Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular role of nitric oxide in secondary products production in Ginkgo biloba cell suspension culture.

Effects of sodium nitroprusside (SNP; nitric oxide donor) treatment on the enhancement of secondary metabolites production, oxidative stress mediators (O 2 -. ) accumulation and antioxidant defense enzymes of Ginkgo biloba callus culture was investigated. On one hand, the obtained data showed a highly metabolic modification of chemical constituents, PAL activity and various antioxidant defense enzymes (APX, SOD), which gradually increased in response to SNP treatments. On the other hands the high NO levels significantly increased the accumulation of various oxidative burst of O 2 -. MS basal medium supplemented with casein hydrolase (500 mg/L), NAA and BA at equal concentration (0.5 mg/L) recorded the highest number of regenerated shoots (4.81 cm) and shoot height (4.96 cm) as well as root number (2.25 cm) and root length (4.5 cm). The highest survival (40 %) was shown in acclimatization on the mixture containing sand, peat moss and vermiculite (1: 1: 1, v/v/v), which significantly confirmed and reflected the variation in survival percentage. Meanwhile, higher treatment (500 μ M) of NO positively enhanced secondary products accumulation of total tannins, saponins, phenols and total flavonoids in G. biloba callus culture.
Contrastive Learning from Pairwise Measurements

Learning from pairwise measurements naturally arises from many applications, such as rank aggregation, ordinal embedding, and crowdsourcing. However, most existing models and algorithms are susceptible to potential model misspecification. In this paper, we study a semiparametric model where the pairwise measurements follow a natural exponential family distribution with an unknown base measure. Such a semiparametric model includes various popular parametric models, such as the Bradley-Terry-Luce model and the paired cardinal model, as special cases. To estimate this semiparametric model without specifying the base measure, we propose a data augmentation technique to create virtual examples, which enables us to define a contrastive estimator. In particular, we prove that such a contrastive estimator is invariant to model misspecification within the natural exponential family, and moreover, attains the optimal statistical rate of convergence up to a logarithmic factor. We provide numerical experiments to corroborate our theory.
Clinical Outcomes and Costs of Laparoscopic Versus Open Appendectomy for Appendicitis

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare clinical outcomes between open appendectomy (OA) and laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) for both uncomplicated appendicitis (UA) and complicated appendicitis (CA) and to help to choose the appropriate procedure for its management. Methods: The medical records of patients who underwent OA (OA group) or LA (LA group) for UA or CA between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011, were retrospectively reviewed. Results: For UA, time to a soft diet (1.5±0.7 in OA versus 1.4±0.7 days in LA, p=0.0010) and the length of hospital stay (3.9±1.5 in OA versus 3.3±1.4 days in LA, p<0.0001) were significantly shorter in the LA group. The length of hospital stay for CA was significantly shorter in the LA group than in the OA group (7.5±3.8 versus 4.9±2.8 days, p=0.0012). Complication rates were not significantly different between the LA and OA groups for both UA and CA. Conclusions: We conclude that for CA, clinical outcomes were better in the LA than in the OA group. For UA, there were no significant advantages of LA considering expensive hospital costs. The results of this study suggest that LA is the procedure of choice for patients with complicated appendicitis.
Neural-network-based genetic algorithm for optimal kitchen faucet styles

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are the models of choice in many data classification tasks. In this study, ANN classification models were used to explore user perceptions about kitchen faucet styles and investigate the relations between the overall preferences and kansei word scores of users. The scores given by consumers were obtained via a two-stage questionnaire mentioned in a previous study by the authors. Through the questionnaire, consumers were asked to give scores after examining three-dimensional (3-D) drawings of new product samples created with the help of industrial product designers. Because it was neither practical nor necessary to develop a prototype or a picture of each of the alternative designs, a fractional factorial experimental design similar to Taguchi’s L-16 orthogonal array was used. After completing this preparatory work to develop ANNs and obtain the necessary related data, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to identify the critical factors that affect the accuracy of the ANN model to be used and determine the best factor levels for the ANN model. A genetic algorithm (GA) was then integrated with the ANN model found to be the best and implemented to determine the optimal levels of the design parameters related to product appearance. Lastly, the product categories were classified as unfavorable or favorable, and three products were derived for each category. In comparison with the previously published papers of the authors, the GA integrated with the ANN model was found to be an effective tool for revealing user perceptions in new product development. In regard to the findings of the present work, it can be said that, this technique can be used as an alternative of several complex analytical approaches, in order to explore users’ perceptions.
Mark-to-Market Accounting and Information Asymmetry in Banks

