Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thermodynamic and Spectroscopic Studies on the Molecular Interaction of Doxorubicin (DOX) with Negatively Charged Polymeric Nanoparticles

The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular interactions of the anti-cancer drug Doxorubicin (DOX) with poly(methacrylic acid) grafted starch nanoparticles (PMAA-g-St). In order to fully understand the DOX/PMAA-g-St system, we conducted in-depth studies on DOX dimer dissociation and DOX/PMAA-g-St binding interactions using various techniques such as isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy. Based on our experimental results, we developed a quantitative thermodynamic model with relevant parameters such as dissociation constant, Kd, as well as enthalpy of binding, ΔH, in order to explain DOX/PMAA-g-St interactions. In addition, we also studied the effect of environmental factors such as pH and NaCl on DOX self-association and DOX/PMAA-g-St complex formation. In conclusion, the combination of results obtained from various techniques as well as the multispecies equilibrium model, enables us to interpret quantitatively the data of drug loading onto and release from polymeric nanoparticles.
Design of a SIW Bandpass Filter Using Defected Ground Structure with CSRRs

In this paper, a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filter using defected ground structure (DGS) with complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs) is proposed. By using the unique resonant properties of CSRRs and DGSs, two passbands with a transmission zero in the middle have been achieved. The resonant modes of the two passbands are different and the bandwidth of the second passband is much wider than that of the first one. In order to increase out-of-band rejection, a pair of dumbbell DGSs has been added on each side of the CSRRs. The structure is analyzed using equivalent circuit models and simulated based on EM simulation software. For validation, the proposed filter is fabricated and measured. The measurement results are in good agreement with the simulated ones.
Interferences of commercial NO 2 instruments in the urban atmosphere and in a smog chamber

Abstract. Reliable measurements of atmospheric trace gases are necessary for both, a better understanding of the chemical processes occurring in the atmosphere, and for the validation of model predictions. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a toxic gas and is thus a regulated air pollutant. Besides, it is of major importance for the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere and plays a pivotal role in the formation of ozone and acid precipitation. Detection of NO2 is a difficult task since many of the different commercial techniques used are affected by interferences. The chemiluminescence instruments that are used for indirect NO2 detection in monitoring networks and smog chambers use either molybdenum or photolytic converters and are affected by either positive (NOy) or negative interferences (radical formation in the photolytic converter). Erroneous conclusions on NO2 can be drawn if these interferences are not taken into consideration. In the present study, NO2 measurements in the urban atmosphere, in a road traffic tunnel and in a smog-chamber using different commercial techniques, i.e. chemiluminescence instruments with molybdenum or photolytic converters, a Luminol based instrument and a new NO2-LOPAP, were compared with spectroscopic techniques, i.e. DOAS and FTIR. Interferences of the different instruments observed during atmospheric measurements were partly characterised in more detail in the smog chamber experiments. Whereas all the commercial instruments showed strong interferences, excellent agreement was obtained between a new NO2-LOPAP instrument and the FTIR technique for the measurements performed in the smog chamber.
Evaluating the Effects of Ownership Structure and Cash Holding on Accepted Companies Value in Tehran Stock Exchange

The current research is studying the role of ownership structure and cash holding on the accepted companies' value in Tehran Stock Exchange. The sample of the research includes 62 corporations within 2008 to 2013.The ownership structure can direct the corporate toward better performance and increasing its value and has remarkable importance for increasing the company's success and society's economics. According to the results based on variance analysis, there is positive and significant relationship between ownership structure and corporate value while there are not significant relationships between other independent variables such as the size of the board of directors, power of the board of directors and cash holding with dependent variable (corporate value). Regarding the controlled variables of the research, which are financial leverage, dividend payout ratio, Q Tubin, there is a positive and significant relationship between the corporate value and financial leverage, while the other controlled variables do not have significant relationship with corporate value.
Developing a Cost of Capital Module for Computable General Equilibrium Modelling

This paper outlines two potential approaches to incorporating business taxation and allowances into a model of a firm to determine the effect of tax policy changes on the firm's behaviour. Following Auerbach, King and Benge, we first develop a model in which the firm maximises the value of its shareholder equity, taking account of: company and personal income taxes; capital-gains taxes (including a treatment of realisation-based capital-gains tax); depreciation allowances; investment allowances; and interest rates on debt linked to financial leverage. This approach takes the revenue streams and income payments generated by the firm as given. The second approach involves deriving a function for the user-cost of capital to the firm in an optimising framework in which the expression for the value of the firm is the objective function, and then solve for all of the firm's choice variables. In this way, the model determines the firm's optimal investment policy and the resulting levels of revenues and income streams to shareholders. By embedding this in a dynamic CGE model, we can simulate the effects of tax changes on the user-cost of capital and thus on investment. Our ultimate aim is to enable an analysis of the effects of reforms to business taxation (such as the recent Ralph proposals) using a large-scale dynamic CGE model. This is a revised version of a paper prepared for the PhD Conference in Economics and Business held at The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, November 7-9 2001.
Associations between Western and Mediterranean-type dietary patterns and depression in adults in Shiraz

