Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial Activity of Three Ulva Species Collected from Some Egyptian

Members of the class Ulvophyceae such as Ulva fasciata Delile,Ulva intestinalis Linnaeus and Ulva lactuca Linnaeus were collected from tidal and intertidal zone of Mediterranean sea shores during April 2011 and extracted in ethanol. The total summation of the recorded total protein increase in the order: Ulva fasciata < Ulva intestinalis < Ulva lactuca, with percentage; 28.7, 27 and 17.6%, respectively. The total summation of the recorded total carbohydrate increase in the order: Ulva lactuca < Ulva intestinalis < Ulva fasciata, with percentage; 55.6, 49.63 and 47.93%, respectively. The total summation of the recorded total ash increase in the order:Ulva lactuca < Ulva fasciata < Ulva intestinalis with percentage; 17.6, 17 and 14.6 %, respectively. The total summation of the recorded total moisture increase in the order: Ulva intestinalis < Ulva fasciata < Ulva lactuca, with percentage; 9.93, 9.28 and 8.50% respectively. The total summation of the recorded total crude fat increase in the order Ulva lactuca < Ulva fasciata < Ulva intestinalis, with percentage; 0.7, 0.60 and 0.54 % respectively. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of carbohydrates and/or glycosides, sterols and/or triterpenes and traces of tannins in all marine algae under investigation, the presence of both free flavonoids and/or combined flavonoids in all marine algae under investigation, Saponins are absent in all Ulva sp. under investigation, Cardiac glycosides, anthraquinones and alkaloids are absent in all Ulva species under investigation and volatile substances are also absent. Antimicrobial activity of Ulva sp. was tested against (10 Gram +ve bacteria, 10 Gram -ve bacteria and 10 unicellular Filamentous fungi). The antimicrobial activities were expressed as zone of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Identification of compounds from crude extract of Ulva sp. carried by LC/MS technique. Finally Ulva sp. could serves as useful source of new antimicrobial agents.
Commodity durability, trader specialization, and market performance

The original double auction studies of supply and demand markets established their strong efficiency and equilibrium convergence behavior using economically unsophisticated and untrained subjects. The results were unexpected because all individual costs and values were private and dependent entirely on the market trading process to aggregate the dispersed information into socially desirable outcomes. The exchange environment, however, corresponded to that of perishable, and not re-traded goods in which participants were specialized as buyers or sellers. We report experiments in repeated single-period markets where tradability, and buyer-seller role specialization, is varied by imposing or relaxing a restriction on re-trade within each period. In re-trade markets scope is given to speculative motives unavailable where goods perish on purchase. We observe greatly increased trade volume and decreased efficiency but subject experience increases efficiency. Observed speculation slows convergence by impeding the process whereby individuals learn from the market whether their private circumstances lead them to specialize as buyers or sellers.
Cadence and Workload Effects on Pedaling Technique of Well-Trained Cyclists

This study investigated the effects of changing cadence and workload on pedaling technique. Eight cyclists were evaluated during an incremental maximal cycling and two 30-minute submaximal trials at 60% and 80% of maximal power output (W(60%) and W(80%), respectively). During submaximal 30-minute trials, they cycled for 10 minutes at a freely chosen cadence (FCC), 10 minutes at a cadence 20% above FCC (FCC+20%), and 10 minutes at a cadence 20% below FCC (FCC-20%). Pedal forces and kinematics were evaluated. The resultant force (RF), effective force (EF), index of effectiveness (IE) and IE during propulsive and recovery phase (IEprop and IErec, respectively) were computed. For W(60%), FCC-20% and FCC presented higher EFmean (69+/-9 N and 66+/-14 N, respectively) than FCC+20% (52+/-14 N). FCC presented the highest IEprop (81+/-4%) among the cadences (74+/-4 and 78+/-5% for FCC-20% and FCC+20%, respectively). For W(80%), FCC presented higher EFmean (81+/-5 N) than FCC+20% (72 +/- 10 N). The FCC-20% presented the lower IEprop (71+/-7%) among the cadences. The EFmin was higher for W(80%) than W(60%) for all cadences. The IE was higher at W (80%) (61+/-5%) than W (60%) (54+/-9%) for FCC+20% (all p<0.05). Lower cadences were more effective during the recovery phase for both intensities and FCC was the best technique during the propulsive phase.
Secondary Causes of Osteoporosis in Fracture Patients

