineral density, Morphometric
Saudi Twitter Corpus for Sentiment Analysis

 Abstract — Sentiment analysis (SA) has received growing attention in Arabic language research. However, few studies have yet to directly apply SA to Arabic due to lack of a publicly available dataset for this language. This paper partially bridges this gap due to its focus on one of the Arabic dialects which is the Saudi dialect. This paper presents annotated data set of 4700 for Saudi dialect sentiment analysis with (K= 0.807). Our next work is to extend this corpus and creation a large-scale lexicon for Saudi dialect from the corpus.
Ultrasound Image Filtering by Anisotropic Diffusion with Numerical Simulation

Ultrasound imaging is a widely used method for medical applications. It is noninvasive, real-time and relatively inexpensive. However, compared to o ther medical imaging methods, it suffers from low signal to noise ratio, the presence of speck le, signal dropouts, and a low contrast. The speckle appears as a multiplicative, locally correlate d noise caused by destructive interference of signals reflected from scatterers within o ne resolution cell. This phenomenon degrades the resolution of images and makes difficult the d etection of their features. Hence, the development of effective noise reduction filte rs for echographic
Reasoning about actions: a model-theoretic approach

A knowledge-based agent reasons with its knowledge and answers queries while performing various tasks. We consider the case where we describe the agent's knowledge in a propositional fragment of the situation calculus and queries in a fragment of ID-logic, the extension of first-order logic with inductive definitions. This fragment of ID-logic is equivalently as expressive as the alternation-free p-calculus. We formulate the agent's reasoning process as the following question: does the representation T of the agent's knowledge logically entail the query 4 (i.e., T k +)? We provide an efficient algorithm for this task, using a modeltheoretic approach: we construct from T a canonical model gT of the agent's knowledge and ask whether zT satisfies 4. Using this approach, the agent can answer the query in time linear with respect to both the size of T and the size of 4.
A NEW SPECIES OF PINNOTHERID CRUSTACEAN COMMENSAL IN HOLOTHURIANS

Pinnaxodes fioridensis is described from the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico. Sexual dimorphism in this species involves size, shape of the carapace and frontal area, and degree of fusion of ischium and merus of outer maxillipeds, as well as shape of the abdomen. Adult and pre-adult crabs were recovered from the cloaca and respiratory tree of the holothurian Theelothuria princeps where they normally filter their food from water circulated by the host. Juvenile crabs were recovered from anterior regions of the holothurian digestive tract. The ectoproct bryozoan Triticella elongata is reported from P. fioridensis.
Evaluation of Anxiolytic Activity of Flower Extracts of Tagetes Erecta Linn (Asteraceae) in Rats

Article history: Received on: 05/07/2013 Revised on: 28/10/2013 Accepted on: 17/11/2013 Available online: 30/12/2013 Tagetus erecta (Asteraceae) is a plant with diverse medicinal properties hence the present work was selected to evaluate the anxiolytic activity of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of flowers of T. erecta. Dried flower powder of T. erecta was extracted by maceration process to get alcoholic (AEFTE) and aqueous (AQEFTE) extract. Preliminary phytochemical investigations were carried out to identify various constituents present in AEFTE and AQEFTE. The LD50 studies of AEFTE and AQEFTE were conducted in mice till the highest permitted dose level of 2000 mg/Kg following Up and Down method of OECD Guidelines. From the LD50 2 doses of extract as 1/20 th
Molecular Detection of Ehrlichia Species in Amblyomma Ticks Collected from Ruminants in Abernosa Ranch, Ethiopia

Heartwater or cowdriosis is an acute, infectious, non-contagious and tick-borne rickettsial disease of ruminants caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium and transmitted by Amblyomma ticks. It occurs in nearly all sub-Saharan countries of Africa and affects domestic and wild ruminant species. The PCR-based molecular genetics revolution in diagnostic techniques has provided the only reliable methods for E. ruminantium diagnosis in carrier animals or ticks. This research was conducted to identify species of Amblyomma carrying E. ruminantum in ruminants of Abernosa ranch from November 2011 to April 2012. After DNA extraction from the ticks was carryout using modified boom extraction method, a semi-nested PCR reaction was used to amplify a fragment of about 900bp 16s RNA gene. From 120 Amblyomma ticks examined 10 (8.3%) of them were positive for E. ruminantium while 10 (8.3%) of them were positive for E. omatijene. E. ruminantium was detected in 5.8 % of A. lepidum and 2.5% of A. variegatum. Similarly E. omatijene was detected in 6.6% of A. lepidum and 1.7% of A. variegatum. In both cases A. lepidum was found to carry more Ehrlichia species than A. variegatum. Overall 20 (16.6%) of ticks were positive for Ehrlichia species. The results of this study provide molecular evidence for the presence of E. ruminantium and E. omatijene in A. variegatum and A. lepidum ticks of ruminants in Abernosa ranch. So it was concluded that different ticks can act as a vector of Ehrlichia species in different geographical settings. These findings need to be taken into consideration when future livestock upgrading programs are implemented.
Factors influencing the intensity of market participation by smallholder farmers: A case study of rural and peri-urban areas of Kenya

