Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Fiber Bleaching Treatment on the Properties of Poly(lactic acid)/Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber Composites

In this work, biodegradable composites from poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber were prepared by melt blending method. Prior to mixing, the fiber was modified through bleaching treatment using hydrogen peroxide. Bleached fiber composite showed an improvement in mechanical properties as compared to untreated fiber composite due to the enhanced fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion. Interestingly, fiber bleaching treatment also improved the physical appearance of the composite. The study was extended by blending the composites with commercially available masterbatch colorant.
Climatology of mesopause region temperature, zonal wind, and meridional wind over Fort Collins, Colorado (41°N, 105­°W), and comparison with model simulations

[1] Between May 2002 and April 2006, many continuous observations of mesopause region temperature and horizontal wind, each lasting longer than 24 h (termed full-diurnal-cycle observations), were completed at the Colorado State University Na Lidar Facility in Fort Collins, Colorado (41°N, 105°W). The combined data set consists of 120 full-diurnal-cycle observations binned on a monthly basis, with a minimum of 7 cycles in April and a maximum of 18 cycles in August. Each monthly data set was analyzed to deduce mean values and tidal period perturbations. After removal of tidal signals, monthly mean values are used for the study of seasonal variations in mesopause region temperature, zonal and meridional winds. The results are in qualitative agreement with our current understanding of mean temperature and wind structures in the midlatitude mesopause region with an observed summer mesopause of 167 K at 84 km, summer peak eastward zonal wind of 48 m/s at 94 km, winter zonal wind reversal at ∼95 km, and peak summer (pole) to winter (pole) meridional flow of 17 m/s at 86 km. The observed mean state in temperature, zonal and meridional winds are compared with the predictions of three current general circulation models, i.e., the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model version 3 (WACCM3) with two different simulations of gravity wavefields, the Hamburg Model of the Neutral and Ionized Atmosphere (HAMMONIA), and the 2003 simulation of the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM). While general agreement is found between observation and model predictions, there exist discrepancies between model prediction and observation, as well as among predictions from different models. Specifically, the predicted summer mesopause altitude is lower by 3 km, 8 km, 3 km, and 1 km for WACCM3 the two WACCM runs, HAMMONIA, and TIME-GCM, respectively, and the corresponding temperatures are 169 K, 170 K, 158 K, and 161 K. The model predicted summer eastward zonal wind peaks to 71 m/s at 102 km, to 48 m/s at 84 km, to 75 m/s at 93 km, and to 29 m/s at 94 km, in the same order. The altitude of the winter zonal wind reversal and seasonal asymmetry of the pole-to-pole meridional flow are also compared, and the importance of full-diurnal-cycle observations for the determination of mean states is discussed.
The Role Of Interpretive Signages In Enhancing Conservation Knowledge, Awareness And Behavior Among Visitors At The Penang National Park, Malaysia

Interpretation is an approach of communication used in most national parks and recreation areas to reveal information, create awareness and overcome park problems such as littering and vandalism. An experimental study was conducted to determine the role of developed interpretive signages in conservation knowledge, awareness and behavior among visitors at Penang National Park (PNP). Interpretive signage with three different theme and storyline were designed using Tilden’s interpretation principles and were placed along PNP’s existing trails as treatment. The questionnaire survey was conducted before and after the visitors entered the park through Pasir Pandak entrance. The questionnaires were divided into three main sections and designed based on human basic psychological theory (belief, attitude and behavioral) to measure visitors perception towards natural environment, emotional effect and human rights. Similar set of questionnaire was used for before and after survey to observe differences in terms of respondents’ agreement. Respondents were divided into two groups, which were treatment and control groups. Treatment group was the target group to observe impact on effectiveness of interpretive signage towards their conservation awareness and attitude. Control group was the group who did not received any treatment during the study. About 266 pairs of questionnaires were collected from both groups which consisted of 228 pairs of the treatment group and 38 pairs of control groups. Results showed that most of both respondents were between 18 to 28 years old, students in tertiary education with monthly income of less than RM500 per month. Majority of these respondents came to PNP to gather some valuable experience and for enjoyment with friends. Overall, each sections of questionnaire showed significant differences and typically the impact of developed interpretive signage on visitors’ conservation awareness was highly influenced by their emotions. Results indicated that the respondents became more aware after they received the treatment. The impact of developed interpretive signages showed that they would take several actions as their new belief/perception towards natural resources such as giving advices to anyone or visitor who dropped litter in PNP’s natural area and willing to pick up any litter which they found along the trails. Impact on respondents’ knowledge can be observed when they realize that large numbers of visitors in a period of time would impact the resource. Initially, findings from this study proved that the impact on interpretive signages had essentially enhanced conservation awareness among the visitors and can be useful as a linkage for visitors to share their awareness and appreciation towards natural resources
Expression and Differentiation between OCT4A and Its Pseudogenes in Human ESCs and Differentiated Adult Somatic Cells

