Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum interleukin-17 expression in a group of Egyptian patients with juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus

INTRODUCTION Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multi-organ systemic autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibody production to nuclear antigen resulting in inflammation and damage to numerous organs particularly kidneys. It appears in genetically prone individuals and is triggered by illdefined environmental factors. The deposition of autoantibodies occurs in vulnerable vascular beds frequently in skin, joints and renal glomeruli causing local inflammation and tissue destruction that may magnify the autoimmune response creating. Till date the complete understanding of SLE pathogenies is unclear. However, it is well known that dysregulation of B-and T-cell activation will lead to disruption in immune system, and this is considered a key role in SLE pathogenies. In addition, proinflammatory cytokines contribute to the pathogenesis of SLE. These include interleukin (IL)-1 1β, IL-6, IL-17 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and their levels may correlate with SLE activity. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is produced by T-helper 17 (Th17) cells and other immunological cells. IL17 consists of six protein members [IL-17A, IL17B, IL17-C, IL-17D, IL-17E , and IL-17F] of which IL-17A and IL-17F are responsible for the activity of Th17 cells in the induction of other cytokines and chemokines. 6,7 IL-17, is a pleiotropic pro-inflammatory cytokine that enhances T-cell priming and stimulates epithelial, endothelial, and fibroblastic cells to produce other multiple proinflammatory mediators such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. -17 plays a critical role in innate and adaptive immune systems by promoting Original article
Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in South Africa

Many developing countries across the world have been on a quest to attract foreign direct investment which is considered a significant component for ensuring economic growth, development and employment creation. The South African government has developed, and designed policies for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the country; however, these they have not borne enough fruits since FDI inflows are still below the expected level. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate various determinants of FDI in South Africa. The study employed the Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) methodology using yearly secondary data from 1980 to 2018. The bounds test for cointegration was utilised to check the association and link among the variables used in the study in the long-term. In the FDI series a long-term relationship was revealed by ARDL bounds test results. The ARDL results showed that determinants had different impact on FDI. In summary, government expenditure, economic infrastructure and economic growth are significant strong long-term determinants of FDI. However, inflation yielded negative significant effects on FDI. All the models estimated indicated negative and significant error correction term implying that disequilibrium in the current year in the model would be corrected in the subsequent years. It can be recommended that the South African government should prioritize its government expenditure and growing economy with a view of attracting FDI inflows into the economy. While reprioritizing its government expenditure and economic growth, it should focus more on improving infrastructure to attract foreign direct investment by reducing the cost of doing business in the country. All this should be done in an economy that puts its inflation under control, as it could be seen that the lesser the inflation rate the more the country can attract foreign investors.
Histopathological changes of rodent liver infected with a larval cestodes recorded at Sohag, Egypt

Rodents are important in many ecosystems because they reproduce rapidly, and can function as food source for predators, mechanisms for seed dispersal and as diseases vectors. Rodents may act as reservoir hosts for important human parasitic diseases. The present study was focused on histopathological changes of rodent liver infected with a larval cestodes recorded at two locations situated at Sohag, Egypt. This study reported infection rate of 56% and 32% for rodents at the two locations, respectively. The study also showed that the incidence in females is higher than in males in the second location compared with that of the first location. Microscope examinations of the liver tissue sections revealed a wall cyst of larval cestode, Cysticercus fasciolaris in parenchyma consists of two compressed layers of highly proliferative fibrous connective tissue and inflammatory cells mainly lymphocytes. Inflammatory reaction was seen in the hepatic parenchyma around the cyst. Also, there are dilatation and congestion in the central and portal veins and infiltration of the liver parenchyma with inflammatory cells. The hepatocytes in the central and portal areas showed fatty degenerative changes. While, in the portal area the histological tissue of the liver showed microvesicular steatosis and edematous infiltration. Signs of inflammation including sinusoid widening and prominent kupffer cells were noted.
A Multistage Backward Differentiable Method for Constructing Light Convolutional Neural Networks

—We propose a multistage differentiable method to select convolutional channels and construct light neural networks from a heavy network for inference on a subset of a big data set. The selection proceeds backward in layers and utilizes sparse penalty to diversify channel scores. The resulting light network gains sizable accuracy over the baseline heavy network.
An interpretation of students’ learning attitude and behavior toward physical education