Participation in commercial agriculture holds considerable potential for unlocking suitable opportunity sets necessary for providing better incomes and sustainable livelihoods for small-scale farmers. This study examined factors that influence the intensity of market participation among smallholder farmers in Kenya. Data was obtained through a rapid rural appraisal and a household survey. A truncated regression model was applied in the analysis. Results showed that farmers in peri-urban areas sold higher proportions of their output than those in rural areas. Distance from farm to point of sale is a major constraint to the intensity of market participation. Better output price and market information are key incentives for increased sales. These findings demonstrate the urgent need to strengthen market information delivery systems, upgrade roads in both rural and peri-urban areas, encourage market integration initiatives, and establish more retail outlets with improved market facilities in the remote rural villages in order to promote production and trade in high value commodities by rural farmers.
Automatic license plate detection and character extraction with adaptive threshold and projections

License plate detection is very important for several applications. Especially for security, like parking control. In this paper, we show the design of a novel system to detect vehicular plates and to extract the characters contained in it. The phase of plate detection was made in two stages: the rectangular perimeter detection and the finding of a pattern by pattern matching. After detection of the plate the characters contained in it are segmented by using an adaptive threshold and vertical and horizontal projections. The tests were made in an uncontrolled environment in a parking lot and using Mexican and American plates. The results show that the system is robust as compare to those reported in the literature.
Recent advances in cardiac regeneration : Stem cell , biomaterial and growth factors

Myocardial infarction has been reported to be responsible for about 7.3 million deaths each year globally. Present treatments for myocardial infarction have been more palliative rather than curative. Over the past few years, stem cells have demonstrated its potency in regenerating damaged cardiac tissue, especially after myocardial infarction. However, limited short half-life of the protein and cell therapy and low transplanted cell survival rate as demonstrated via several clinical trials have lead to development of more potent and novel delivery systems like biomaterial delivery system and the use of various growth factors. In this review, we will be enumerating and discussing the recent advances in cardiac regeneration with focus on stem cell, biomaterial and growth factors. © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Functional explanations for variation in bark thickness in tropical rain forest trees

The complex structure of tree bark reflects its many functions, which include structural support as well as defence against fire, pests and pathogens. Thick bark, however, might limit respiration by the living tissues of the trunk. Nevertheless, little research has addressed community-level variation in bark thickness, and to the best of our knowledge, no one has tested multiple hypotheses to explain variation in bark thickness. We conducted an extensive survey of bark thickness within and among species of trees in the tropical rain forests of French Guiana. Trunk bark thickness increased by 1.2 mm per 10 cm increase in stem diameter, and varied widely at all taxonomic levels. Mean trunk bark thickness was 4.5 mm (range: 0.5-29 mm), which was less that found in two Amazonian rain forests in previous studies. This survey of bark thickness should be of use for forest management since tree survival through fire is strongly predicted by bark thickness. We combined the survey data with multiple datasets to test several functional hypotheses proposed to explain variation in bark thickness. We found bark to provide an average of 10% of the flexural rigidity of tree stems, which was substantially less than that found in the only other study of bark stiffness. Bark thickness was uncorrelated with species' association with fire-prone habitats, suggesting that the influence of fire on bark thickness does not extend into moist Forests. There was also little evidence that bark thickness is affected by its function as a defence against herbivory. Nor was there evidence that thick bark limits trunk respiration. A re-analysis of previously collected anatomical data indicated that variation in rhytidome (non-conducting outer bark) thickness explains much of the variation in overall bark thickness. As rhytidome is primarily involved in protecting the living tissues of the trunk, we suggest that bark thickness is driven mostly by its defensive function. Functional explanations for the variation in bark thickness were not clear-cut. Nevertheless, this study provides a foundation for further investigation of the functional bases of bark in tropical trees.
Talking, gawking, or getting it done: Provider trainings to increase cultural and clinical competence for transgender and gender-nonconforming patients and clients