Objective: Identification and treatment of osteoporosis in the fragility fracture population and interventions to reduce the risk of future fracture are improving in orthopaedic practice. This study investigated the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency and other secondary causes of low bone density in patients who have sustained a fragility fracture and were referred from fracture clinic to a metabolic bone disease clinic (MBDC) for further assessment. Design: Retrospective chart audit. Setting: University hospital fracture clinic. Patients: Three hundred ninety-nine patients referred from the orthopaedic division to the MBDC over a 3-year period. Intervention: A standardized chart audit form was developed, and electronic charts were retrospectively audited. Main Outcome Measurements: Secondary causes of osteoporosis and routine blood test results. Results: Three hundred eight of 399 patients had blood investigations completed. A total of 98 patients (32%) had 125 secondary causes of osteoporosis other than vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency recorded in their electronic chart, including medication use, premature ovarian failure, hypogonadism, smoking, excessive alcohol use, renal impairment, gastrointestinal conditions, and endocrine conditions. Mean serum vitamin D level was 69.0 nmol/L in 83 men and 75.4 nmol/L in 186 women. Serum vitamin D levels were deficient at ⩽25 nmol/L in 7 patients, insufficient at 26–74 nmol/L in 137 patients, and sufficient at ≥75 nmol/L in 125 patients. Investigation of causes of secondary osteoporosis can inform and influence specific treatment regimens. Conclusions: More than one-half of patients sustaining a fragility fracture and referred to the MBDC were vitamin D insufficient or deficient, and nearly one-third had a secondary cause of osteoporosis other than vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency. A standardized list of blood and urine analyses and radiographs has been implemented for fragility fracture patients and selected other fracture patients who are undergoing investigation for osteoporosis. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Structure and Variability of the Kuroshio Current in Tokara Strait

Four years of mooring array measurements in Tokara Strait, south of Kyushu, Japan, from 1992 to 1996 are used to analyze the structure and temporal variability of the Kuroshio Current. The mean Kuroshio current in Tokara Strait shows a nearly permanent subsurface double-core structure, possibly due to topographic blockage effects. The dominant variations of the Kuroshio in Tokara Strait are separated into long-term variability (typically 100-day period) and short-term variability (10 days to 1 month) according to spectrum and wavelet analysis. The long-term variability has a large horizontal scale across the strait, with a striking twofold banded structure in spatial correlations. This is due to the north‐south Kuroshio axis shift that advects the double-core structure of the mean current. The axis shift can be indexed with the northeastward current velocity at the northernmost station; a composite analysis using this index shows well-defined northward and southward axis shift structures of the Kuroshio current. From the composite of the TOPEX/Poseidon sea level anomaly in terms of this index, the Kuroshio axis shift and the current structure change are associated with a dipole-shape sea level anomaly east of Tokara Strait. On the other hand, the short-term variability of high kinetic energy only has a small horizontal scale within the northern part of the current, which is related to frontal variability. There exists a deep southwestward undercurrent below 600 m in the northern part of Tokara Strait, flowing along the isobaths. The undercurrent becomes stronger during the northward shift of the Kuroshio axis, while it almost disappears during the southward shift.
The Automorphism Tower Problem Revisited

Abstract It is well known that the automorphism towers of infinite centreless groups of cardinality κ terminate in less than (2κ)+ steps. But an easy counting argument shows that (2κ)+ is not the best possible bound. However, in this paper, we will show that it is impossible to find an explicit better bound using ZFC.
Stimulation of Autophagy Improves Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress–Induced Diabetes

