Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isolation , Identification and Analysis of Probiotic Properties of Lactobacillus Spp . from Selected Regional Dairy Product

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have attained major attention for their widespread use in the production of fermented foods (Farnwarth, 2005) which are characterized by hygienic safety, better organoleptic properties and perhaps the probiotic qualities (Savadogo et al., 2006). LAB are used as starter culture in fermentation and some of them are also natural component of intestinal micro flora (Fuller, 1992), (Holzapfel et al., 2001). Lactobacilli are one of the most important genera of LAB (Coeuretetal., 2003)and have tremendous industrial application (Stiles,1996). Lactic acid bacteria especially Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria are the most common bacteria considered as potential prebiotics (Espirito Santo et al., 2003). Various strains of Lactobacilli are used as health-promoting probiotic ingredients since they have several therapeutic functions (Oberg et al., 1998) including antibiotic resistance (Curragh and Collins, 1992), bile tolerance (Walker and Gilliland,1983) and gastric juice tolerance (Kilara, 1982). Lactobacilli comprise a large and diverse group of Gram positive, nonspore forming, catalase negative, and rod shaped bacteria able to produce lactic acid as the main end product of the fermentation of carbohydrates (Pelinescu et al., 2009). ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 4 Number 6 (2015) pp. 621-628 http://www.ijcmas. com
Homophobic stigma, depression, self-efficacy and unprotected anal intercourse for peri-urban township men who have sex with men in Cape Town, South Africa: a cross-sectional association model

While research now highlights that men who have sex with men (MSM) in places such as South Africa are at particular risk of HIV infection, left relatively unexplored are potential relationships between one of the most pressing social issues affecting peri-urban MSM – namely homophobic stigma – and sexual risk-taking behaviour. Drawing on research from the Ukwazana baseline study of 316 township MSM in Cape Town we examine how homophobic stigma relates to psychosocial factors such as depression and self-efficacy and the risk activity of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI). By deploying cross-sectional association models, we examine a series of relationships between these variables and offer evidence to suggest that HIV prevention programmes aimed at sexual minority groups should be mindful of potentially complex relationships between social stigmas such as homophobia and sexual risk-taking behaviour.
Nonparametric Inference Based on Conditional Moment Inequalities

This paper develops methods of inference for nonparametric and semiparametric parameters defined by conditional moment inequalities and/or equalities. The parameters need not be identified. Confidence sets and tests are introduced. The correct uniform asymptotic size of these procedures is established. The false coverage probabilities and power of the CS's and tests are established for fixed alternatives and some local alternatives. Finite-sample simulation results are given for a nonparametric conditional quantile model with censoring and a nonparametric conditional treatment effect model. The recommended CS/test uses a Cramer-von-Mises-type test statistic and employs a generalized moment selection critical value.
Proposals for the classification of the myelodysplastic syndromes

Summary. New, diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of the various myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are proposed, and a detailed description is given of the features that may help define MDS. Five MDS are described: (1) refractory anaemia (RA), (2) RA with ring sideroblasts, (3) RA with excess of blasts (RAEB), (4) chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML), and (5) RAEB ‘in transformation’. One of the main distinguishing features of these conditions is the proportion of blast cells in the peripheral blood (PB) and/or bone marrow (BM). The morphological features of the blast cells that are of diagnostic importance have been redefined. In RA, with or without ringed sideroblasts, there are fewer than 1% of blasts in the PB and fewer than 5% in the BM; RAEB is defined as having between 5% and 20% of blasts in the BM and fewer than 5% in the PB; RAEB in transformation (a newly defined category) will be considered when any one of the following features is present: (i) more than 5% of blasts in the PB, (ii) 20‐30% in the BM, and (iii) the presence of Auer rods in granulocyte precursors in BM or PB. In accordance with these newly defined criteria, it is now proposed that over 30% of bone marrow blasts will suffice for the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in any of its forms (M1‐M6). The proposed descriptions of the MDS should facilitate the interpretation of data emerging from cytogenetic and bone marrow culture studies and the search for features of possible prognostic significance. Recognition of the new category, RAEB in transformation, may throw light on the pathogenesis of AML.
Stable mixed hematopoietic chimerism permits tolerance of vascularized composite allografts across a full major histocompatibility mismatch in swine