This article presents a set of preliminary policy recommendations regarding competency trainings for health care providers to improve service delivery to transgender and gender-nonconforming clients. These recommendations are based in part on a program evaluation of trainings conducted in the northwestern United States in 2005–2006. Using a mixed-methods approach, the evaluation assessed the effectiveness of 3 competency trainings administered by a nonprofit health education and outreach organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender-nonconforming, and questioning people. Quantitative data indicated that the trainings were effective in transferring knowledge. Qualitative data confirmed this finding and elicited a number of themes about providers’ experience of the trainings and their posttraining questions about interacting with transgender and gender-nonconforming patients and clients. The authors propose policy recommendations to guide curriculum developers and trainers in developing content and structure and to facilitate implementation of lessons learned in trainings at an agency- or organization-wide level.
A comparative study of denoising sEMG signals

Denoising of surface electromyography (sEMG) signals plays a vital role in sEMG-based mechatronics applications and diagnosis of muscular diseases. In this study, 3 different denoising methods of sEMG signals, empirical mode decomposition, discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and median filter, are examined. These methods are applied to 5 different levels of noise-added synthetic sEMG signals. For the DWT-based denoising technique, 40 different wavelet functions, 4 different threshold-selection-rules, and 2 threshold-methods are tested iteratively. Three different window-sized median filters are applied as well. The SNR values of denoised synthetic signals are calculated, and the results are used to select DWT and median filter method parameters. Finally, 3 methods with the optimum parameters are applied to the real sEMG signal acquired from the flexor carpi radialis muscle and the visual results are presented.
Regulation of ERα-mediated transcription of Bcl-2 by PI3K-AKT crosstalk: Implications for breast cancer cell survival

Both estrogen, through the estrogen receptor (ER), and growth factors, through the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT pathway, have been shown to independently promote cell survival. Here, we investigated the role of ER/PI3K-AKT crosstalk in the regulation of cell survival in MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells. The ER inhibitor ICI 182,780 was used to determine the requirement of the ER for estrogen in the suppression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) induced apoptosis. Gene reporter assays and Western blot analyses were used to determine the involvement of the pro-survival factor Bcl-2 and the coactivator GRIP1 in this survival crosstalk. We demonstrated that an intact ER signaling pathway was required for estrogen to suppress apoptosis induced by TNFα. Our gene reporter assays revealed that ERα, not ERβ, was targeted by AKT, resulting in transcriptional potentiation of the full-length Bcl-2 promoter, ultimately leading to increased Bcl-2 protein levels. AKT targeted both activation function (AF) domains of the ERα for maximal induction of Bcl-2 reporter activity, although the AF-II domain was predominately targeted. In addition, AKT also caused an upregulation of GRIP1 protein levels. Finally, AKT and GRIP1 cooperated to increase Bcl-2 protein expression to a greater level than either factor alone. Collectively, our study suggests a role for ER/PI3K-AKT crosstalk in cell survival and documents the ability of AKT to regulate Bcl-2 expression via differential activation of ERα and ERβ as well as regulation of GRIP1.
The Effect of Taxonomic Sampling on Accuracy of Phylogeny Estimation: Test Case of a Known Phylogeny

Because of extinction, undiscovered species, and constraints of time, money and material, most molecular phylogenetic analyses are performed without extensive coverage of the group of interest. The degree of taxonomic coverage can affect hypotheses of tree topology (e.g., Gauthier, Kluge, and Rowe 1988), ancestral state assignment (Sanderson 1996), character evolution (Donoghue et al. 1989), and character correlation (SillénTullberg 1993). Studies are beginning to examine the effect of taxon sampling on accuracy (e.g., Huelsenbeck 1991; Wheeler 1992; Wiens and Reeder 1995; Kim 1996). The favorability of including more taxa is now a working assumption for many (e.g., Baverstock and Moritz 1996, p. 26). This paper will examine the relationship of taxon sampling to accuracy using the known phylogeny of T7 bacteriophage of Hillis et al. (1992). Hillis et al. (1992) created a known phylogeny of the T7 bacteriophage by serially propagating strains in the presence of a mutagen. For this first experimental phylogeny they enforced completely symmetrical branching and equal time between splitting events. This system has proven useful for questions of performance of phylogenetic methods (Hillis et al. 1992; Crandall 1994; Hillis and Huelsenbeck 1994; Wiens and Reeder 1995), molecular evolution (Bull et al. 1993; Cunningham et al. 1997), and confidence in phylogeny (Hillis and Bull 1993). Details of this phylogeny are available in Hillis et al. (1992), Bull et al. (1993), and Sober (1993). The advantages of the T7 system are that (unlike in studies of literature data sets) the phylogeny is known and (unlike in simulations) the tree is the result of biological evolution in a lineage of organisms (Hillis 1995). Disadvantages of this system have to do with applicability. For example, molecular evolution in T7 viruses in a controlled experiment may not be a useful model for evolution in many ‘‘higher’’ organisms under reallife conditions, and the single tree shape and set of branch lengths may not be representative of most phylogenies (although subsampling taxa and characters can ‘‘create’’ different phylogenetic conditions). I perform subsampling experiments of taxa and characters from the T7 restriction site data to examine the effect of taxonomic sampling at three levels: (1) Does sampling more taxa improve or worsen accuracy
Prediction of beef marbling using Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) and Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR)