The POU5F1 gene codes for the OCT4 transcription factor, which is one of the key regulators of pluripotency. Its transcription, alternative splicing, and alternative translation leading to the synthesis of the active, nuclear localized OCT4A has been described in detail. Much less, however, is known about actively transcribed OCT4 pseudogenes, several of which display high homology to OCT4A and can be expressed and translated into proteins. Using RT-PCR followed by pseudogene-specific restriction digestion, cloning, and sequencing we discriminate between OCT4A and transcripts for pseudogenes 1, 3 and 4. We show that expression of OCT4 and its pseudogenes follows a developmentally-regulated pattern in differentiating hESCs, indicating a tight regulatory relationship between them. We further demonstrate that differentiated human cells from a variety of tissues express exclusively pseudogenes. Expression of OCT4A can, however be triggered in adult differentiated cells by oxygen and FGF2-dependent mechanisms.
Effect of Oral Midazolam Premedication on Children’s Co-operation Before General Anesthesia in Pediatric Dentistry

Statement of the Problem: Premedication is expedient in reducing the psychological trauma from recalling the unpleasant pre-anesthetic phases, hence, inducing a trouble-free anesthesia. Purpose: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of oral midazolam in co-operation of the subjects before general anesthesia and in recalling the pre-anesthetic phases, performed on children candidate for dental treatment under general anesthesia. Materials and Method: In this prospective clinical trial study, 62 healthy non-cooperative children, candidate for dental treatment under general anesthesia, were randomly divided into study and control groups. The children received 20ml orange juice, 20 minutes before starting the anesthesia. The juice of the test group contained 0.5mg/kg of midazolam and that of the control group included no medication. The induction and the maintenance process of anesthesia were similar in both groups. The manner of subjects when separated from parents, their cooperation during intravenous catheterization, and recalling the pre-anesthetic events were recorded. Data were analyzed by adopting chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: Most of the children in the test group had a comfortable separation from parents, restful IV catheterization and 90% of the subjects did not recall the pre-anesthetic events. Conclusion: Under the circumstances of this study, it could be concluded that 0.5mg/kg oral midazolam premedication is effective for comfortable separation of children from parents and restful IV catheterization and also forgetting the pre-anesthetic events.
Conceptualising a visual culture curriculum for Greek art education

This research contributes to the current debate about the need to redefine the goals and content of art education. The aim was to establish whether or not visual culture should be introduced into the school curriculum at primary level in Greece and if so how. It began with a review of international literature conducted to determine the current state of knowledge about visual culture education and an analysis of recent reforms to the Greek art curriculum. This led to the development of a theoretical framework for the empirical research in Greece and a working definition of visual culture education. The research had two parts. In the first part, the researcher conducted group interviews with Greek children, aged between 6 and 12, for the purposes of establishing their preferences for visual culture genres and their understanding of everyday images as a learning resource. The findings were that these children were aware that they lived in and interacted with visual images in the real world; they preferred looking at television imagery, but did not fully comprehend how they influenced their identity construction. In the second part, the researcher introduced visual culture education content and methods into art lessons in Greece. She conducted an educational intervention in two primary school classrooms over a period of five weeks using an experimental curriculum entitled ‘Deconstructing Television Imagery’. The evaluation found that the curriculum focus on telenovelas and Barbie animated films motivated learners to participate in art lessons and extended their understanding of these visual culture genres and how they impact on viewers’ lives. A conclusion reached at the end of the research was that the primary school curriculum in Greece should include visual culture. Visual culture education should take into account the particularities of Greek students’ visual experiences and of Greek art education and culture. Consequently it should include fine arts, mass media and material culture, performing arts and the arts of spectacle. It would benefit from being interdisciplinary and embracing principles of critical pedagogy.
Convergence analysis of alias-free subband adaptive filters based on a frequency domain technique

Convergence analysis of alias-free subband adaptive filters (SADFs) is presented based on a frequency-domain technique where instead of analyzing the adaptive algorithms in the time-domain, the averaging method and the ordinary differential equation (ODE) method are applied to the frequency-domain expressions of the adaptive algorithms converted by the discrete Fourier transform. As an alias-free SADF algorithm, the SADF proposed by Pradhan and Reddy is known. In this paper, this technique is first applied to the Pradhan's SADF. The stability of the Pradhan's SADF is verified in the frequency domain, and a simple formula to evaluate the mean square error (MSE) of the algorithm is theoretically derived. By using a slight modification, the technique can be applied to the two-band delayless subband adaptive filter (DLSADF) with the Hadamard transform. The stability condition and the MSE of the DLSADF with the Hadamard transform are also obtained. Simulation results of both algorithms show the validity of the theoretical results.
Microbial bioenergetics of coral-algal interactions

