Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of adipokines in obstructive airway disease and diabetes mellitus

This review summarizes the state of the current literature relating to the associations of lung disease and adipokines (proteins produced by adipose tissue) in humans. The mechanistic basis for these associations in humans is not established, although a possible role for adipokines has been invoked. Leptin, a pro-inflammatory adipokine, and adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory adipokine, are causally associated with asthma in mice. Although human studies are currently inconclusive, high-serum leptin and low-serum adiponectin concentrations predict asthma, independent of obesity, in select population groups, such as premenopausal women in the United States. In contradistinction, low-serum leptin and high-serum adiponectin concentrations are associated with stable COPD, although these associations are likely confounded by fat mass. Interestingly, leptin may promote systemic and airway inflammation in stable COPD patients. On the other hand, COPD may upregulate systemic and lung adiponectin expression. The precise mechanism and significance of the associations between these adipokines and lung disease at the current stage are confusing and frankly paradoxical in places. It is now known that adipose tissue is not an inert organ simply for energy storage, but regulates systemic inflammation via a variety of secreted proteins (called adipokines). While the associations of obesity and adipokines with cardiovascular, endocrine, and rheumatological diseases are well described, the respiratory effects of obesity and adipokines are less well known. This review will focus on the effect of obesity and adipokines on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in humans. This area of research needs additional study that may open up novel therapeutic strategies for these lung diseases.
Biology of Binge Eating Related Disorders and Proposal for Integration into Treatment

The concerningly low recovery and high cross over rates of eating disorders with binge eating behaviors suggests there might be a missing element in current treatment approaches commonly used to address eating disorders. Research supports the existence of significant biological correlation between disorders that are characterized by binge eating behaviors. This paper examines some of the biological processes in which these disorders show the most significant correlations. These include the organism’s response to caloric restriction, the brain’s response to feeding, the biological drive for reproduction, sensory association to feeding, and habituated responding to the feeding process. Additionally, we will explore three of the most common treatment modalities used to treat eating disorders and identify areas in which they may fail to address the biological underpinnings of these disorders. We then use these limitations to propose a novel treatment approach that combines the benefits of enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy with the targeted physiological treatment of appetite awareness training and prescriptive eating to create a more targeted, disorder specific modality based on the biological nuances that appear to maintain binge eating behaviors.
Schema-focused cognitive behaviour therapy with the eating disorders: A brief overview

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a wellestablished treatment for the eating disorders. Trials of CBT based on maintenance models of the disorders show good outcomes for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder (Agras et al., 2000; Fairburn et al., 1995; Fairburn & Harrison, 2003). In dealing with other eating disorders, CBT for anorexia nervosa has been shown to be no more effective than other therapies, and little evidence at all exists for how to treat the atypical eating disorders (Fairburn & Harrison, 2003; Waller & Kennerley, 2003). A second set of maintenance models has been developed in order to address these shortcomings (e.g., Fairburn, Cooper & Shafran, 2003), and work is underway to evaluate the treatment that is derived from those models.
A Review of Models for Hydrating Large-scale Twitter Data of COVID-19-related Tweets for Transportation Research

In response to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) urgent need for work related to transportation and pandemics, this paper contributes with a sense of urgency and provides a starting point for research on the topic. The main goal of this paper is to support transportation researchers and the TRB community during this COVID-19 pandemic by reviewing the performance of software models used for extracting large-scale data from Twitter streams related to COVID-19. The study extends the previous research efforts in social media data mining by providing a review of contemporary tools, including their computing maturity and their potential usefulness. The paper also includes an open repository for the processed data frames to facilitate the quick development of new transportation research studies. The output of this work is recommended to be used by the TRB community when deciding to further investigate topics related to COVID-19 and social media data mining tools.
Changes in biochemical properties of cow manure during processing by earthworms (Eisenia andrei, Bouché) and the effects on seedling growth

Summary The biochemical changes in fresh cow manure caused by the earthworm Eisenia andrei (Bouche) were measured over a period of four months, under controlled laboratory conditions. Earthworms were introduced into each of four plastic containers (0.4 × 0.27 × 0.15 m) containing fresh cow manure (2500 g), and four containers containing manure but without earthworms served as controls. Earthworms reduced the pH and decreased the moisture content in the manure. The C:N ratio of the manure with or without earthworms decreased progressively from 36 to 21. The ash and total nitrogen contents increased greatly for a few weeks after the introduction of earthworms, reflecting a rapid breakdown of carbon compounds and mineralization of nitrogen by the earthworms. CO2 evolution decreased rapidly (44%) one week after the introduction of earthworms, and continued at a lower rate throughout the 17 weeks (51% reduction as compared to 22% without earthworms), indicating increasing stability of the organic matter. Earthworms reduced microbial biomass early in the process, but enhanced nitrogen mineralization and increased the rates of conversion of ammonium-nitrogen into nitrate. The major general effect of earthworms on the organic wastes was to accelerate the maturation of the organic wastes as demonstrated by enhanced growth of lettuce and tomato seedlings.
Universiteit Leiden Opleiding Informatica Niching for ﬁnding robust optima