This study tested the hypothesis that vascularized composite allografts (VCA) could be accepted in a robust model of hematopoietic chimerism by injecting allogeneic bone marrow cells (BMC) into swine fetuses. Outbred Yorkshire sows and boars were screened to ensure the absence of the major histocompatibility (MHC) allele SLAcc of inbred MGH miniature swine and then mated. Bone marrow harvested from an SLAcc swine donor was T‐cell depleted and injected intravenously into the fetuses between days 50–55 of gestation. After birth, the piglets were studied with flow cytometry to detect donor cells and mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR) and cell‐mediated lympholysis (CML) assays to assess their response to donor. Donor‐matched VCAs from SLAcc donors were performed on four chimeric and two nonchimeric swine. The results showed donor cell engraftment and multilineage macrochimerism after the in utero transplantation of adult BMC, and chimeric animals were unresponsive to donor antigens in vitro. Both control VCAs were rejected by 21 days and were alloreactive. Chimeric animals accepted the VCAs and never developed antidonor antibodies or alloreactivity to donor. These results confirm that the intravascular, in utero transplantation of adult BMC leads to donor cell chimerism and donor‐specific tolerance of VCAs across a full MHC barrier in this animal model.
Acanthamoeba Sequence Types and Allelic Variations in Isolates from Clinical and Different Environmental Sources in Italy

The genus Acanthamoeba comprises free-living amoebae distributed in a wide variety of environments. These amoebae are clinically significant, causing opportunistic infections in humans and other animals. Despite this, limited data on Acanthamoeba sequence types and alleles are available in Italy. In the present study, we analyzed all Acanthamoeba sequences deposited from Italy with new positive Acanthamoeba clinical samples from symptomatic AK cases, to provide an overview of the genetic variants’ spatial patterns from different sources within the Italian context. A total of 137 Acanthamoeba sequences were obtained. Six sequence types were identified: T2/6, T3, T4, T11, T13, and T15. Only T4 and T15 were found in both sources. The Acanthamoeba T4 sequence type was found to be the most prevalent in all regions, accounting for 73% (100/137) of the Italian samples analyzed. The T4 sequence type demonstrated significant allelic diversity, with 30 distinct alleles from clinical and/or environmental samples. These outcomes enabled a better understanding of the distribution of Acanthamoeba isolates throughout Italy, reaffirming its well-recognized ubiquity. Acanthamoeba isolates analysis from keratitis, together with the environmental strains monitoring, might provide important information on different genotypes spreading. This might be useful to define the transmission pathways of human keratitis across different epidemiological scales.
An Open-Circuit Fault Diagnosis Method for Three-Level Neutral Point Clamped Inverters Based on Multi-Scale Shuffled Convolutional Neural Network

This study constructs a power switching device open-circuit fault diagnosis model for a three-level neutral point clamped inverter based on the multi-scale shuffled convolutional neural network (MSSCNN) and extracts and classifies the fault information contained in the output current of inverters. The model employs depthwise separable convolution and channel shuffle techniques to improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce model complexity. The experimental results show that the new model has lower model complexity, better noise resistance and higher average diagnostic accuracy compared with fault diagnosis models based on CNN, ResNet, ShuffleNet V2 and Mobilenet V3 networks.
FIRST OBSERVATIONS OF A DOME-SHAPED LARGE-SCALE CORONAL EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET WAVE