Accumulation of misfolded proinsulin in the β-cell leads to dysfunction induced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, with diabetes as a consequence. Autophagy helps cellular adaptation to stress via clearance of misfolded proteins and damaged organelles. We studied the effects of proinsulin misfolding on autophagy and the impact of stimulating autophagy on diabetes progression in Akita mice, which carry a mutation in proinsulin, leading to its severe misfolding. Treatment of female diabetic Akita mice with rapamycin improved diabetes, increased pancreatic insulin content, and prevented β-cell apoptosis. In vitro, autophagic flux was increased in Akita β-cells. Treatment with rapamycin further stimulated autophagy, evidenced by increased autophagosome formation and enhancement of autophagosome–lysosome fusion. This was associated with attenuation of cellular stress and apoptosis. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase inhibitor Torin1 mimicked the rapamycin effects on autophagy and stress, indicating that the beneficial effects of rapamycin are indeed mediated via inhibition of mTOR. Finally, inhibition of autophagy exacerbated stress and abolished the anti-ER stress effects of rapamycin. In conclusion, rapamycin reduces ER stress induced by accumulation of misfolded proinsulin, thereby improving diabetes and preventing β-cell apoptosis. The beneficial effects of rapamycin in this context strictly depend on autophagy; therefore, stimulating autophagy may become a therapeutic approach for diabetes.
Shared white-matter dysconnectivity in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychosis

Background There is an appreciable overlap in the clinical presentation, epidemiology and treatment response of the two major psychotic disorders – schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Nevertheless, the shared neurobiological correlates of these two disorders are still elusive. Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we sought to identify brain regions which share altered white-matter connectivity across a clinical spectrum of psychotic disorders. Method A sample of 41 healthy controls, 62 patients in a clinically stable state of an established psychotic disorder (40 with schizophrenia, 22 with bipolar disorder) were studied using DTI. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used in order to study group differences between patients with psychosis and healthy controls using fractional anisotropy (FA). Probabilistic tractography was used in order to visualize the clusters that showed significant differences between these two groups. Results The TBSS analysis revealed five clusters (callosal, posterior thalamic/optic, paralimbic, fronto-occipital) with reduced FA in psychosis. This reduction in FA was associated with an increase in radial diffusivity and a decrease in mode of anisotropy. Factor analysis revealed a single white-matter integrity factor that predicted social and occupational functioning scores in patients irrespective of the diagnostic categorization. Conclusions Our results show that a shared white-matter dysconnectivity links the two major psychotic disorders. These microstructural abnormalities predict functional outcome better than symptom-based diagnostic boundaries during a clinically stable phase of illness, highlighting the importance of seeking shared neurobiological factors that underlie the clinical spectrum of psychosis.
Regulation of Dopaminergic Loss by Fas in a 1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine Model of Parkinson's Disease

Accumulating evidence suggests that apoptotic and inflammatory factors contribute to the demise of dopaminergic neurons. In this respect, Fas, a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family with proapoptotic and inflammatory functions, was reported to be elevated within the striatum and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Accordingly, the present investigation evaluated the function of Fas in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model of PD. Injection of MPTP increased nigral Fas expression, and mice lacking Fas displayed attenuated MPTP-induced SNc dopaminergic loss and microglial activation. In addition, Fas induction was blocked by expression of a dominant-negative c-Jun adenovirus that also protected dopamine neurons from MPTP-induced damage. Together, these data suggest the critical nature of the c-Jun-Fas signaling pathway in MPTP-induced neuronal loss. Although critical for degeneration of the soma, Fas deficiency did not significantly prevent the reduction of dopaminergic terminal fibers within the striatum or normalize the activation of striatal microglia and elevation of the postsynaptic activity marker ΔFosB induced by denervation. Interestingly, Fas-deficient mice displayed a pre-existing reduction in striatal dopamine levels and locomotor behavior when compared with wild-type mice. Despite the reduced terminals, dopamine levels were not further suppressed by MPTP treatment in mutant mice, raising the possibility of a compensatory response in basal ganglia function in Fas-deficient mice.
Minimal Problems for the Calibrated Trifocal Variety