Preface In this paper a robustness scheme with niching is presented for extending an evolution strategy to an evolution strategy with a niching technique and robustness scheme. This gives the algorithm more explorative power and better chances of finding robust optima. The proposed schemes are implemented and experiments are run on nine different test functions. The conclusion is that, for the majority of the test functions the extended algorithm perform wells and outperform the benchmark algorithms. However, interestingly enough, the extended algorithm did not outperform the benchmark algorithms on the multipeak functions, although that was the hypothesis.
History of Plant Pathology in Japan

Scientific development of plant pathology in Japan began with the introduction of European and American civilization in the early years of the Meiji era, although some accounts concerning plant diseases have been found in earlier records. These records show that the ancient people recognized that plant diseases were injuring their crops, but because they had no conception of the nature and cause of these maladies, they superstitiously observed mysteriously deformed diseased plants with surprise and terror. According to Shirai (90) there is an account in the historic book Zoku-Nihon-Ki that in January 713 A.D. deformed rice plants were presented to the Emperor. These were thought to be a transformation of grasses into rice (27, 72). According to Shirai (90), these could have been rice ears infected by downy mildew (Phytophthora (Sclerophthora) macrospora). Ganoderma lucidum is a comparatively common decay fungus in Japan, attack­ ing stems and roots of coniferous and deciduous trees (21). From very early times development of the fruit body of this fungus was considered to be a sign of happy events. Many descriptions and much information on this are found in the classics; accounts in Nihon-Shoki show that in 678 A.D. the fruit body of this fungus was presented to the Emperor and that in 726 A.D. this fungus developed fruit bodies in the Imperial Palace (27). Many ancient classics indicate that blast disease of rice plants was very serious and, together with unfavorable weather conditions, caused much damage to rice crops. People then suffered severe famine (27, 72). The first record of blast disease of rice in Japan appears in a book, Koka Shunju (45, 101), written by M. Tsuchiya and published in 1707. He emphasized the relation between environmental condi­ tions and occurrence of the disease. Miyanaga (65), Horii (35), Kojima (57), and Konishi (58) also referred to rice blast disease in their books. Konishi (58) empha­ sized especially the relationship of cultural conditions of rice plants (e.g. nitrogenous fertilizers, deep plowing of soil, density of seeding) to the occurrence of blast disease. According to Hino (27), accounts concerning the following plant diseases or fungi
Changes in the coastal zone of Abu Dhabi determined using satellite imagery (1972–2003)

The coastal and marine resources of Abu Dhabi have sustained the local inhabitants for thousands of years. However, rapid development following the discovery and exploitation of mineral oil reserves in the second half of the 20th Century changed the intensity and use of the natural resources. Changes in coastal geomorphology, landuse and vegetation were documented using remote sensed images covering the period from 1972 to 2003. The study indicated that there have been major geomorphologic and landuse changes within the coastal zone of Abu Dhabi as a result of urban and industrial development. Vegetation, both cultivated and intertidal, has increased within the study period. The data collected emphasises the urgency for developing sustainable coastal management strategies in Abu Dhabi and the region.
The development of the labyrinth of the lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis Linn. 1758)

The development of the labyrinth of Lampetra fluviatilis was investigated on three levels; the development of the gross morphology, the development of the hair cell orientation within the sensory areas, and the subcellular development of the sensory cells. The mode of development of the semicircular canals was found to differ from that found in gnathostomes. The hair cell orientation is derived from a sensory rudiment that has a complex orientation. The adult form is derived from this rudiment by its subdivision and spatial reorganization. The individual sensory cells are autonomous and apparently intrinsically polarized. This polarization occurs at an early stage and is reflected in the orientation of the centriole. In the first phase the sensory cells develop up to the ciliary bud stage. Further development does not take place until neuronal contact is established. This contact initiates the further development of the hair bundle but does not control its orientation. Functional neuronal contact appears to be made later.
Women’s Political Participation and Leadership in India: Examining the Challenges