We present first observations of a dome-shaped large-scale extreme-ultraviolet coronal wave, recorded by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager instrument on board STEREO-B on 2010 January 17. The main arguments that the observed structure is the wave dome (and not the coronal mass ejection, CME) are (1) the spherical form and sharpness of the dome's outer edge and the erupting CME loops observed inside the dome; (2) the low-coronal wave signatures above the limb perfectly connecting to the on-disk signatures of the wave; (3) the lateral extent of the expanding dome which is much larger than that of the coronal dimming; and (4) the associated high-frequency type II burst indicating shock formation low in the corona. The velocity of the upward expansion of the wave dome (v ∼ 650 km s−1) is larger than that of the lateral expansion of the wave (v ∼ 280 km s−1), indicating that the upward dome expansion is driven all the time, and thus depends on the CME speed, whereas in the lateral direction it is freely propagating after the CME lateral expansion stops. We also examine the evolution of the perturbation characteristics: first the perturbation profile steepens and the amplitude increases. Thereafter, the amplitude decreases with r−2.5 ± 0.3, the width broadens, and the integral below the perturbation remains constant. Our findings are consistent with the spherical expansion and decay of a weakly shocked fast-mode MHD wave.
Designing JPEG quantization tables based on human visual system

In this paper, a quantization table based on the human visual system is designed for the baseline JPEG coder. By incorporating the human visual system with the uniform quantizer, a perceptual quantization table is derived. The quantization table is easy to adapt to the specified resolution for viewing and printing. Experimental results indicate that the HVS-based quantization table can achieve improvements in PSNR about 0.2-2.0 dB without increasing the complexity in both encoder and encoder.
Molecular basis underlying default mode network functional abnormalities in postpartum depression with and without anxiety

Abstract Although Postpartum depression (PPD) and PPD with anxiety (PPD‐A) have been well characterized as functional disruptions within or between multiple brain systems, however, how to quantitatively delineate brain functional system irregularity and the molecular basis of functional abnormalities in PPD and PPD‐A remains unclear. Here, brain sample entropy (SampEn), resting‐state functional connectivity (RSFC), transcriptomic and neurotransmitter density data were used to investigate brain functional system irregularity, functional connectivity abnormalities and associated molecular basis for PPD and PPD‐A. PPD‐A exhibited higher SampEn in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PPC) than healthy postnatal women (HPW) and PPD while PPD showed lower SampEn in PPC compared to HPW and PPD‐A. The functional connectivity analysis with MPFC and PPC as seed areas revealed decreased functional couplings between PCC and paracentral lobule and between MPFC and angular gyrus in PPD compared to both PPD‐A and HPW. Moreover, abnormal SampEn and functional connectivity were associated with estrogenic level and clinical symptoms load. Importantly, spatial association analyses between functional changes and transcriptome and neurotransmitter density maps revealed that these functional changes were primarily associated with synaptic signaling, neuron projection, neurotransmitter level regulation, amino acid metabolism, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling pathways, and neurotransmitters of 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT), norepinephrine, glutamate, dopamine and so on. These results reveal abnormal brain entropy and functional connectivities primarily in default mode network (DMN) and link these changes to transcriptome and neurotransmitters to establish the molecular basis for PPD and PPD‐A for the first time. Our findings highlight the important role of DMN in neuropathology of PPD and PPD‐A.
The Potential Role of Epigenetics in Alzheimer's Disease Etiology

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an etiologically heterogeneous disorder. While many genes have been found to be associated with Early and Late onset AD, a large portion of the predicted heritability remains unidentified. Here we review AD pathology, with an overview of AD genetics. In addition, we review epigenetic mechanisms and the current literature that suggests a relationship between epigenetic mechanisms and AD pathology. The genome wide association studies conducted to date can explain a percentage of AD cases. The remainder may be best explained by complex interactions between epigenetic and environmental factors that differ between individuals.
Speech synthesis system based on a variable decimation/interpolation factor