Background: What is attitude? What is the relationship between attitude and behavior? Due to the influence of the trend of the times, from the interpretation of attitudes and behaviors in the early 1930 functional theory, the psychologists thought that the interpretation of attitudes has turned to cognitive theory since 1960. This faction pursues the cognitive structure, and proposes the theory of consistency and attitude change. Theory, self-cognition theory, social judgment theory, cognitive reaction theory and other related theories, and in 1968 Greenwald proposed that attitudes are composed of factors such as cognition, emotion, and behavior. Objective: To understand that the current study of physical education curriculum attitudes is based on cognitive theory and the formation of attitudes is influenced by cognition, emotion and behavior. Methods: This paper explores the historical development of attitudes and behaviors by means of literature analysis. Then it uses functional theory and cognitive theory to clarify the theoretical roots of learning attitudes. Finally, it uses comparative method to explore the related research results of the difference between functional and cognitive theory on college students' attitude towards learning. Conclusion: Although the issue of attitudes in cognitive theory has been studied in 1960, attitude research still needs to control the research situation, field and time as not to be affected by other variables, and lose the result of accurate prediction behavior. So, the research attitude becomes a complex relationship with behavior must be controlled by factors that may interfere with the research topic, and the results of the study will be closer to the relationship between the attitude and behavior that wants to be understood.
Comparative Study for Anomaly Detection in Crowded Scenes

: Nowadays, video analysis is an important research area especially from a security point of view. The discovery of unusual activities is important because it is a difficult task for humans especially with increasing number of surveillance cameras in all crowded places. That is because it requires a lot of human effort, and these activities happen rarely. Also the definition of anomaly events is different based on the location of the event. For example running in the park is a normal event but running in a restaurant is an abnormal event. The event is the same but the place was the factor of making it normal or not. The main objective of this paper is to compile what has been achieved in the field of anomaly detection and compare them, and to look at the different datasets used in the recent period. We will show how to detect and identify anomalies in videos, approaches for video anomaly detection and also what are the latest learning frameworks.
Effect of medium strength and activated charcoal on in vitro shoot multiplications and growth of jojoba

In vitro grown plant materials of jojoba plant (Simmondsia chinensis L.) were used to study the effect of medium strength and activated charcoal (AC) on shoot multiplication and growth. Reduction in shoot multiplication was detected when explants were cultured on half strength MS medium. The highest shoot multiplication was obtained on the full strength MS medium containing 3.0 mg/l BAP and 0.1 mg/l NAA. Increase the osmotic pressure of the medium by increasing the concentrations up to double strength MS medium resulted in an increase of the growth parameters. Jojoba multiplication and in vitro growth was improved using activated charcoal; the best results were obtained on MS medium supplemented with 1 gm/l activated charcoal, 3 mg/l BAP and 0.1 mg/l NAA. While gene expression was stable under the influence of activated charcoal, it expressed some variation under the influence of medium strength. On the other hand, full medium strength resulted in maximum shoot multiplication and expressed several polypeptides with different molecular weights (150, 102.6, 65 and 42 KDa) and new peroxidase isoform (POX-1). Double strength MS medium expressed one polypeptide (8.6 KDa). Increased staining intensity of peroxidases and stimulate shoot growth.
Green Synthesis and Characterization of CuO@SiO2 Nanocomposite using Gum Arabic (Acacia senegalensis) (L) against Malaria Vectors

The nanocomposite CuO@SiO2 was synthesized through green pathway using Gum Arabic. The green synthesized nanocomposite was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Diffraction X-Ray (EDX), Ultra-Violet/Visible spectroscopy, and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR). These techniques confirmed the formation of CuO@SiO2 nanocomposite. The toxicity studies were conducted for 24 h on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th instars of malaria vectors at various concentrations of 10, 20, and 25 Mg/L. The LC50 for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th instars were found to be 7.525, 7.980, 8.026 and 9.741 Mg/L, respectively, whilst the LC90 for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th instars were found to be 14.839, 24.937, 57.77 and 48.5 Mg/L, respectively. The correlation coefficient values between concentrations and mortality for instars were obtained in the range of 0.944 - 0.984. These correlation coefficient values indicate that mortality rates increases with the increase in concentrations. The CuO@SiO2 nanocomposite could be a new nanolarvicide for malaria vector control in tropical countries. HIGHLIGHTS Nanocomposite was synthesized through green Sol gel method using gum Arabic and characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Diffraction X-Ray (EDX), Ultra-Violet/Visible spectroscopy, and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Larvicidal activity of nanocomposite against Anopheles gambiaecomplex was carried following World Health Organization protocol Probit analysis was conducted to evaluate lethal concentrations (LC50 and LC90) of the nanoparticles against the malaria vectors The CuO@SiO2 nanocomposites could be a potential nanolarvicide for larval source management of malaria vectors GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Strategy-proof and Eﬃcient Mediation: An Ordinal Market Design Approach