We examine the relation between mark-to-market (MTM) accounting for securities and information asymmetry among bank investors. Relative to historical cost, MTM incorporates more timely information in financial statements. The primary effect of more timely disclosure most likely is to reduce information asymmetry. Nevertheless, models in which public information triggers private information acquisition imply some offsetting increase in asymmetry due to differential information production among investors. Incrementally to disclosure effects, recognition (incorporating MTM gains and losses in earnings) can increase information asymmetry through a variety of channels. We document an economically and statistically significant relation between banks’ use of MTM and their bid-ask spreads, analyst following and management forecasting. Introduction of mandatory MTM by SFAS No. 115 reveals a significant increase in spreads for affected banks, no such increase for banks that previously used MTM voluntarily, but similar increases for banks that previously disclosed but did not MTM their gains and losses in earnings. Thus, information asymmetry appears to arise primarily from recognition effects and not from more timely disclosure. These results should not be interpreted as advocating abandoning MTM, but as highlighting the tradeoffs involved in choosing historical cost versus MTM rules.
Counteractive Effects of Mycotoxin Adsorbent and Aspergillus parasiticus on Broilers Performance Traits

Aflatoxin (AF) (0.5ppm) and a commercial Mycotoxcin Adsorbent (0.5, 0.75 and 1%) were tested in an in vivo study forming 8 dietary treatments each with three replicates on a total of 336 on broiler chicks up to five weeks. Results showed that chicks receiving AF contaminated feed had suppressed body weight, which significantly improved with inclusion of Adsorbent. Supplementation of Adsorbent at 0.75 and 1% to the diets containing AF significantly (9.97 and 9.15%, respectively) improved feed consumption. Efficiency of feed utilization decreased significantly with addition of 0.5 pm AF, improved with inclusion of Adsorbent. The serum antibody titers against ND and IBD vaccination which were significantly depressed by AF, were restored with the inclusion of 1% Adsorbent. The serum concentration of total protein (38.37%) uric acid and albumin were not affected either in AF fed or Adsorbent supplemented groups. The activity of serum GGT significantly increased in AF fed group and the addition of Adsorbent did not show significant reduction in activity of serum GGT. Compared with control, activity of serum ALT was not affected either in AF, control or Adsorbent supplemented groups.
Public Debt Guarantees and Private Capital Flight

Significant amounts of private capital have flowed out of several of the more heavily indebted developing countries. This outflow, often called "capital flight ," largely escapes taxation by the borrowing-country government, and has generated concern about the prospects for future servicing of the debt. Imperfect contract enforcement may lead to implicit or explicit government guarantee of foreign debt. The model developed below demonstrates that a government policy of guaranteeing private debt can, in turn, generate more than one outcome. One such outcome replicates the allocation under perfect contract enforcement: national savings is invested domestically and foreign debt is repaid. The tax obligation implied by potential nationalization of private debt, however, can also lead to another outcome in which national capital flees and foreign debt may not be repaid.
The DialPort Portal : Grouping Diverse Types of Spoken Dialog Systems

This paper describes a new spoken dialog portal that connects systems produced by the spoken dialog academic research community and gives them access to real users. We introduce a distributed, multi-modal, multi-agent prototype dialog framework that affords easy integration with various remote resources, ranging from end-to-end dialog systems to external knowledge APIs. To date, the DialPort portal has one chatbot and has successfully connected to the multi-domain spoken dialog system at Cambridge University, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather API and the Yelp API.
Feedforward pilot-aided carrier synchronization using a DCT basis expansion

This contribution deals with phase noise estimation from pilot symbols. The phase noise process is approximated by an expansion of Discrete Cosine-Transform (DCT) basis functions containing only a few terms. We propose a feedforward algorithm that estimates the DCT coefficients without requiring detailed knowledge about the phase noise statistics. We demonstrate that the resulting (linearized) mean-square phase estimation error consists of two contributions: a contribution from the additive noise, that equals the Cramer-Rao lower bound, and a noise-independent contribution that results from the phase noise modeling error. We investigate the effect of the symbol sequence length and the number of estimated DCT coefficients on the estimation accuracy and on the corresponding bit error rate (BER). We propose a pilot symbol configuration allowing to estimate any number of DCT coefficients not exceeding the number of pilot symbols. For large block sizes, the DCT-based estimation algorithm substantially outperforms algorithms that estimate only the time-average or the linear trend of the carrier phase.
The Local Culture - Entrepreneurship Relation in the Equation of Agglomeration Economies