The recovery of three calibrated cameras from image data is investigated using tools from computational algebraic geometry. We determine the algebraic degree for various minimal problems. Our formulation is based on the calibrated trifocal variety in computer vision, which is the configuration space for three calibrated cameras. Some of our calculations are done using homotopy continuation software, and so they rely on pseudo-randomness and numerical accuracy.
Construction of an ontology for intelligent Arabic QA systems leveraging the Conceptual Graphs representation

The last decade had known a great interest in Arabic Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications. This interest is due to the prominent importance of this 6th most wide-spread language in the world with more than 350 million native speakers. Currently, some basic Arabic language challenges related to the high inflection and derivation, Part-of-Speech (PoS) tagging, and diacritical ambiguity of Arabic text are practically tamed to a great extent. However, the development of high level and intelligent applications such as Question Answering (QA) systems is still obstructed by the lacks in terms of ontologies and other semantic resources. In this paper, we present the construction of a new Arabic ontology leveraging the contents of Arabic WordNet (AWN) and Arabic VerbNet (AVN). This new resource presents the advantage to combine the high lexical coverage and semantic relations between words existing in AWN together with the formal representation of syntactic and semantic frames corresponding to verbs in AVN. The Conceptual Graphs representation was adopted in the framework of a multi-layer platform dedicated to the development of intelligent and multi-agents systems. The built ontology is used to represent key concepts in questions and documents for further semantic comparison. Experiments conducted in the context of the QA task show a promising coverage with respect to the processed questions and passages. The obtained results also highlight an improvement in the performance of Arabic QA regarding the [email protected] measure.
The effect of periodontal therapy on intra-oral halitosis: a case series.

AIM The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of non-surgical periodontal therapy on intra-oral halitosis 3 months after therapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sixty-eight adults with intra-oral halitosis were included in a case series. Intra-oral halitosis was evaluated at baseline, and at 3 months after treatment using the organoleptic scores (OLS), Halimeter® , and a gas chromatograph. RESULTS Significant reductions for OLS (p < 0.01), total sum of volatile sulphur compounds (T-VSC) (p < 0.01) and methyl mercaptan (MM) (p < 0.05) values were found after treatment. Hydrogen sulphide (H2 S) levels were not significantly reduced. The numbers of probing pockets 4 mm, 5 mm and 6 mm were significantly reduced as a result of therapy (p < 0.001). Bleeding on probing (BOP) and plaque indices were also significantly reduced (p < 0.001). For the 34 individuals with successful periodontal treatment (BOP<20% and a ≥50% reduction of total pocket depth) reductions in OLS (p < 0.01) and T-VSC scores (p < 0.01) were found. Eleven individuals were considered effectively treated for intra-oral halitosis presenting with a T-VSC value <160 ppb, a H2 S value <112 ppb and a MM value <26 ppb. CONCLUSION Non-surgical periodontal therapy resulted in reduction of OLS, MM and T-VSC values 3 months after therapy. Few individuals were considered as effectively treated for intra-oral halitosis.
Memristive tri-stable resistive switching at ruptured conducting filaments of a Pt/TiO2/Pt cell

A tri-stable memristive switching was demonstrated on a Pt/TiO2/Pt device and its underlying mechanism was suggested through a series of electrical measurements. Tri-stable switching could be initiated from a device in unipolar reset status. The unipolar reset status was obtained by performing an electroforming step on a pristine cell which was then followed by unipolar reset switching. It was postulated that tri-stable switching occurred at the location where the conductive filament (initially formed by the electroforming step) was ruptured by a subsequent unipolar reset process. The mechanism of the tri-stable memristive switching presented in this article was attributed to the migration of oxygen ions through the ruptured filament region and the resulting modulation of the Schottky-like interfaces. The assertion was further supported by a comparison study performed on a Pt/TiO2/TiO2−x/Pt cell.
The peacock's train (Pavo cristatus and Pavo cristatus mut. alba) II. The molecular parameters of feather keratin plasticity.