Background and aims: Depression is a growing public health problem in the world. In this study we investigated the relationship between dietary patterns and depression in adults aged 20-50 years living in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 416 subjects (180 men and 236 women) aged 20 to 50 years were selected by stratified multistage random sampling. Dietary intakes were assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Depression information was collected by Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) questionnaire. Three major dietary patterns were extracted by factor analysis: vegetable, Western, and Mediterranean-type dietary patterns. Regression analysis was used for association between dietary pattern and depression. Results: A strong positive significant association was observed between Western dietary pattern and depression. Also there was a negative significant association between Mediterranean-type dietary pattern and depression. These associations remained statistically significant even after adjustments for demographic characteristics, physical activity, smoking, body mass index, and energy intake. No association was found between vegetable dietary pattern and depression. Conclusion: The results showed that there was a relationship between dietary patterns and depression. However, clinical trials are needed to clarify whether a causal relationship between diet and mood disorders can be established.
Developing A Virtual Reality Based Spatial Visualization Assessment Instrument

The computer graphics profession, particularly the educational component, takes into account a person’s spatial abilities as a means for designing effective instructional experiences and assessments. Typical assessments examine such abilities as mental rotations, spatial visualization, and spatial perception. Spatial visualization skills relative to a cutting plane passing through an object is critical in the use of in many computer graphics software tools. This ability is widely considered to be a significant predictor of probability of a person’s success in the computer graphics vocation. The Mental Cutting Test (MCT) is an assessment instrument that is commonly used to measure spatial visualization skills. This instrument is currently available only in paper-and-pencil format. However, the nature of the human ability being measured is such that the paper-and-pencil format currently used has no mapping to the target construct domain – namely 3D computer graphics in the real world. This lack of authenticity puts into serious question not only the perceived validity (face validity) of the test, but also the purposes for which test scores from the MCT are put to use (construct validity). In an effort to minimize these issues, the cognitive psychology and computer graphics communities have developed virtual reality-based versions of a mental rotations instrument to examine various constructs. But a mental rotations assessment does not provide a complete coverage of a person’s spatial abilities. This paper focuses on the development and methodology for pilot testing a working prototype of a virtual reality-based version of a spatial abilities assessment instrument which uses the MCT as a model.
Estimating Soil Hydraulic Properties from Infrared Measurements of Soil Surface Temperatures and TDR Data

The spatiotemporal development of soil surface temperatures (SST) depends on water availability in the near‐surface soil layer. Because the soil loses latent heat during evaporation and water available for evaporation depends on soil hydraulic properties (SHP), the temporal variability of SST should contain information about the near‐surface SHP. The objective of this study was to investigate the uncertainties of SHP derived from SST. The HYDRUS‐1D code coupled with a global optimizer (DREAM) was used to inversely estimate van Genuchten–Mualem parameters from infrared‐measured SST and time domain reflectometry (TDR)‐measured water contents. This approach was tested using synthetic and real data, collected during September 2008 from a harrowed silty loam field plot in Selhausen, Germany. The synthetic data illustrated that SHP can be derived from SST and that additional soil water content measurements reduce the uncertainty of the estimated SHP. Unlike for the synthetic experiment with a vertically homogeneous soil profile, a layered soil profile had to be assumed to derive SHP from the real data. Therefore, the uncertainty of SHP derived from real data was considerably larger. Water retention curves of undisturbed soil cores were similar to those estimated from SST and TDR data for the deeper undisturbed soil. The retention curves derived from SST and TDR data for the harrowed topsoil layer were typical for a coarse‐textured soil and deviated considerably from the retention curves of soil cores, which were typical for a fine‐textured soil and similar to those from the subsoil.
Minimum Population Sizes for Species Conservation