The aim of this study was to build a model to predict the beef marbling using HSI and Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR). Totally 58 samples of longissmus dorsi muscle were scanned by a HSI system (400 - 1000 nm) in reflectance mode, using 44 samples to build the PLSR model and 14 samples to model validation. The Japanese Beef Marbling Standard (BMS) was used as reference by 15 middle-trained judges for the samples evaluation. The scores were assigned as continuous values and varied from 1.2 to 5.3 BMS. The PLSR model showed a high correlation coefficient in the prediction (r = 0.95), a low Standard Error of Calibration (SEC) of 0.2 BMS score, and a low Standard Error of Prediction (SEP) of 0.3 BMS score.
Formal methods and Abstraction for a Safe and feasible Design Méthodes formelles et abstraction pour une conception sûre et faisable

Formal methods have developed theoretical and practical tools for software engineering to improve the safety and reliability of computer systems. Complexity of implementation remaining problematic, these developments have, among other things, focused on the structuring of systems and problems, by means of abstraction, refinement and decomposition. This knowledge on how to segregate questions in order to deal with complexity has a range which is going beyond the scope of design and software engineering. This paper gives an overview of the unified mathematical basis approach in natural language. An example of formal method applied to an operational system design illustrates these concepts. We conclude with a discussion about the methodological aspects and possible extensions of application fields of these techniques. Résumé: Les méthodes formelles ont développé des outils théoriques et pratiques pour le génie logiciel afin d’améliorer la sureté et la fiabilité des systèmes informatiques. La complexité de mise en œuvre posant problème, ces développement ont entre autre porté sur la structuration des systèmes et des problèmes, au moyen de l’abstraction, du raffinement et de la décomposition. Ces connaissances sur comment séparer les questions pour aborder la complexité ont une portée qui dépasse le génie logiciel et la conception. L’article fournit une approche abstraite unifiée des bases mathématiques générale communes à ces techniques, en langage naturel. Les concepts sont illustrés par un exemple d’application d’une méthode formelle à la conception d’un système. Nous concluons par une discussion sur les aspects méthodologiques et les extensions possibles du champ d’application de ces techniques.
Leading tones and downstep in English

In early autosegmental studies certain segments were specially marked with a ‘star’ diacritic. These starred segments had a priority association; only in a later stage of the derivation were other segments associated. Starred associations were resistant to modification by subsequent rules: ‘the point is to preserve the prominence of the star’ (Goldsmith 1979: 129). An associated tone had as its phonetic exponent a high or low pitch occurring approximately at the same time as the associated item(s) on the phoneme tier, usually a vowel.
Discrimination of Juice Press Fractions for Sparkling Base Wines by a UV-Vis Spectral Phenolic Fingerprint and Chemometrics

The feasibility of an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectral phenolic fingerprint (SPF), combined with principal component analysis (PCA), is evaluated as a rapid, simple, and reliable technique for the discrimination of grape juice press fractions destined for the production of sparkling white wines. Juice press fractions of Vitis vinifera L. Chardonnay and Pinot noir grapes comprising free-run (i.e., juice released during the loading of press), cuvee (i.e., first press fraction), and taille (i.e., subsequent press fraction), were analyzed by SPF combined with multivariate data analysis. Two trials were carried out, a laboratory and a commercial scale trial. In both trials, cuvee and taille of Chardonnay and Pinot noir grapes were clearly separated in their corresponding PCA plots based on their SPF. The proposed method enables a rapid and objective discrimination of juice press fractions, which can be obtained using relatively inexpensive UV-Vis spectrophotometric equipment. Insights arising from this research suggest a future possibility of objective, real-time discrimination of juice quality that could liberate the winemaker from tasting juice at the press.
Needle-syringe programs are cost-effective in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : data synthesis , modeling , and economics for nine case-study countries

David P. Wilson1*, Lei Zhang1, Cliff C. Kerr1, Anneli Uusküla2, Jisoo A. Kwon1, Alexander Hoare1, Kateryna Sharapka3, Timur Balabayev4, Anna Yakusik5, Eleanora Gvozdeva5, Gabriela Ionascu6, David Otiashvili7, Trdat Grigoryan8, Alijon Soliev9, Lev Zohrabyan10, Michelle Williams-Sherlock10, Carlos Avila11 on behalf of the Technical Working Group to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of needle-syringe programs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia **