Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PROTECTIVE AND ANTIDIABETIC EFFECTS OF VIRGIN COCONUT OIL (VCO) ON BLOOD GLUCOSE CONCENTRATIONS IN ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETIC RATS Original Article

Objective: The present study was carried out to evaluate if Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) exerts any protective or regenerative effects on pancreatic β cells in Alloxan induced diabetic rats and to observe and determine the morphology of islets of animals from different treatment groups. Methods: Twenty six adults male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups. Group 1 served as a control and received no treatment. Group 2 served as a diabetic control where they received 120 mg/kg body weight Alloxan at week 1. Group 3 was administered with Alloxan at 120 mg/kg body weight followed by VCO treatment for 10 w. Group 5 was administered with 0.8 ml VCO for 13 w prior to being administered with Alloxan 8 w after VCO treatment. Blood glucose readings and body weight were monitored weekly during the treatment period. IPGTT was carried out prior to animal sacrifice. Histological analysis was carried out on the pancreas of animals in VCO treated and control groups. Results: VCO treated rats were able to reduce hyperglycaemia in diabetic individuals. Histological analysis indicates that VCO was able to regenerate damaged islets of diabetic rats and was also able to prolong their survival despite being hyperglycaemic. Conclusion: VCO has potential protective and regenerative effects towards diabetic rats and further research should be evaluated to develop a probable mechanism of action.
Different outcomes in subgroups of patients with long-term musculoskeletal pain

Former studies have questioned the effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation for working-age adults with musculoskeletal pain problems. The lack of analysis within subgroups may explain why an effect of treatment of long-term musculoskeletal pain was not documented in former studies. In this article three later studies on long-term musculoskeletal pain patients are presented. The challenge of these studies was to identify subgroups of patients who benefit from different types of treatments. This article present the main findings of a large RCT with up till 54 months of follow-up among 664 persons sicklisted for musculoskeletal pain. It was hypothesised that different categories of patients need different treatment programs in order to get back to work. Patients with different prognoses for return to work were identified by means of a screening instrument, and it was tested whether those with poor prognosis need more extensive multidisciplinary treatment, compared to patients with less psychosocial and physical problems. Also, the effect of different treatment programs among patients with different diagnoses (ICD-9, low back pain and chronic widespread pain) and among men and women was examined. The results of the three studies support the authors’ hypothesis that different categories of patients need different treatment programs. A higher percentage of return to work was demonstrated when the right treatment was given to the right patient, and considerable cost effectiveness was demonstrated
An unbalanced optimal transport splitting scheme for general advection-reaction-diffusion problems

In this paper, we show that unbalanced optimal transport provides a convenient framework to handle reaction and diffusion processes in a unified metric setting. We use a constructive method, alternating minimizing movements for the Wasserstein distance and for the Fisher-Rao distance, and prove existence of weak solutions for general scalar reaction-diffusion-advection equations. We extend the approach to systems of multiple interacting species, and also consider an application to a very degenerate diffusion problem involving a Gamma-limit. Moreover, some numerical simulations are included.
Impacts of the invasive grass Spartina anglica on benthic macrofaunal assemblages in a temperate Australian saltmarsh

Reported impacts of the invasive saltmarsh grass Spartina anglica on benthic macrofaunal assemblages around the world vary considerably, and there is little understanding of the reasons for this variation. We compared macrofaunal assemblages and sediment characteristics among patches of S. anglica and adjacent uninvaded habitats (bare mudflat and native saltmarsh) in southeastern Australia. Invaded patches showed reduced species richness (by 50%) and diversity compared to both uninvaded habitats. Macrofaunal abundance in S. anglica patches was also lower than in native marsh (by 60%), but not different from mudflat. There were no differences in biomass among habitats. Ordination clearly separated the species assemblage of invaded patches from uninvaded habitats, suggesting a unique community in the Spartina habitat. Molluscs and crustaceans were the most depleted in S. anglica patches, while the polychaete Nephtys australiensis was enhanced. Infauna and epifauna were both depleted in S. anglica, although the mechanisms for these impacts should differ. Burrowing by infauna in S. anglica patches was likely impeded by dense roots and rhizomes, because the below-ground plant biomass was 72% greater than in native saltmarsh. Epifauna were likely depleted in S. anglica patches due to shadinginduced inhibition of microphytobenthos growth, consistent with measured reductions of porewater salinity and increased mud content. Salinity and mud content were the sediment parameters that correlated most strongly with macrofaunal assemblage composition. These results, combined with a synthesis of published S. anglica impacts, suggest predictions of when S. anglica facilitates or inhibits macrofauna, considering infauna and epifauna separately.
The effect of suspicion on emotional influence tactics in virtual human negotiation