Human impacts are causing ecosystem phase shifts from coral- to algal-dominated reef systems on a global scale. As these ecosystems undergo transition, there is an increased incidence of coral-macroalgal interactions. Mounting evidence indicates that the outcome of these interaction events is, in part, governed by microbially mediated dynamics. The allocation of available energy through different trophic levels, including the microbial food web, determines the outcome of these interactions and ultimately shapes the benthic community structure. However, little is known about the underlying thermodynamic mechanisms involved in these trophic energy transfers. This study utilizes a novel combination of methods including calorimetry, flow cytometry, and optical oxygen measurements, to provide a bioenergetic analysis of coral-macroalgal interactions in a controlled aquarium setting. We demonstrate that the energetic demands of microbial communities at the coral-algal interaction interface are higher than in the communities associated with either of the macroorganisms alone. This was evident through higher microbial power output (energy use per unit time) and lower oxygen concentrations at interaction zones compared to areas distal from the interface. Increases in microbial power output and lower oxygen concentrations were significantly correlated with the ratio of heterotrophic to autotrophic microbes but not the total microbial abundance. These results suggest that coral-algal interfaces harbor higher proportions of heterotrophic microbes that are optimizing maximal power output, as opposed to yield. This yield to power shift offers a possible thermodynamic mechanism underlying the transition from coral- to algal-dominated reef ecosystems currently being observed worldwide. As changes in the power output of an ecosystem are a significant indicator of the current state of the system, this analysis provides a novel and insightful means to quantify microbial impacts on reef health.
The Hemagglutinin-Neuraminidase Protein of Newcastle Disease Virus Determines Tropism and Virulence

ABSTRACT The hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) plays a crucial role in the process of infection. However, the exact contribution of the HN gene to NDV pathogenesis is not known. In this study, the role of the HN gene in NDV virulence was examined. By use of reverse genetics procedures, the HN genes of a virulent recombinant NDV strain, rBeaudette C (rBC), and an avirulent recombinant NDV strain, rLaSota, were exchanged. The hemadsorption and neuraminidase activities of the chimeric viruses showed significant differences from those of their parental strains, but heterotypic F and HN pairs were equally effective in fusion promotion. The tissue tropism of the viruses was shown to be dependent on the origin of the HN protein. The chimeric virus with the HN protein derived from the virulent virus exhibited a tissue predilection similar to that of the virulent virus, and vice versa. The chimeric viruses with reciprocal HN proteins either gained or lost virulence, as determined by a standard intracerebral pathogenicity index test of chickens and by the mean death time in chicken embryos (a measure devised to classify these viruses), indicating that virulence is a function of the amino acid differences in the HN protein. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the virulence of NDV is multigenic and that the cleavability of F protein alone does not determine the virulence of a strain.
Early-Onset Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy Type 1 With Some Atypical Features

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy cases with facial weakness before the age of 5 and signs of shoulder weakness by the age of 10 are defined as early onset. Contraction of the D4Z4 repeat on chromosome 4q35 is causally related to facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1, and the residual size of the D4Z4 repeat shows a roughly inverse correlation with the severity of the disease. Contraction of the D4Z4 repeat on chromosome 4q35 is believed to induce a local change in chromatin structure and consequent transcriptional deregulation of 4qter genes. We present early-onset cases in the Polish population that amounted to 21% of our total population with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. More than 27% of them presented with severe phenotypes (wheelchair dependency). The residual D4Z4 repeat sizes ranged from 1 to 4 units. In addition, even within early-onset facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 phenotypes, some cases had uncommon features (head drop, early disabling contractures, progressive ptosis, and respiratory insufficiency and cardiomyopathy).
Cardiotoxicity of Ma Huang/Caffeine or Ephedrine/Caffeine in a Rodent Model System