Mediation, also known as assisted negotiation, is the preferred alternative dispute resolution approach that has given rise to a multi-billion-dollar industry world-wide. Online dispute resolution providers, in particular, rely heavily on mechanized e-Negotiation systems. We develop a novel ordinal framework where negotiators with conﬂicting preferences seek resolution over multiple issues. The mediation process is represented by a mechanism with voluntary participation. We characterize the full class of eﬃcient, individually rational, and strategy-proof mediation protocols. A necessary and suﬃcient condition for the existence of such protocols is the so-called quid pro quo property that allows negotiators to compromise between issues.
Alleviating Adverse Effects of Heat Stress by Using Potassium Chloride or/and Sodium Bicarbonate for Broiler Chicks.

The experimental feeding trial of this research was carried out to estimate the effects of dietary supplementation with potassium chloride (KCI), Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3); singly or in combination, on the performance and consequent physiological responses of broiler chicks reared under naturally occurring summer heat stress. Five hundred forty unsexed one-day-old broiler chikens were allocated to 12 experimental group, each with 3 replicates. All chicks were placed in a naturally ventilated rearing room. Diets of chicks supplemented with KCl or NaHCo3 singly or in combination. Treatment 1 survived as a control, KCl at levels of 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9% of diets for chicks of T2, T3 and T4, NaHCo3 at levels of 0.25 and 0.5% of diets for chicks of T5 and T6 respectively. Diets for chicks of T7, T8, T9, T10, T11 and T12 contain a mixture KCl and NaHCO3. Broiler growth performance and selected blood parameters were expected. It was experiential that broiler chickens feeding a diet a containing combination between 0.6% potassium chloride and 0.5% sodium bicarbonate had significantly higher body weight and body weight gain with the best value of feed efficiency, more viability than other treatments and weights of carcass and percentages of liver, heart, gizzard, thighs and breast.
A SystemC Model of a PNG Encoder

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is the most frequently used lossless compression standard for images. Due to PNG’s widespread use, most cameras have inbuilt ASIC to perform PNG encoding on images. Most images are automatically compressed using PNG encoders and transmitted. We present here a SystemC model to get a better understanding of its working and intended structure. In this technical report
Fact or Fiction of Low Fertility Trap in China: A Comparative Study with Korea, Japan and the United States

While it has been held that China, following the path of Korea and Japan, has fallen into low fertility trap, data uncertainty necessitates further exploration of this judgment. This paper addresses this issue by comparing marriage and fertility patterns among the Chinese, Korean, Japanese and American populations. Results indicate that China remains characterized by universal and relatively early marriage and childbearing, and contextual forces have created a sense of anxiety regarding marriage and fertility, driving individuals to proceed to childbirth at a faster pace. While large cities in China share similar marriage and fertility patterns to developed societies, most Chinese families still have more than one child. Thus, it seems too early to conclude that China has fallen into fertility trap. Nevertheless, the long-lasting low total fertility rate (TFR) calls for the government to adopt family-friendly policies to facilitate more Chinese families to realize their fertility desire of two children.
Skin Image Synthesis Based on Pigment Concentration Distribution

An image synthesis algorithm based on three dominant pigments is proposed in this paper to reproduce high fidelity skin image. Combined the Lambert Beer law with skin multiple layers structure, the mathematical relationship between skin pigments concentration and image pixel value is firstly introduced. To eliminate the influence of surface reflection component, the difference of each color channel in log space is applied to form 2D mixture signals. The ICA algorithm is then followed to obtain melanin and hemoglobin concentration distribution. Successively, carotene concentration distribution is given by linear regression. The three pigment concentration coefficients will dominate skin image synthesis. The experiments demonstrate the reproduced skin images based on change of pigment concentration coefficients. In addition, the comparisons with manual data show the effectiveness of proposed algorithm.
Characterisation and swelling–deswelling properties of superabsorbent membranes made of PVA and cellulose nanocrystals

ABSTRACT Novel superabsorbent membranes (SMs) consisting of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) originated from rice husk (RH), glutaraldehyde (GLA) and glycerine (G) were manufactured by a compression moulding process. RHs were used to isolate pure CNCs via mechanical and chemical treatments. RHs were used to improve water-retention. Glycerine was used to increase the elasticity of the SMs. These SMs were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical testing and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). SMs showed a greater equilibrium swelling capacity than neat cross-linked PVA. Moreover, the water transport mechanism of all SMs was found to follow Fickian diffusion. SMs exhibited good pH-dependent swelling reversibility and high-water retention capacity, making them more efficient water-retention materials. The biodegradability of the SMs was evaluated against environmental changes. The SM was also investigated for antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria such as Candida Albicans (fungus), Bacillus subtilis (G+ Ve), Staphylococcus aureus (G+ Ve), Proteus Vulgaris (G-Ve) and Erwinia Carotovora (G-Ve). The hydrogel membrane has been found to act as a useful water reservoir, which may make it useful in agricultural applications.
Selected risk factors for schizophrenia: between the diversity of aetiological models and personalised psychiatry