In this thesis I aimed to explore whether human negotiators with a suspicious mindset are less susceptible to an emotionally manipulative virtual human in a multi-issue bargaining task compared to naive negotiators. Naive negotiators are expected to perform worse when confronted with the emotionally manipulative agent compared to participants confronted with a control agent. Recent research by Oza et al. suggests that suspicion can guard a human negotiator against assessing his or her satisfaction with a negotiation outcome based on psychological factors, such as emotion. When participants were primed before entering a negotiation task with an explanation of negotiation tactics unrelated to the subsequent task, they remained unaffected in terms of performance by negotiation tactics used during the subsequent negotiation. That means that primed participants did not perform worse against an opponent using an emotional manipulation tactic compared to primed participants negotiating with a non manipulative opponent. The current project aimed to extend the work of Oza et al. in regard of two goals. The first goal was to replicate the findings of Oza et al. for human-agent negotiation. Possible similarities or differences between human-human and human-agent interaction were investigated. Secondly, it was aimed to further inform the theory underpinning the effect of suspicion to guard participants against the influence of negotiation tactics by taking behavioral measures into account too. To achieve those set goals, participants were invited to participate in an online multi-issue bargaining task with a virtual agent. To induce a suspicious mindset participants were primed with negotiation tactics based on the assumptions of the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM) \cite{friestad1994persuasion}. The results did not indicate any effects on the user performance or self-report measures for either the prime nor the tactic condition. Two subsequent experiments were executed to examine whether these study results are due to the currently used agent configurations or represent a fundamental difference between the effect of negotiation tactics used in human-agent negotiation and human human negotiation. A follow up study tested 4 different agent configurations for their effect on user performance and self-report measures (Experiment 2). The results suggest a successful emotional manipulation for one of the agent configurations: fixed pie belief and non-anchoring. Finally, a third experiment was executed to replicate study one using the fixed pie belief non-anchoring agent configuration. The results again suggested no effect of negotiation tactic on user performance. The inconsistent findings of the three experiments executed in the course of this thesis project underpin the need for future research in human agent negotiation. Implications for future studies as well as alternative explanations are discussed.
Design of a Compact UWB Antenna with Triple Band-Notched Characteristics

A new compact ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna with triband-notched characteristics is presented. The structure of the proposed antenna is simple and symmetric. A modified ground is introduced to obtain a wide impedance bandwidth of 2.9–13.4 GHz with dB. By inserting two arc-shaped slots in the radiation patch, two sharp bands of 3.3–3.7 GHz and 5.15–5.35 GHz are notched. The notch band of 7.25–7.75 GHz is achieved by etching a U-shaped slot in the ground plane. The notched bands can be controlled, respectively, while the characteristics of the proposed UWB antenna almost keep completely unchanged at the unnotched frequencies. Equivalent circuit models, surface current distributions, and input impedance are applied to analyze the principle of the proposed UWB antenna. Parametric studies are given. Simulated and measured results show that the proposed antenna has good impedance matching, stable radiation patterns, and constant gain.
A Framework for Selection of Membership Function Using Fuzzy Rule Base System for the Diagnosis of Heart Disease

Today's technology prediction of a heart disease using intelligent system is a real challenge to modern technology. In this paper different membership functions using a fuzzy rule based system for the diagnosis of the heart disease has been presented. The system has seven inputs . These are Chest pain type, resting blood pressure in mm(Trestbps),Serum cholesterol in mg(Chol),numbers of years as a smoker(years), fasting of blood sugar(fbs), maximum heart rate achieved(thalrest), resting blood rate(tpeakbps). The angiographic disease status of heart of patients has been recorded as an output. It is to mention that the diagnosis of heart disease by angiographic disease status is assigned by a number between 0 to 1,that number indicates whether the heart attack is mild or massive. Here an effort has been made to decide suitable membership function for proper diagnosis of heart disease.Different membership functions used are triangular, trapezoidal, Gaussian ,Z shaped, bell shaped ,sigmoid based ,Gaussians combination membership functions. Based on the minimum value of absolute residual the particular membership function can be decided using the fuzzy rule base system for the proper diagnosis heart disease status of a patient.
Economic Assessment of R ural Women Participation in Processing and Marketing of Soybean in Tarka LGA of Benue State Nigeria

