Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ASSESSMENT OF CYTOTOXIC AND ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF Zygophyllum album AND Suaeda palastina EXTRACTS ON HUMAN LIVER CANCER CELL LINES

In this study, anticancer activity of Zygophyllum album and Suaeda palastina extracts was evaluated. Dichloromethane, methanol and hot water were used as solvents for extraction. Results indicated that the highest half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) on human lung carcinoma (A549) cell lines was achieved by dichloromethane extracts of Z. album and S. palastina (70.48 μg/ml and 34.82 μg/ml respectively) compared to methanolic and hot water extracts. Furthermore, dichloromethane extracts of both plants had antiproliferative effect and highly cytotoxicity on human cancer cells. IC50 of Z. album was 27.74 μg/ml in the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), while IC50 of S. palaestina was 30.76 μg/ml with no cytotoxic activity on normal cell lines. In conclusion, these results suggest that Z. album and S. palaestina could be a good candidate species as a natural source of anticancer agents.
Th1/17-Biased Inflammatory Environment Associated with COPD Alters the Response of Airway Epithelial Cells to Viral and Bacterial Stimuli

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by airway inflammation associated with a Th1/17-biased cytokine environment. Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) are most often triggered by respiratory infections, which elicit an exaggerated inflammatory response in these patients, via poorly defined mechanisms. We investigated the responses of airway epithelial cells (AECs) to infective stimuli in COPD and the effects of the Th1/17-biased environment on these responses. Cytokine expression was assessed following exposure to virus-like stimuli (poly I:C or imiquimod) or bacterial LPS. The effects of pretreatment with Th1/17 cytokines were evaluated in both primary AECs and the Calu-3 AEC cell line. We found that poly I:C induced increased expression of the proinflammatory cytokines IL1β, IL6, CXCL8, and TNF and IFN-β1 in AECs from both control subjects and COPD patients. Expression of IL1β in response to all 3 stimuli was significantly enhanced in COPD AECs. Primary AECs pretreated with Th1/17 cytokines exhibited enhanced expression of mRNA for proinflammatory cytokines in response to poly I:C. Similarly, Calu-3 cells responded to virus-like/bacterial stimuli with increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines, and a Th1/17 environment significantly enhanced their expression. Furthermore, increased expression of pattern recognition receptors for viruses (TLR3, TLR7, IFIH1, and DDX58) was induced by Th1/17 cytokines, in both primary AECs and Calu-3 cells. These findings suggest that the Th1/17-biased environment associated with COPD may enhance the proinflammatory cytokine response of AECs to viral and bacterial infections and that increased signaling via upregulated receptors may contribute to exaggerated inflammation in virus-induced AECOPD.
Cross-sectional analysis of the surface ceramic layer developed on Ti metal by NaOH-heat treatment and soaking in SBF

The surface structure developed on Ti metal after an NaOH and heat treatment and subsequent soaking in a simulated body fluid (SBF) was investigated using cross-sectional analysis involving SEM observations and EDX analysis, as well as an outer surface analysis involving SEM observations, thin-film X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. A 1 μm-thick layer, which consisted of lathlike sodium hydrogen titanate (NaxH2-xTi3O7) elongated perpendicular to the surface, formed on the surface of the Ti metal after the initial NaOH treatment. This layer gradually changed into Ti metal at the boundary. The surface layer was densified by the subsequent heat treatment, accompanied by a transformation of the sodium hydrogen titanate into sodium titanate (Na2Ti6O13), rutile, and anatase. The scratch resistance of the surface layer significantly increased after the heat treatment. When this Ti metal with a modified surface was soaked in SBF, apatite began to precipitate in the interior of the surface layer, filled the interspaces of the lathlike phases to integrate with the latter giving a dense composite structure, and grew over the surface layer.
Mutational analysis of two residues in the DYRK homology box of the protein kinase DYRK 1 A Esti