Thermal activation analysis of plastic deformation of peacock tail feathers, by temperature changes and stress relaxation, gave for the keratin cortex an activation enthalpy of 1.78 ± 0.89 eV and an activation volume of 0.83 ± 0.13 nm³, for both the blue and the white subspecies. These values suggest that breaking of electrostatic bonds is responsible for plasticity in feather keratin. These might be bonds between keratin and nonkeratinous matrix or keratin-keratin cross-links. The mechanical properties of the rachis cortex are surprisingly uniform along the length of the feathers.
Amniotic Membrane Application Reduces Liver Fibrosis in a Bile Duct Ligation Rat Model

Biliary fibrosis and resultant cirrhosis are among the most common outcomes of chronic liver diseases. Currently, liver transplantation remains the only effective treatment. In seeking alternative therapeutic approaches, we focused on the potential use of the human amniotic membrane (AM). Indeed, AM has gained increasing importance for its antiscarring, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing properties, as well as for the multipotent differentiation ability and immunomodulatory features of AM-derived cells. Intriguingly, we have recently demonstrated that placenta-derived cells reduce lung fibrosis in bleomycin-treated mice, and that AM patches reduce postischemic cardiac injury in rats. Hence, we have now investigated the effects of human AM on biliary fibrosis induced in rats through the bile duct ligation (BDL) procedure. A fragment of human AM was applied onto the liver surface after BDL and the effects on fibrosis establishment and progression were evaluated at different time points in comparison with fibrosis progression in control BDL rats. The degree of liver fibrosis was first assessed by the semiquantitative Knodell scoring system and, thereafter, by digital image morphometric analysis to quantify the area occupied by ductular reaction, activated myofibroblasts, and collagen deposition. We demonstrated a significant reduction in the severity of BDL-induced fibrosis in AM-treated rats. Indeed, while fibrosis progressed rapidly in control BDL rats, leading to cirrhosis within 6 weeks, AM-treated rats showed confined fibrosis at the portal/periportal area with no signs of cirrhosis, and a reduction in collagen deposition to about 50% of levels observed in control BDL rats. In addition, the AM was able to significantly slow the gradual progression of the ductular reaction and reduce, at all time points, the area occupied by activated myofibroblasts. These findings suggest that human AM, when applied as a patch onto the liver surface, might inhibit fibrosis progression in BDL-injured livers, and could protect against hepatic damage associated with fibrotic degeneration.
Physiological and Anatomical Evidence for Multisensory Interactions in Auditory Cortex

Recent studies, conducted almost exclusively in primates, have shown that several cortical areas usually associated with modality-specific sensory processing are subject to influences from other senses. Here we demonstrate using single-unit recordings and estimates of mutual information that visual stimuli can influence the activity of units in the auditory cortex of anesthetized ferrets. In many cases, these units were also acoustically responsive and frequently transmitted more information in their spike discharge patterns in response to paired visual-auditory stimulation than when either modality was presented by itself. For each stimulus, this information was conveyed by a combination of spike count and spike timing. Even in primary auditory areas (primary auditory cortex [A1] and anterior auditory field [AAF]), ~15% of recorded units were found to have nonauditory input. This proportion increased in the higher level fields that lie ventral to A1/AAF and was highest in the anterior ventral field, where nearly 50% of the units were found to be responsive to visual stimuli only and a further quarter to both visual and auditory stimuli. Within each field, the pure-tone response properties of neurons sensitive to visual stimuli did not differ in any systematic way from those of visually unresponsive neurons. Neural tracer injections revealed direct inputs from visual cortex into auditory cortex, indicating a potential source of origin for the visual responses. Primary visual cortex projects sparsely to A1, whereas higher visual areas innervate auditory areas in a field-specific manner. These data indicate that multisensory convergence and integration are features common to all auditory cortical areas but are especially prevalent in higher areas.