Women's political participation is regarded as an essential element in all forms of development; however, the gender equality policies of India remain under scrutiny. After independence in 1947, there have been many initiatives to increase the political representation of women by the decentralization of power in various local self-government institutions of India. The act of Panchayati Raj Institutions has increased the engagement of marginalized segments of society, including women, into the decision-making role in political institutions. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the political leadership of women in Local Self Government institutions, through the use of qualitative methods, such as document analysis of the Panchayati Raj Institutions amendment act and expert interviews with elected women representatives in one district of the Kerala state. The paper seeks to identify the challenges of women in political leadership positions in India, the largest democratic nation. Findings from the study reveal that there is considerable progress in women’s equality in the leadership role; however, there are certain crucial obstacles that still exist for women to be active in the political realm.
SULPHATE AND ACID RESISTANCE OF CEMENT MORTAR MADE WITH TREATED DOMESTIC WASTE WATER

This article discusses the effectiveness of the cement mortar mixes prepared with Treated Domestic waste Water (TDW) in sulphate and acid environment. At first phase the experimental study has been taken place to arrive effective replacement of potable water with treated domestic waste water. The treated water used in the cement mortar mixes with various dosages of 0,25,50,75 and 100%. In the second phase, for effective replacement mix the resistances of magnesium sulphate and hydrochloric acid have discussed. The chemicals were used with various concentrations of 0, 1,2,3,4 and 5%. From the results it is found that, 50%treated water is effective and for this mix as the chemical concentrations increases the strengths are decreasing. Models are deduced to evaluate the strengths results and the models are performed well to estimate experimental results.
Physicochemical and rheological characterization of pan bread made with pumpkin seed flour

Several studies have focused on the production of lower cost, more nutritious, and profitable breads. From this perspective, the objective of this study was to characterize pumpkin seed flour (PSF) and evaluate the effects of its addition on the physicochemical and rheological characteristics of pan bread. Three formulations of pan bread were prepared containing 0 (T0), 30% shelled PSF (T1), and 30% unshelled PSF (T2). The PSFs and pan breads were subjected to physicochemical and rheological characterization. Rheological analysis showed a reduction in baking potential of the flour blends. On the other hand, the treatment T1 showed higher moisture, total dietary fiber, and carbohydrate levels, whereas T2 showed higher ash, lipids, protein, and caloric value. PSF enriched breads had darker color when compared to the control bread. The treatment T0 presented the highest brightness, T2 had the highest green hue, and T1 showed higher yellow hue. T1 and T2 were significant different from T0 for the parameters firmness, elasticity, and chewiness, while no significant difference was observed for the parameter cohesiveness. Thus, the unshelled PSF has proven to be the most suitable flour to be used along with wheat flour in pan bread making.
Lipid Rafts and Signal Transduction in Mast Cells

In mast cells, the first signaling process convincingly shown to involve lipid rafts was immunoglobulin E (IgE) signaling during an allergic response. The cross-linking of IgE bound to the high affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI), mediated by oligomeric antigen, is one of the key pathways in mast cell activation. Activation of FcεRI stimulates the release of numerous chemical mediators involved in allergic reactions.  Email: vivianmazucato@hotmail.com (VMM). † Email: drisilvesouza@gmail.com (AMMSS). ‡ Email: mjamur@fmrp.usp. br (MCJ). § Address correspondence to: Dr. Constance Oliver, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and Pathogenic Bioagents, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto University of São Paulo. Av. Bandeirantes 3900, 14049-900 Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. Phone: 55-16-3602-3217, FAX: 55-16-3633-1786, e-mail: coliver@fmrp.usp. br. No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted commercially in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services. V. M. Mazucato, A. M. M. Silveira e Souza, M. C. Jamur et al. 134 Mast cells, therefore, are a major source of cytokines and chemokines, similar to other immunoregulatory cells. The cross-linking of FcεRI, activates a transmembrane signaling process and leads to its translocation to specialized membrane micro-domains, known as lipid rafts. Together with FcεRI, other proteins, which are important for the signaling cascade in mast cells, are recruited to these micro-domains. Besides this recruitment, some transmembrane proteins, proteins with lipidic modification, high levels of cholesterol, and gangliosides are also present and support the formation of the signaling platform. Many cellular functions have been connected with lipid rafts including endocytosis, cholesterol transport, as well as signal transduction. Gangliosides are a characteristic component of lipid rafts and have been shown to act in cellcell recognition, cell-substrate interaction, as receptors for virus and bacterial toxins, and also to have a role in proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, immune response, signal transduction. This chapter provides an overview of the importance of the lipid rafts in signal transduction in mast cells via FcεRI and the importance of lipid rafts in modulating biological processes induced by signaling in these cells.
NASOQ