In this paper we present a modification of the usual decimation-interpolation steps for resampling of speech signals which is especially adapted to arbitrary modification of fundamental frequency and duration of speech segments. The modification is intended to overcome the time and frequency domain limitation that such a resampling scheme imposes so it can be used in a speech synthesis system. The performance of this resampling method for prosody modification is better than the equivalent PSOLA (Pitch-Synchronous Overlap-Add) method when working at a sampling frequency of 8 to 10 kilohertz so the source spectrum of the voiced allophones can be said to be completely harmonical. An optimization of the proposed algorithm that allows a real time implementation is also discussed.
A rapid population method for action spectra applied to Halobacterium halobium

We have developed a simple and rapid technique for measuring the action spectra for phototaxis of populations of microorganisms and applied it to halobacteria. A microscope with a dark-field condenser was used to illuminate the cell suspension in a sealed chamber with light of wavelength greater than 750 nm; in this region of the spectrum, the halobacteria show no phototactic response. A 150-micron spot of light from a xenon arc lamp, whose wavelength and intensity can be varied, was projected through the objective lens into the center of the dark field. The objective lens imaged this measuring spot through a 780-nm cut-off filter on an aperture in front of a photomultiplier. The intensity of the scattered 750-nm light, and therefore the photomultiplier current, is proportional to the number of cells in the measuring spot. A third lamp provided background light of variable wavelength and intensity through the dark-field condenser. To minimize secondary effects due to large changes in cell density, we recorded the initial changes in the photomultiplier current over 1 min after the actinic light had been switched on. By plotting the rate of change against wavelength, we obtained action spectra after the proper corrections for changes in light intensity with wavelength were applied and saturation effects were avoided.
Comparative Transcriptome Analysis between Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) and Wild Cabbage (Brassica macrocarpa Guss.) in Response to Plasmodiophora brassicae during Different Infection Stages

Clubroot, one of the most devastating diseases to the Brassicaceae family, is caused by the obligate biotrophic pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae. However, studies of the molecular basis of disease resistance are still poor especially in quantitative resistance. In the present paper, two previously identified genotypes, a clubroot-resistant genotype (wild cabbage, B2013) and a clubroot-susceptible genotype (broccoli, 90196) were inoculated by P. brassicae for 0 (T0), 7 (T7), and 14 (T14) day after inoculation (DAI). Gene expression pattern analysis suggested that response changes in transcript level of two genotypes under P. brassicae infection were mainly activated at the primary stage (T7). Based on the results of DEGs functional enrichments from two infection stages, genes associated with cell wall biosynthesis, glucosinolate biosynthesis, and plant hormone signal transduction showed down-regulated at T14 compared to T7, indicating that defense responses to P. brassicae were induced earlier, and related pathways were repressed at T14. In addition, the genes related to NBS-LRR proteins, SA signal transduction, cell wall and phytoalexins biosynthesis, chitinase, Ca2+ signals and RBOH proteins were mainly up-regulated in B2013 by comparing those of 90196, indicating the pathways of response defense to clubroot were activated in the resistant genotype. This is the first report about comparative transcriptome analysis for broccoli and its wild relative during the different stages of P. brassicae infection and the results should be useful for molecular assisted screening and breeding of clubroot-resistant genotypes.
Identifying sediment source areas in a Mediterranean watershed using the SWAT model

This study aims to evaluate the suitability of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model in simulating runoff and sediment loss in the Carapelle (SE Italy), a typical Mediterranean watershed, where continuous measurements of streamflow and sediment concentration were collected over a 5‐year period, on a half‐hour timescale, processed on a daily timescale. After sensitivity analysis, the model was calibrated and validated for runoff and sediment. Statistics show generally satisfactory efficiency. To further improve sediment simulation performance, we used a seasonal calibration scheme, in which data recorded in the dry and wet seasons were used to calibrate sediments separately, on a seasonal basis. We also tested the model's capability in identifying the major sediment source zones and river segments where there is sediment deposition. On the basin scale, the average water yield (186 mm) corresponds to 27% of the total rainfall (686 mm), and average annual sediment load was estimated to be 6.8 t ha−1 year−1. On the subbasin scale, a gradient of sediment yield was found that is characterised by a large difference among the upper (7 to 13 t ha−1 year−1), central, and lower parts (<1 t ha−1 year−1) of the study area. Conversely, deposition in channel flow has its highest values in the central part of the watershed, where there is an alluvial plain. Winter wheat and olive land use are the major source areas, in terms of sediment. This study confirms that the Mediterranean watershed is a fragile ecosystem, and measures are needed to mitigate soil depletion.
Testability analysis of IDDQ testing with large threshold value