Objective: Dual specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinases (DYRK) contain a characteristic sequence motif (DYRK homology box, DH box) that is located N-terminal of the catalytic domain and supports the autophosphorylation of a conserved tyrosine during maturation of the catalytic domain. Two missense mutations in the DH box of human DYRK1B were recently identified as causative of a rare familiar form of metabolic syndrome. We have recently shown that these amino acid exchanges impair maturation of the kinase domain. Here we report the characterization of DYRK1A point mutants (D138P, K150C) that correspond to the pathogenic DYRK1B variants (H90P, R102C). Results: When expressed in HeLa cells, DYRK1A-D138P and K150C showed no significant difference from wild type DYRK1A regarding the activating tyrosine autophosphorylation or catalytic activity towards exogenous substrates. However, both DYRK1A variants were underphosphorylated on tyrosine when expressed in a bacterial cell free in vitro translation system. These results suggest that D138 and K150 participate in the maturation of the catalytic domain of DYRK1A albeit the mutation of these residues is compensated under physiological conditions.
Smart Cellphones Market Segmentation Based on Expected Advantages of Cellophanes Customers

The aim of the present study was to segment different customers of smart cellphones based on their expected advantages and cluster them in related dimensions and identify import dimensions in their viewpoints. The period of investigation is 2015 and its locations are mobile phone stores and software and hardware repair shops in Bandar Abbas. So, 270 samples selected for analysis using questionnaire by two-phase sampling. Questionnaire contents validity studied, improved and finally confirmed by marketing and management professors in PHD degree, questionnaire reliability obtained using 0.879 Cronbach Alpha. Agent analysis method and clustering analysis methods used for market segmentation. In agent analysis implementation, 15 factors extracted between 78 variables. These factors cleared 77.5 percent of total variance, factors of selecting smart cellphones were video system, phone vital features, longevity and durability of the phone, phone operation system, price, security, auxiliary facilities, quality, software facilities, phone connectivity, memory, ease of use, the ability to capture and view photos and videos, after-sales service and processor. 3 parts of market identified by cluster analysis implementation on extracted factors each part has its own characteristics. Key words : Segmentation of market- expected advantages of customers - smart cellphones
How are firms in Eastern and Central Europe reacting to the financial crisis

Since late 2008, countries around the world have been affected by the global economic slowdown. The financial crisis survey measures the effects of this crisis on 1,686 firms in six countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Turkey. Survey data show that in these countries, the major effect of the crisis is a drop in demand. It is not a financial crisis, it is a demand crisis. Sales and capacity utilization decreased in all six countries. Accompanying a drop in demand is a drop in employment, which affects mostly permanent employees. Permanent employment declined in five countries, while temporary employment declined in four. In all countries but Romania, firms are using more internal funds to finance their working capital. However, there is evidence that some firms are in extreme financial distress, especially in Romania. On a more positive note, in four out of the six countries sampled, the majority of firms do not expect sales to further decrease.
Extension of shelf-life of whole-wheat flour by gamma radiation

The effect of low-dose gamma irradiation (0.25–1.00 kGy) on pre-packed whole-wheat flour (atta) was assessed in terms of physico-chemical properties, nutritional quality, chapati-making quality and sensory attributes. Semi-pilot scale storage studies on irradiated pre-packed whole-wheat flour revealed that there was no adverse effect of irradiation and storage up to 6 months of whole-wheat flour treated at doses up to 1.00 kGy on total proteins, fat, carbohydrates, vitamin B1 and B2 content, colour index, sedimentation value, dough properties, total bacterial and mould count. Storage of wheat flour resulted in slight increase in moisture, free fatty acids, damaged starch, reducing sugars and slight decrease in gelatinization viscosity. However, irradiation as such had no effect on any of these parameters. Irradiation at 0.25 kGy was sufficient to extend the shelf-life of atta up to 6 months without any significant change in the nutritional, functional attributes. Chapaties made from irradiated atta (0.25 kGy) were preferred even after 6 months storage, compared with the control.
Title Single-trial laser-evoked potentials feature extraction forprediction of pain perception