Agglomeration economies are defined as the external benefits that economic actors can obtain by being located near other firms, workers and consumers. This paper aims to show that there is a causal relationship between the features of local culture and entrepreneurship, resulting in a positive effect, which leads to agglomeration economies. The cultural matrix is acknowledged as a foundation of agglomeration economies. It is found to some extent in the content of other micro-foundations of these specific economies of scale, enhancing their effects: the interactions established within the labour market are circumscribed to social relations; knowledge spillovers depend largely on informal rules and patterns of interaction between individuals; the willingness to start businesses and receptiveness to new ideas (features of entrepreneurship) depend on the cultural background which defines the attitude towards change and risk-taking. The study also aims to capture the influence of cultural factors on the development of agglomeration economies, by taking into consideration the local characteristics of businesses and work force, while answering the question of why such agglomerations are more efficient in Western Romania compared to its North-Eastern part. The research was based on a number of sociological studies on Romanian values conducted in Romania’s historical regions. By comparing the present situations in the two regions in relationship with their economic performance, we came to the conclusion that much of the Western superiority is due to the presence in this area, to a greater extent, of the cultural traits connected with the idea of acquiring wealth.
Local Associations and Semantic Ties in Overt and Masked Semantic Priming

English. Distributional semantic models (DSM) are widely used in psycholinguistic research to automatically assess the degree of semantic relatedness between words. Model estimates strongly correlate with human similarity judgements and offer a tool to successfully predict a wide range of language-related phenomena. In the present study, we compare the state-of-art model with pointwise mutual information (PMI), a measure of local association between words based on their surface cooccurrence. In particular, we test how the two indexes perform on a dataset of sematic priming data, showing how PMI outperforms DSM in the fit to the behavioral data. According to our result, what has been traditionally thought of as semantic effects may mostly rely on local associations based on word cooccurrence. Italiano. I modelli semantici distribuzionali sono ampiamente utilizzati in psicolinguistica per quantificare il grado di similarità tra parole. Tali stime sono in linea con i corrispettivi giudizi umani, e offrono uno strumento per modellare un'ampia gamma di fenomeni relativi al linguaggio. Nel presente studio, confrontiamo il modello con la pointwise mutual information (PMI), una misura di associazione locale tra parole basata sulla loro cooccorrenza. In particolare, abbiamo testato i due indici su un set di dati di priming semantico, mostrando come la PMI riesca a spiegare meglio i dati comportamentali. Alla luce di tali risultati, ciò che è stato tradizionalmente considerato come effetto semantico potrebbe basarsi principalmente su associazioni locali di co-occorrenza lessicale.
Design by interpolation

The design of shapes by interpolation, that is, cases where the desired shape is somehow 'in between' two given shapes, is discussed. The main issues involved in design by interpolation are: (a) capturing the 'nature' (behavior) of the guiding shapes A and B; (b) attaining automatic correspondence between points (i.e., which point in shape A should be associated with which point in shape B); and (c) determining the interpolation method. New techniques for capturing the 'nature' of shapes and for determining automatic correspondence of points are presented. Examples for interpolation of polygons, curves, and surfaces are included. The possibility of future design based upon extrapolation, rather than interpolation is also discussed. <<ETX>>
Suppression of Hepatitis B Virus Production and Inflammatory Response in vitro and in vivo by Mormodica charantia Compound EMCDO

Eight compounds were purified from Mormodica charanti, and their chemical structures were determined in this study. Their anti-HBV and anti-inflammation activities were investigated. Compound EMCDO exhibited the most efficient effect in terms of reducing HBV surface antigen, e antigen and viral DNA levels in HBV particles or surface antigen-producing cells 2.2. 15 and PLC/PRF/5, respectively. Tumor suppressor p53 played a significant role in EMCDO-mediated anti-HBV effects. Pretreatment with EMCDO prevented 2.2. 15 cells-induced tumor formation in a nude mice subcutaneous model. The anti-HBV and anti-tumor activities of EMCDO were better than those of oltipraz, an inhibitor of HBV transcription. EMCDO reduced the proinflammatory cytokines and mediators in LPS-treated RAW264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The LPS-upregulated phosphorylation level of Ika was reduced in the presence of EMCDO. The transcription activity of NF-kB was increased in cells treated with EMCDO. Utilization of a mouse ear edema model further confirmed the activity of EMCDO against TPA-elicited inflammation.
Computationaly Simple Obstacle Avoidance Control Law for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract The investigations of the system which allow to avoid obstacles by the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are presented in the paper. The system is designed to enable the full autonomous UAV flight in an unknown environment. As an information source about obstacles digital camera was used. Developed algorithm uses the existing relations between the imaging system and the parameters read from the UAV autopilot. Synthesis of the proposed obstacle avoidance control law was oriented for computational simplicity. Presented algorithm was checked during simulation studies and in-flight tests.
Production in Cell Biomass and Carotenoids under the Effect of a Saline Stress in Microalgae Dunaliella spp. Isolated from Moroccan Saharian Saline