The study was carried out in four markets namely: Wanune, Asukunya, Tiortyu and Gwarche markets from which 109 women processors and marketers were sampled. Structured questionnaires were used to elicit relevant information from the women. The first objective described the socioeconomic characteristics of processors and marketers of soybean in the study area; the second identified the different forms of soybean product in the study area; the third determined the level of rural women participation in the processing and marketing of soybean product in the study area; and the fourth determined the profitability of processing and marketing of soybean products. The gross margin analysis for marketing of soybean gave a positive sign (¦ 1,583), an indication that soybean marketing is a profitable as well as lucrative business in the study area. The role of the women can be improved upon with better education through promotion o farmers/women cooperative and government strategies involving women. This study however recommends that government should facilitate he availability o credit facilities, inputs and infrastructural facilities and also revitalize and encourage ago-based industries so as to improve the efficiency in processing and marketing of soybean. key words: Rural women, Participation, Processing, Marketing, Soybean, Benue State, Nigeria.
THE EFFICACY OF EPIDURAL ROPIVACAINE IN KNEE ARTHROSCOPY SURGERY

Introduction: Joints are innerved structures which transmit proprioceptive and nociceptive information, the main afferent pathways are A-delta fibers, which conduct nociceptive impulses, and group C nerve fibers which are slow-conduction nervous fibers, slower than group-A fibers. The [1] receptors react to mechanical and surgical stimuli ; the synovial membrane is highly vascularized externally; in some places capillaries are deep and innervation scarce. The afferent pathways are called silenced nociceptors, the cartilage is not innerved, the capsule has free Ruffini-type nerve endings and ligament innervation is through myelinated fibers, therefore the effect of anesthet-ics is direct, thus [2] requiring small doses . The development of less invasive surgical techniques such as arthroscopy, and the improvement of postoperative analgesic control through local anesthetic techniques, have helped patients to reduce their hospital stay, along with the implementation of outpatient surgery and short hospital stay programs, which avoid [3] unnecessary expenses . Most importantly these patients require early and intense mobilization which requires absolute pain free episodes.
Intergenerational Economic Mobility in the United States, 1940 to 2000

We estimate trends in intergenerational economic mobility by matching men in the Census to synthetic parents in the prior generation. We find that mobility increased from 1950 to 1980 but has declined sharply since 1980. While our estimator places greater weight on location effects than the standard intergenerational coefficient, the size of the bias appears to be small. Our preferred results suggest that earnings are regressing to the mean more slowly now than at any time since World War II, causing economic differences between families to become more persistent. However, current rates of positional mobility appear historically normal.
econstor Make Your Publications Visible . A Service of zbw

The newsvendor problem denotes the puzzle that a retailer facing an uncertain demand for some product underreacts to profit margins, and hence adjusts the order quantity toward the expected demand. Due to its range of applications in operations management, this problem has drawn much interest in recent years. Various articles have tried to reconcile the newsvendor problem with loss aversion under ad hoc assumptions on the underlying reference point. We, instead, argue that the newsvendor problem is an application of the well-studied compromise effect. As the compromise effect is based on violations of the IIA axiom, we argue that models of context-dependent behavior, such as salience theory, better explain newsvendor-like behavior than loss aversion-based models. We conduct a novel experiment which allows us to clearly distinguish between the role of loss aversion and salience, and find strong support for the latter. Thereby, we also add to the agenda of comparing loss aversion-based models and salience theory. JEL-Classification: D03.
One new compound from Borreria alata (Aubl.) DC (Rubiaceae) in Vietnam

Borreria is a genus of Rubiaceae widespread in tropical and subtropical America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Studies have confirmed that extracts as well as some isolated compounds of species of Borreria genus possess diverse biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-ulcer. In this paper, we present the chemical structures of four compounds isolated from Borreria alata, collected at Di Linh district, Lam Dong province, Vietnam. 3β, 6β, 23-trihydroxyurs12-en-28-oic acid (1), sodium deacetylasperulosidate (2), 7β-hydroxy-11-methylforsythide (3) and sodium loganate (4). Among them, three compounds (1), (2), (3) were known for the first time in Borreria genus to our best knowledge and (4) is a new compound. The chemical structures of these compounds wereelucidated by analysis of 1D and 2D NMR and HR-MS spectroscopic data, as well as by comparison with those reported in the literature.
Random Sieve Likelihood and General Regression Models

Abstract Consider a semiparametric regression model Y = f(θ, X, ϵ), where f is a known function, θ is an unknown vector, ϵ consists of a random error and possibly of some unobserved variables, and the distribution F(·) of (ϵ, X) is unspecified. This article introduces, in a general setting, new methodology for estimating θ and F(·). The proposed method constructs a profile likelihood defined on random-level sets (a random sieve). The proposed method is related to empirical likelihood but is more generally applicable. Four examples are discussed, including a quadratic model, high-dimensional semiparametric regression, a nonparametric random-effects model, and linear regression with right-censored data. Simulation results and asymptotic analysis support the utility and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Mitochondrial DNA Diversity of Terubok (Tenualosa toli) from Daro and Mukah, Sarawak Inferred by Partial Cytochrome b (Cyt-B)