Natalia Śmierciak1, Wirginia Krzyściak2, Marta Szwajca1, Grzegorz Kazek3, Katarzyna Urbanek1, Amira Bryll4, Maciej Pilecki1 Received: 21.10. 2018 Accepted: 23.10. 2018 Published: 09.11. 2018 © Psychiatr Psychol Klin 2018, 18 (4), p. 388–398 DOI: 10.15557/PiPK.2018. 0046 Wybrane czynniki ryzyka schizofrenii: pomiędzy różnorodnością modeli etiologicznych a psychiatrią spersonalizowaną Selected risk factors for schizophrenia: between the diversity of aetiological models and personalised psychiatry
Bridging the Gap between Denotational Semantics and Operational Semantics in Smart Contract

In this era of increasing cyber dependency in business dealings there is huge potential in the adoption of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) particularly in the context of smart contract in the commercial world. The phenomenon of smart contract operates independently without the cumbersome need to engage any intermediary. It has been argued that there is too much dependency on the programming aspect in the creation of smart contracts by programmers and computer scientists. Smart contract are more like an Apps which is capable of executing specific task but it fails to observe the fundamental understanding and agreement between the negotiating parties which is the core essence in traditional commercial contract. The objectives of this paper are to first, demonstrate the semantic discrepancies between traditional contract and smart contracts and the implication of the latter. Secondly, to support the proposition that programmers and computer scientists lack the required legal knowledge and logic in appreciating the various legal terms and effects of a concluded contract, there is a need to include lawyers and regulators to enhance the drafting of the corresponding denotational semantics in programming smart contract. This paper contends that the operational semantics which deals with the execution of the contract on technical platform should be consistent with and correspond with the denotational semantics.
Antibacterial Total Phenolic Compounds from a Brown Alga Hizikia Fusiformis

Screening of potential antibacterial activities of total phenolic compounds isolated from a brown alga Hizikia fusiformis (Hary.) Okam. was performed using two antibacterial assays. Significant differences were observed both in total phenolic contents and antibacterial activities of extracts from H. fusiformis collected along the coast of East China Sea and South China Sea against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterobacter aerogenes and Shewanella sp. Methanol extracts from H. fusiformis collected in Zhoushan and Mazu exhibited the more antibacterial activities against E. coli. Ethanol extract from H. fusiformis collected in Naozhou had higher antibacterial activity against B. subtilis. In addition, the nitric oxide (NO) productions in inhibition process of bacterial growth with these fractions were determined by Griess reagent.
Trade Unions and the British Electorate

Trade unions and electoral mobilization party-union linkages since 1964 - the organizational dimension party-union linkages since 1964 - the political and social dimensions electoral change in modern Britain trade unionist voting behaviour since 1964 - partisan and class dealignment trade unionist voting behaviour since 1964 - sectoral effects and political attitudes trade unions and the electoral future of the Labour Party.
Tissue culture protocol establishment of Artemisia annua L plant and artemisinin production

In vitro culture parameters were investigated in order to develop an effective protocol for Artemisia annua cultivation and artemisinin production. The explants, shoot tips and axillary buds, were individually cultured on MS medium contained 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) or growth regulators. Treatment with mercuric chloride (1.0%) for 5 min gave the highest survival percentage (86.0% and 90.0%) and the lowest contamination percentage (40.0% and 64.0%) for terminal shoot tip and axillary bud, respectively. Axillary bud explants surpassed shoot tips in development and direct regeneration. High concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) plus 0.5 mg/L BAP were suitable for callus induction while low concentrations and the control induced less necrosis and more explant development, as well as increased artemisinin concentration. Lower BAP concentrations induced an increased growth rate, while the higher BAP concentration encouraged proliferation. Seven treatments with different concentrations of NAA, 2,4-D, and salicylic acid produced lower amounts of artemisinin than that produced by control (0.5 mg/L BAP). Decreasing level of artemisinin could be due to reduced rates of plant growth and decreased amounts of green matter by growth regulators, which may affect the plastidic pathway for artemisinin production.