Ma Huang (equivalent to 0, 12.5, 25, or 50 mg/kg ephedrine) or ephedrine (0, 6.25, 12.5, 25 mg/kg) were administered as one bolus oral dose to male F344 rats with and without caffeine. The herbal medicine Ma Huang (ephedra) in combination with caffeine caused rapid clinical signs of toxicity including salivation, hyperactivity, ataxia, and eventually lethargy, and failure to respond to stimuli. When this syndrome of clinical signs emerged, animals were moribund sacrificed, and a histological analysis for heart lesions performed. Cardiotoxicity included hemorrhage, necrosis, and degeneration in the ventricles or interventricular septum within 2–4 hours after treatment with Ma Huang (ephedra)/caffeine or ephedrine (the principal active component in Ma Huang)/caffeine. There was a steep dose response curve for cardiotoxicity with minimal toxicity seen at levels of Ma Huang (equivalent to 12.5 mg/kg ephedrine) with caffeine. However, cardiotoxic lesions occurred in 28% of animals with Ma Huang dosages equivalent to 25 mg/kg ephedrine with 15 or 30 mg/kg caffeine, and in 90% of animals at Ma Huang exposures equivalent to 50 mg/kg ephedrine with 15 or 30 mg/kg caffeine. Cardiotoxic lesions occurred in 47% of animals in the 25 mg/kg ephedrine groups with caffeine at 7.25, 15, or 30 mg/kg. There was no statistical difference in the occurrence of cardiotoxic lesions when 15 or 30 mg/kg caffeine was combined with Ma Huang equivalent to 25 or 50 mg/kg ephedrine; likewise there was no statistical difference in the occurrence of cardiotoxic lesions when 7.25, 15, or 30 mg/kg caffeine was combined with 25 mg/kg ephedrine. These results show that the cardiotoxic effects of the herbal medicine, Ma Huang, are similar to that of ephedrine, the principal active ingredient in the herbal medicine. The combination of Ma Huang or ephedrine with caffeine enhanced the cardiotoxicity over that with the herbal medicine or the active ingredient alone.
On the Survivability of Wireless Ad Hoc Networks with Node Misbehaviors and Failures

Network survivability is the ability of a network to stay connected under failures and attacks, which is a fundamental issue to the design and performance evaluation of wireless ad hoc networks. In this paper, we focus on the analysis of network survivability in the presence of node misbehaviors and failures. First, we propose a novel semi-Markov process model to characterize the evolution of node behaviors. As an immediate application of the proposed model, we investigate the problem of node isolation where the effects of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks are considered. Then, we present the derivation of network survivability and obtain the lower and upper bounds on the topological survivability for k-connected networks. We find that the network survivability degrades very quickly with the increasing likelihood of node misbehaviors, depending on the requirements of disjoint outgoing paths or network connectivity. Moreover, DoS attacks have a significant impact on the network survivability, especially in dense networks. Finally, we validate the proposed model and analytical result by simulations and numerical analysis, showing the effects of node misbehaviors on both topological survivability and network performance.
Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria Mediate Microbial Community Succession and Element Cycling in Launched Marine Sediment

A large amount of marine sediment was launched on land by the Great East Japan earthquake. Here, we employed both on-site and laboratory studies on the launched marine sediment to investigate the succession of microbial communities and its effects on geochemical properties of the sediment. Twenty-two-month on-site survey showed that microbial communities at the uppermost layer (0–2 mm depth) of the sediment changed significantly with time, whereas those at the deeper layer (20–40 mm depth) remained nearly unchanged and kept anaerobic microbial communities. Nine months after the incidence, various sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) prevailed in the uppermost layer, in which afterwards diverse chemoorganotrophic bacteria predominated. Geochemical analyses indicated that the concentration of metals other than Fe was lower in the uppermost layer than that in the deeper layer. Laboratory study was carried out by incubating the sediment for 57 days, and clearly indicated the dynamic transition of microbial communities in the uppermost layer exposed to atmosphere. SOB affiliated in the class Epsilonproteobacteria rapidly proliferated and dominated at the uppermost layer during the first 3 days, after that Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria and chemoorganotrophic bacteria were sequentially dominant. Furthermore, the concentration of sulfate ion increased and the pH decreased. Consequently, SOB may have influenced the mobilization of heavy metals in the sediment by metal-bound sulfide oxidation and/or sediment acidification. These results demonstrate that SOB initiated the dynamic shift from the anaerobic to aerobic microbial communities, thereby playing a critical role in element cycling in the marine sediment.
Ablation of Neurons Expressing Melanin-Concentrating Hormone (MCH) in Adult Mice Improves Glucose Tolerance Independent of MCH Signaling

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH)-expressing neurons have been ascribed many roles based on studies of MCH-deficient mice. However, MCH neurons express other neurotransmitters, including GABA, nesfatin, and cocaine–amphetamine-regulated transcript. The importance of these other signaling molecules made by MCH neurons remains incompletely characterized. To determine the roles of MCH neurons in vivo, we targeted expression of the human diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) to the gene for MCH (Pmch). Within 2 weeks of diphtheria toxin injection, heterozygous PmchDTR/+ mice lost 98% of their MCH neurons. These mice became lean but ate normally and were hyperactive, especially during a fast. They also responded abnormally to psychostimulants. For these phenotypes, ablation of MCH neurons recapitulated knock-out of MCH, so MCH appears to be the critical neuromodulator released by these neurons. In contrast, MCH-neuron-ablated mice showed improved glucose tolerance when compared with MCH-deficient mutant mice and wild-type mice. We conclude that MCH neurons regulate glucose tolerance through signaling molecules other than MCH.