Pain is a highly subjective experience, and the availability of an objective assessment of pain perception would be of great importance for both basic and clinical applications. The objective of the present study is to develop a novel approach to extract pain-related features from single-trial laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) for classification of pain perception. The single-trial LEP feature extraction approach combines a spatial filtering using common spatial pattern (CSP) and a multiple linear regression (MLR). The CSP method is effective in separating laser-evoked EEG response from ongoing EEG activity, while MLR is capable of automatically estimating the amplitudes and latencies of N2 and P2 from single-trial LEP waveforms. The extracted single-trial LEP features are used in a Naïve Bayes classifier to classify different levels of pain perceived by the subjects. The experimental results show that the proposed single-trial LEP feature extraction approach can effectively extract pain-related LEP features for achieving high classification accuracy.
A Novel Integrated Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Solar Catalytic Reforming Method for Enhanced Hydrogen Generation from Biomass

Short energy intensive hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass in the presence of Ni salt catalyst selectively generates H2 in the product gas and biocrude mainly containing C1-C3 acids (formic, lactic, propionic, acetic), HMF and furfural. The H2 mass balance indicated that only 3.12 vol% H2 in biomass (cotton) was released as product gas; 48.7 vol% was captured in the C1-C3 acids while the remainder H2 was trapped in oxygenated compounds and char. Continuing HTL after 120 minutes caused no further increase in gas phase H2 yields. To enhance the H2 yields with minimal energy input, solar photocatalytic reforming (PR) of the biocrude with Pt/TiO2 catalyst was investigated. Photocatalysis of activated carbon (AC) treated biocrude generated an additional H2, 17.82 wt%. H2 yields from photoreforming of simulated biocrude acid mixture and actual biocrude were compared. Enhanced H2 generation was observed with integrated HTL-PR of biomass.
“ Welfare Tradeoffs in U . S . Mergers ”

Since publication by Williamson (1968) of his seminal paper on antitrust there has been growing recognition of the need to assess tradeoffs between merger-induced efficiency gains and mergerrelated increases in market power. This paper presents a structural econometric evaluation of the effects of recent mergers in U.S. rail freight markets. It shows how the differentiated product model which has become an important tool for merger analysis can be extended to incorporate parametric estimates of merger efficiencies. Our empirical finding is that the Williamson tradeoff has benefitted railroads and bulk and intermodal shippers at the expense of general freight shippers.
Producer Responsibility at a Turning Point?

Either the EU can abandon the intent that EPR policy instruments create product design incentives, making EPR simply a tool for shifting the cost of WEEE management away from government, or the EU can make a reinvigorated attempt to realize the incentive potential of EPR. environmental concerns into the design of products. If producers were made responsible for end-of-life management (i.e., reuse, recycling, energy recovery, treatment, and/or final disposal) of products, they would find it in their self-interest to anticipate end-of-life costs and obligations and design their products to minimize those costs. Prices of new products would reflect those end-of-life obligations, and producers that were successful in competing in this manner would be able to sell their products more cheaply than those that did not engage in design for environment (DfE). In this respect, EPR would also provide incentives to consumers, because product prices could reflect the producers’ relative success in meeting these goals. This vision also included other aspirations. One was that the resulting policy schemes would be dynamic—that is, as the product mix, production and processing technologies, or market and societal conditions changed, so too would the responses by the producers facing EPR requirements. Advocates of EPR hoped that when the task of meeting the goals of EPR was assigned
Experimental field studies to measure behavioral responses of cetaceans to sonar

Funding was provided by a variety of military and governmental funding sources from several nations acknowledged within referenced publications, notably the US Office of Naval Research, US Navy Living Marine Resources Program, and the navies of the USA, Norway, and the Netherlands. P.L. T. acknowledges the support of the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) in the completion of this study. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions.
TRANSVERSALS OF LATIN SQUARES AND THEIR GENERALIZATIONS