Many species cannot survive in mandominated habitats. Reserves of essentially undisturbed habitat are necessary if such species are to survive in the wild. Aside from increased efforts to accelerate habitat acquisition for such species, the most pressing need facing conservationists is development of a predictive understanding of the relationship between a population's size and its chances of extinction. Biologists have long known that the smaller the population, the more susceptible it is to extinction from various causes. During the current era of heightened competition for use of the world's remaining wildlands, this qualitative understanding is of limited utility to conservation and natural resource planners. The old adage that "the bigger the reserve, the better" must be replaced with more precise prescriptions for how much land is enough to achieve conservation objectives. Efforts at making such determinations have been clouded by inconsistencies in the focus on the unit to be preserved (population, species, community, ecosystem) and lack of an explicit definition of what constitutes successful preservation (persistence for 10, 100, 1000 years, etc.). The intricate interdependencies of living things dictate that conservation efforts be focused on the community and ecosystem level. Unfortunately, the very magnitude of complexity of these systems makes such efforts difficult. Moreover, certain species are more sensitive than others to changing conditions and begin to decline prior to any noticeable degradation of the community to which they belong. Consequently, conservation efforts have been and, in many cases, will continue to be at the singlespecies level. Many species currently in jeopardy are large-bodied and/or specialized, two characteristics that usually
Probabilistic Study of Some Topological Indices in Bucket Tree Structures

In the fields of chemical graph theory, molecular topology, and mathematical chemistry, a topological index also known as a connectivity index is a type of a molecular descriptor that is calculated based on the molecular graph of a chemical compound. These parameters also have applications in drug structures. In this paper, we give some new probabilistic results on the first Zagreb, the Platt, Narumi-Katayama and Gordon- Scantlebury indices in two bucket tree structures.
Medium supplementation with magnesium prevented the induction of dormancy in biofilms of clinical and commensal isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis

B. Perez-Cabezas, C. Oliveira, V. Carvalhais, AI. Freitas , F. Oliveira, N. Cerca and M. Vilanova Instituto de Ciencias Biomedicas Abel Salazar Universidade do Porto, ICBAS-UP, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, IBMC, Rua do Campo Alegre 823, 4150-180 Porto, Portugal Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering Universidade do Minho, IBB, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
The allele frequencies of growth hormone gene on the parental and progeny of Ongole-crossbreed cattle population in the North Sulawesi of Indonesia using PCR-RFLP

The objectives of this research were to identify the allelic frequency of growth hormone MspI enzyme-restriction, to define the genetic inequilibrium in selected superior and inferior body weight groups of the cows (G0) and to upgrade genetically the genetic equilibrium of their Ongole-crossbred progenies (G1) population. A total of 74 blood samples were collected from G0 and G1 at the artificial insemination (AI) service center in North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Blood samples were screened for the presence of GH Msp1 enzyme-restriction using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method on 1.2% agarose gel. Data were analyzed using statistical program in Excel XP. The results showed that Msp1+ allele frequencies in superior and inferior G0 groups were 0.45 and 0.18, respectively. The Msp1+ allele frequencies of G1 born by superior and inferior G0 groups were 0.50 and 0.21, respectively. These increasing frequencies were contributed byMsp1+ allele inheritance from Msp1+/+ bull genotype (Krista). Allele frequencies of Msp1+ in both groups of G0 were not under genetic equilibrium. However, allele frequencies of Msp1+ in G1 population were under genetic equilibrium. The AI technique should be maintained involving various bull genotypes for breeding purpose of favorable Msp1+/- heterozygous genotypes and balancing the genetic equilibrium in progeny population. Key words: Growth hormone Msp1 allele frequency, Ongole-crossbred cow population.
Role of IGF-II, PRL, and FABPs in the Breast Cancer Disparity among AA Women

Epidemiological studies have shown that lactation reduces the risk of breast cancer in young women. Lactation’s protective effect is in part mediated by fatty-acid binding protein 3 (FABP3), which is associated with breast differentiation. FABP5, a member of the same family, is also expressed in the breast and stimulates angiogenesis, essential for lactation. The effects of prolactin (PRL), which stimulates breast differentiation and lactation, are mediated by IGF-II. Thus, we propose that PRL treatment of normal epithelial breast cell lines increases IGF-II to promote differentiation, regulating FABP3 and FABP5. We treated MCF10A and AG11132 normal breast epithelial cell lines with recombinant human PRL (0-200 ng/ml) for 24 hours. Cell lysates were examined for protein and mRNA levels of IGF-II, FABP3, and FABP5. In MCF10A cells, PRL treatment decreased FABP5 protein (p=0.044). IGF-II mRNA levels significantly increased when cells were treated with 100 and 200 ng/ml PRL (2and 2-fold, respectively). In AG11132 cells, phosphorylated FABP3 protein increased, and FABP5 protein decreased, with increasing PRL concentration (p=0.037, 0.028, respectively). IGF-II mRNA levels increased at 10 ng/ml PRL (34-fold). Though both cell lines responded to PRL with decreased FABP5 protein and increased IGF-II mRNA, only AG11132 displayed increased FABP3 protein. The dissimilar responsiveness of
A Swarm of Salesman: Algorithmic Approaches to Multiagent Modeling