1 Laboratory of Biotechnology, 3 Laboratory of Food Bacteriology, Specialized Center of Valorization and Technology of Marine Products, National Institute for Marine Research (INRH), Agadir 80090, Morocco 2 Laboratory of the Aquatic Systems: Marine and Continental Environment, Faculty of Science, University IbnZohr, Agadir 8006, Morocco 4 Bio-environment, Health and Bioressources Team, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Agadir 80060, Morocco *Corresponding author
A Systematic Review on the Deviant Workplace Behavior

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the concept deviant workplace behavior through review of previous studies on deviance workplace behavior area and understand the dynamics of deviant workplace behavior. The first, the researcher discuss the need for research in deviance workplace behavior of employees especially to understand the impact of various factors on deviant workplace behavior. Secondly, the research carried out with the review of previous literature from the area of deviance workplace behavior and presents the summary on review of the literature relevant antecedents of deviant workplace behavior and prevalence cost of DWB. The third, the current study is totally based on the secondary source of data based on various journal referred and collected from various websites. Finally, the study presents its implications, the future directions and its limitation and conclusion of the study with respect to deviant workplace behavior in public organizations.
Entrepreneurship by Circumstances and Abilities: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction and Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy

Prior studies have found that job dissatisfaction and self-efficacy are significant factors influencing individuals’ entrepreneurial propensity. Existing literature on entrepreneurship often regards job dissatisfaction as an entrepreneurial push factor and self-efficacy as an entrepreneurial pull factor. The argument is that individuals who are dissatisfied with their jobs are more likely to seek alternative mode of employment such as self-employment. In other words, poor job circumstances may push individuals to leave their paid employment to start their own businesses. On the other hand, personal abilities such as self-efficacy may pull individuals toward starting their own businesses in areas where they are confident and competent in. Despite the importance of job dissatisfaction and self-efficacy for new venture creation, few if any studies have examined the entrepreneurial phenomena from a holistic perspective. Utilizing concepts from the P-E fit and self-efficacy literatures, this paper argues that the path to entrepreneurship is a multi-faceted interactive process between individuals’ personal attributes and their work environment. We specifically examined how IT professional’s personal attributes such as innovation orientation and self-efficacy condition individuals for an entrepreneurial career in unsatisfactory work environments.
Multicultural Schools and New Demands on Leadership.

The purpose of this study is to explore the Norwegian Government's expectations pertaining to new demands on leadership expressed in policy documents with regard to a multicultural society. Data from seven government’s white papers were thematically analyzed with regard to knowledge, skills and attitudes. The study is framed within a theoretical approach, deriving from a tradition, promoting emancipatory pedagogies that arise from political and social movements, feminist perspectives, and critical pedagogy. Results indicate that there is a lack of a transformative movement that may produce critically thinking socially active minority students, deriving from critically thinking socially active school leaders and teachers. It is argued that there is too little emphasis on what kind of leadership competencies i.e. knowledge, skills and attitudes the school leaders must possess as their school populations become more and more linguistically and culturally diverse. The article concludes with possible implications for school leadership preparation programs.
Measuring innovation capability in exporting firms: the INNOVSCALE

Purpose – The development of innovation capability is an important topic for both managers and academics. However, studies that investigate which elements integrate innovation capability in the context of export market are very scarce. Drawing on the resource-based view, the purpose of this paper is to identify important dimensions in order to build a scale to measure innovation capability in exporting firms – the INNOVSCALE. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on data collected by online questionnaire in a sample survey of 471 exporting manufacturing firms. The results were obtained using structural equation modeling. Statistical tests demonstrate that the scale presents composite reliability as well as convergent and nomological validity. Findings – The findings reveal that innovation capability is a higher-order construct formed by four dimensions: product development capability, innovativeness, strategic capability, and technological capability. The results also indicate that all four dimens.
Managing Market SegmentatÄ±on for DÄ±fferent Brands of the same Headquarter

Brand management is inevitable for sustainable marketing. Civil aviation companies focus on sustainable marketing, because of their long-term investments. Customer loyalty is one of the most improtant factors of sustainable marketing. It is known that, if there is no certain limit or border, segmentation damages the reputation of the brands and it is one of the most important threats of sustainable marketing. Segmentation can be done by using new brands, but this process has its own constraints. Such constraints are related with the reputability of the company. To evaluate the impact of a new brand on reputability, service quality is taken as a metric and SERVQUAL is used. The customers of two civil aviation companies participated the study. These two aviation companies have the same headquarter, but they have different brand management strategies. One of them is globally reputable and it is the headquarter company. 166 questionnaires of the 83 participants are evaluated. It is seen that the service quality perception on the brand of the headquarter company did not change and the new brand did not effect its reputability. New brand created its own market or took a share from the other civil aviation companies which attract the customers of the headquarter company with their lower prices.