A transversal of a latin square of order n is any set of n cells such that no two come from the same column or same row. There has been a good deal of effort spent on establishing the existence of a transversal that has many distinct elements, e.g. [4, 5]. A close inspection of the argument in [5] reveals that the results there apply in a context far more general than that explicitly considered. Indeed, the assumptions that there are no duplications in a row or column can in some cases be dropped. A variety of conjectures conclude the paper.
Ancestral Hybridization Facilitated Species Diversification in the Lake Malawi Cichlid Fish Adaptive Radiation

The adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes in East Afrian Lake Malawi encompasses over 500 species that are believed to have evolved within the last 800 thousand years from a common founder population. It has been proposed that hybridisation between ancestral lineages can provide the genetic raw material to fuel such exceptionally high diversification rates, and evidence for this has recently been presented for the Lake Victoria Region cichlid superflock. Here we report that Lake Malawi cichlid genomes also show evidence of hybridisation between two lineages that split 3-4 million years ago, today represented by Lake Victoria cichlids and the riverine Astatotilapia sp. ‘ruaha blue’. The two ancestries in Malawi cichlid genomes are present in large blocks of several kilobases, but there is little variation in this pattern between Malawi cichlid species, suggesting that the large-scale mosaic structure of the genomes was largely established prior to the radiation. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of polymorphic variants apparently derived from the hybridisation are interspersed in the genomes. These loci show a striking excess of differentiation across ecological subgroups in the Lake Malawi cichlid assemblage, and parental alleles sort differentially into benthic and pelagic Malawi cichlid lineages, consistent with strong differential selection on these loci during species divergence. Furthermore, these loci are enriched for genes involved in immune response and vision, including opsin genes previously identified as important for speciation. Our results reinforce the role of ancestral hybridisation in explosive diversification by demonstrating its significance in one of the largest recent vertebrate adaptive radiations.
Seaweed resources of Brazil: what has changed in 20 years?

Abstract In 1998 Critchley and Ohno published the book Seaweed resources of the world presenting a synthesis of knowledge on the subject from different regions and countries globally. One chapter by E.C. Oliveira was focused on Brazil. In this article, we present an update of the economically relevant species of Brazilian seaweeds, and their distribution along the coastline, and what has changed over 20 years in the status of the exploited resources, the new species with commercial potential, and relevant legislation. The only introduced commercial species, Kappaphycus alvarezii, was economically exploited for a while in Rio de Janeiro State, but nowadays there are no commercial activities on a large scale. Gracilaria farms in the northeast are still on an artisanal scale, but the expansion of activity is compromised by legal and bureaucratic barriers. Regulations related to the exploitation of natural beds and to the introduction of new strains of K. alvarezii were created between 2006 and 2008. At the end of this article, we present a reflection of what lessons have been learned and what are the prospects for seaweed cultivation in Brazil.
Frequency of Adherence Genes cna, fnbA and fnbB in Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Traditional Cheese

Background and Objectives: Several virulence factors are involved in the pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus . Surface proteins such as collagen binding proteins ( Cna ) and fibronectin-binding proteins (FnBP) are important factors in adhesion and invasion of S. aureus . The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of adherence genes cna , fnbA and fnbB S. aureus isolates from traditional cheese. Methods: All 22 isolates tested were identified as S. aureus . The isolates were tested for the presence of adherence genes cna , fnbA and fnbB using specific primers in polymerase chain reaction assay. Results: Six isolates (27.27%) were positive for the can gene. Of the 22 isolates studied, one isolate was positive for fnbA and one was positive for the fnbB . Co-presence of the genes examined was not observed in any of the isolates. Conclusion: The results indicate the weak biofilm formation ability of the S. aureus isolates from traditional cheese. out using specific primers starting with predenaturation at 94 °C for 5 min, 35 cycles of denaturation at 94 °C for 30 seconds, annealing at 52 °C for 30 seconds, extension at 72 °C for 30 seconds and final extension at 72 °C for 10 minutes (14). PCR product was electrophoresed on 1% agarose gel and imaged using gel doc. Detection of a 201 bp band confirmed the presence of the cna gene. Amplification of the fnbA and fnbB genes was carried out starting with predenaturation at 94°C for 5 minutes, 35 cycles of denaturation
Potato Germplasm Enhancement Enters the Genomics Era