By using large threshold value in IDDQ tests, test time can be shortened. However, the fault coverage of the IDDQ tests will be affected by process variation. In this paper, effects on fault coverage of IDDQ tests generated by variations of zero biased threshold voltage of each MOS transistor in a circuit under test are examined with a circuit simulator. The result suggests us that IDDQ testing with large threshold value is applicable to production tests of CMOS ICs.
IL-6 and IL-10 Levels in Rats Blood Plasma as Immune Responses Post Radioiodine (I-131) Administration.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of oral administration of radioiodine (I-131) on the immune responses (interleukin 6 and 10) as biodosimetry markers and to support clinical trials of I-131 solution. METHODS The design of this study was an in vivo experimental study using twenty-seven male rats (Rattus norvegicus strain Sprague-Dawley) given 100 μL of I-131 solution at a dose of 260 μCi. Blood plasma was taken at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 3, 24, 48, 120, and 168 hours post oral I-131 administration, respectively. Rats without radioiodine administration as a control group. The levels of IL-6 and IL-10 were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Statistical analysis was carried out with one-way ANOVA using SPSS version 25 software. RESULT IL-6 level began to significantly increase at 0.25 hours post administration of I-131 (14.4 pg/mL ± 2.52 pg/mL, p=0.02). During 7 days of observation, IL-6 levels had 2 peaks of highly significant increase at 0.5 hours (43.57 ± 5.28, p<0.001) and 120 hours (24.08 ± 2.69, p<0.001 compared to control (5.44 ± 0.95 pg/mL). IL-10 level began to significantly increase at 0.25 hours (30.32 ± 3.22 pg/mL, p=0.03) compared to controls (20.61 ± 1.59 pg/mL). CONCLUSION The highest increase in IL-6 and IL-10 levels occurred respectively in the first 0.5 hours 8 times and in the first 0.25 hours 1.47 times compared to controls. Internal irradiation with radioiodine resulted in a significant increase in immune cells in exposed blood plasma characterized by the production of the cytokines IL-6 and IL-10. This appears to be a response of immune cells to reduce or stop inflammatory reactions through the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines in an effort to prevent excessive inflammatory responses that can damage cells and tissues.
Dependency and relational structure in treebank annotation

Among the variety of proposals currently making the dependency perspective on grammar more concrete, there are several treebanks whose annotation exploits some form of Relational Structure that we can consider a generalization of the fundamental idea of dependency at various degrees and with reference to different types of linguistic knowledge. The paper describes the Relational Structure as the common underlying representation of treebanks which is motivated by both theoretical and task-dependent considerations. Then it presents a system for the annotation of the Relational Structure in treebanks, called Augmented Relational Structure, which allows for a systematic annotation of various components of linguistic knowledge crucial in several tasks. Finally, it shows a dependency-based annotation for an Italian treebank, i.e. the Turin University Treebank, that implements the Augmented Relational Structure.
Design and analysis of a new rotary precision micropositioning stage

This paper presents the design, modelling, and finite-element analysis of a new flexure-based compliant rotary stage dedicated to precision micropositioning application. As compared with previous work, the designed new rotary stage offers a larger rotational angle and more compact size. Based on the established analytical models, the dominant parameters of the stage are determined to satisfy the performance requirement on rotational angle and driving torque. The proposed mechanical design and analytical model of the rotary stage have been validated by conducting finite-element analysis simulation investigation.