Terubok (Tenualosa toli) is one of Malaysia commercially important fish which is found mainly in Sarawak. Their numbers of catch have been declining in the past 15 years due to heavy exploitation. Hence, a study was done to determine the mitochondrial genetic diversity of T. toli from Daro and Mukah, Sarawak inferred by partial Cytochrome b gene. DNA extraction was done on 84 T. toli samples. PCR amplification using Cyt-b primers had been carried out and sequence of 469 bp length was obtained from each sample. Next, phylogenetic analysis was performed to study the relationship among the individuals. The genetic diversity of the population was determined through the haplotype and nucleotide diversity. Result of the study showed that the Haplotype Diversity (HD) of T. toli was relatively low for Daro (Hd = 0.232) and Mukah populations (Hd = 0.178). The nucleotide diversity was also low for both populations. Moreover, only nine haplotypes were identified from the 84 individuals. A single haplotype was shared amongst 76 individuals. These findings correlate with previous study that showed the number of the fish caught had declined drastically and might cause a genetic deprivation towards its population. Comparably, maximum likelihood analysis revealed that two T. toli individuals were separated from the main clade, suggesting that these two individuals might come from another Terubok population. Genetic diversity of the mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome b of the T. toli obtained in this study would be useful in the implementation of conservation and fisheries management of this species in Sarawak.
Entanglement dynamics via coherent-state propagators

The dynamical generation of entanglement in closed bipartite systems is investigated in the semiclassical regime. We consider a model of two particles, initially prepared in a product of coherent states, evolving in time according to a generic Hamiltonian, and derive a formula for the linear entropy of the reduced density matrix using the semiclassical propagator in the coherent-state representation. The formula is explicitly written in terms of quantities that define the stability of classical trajectories of the underlying classical system. The formalism is then applied to the problem of two nonlinearly coupled harmonic oscillators, and the result is shown to be in remarkable agreement with the exact quantum measure of entanglement in the short-time regime. An important by-product of our approach is a unified semiclassical formula, which contemplates both the coherent-state propagator and its complex conjugate.
Dividend Announcement and Firm Value: A Test of Semi Strong Form of Efficiency at the Nairobi Stock Exchange

The issue surrounding policy makers is whether dividend announcements have information content. This study investigated into this concept to determine the extent, to which dividend announcements have information content, its effect on firm value and what this implied on the semi strong efficiency of the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). A sample of trading delays in each year for the period 1999- 2003 was drawn from firms listed on NSE. The data was purely secondary data of the firms listed on the NSE, stock prices and dividend announcements. The event study methodology was used analyze information content of dividend announcements for the four firms. The results based on an estimation window of more than hundred trading days per year show that, for the analyzed firms, dividend announcements do indeed convey useful information about the future value of a firm. This empirical investigation came up with the following findings: First Dividend announcements have pertinent information, which is consistent with Modigliani and Miller (1958) information content hypothesis. Second, the information content in dividend announcements significantly affects the firm value as shown by large spikes in the graphs. Third the NSE is not semi strong from efficiency and therefore market participants can make abnormal profits by trading on public information, such as dividend announcements.
Spontaneous Emission and Energy Transfer Rates Near a Coated Metallic Cylinder

The spontaneous emission and energy transfer rates of quantum systems in proximity to a dielectrically coated metallic cylinder are investigated using a Green’s tensor formalism. The excitation of surface plasmon modes can significantly modify these rates. The spontaneous emission and energy transfer rates are investigated as a function of the material and dimensions of the core and coating, as well as the emission wavelength of the donor. For the material of the core we consider gold and silver, whose surface plasmon wavelengths lie in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The spontaneous emission rate is enhanced by several orders of magnitude when the emission wavelength is close to the surface plasmon wavelength. The energy transfer rate enhancement is found to be concentrated in hot spots around the circumference of the coated cylinder. Introducing the energy transfer efficiency as a parameter, we find that, when the donor emission and acceptor absorption spectra are resonant with the surface plasmon modes excited on the coated cylinder, the energy transfer efficiency can be significantly enhanced compared to the off-resonance situation. Tuning the surface plasmon wavelength to the emission wavelength of the donor via the geometrical and material parameters of the coated cylinder allows, therefore, control of the energy transfer efficiency.