The goal of germplasm enhancement is to introgress traits from wild crop relatives into cultivated material and eventually cultivars. It seeks to restore genetic diversity that has been lost over time or to augment cultivated material with novel alleles that improve parents in breeding programs. This paper discusses potato germplasm enhancement efforts in the past, focusing on effective examples such as disease resistance and processing quality. In addition, it outlines new strategies for enhancement efforts, shifting the focus from evaluating phenotypes to tracking and manipulating specific DNA sequences. In the genomics era, germplasm enhancement will increasingly be focused on identifying and introgressing alleles rather than traits. Alleles will come from a broad pool of genetic resources that include wild species relatives of potato, landraces, cultivated potato itself, and distantly-related species. Genomics tools will greatly increase the efficiency of introgressing multi-genic traits and will make it possible to identify rare alleles and utilize recessive alleles.
Effect Of Passenger Perception Of In-Flight Safety And Security Procedures On Their Satisfaction: The Moderating Role Of Safety Knowledge

The objective of this pilot study is to examine the effect of passenger perception of flight attendants’ safety and security duties during normal operation and how the moderating role of passenger’s knowledge of safety protocols and purposes affects passenger satisfaction. While safety and security is a basic human need, safety measures might not be followed in circumstances where the reasons for the safety measures are unclear. This study’s hypotheses were tested using 40 samples, which were 40 residents of Bangkok. The result from the regression analysis suggests that the level of passenger’s safety knowledge significantly moderated the relationship between passenger perception of in-flight safety and security procedures and their satisfaction. These findings suggest some implications regarding the requirement of in-flight safety and security procedures for the airlines and government.
The intersecting kernels of Heegaard splittings

Let V[S W be a Heegaard splitting for a closed orientable 3‐manifold M . The inclusion-induced homomorphisms 1.S/! 1.V/ and 1.S/! 1.W/ are both surjective. The paper is principally concerned with the kernels KD Ker. 1.S/! 1.V//, LD Ker. 1.S/! 1.W//, their intersection K\ L and the quotient . K\ L/=aK;Lc. The module . K\ L/=aK;Lc is of special interest because it is isomorphic to the second homotopy module 2.M/. There are two main results.
Detection of the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b in the Ks band

Qatar-1b is a close-orbiting hot Jupiter ($R_p\simeq 1.18$ $R_J$, $M_p\simeq 1.33$ $M_J$) around a metal-rich K-dwarf, with orbital separation and period of 0.023 AU and 1.42 days. We have observed the secondary eclipse of this exoplanet in the Ks band with the objective of deriving a brightness temperature for the planet and providing further constraints to the orbital configuration of the system. We obtained near-infrared photometric data from the ground by using the OMEGA2000 instrument at the 3.5 m telescope at Calar Alto (Spain) in staring mode, with the telescope defocused. We have used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify correlated systematic trends in the data. A Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis was performed to model the correlated systematics and fit for the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b using a previously developed occultation model. We adopted the prayer bead method to assess the effect of red noise on the derived parameters. We measured a secondary eclipse depth of $0.196\%^{+0.071\%}_{-0.051\%}$, which indicates a brightness temperature in the Ks band for the planet of $1885^{+212}_{-168}$ K. We also measured a small deviation in the central phase of the secondary eclipse of $-0.0079^{+0.0162}_{-0.0043}$, which leads to a value for $e\cos{\omega}$ of $-0.0123^{+0.0252}_{-0.0067}$. However, this last result needs to be confirmed with more data.