This honors thesis describes the algorithmic abstraction of a problem modeling a swarm of Mars rovers, where many “agents” must together achieve a goal. The algorithmic formulation of this problem is based on the traveling salesman problem (TSP), and so in this thesis I offer a review of the mathematical technique of linear programming in the context of its application to the TSP, an overview of some variations of the TSP and algorithms for approximating and solving them, and formulations without solutions of two novel TSP variations which are useful for modeling the original problem. Oberlin College Computer Science Honors Thesis 2013 Supervisor: Tom Wexler
NUTRIENT AND ANTINUTRIENT COMPOSITION OF EXTRUDED ACHA/SOYBEAN BLENDS

The nutrient and antinutrient composition of raw and extruded blends of acha and soybean was evaluated. Acha and soybean grains were cleaned and milled into flour separately and sieved to pass 0.75‐1.00 mm mesh. The moisture content of the flours was determined. Soybean flour was added to acha flour at 25% levels of substitution. The moisture content of the blends was adjusted to 25% levels. The blend was extruded using a Brabender laboratory single-screw extruder (Duisburg DCE-330 model, Duisburg, Germany). Amino acid profile, proximate composition, minerals and some water-soluble vitamins of raw and extrudate samples were determined. The oxalate, saponin, tannin, and phenol, content of raw and extrudate samples were also quantified. The results showed that the amino acids of the raw blend were higher (14.00‐ 50.38%) than either of the sole flours. Extrusion cooking resulted in the depletion of some amino acids between 2.96 and 40%, with methionine and phenylalanine recording the highest and least losses. As expected, fat content of the blend increased from 2.8 to 8.33% alongside the protein (7.05‐14.28%).
Tilburg University On the assessment of economic risk

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Soil texture distribution simulation and risk assessment using transition probability-based geostatistics

Abstract Three dimensional soil textural structure in a township was conditionally simulated using a transition probability- based indicator geostatistical method based on 270 soil texture samples from 27 profiles. Additionally the distribution of soil profiles lacking clay interlayers (indicating high irrigation water and nutrient leaching risk) was analyzed using 500 realizations from the simulation. The results indicated that the simulation could predict the soil texture distribution with low uncertainties using the existing data, and the predicted soil map (0-10 cm) formed by the maximum probable soil textures also exhibited a good agreement with the legacy soil survey map. For water and nutrient leaching risk analysis, the areas lacking clay interlayer could be located; however, their distribution was still highly uncertain if based only on the existing sampling data. That means supplementary sampling in future is required for the risk assessment, and the existing study can help to optimise the sampling points and their distribution. Generally, the transition probability-based geostatistical simulation, as a stochastic conditional simulation method, exhibited its potential in soil texture spatial reproduction and related risk assessment.
Understanding the hidden value of business intelligence and analytics (BI&A) Research-in-Progress

Although some studies have examined specific business intelligence & analytics (BI&A) technologies and how they might contribute to create value and improve firm performance, to our knowledge there is no clearly articulated and theoretically grounded model in the literature that holistically explains BI&A technologies. Only limited research has examined the path to value through the impact of knowledge* based dynamics capabilities on the hidden competitive value. Grounded on strategic management theories (dynamic capabilities and knowledge*based view), we present a theoretical model for understanding how and why BI&A applications can create competitive value and improve firm performance through specific knowledge*based dynamic capabilities. Based on this model a number of propositions are postulated. This research contributes to the IT Value literature. We also expect that the continuing progress on research will produce insights for practitioners and researchers regarding the drivers that lead to BI&A value concerning organizational level.
Overhead-aware schedulablity analysis on responsive multithreaded processor

In recent real-time systems, having multicore or simultaneous multithreaded (SMT) processor is now widespread. Considering the complexity of today’s architecture, predicting the behavior of task execution is challenging. And this has become a severe problem in real-time systems because estimating worst-case execution time (WCET) of tasks is important in constructing a dependable and accurate real-time systems. In this research, we provide overhead-aware schedulability analysis on a SMT processor. We take measurementbased approach in order to estimate WCET of tasks by measuring various runtime overheads that a realtime OS poses, because runtime overheads have a considerable impact on systems. Those measured overheads should be incorporated in schedulability analysis to evaluate the system more accurately. We target Dependable Responsive Multithreaded Processor (DRMTP), an 8-way SMT processor, to estimate runtime overheads, and conduct a series of schedulability analysis with measured runtime overheads considered. Our evaluation shows that the advantage of having context cache mechanism, the unique functionality of D-RMTP, can improve schedulability by up to 15.9%.