Quadratic programs (QP), minimizations of quadratic objectives subject to linear inequality and equality constraints, are at the heart of algorithms across scientific domains. Applications include fundamental tasks in geometry processing, simulation, engineering, animation and finance where the accurate, reliable, efficient, and scalable solution of QP problems is critical. However, available QP algorithms generally provide either accuracy or scalability - but not both. Some algorithms reliably solve QP problems to high accuracy but work only for smaller-scale QP problems due to their reliance on dense matrix methods. Alternately, many other QP solvers scale well via sparse, efficient algorithms but cannot reliably deliver solutions at requested accuracies. Towards addressing the need for accurate and efficient QP solvers at scale, we develop NASOQ, a new, full-space QP algorithm that provides accurate, efficient, and scalable solutions for QP problems. To enable NASOQ we construct a new row modification method and fast implementation of LDL factorization for indefinite systems. Together they enable efficient updates and accurate solutions of the iteratively modified KKT systems required for accurate QP solves. While QP methods have been previously tested on large synthetic benchmarks, to test and compare NASOQ's suitability for real-world applications we collect here a new benchmark set comprising a wide range of graphics-related QPs across physical simulation, animation, and geometry processing tasks. We combine these problems with numerous pre-existing stress-test QP benchmarks to form, to our knowledge, the largest-scale test set of application-based QP problems currently available. Building off of our base NASOQ solver we then develop and test two NASOQ variants against best, state-of-the-art available QP libraries - both commercial and open-source. Our two NASOQ-based methods each solve respectively 98.8% and 99.5% of problems across a range of requested accuracies from 10-3 to 10-9 with average speedups ranging from 1.7× to 24.8× over fastest competing methods.
COMBINED EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES ON WETLANDS WATER QUALITY *George Maeti

Wetlands in the highlands, especially palustrine wetlands, are renowned with supply of water of good quality to streams, however, with observed extreme variation in climatic conditionsnotably surging high temperatures and decline in precipitation, these wetlands’ function is threatened. The objectives of this study were to observe changes in vegetation cover across the wetland within two seasonssummer and winter, and to monitor water release during each season, aligning this with climatic variation. Methodology: quadrants of 1m were utilized for estimation of vegetation species richness across the wetland while water level in the river was measured with the aid of staff installed in the stream. The observation was that, within the study period, during the return of the second summer, vegetation cover had not fully recovered, but rather lost as a result of a combination of factorsovergrazing by animals that keep invading the wetland, and lack of rains in the summer season. It was then recommended that, with the more expected dry summers, more stringent laws be applied regarding wise-use of these wetlands, and wetland management strategies be re-visited in order to curb their degradation. In conclusion, climate variations do play a role in degradation of palustrine wetlands, and best management practices would minimize their degradation, while observing their protection against uncontrolled anthropogenic activities. Copyright © 2020, George Maeti. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
EVALUATION OF MODEL FOR END STAGE LIVER DISEASE (MELD) SCORE IN SPONTANEOUS BACTERIAL PERITONITIS (SBP) IN PATIENTS WITH LIVER CIRRHOSIS

We determined MELD scores in patients of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) with liver cirrhosis. All patients (n=85) had MELD scores on the basis of laboratory values of serum creatinine, serum bilirubin and PT/INR (Prothrombin Time/International Normalized Ratio). MELD scores were calculated according to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) method. The 73 (85.88%) patients presented with abdominal pain, 64 (73%) patients with fever, 25 (29%) patients with encephalopathy and 13 were having dyspnea (15.29%). The 49 (57.65%) patients had paracentesis in the past. Among 85 patients, 51 (60%) were having ascites for one year and 24 (28%) patients for more than one year. Serology for viral markers showed that 68 (80%) patients were positive for anti-HCV antibodies and 8 (9.4%) patients were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen while, 3 (3.5%) patients were positive for both B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV antibodies. In the remaining 6 patients, 2 (2.35%) patients were due to alcoholic cirrhosis and in 4 (4.7%) patients, viral markers were negative. The 32 (37.64%) patients had a MELD score in the range of 21-25, 20 (23.52%) patients had scores of 26-30, while only 10 (11.76%) patients had MELD score > 30. Through MELD score that SBP is more associated with male patients (61%) compared to (39%) female patients. Overall, among all 85 patients, the 77 (90.59 %) patients had a high MELD score (≥16) and 8 (9.41 %) patients had a low MELD score. Therefore, in patients with liver cirrhosis who had SBP, the MELD score is found higher.