Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isolation and Identification of Histamine-forming bacteria in frozen Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)

In this study a series of experiments were carried out to detect and identify histamine-forming bacteria and analyze histamine content for evaluation of current harvesting and post harvesting procedures. The target fish was Skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) in which the samples were collected from Oman Sea waters harvested by gillnet or purse seine methods. Bacteriological isolates and the amount of histamine were obtained from the muscle around the gills. The obtained results indicated that the average of total and psychrophilic counts were 7.2×10 6 and 2.9×10⁶ CFU/g, respectively. Histamine-forming bacteria occurred on a low scale of total bacterial load with the mean of 2.8 ×10² CFU/g. Diverse bacterial isolates were identified as histamine-forming bacteria. Amongst them, Proteus spp. with the highest abundance in samples contributed 24.5% followed by Clostridium perfringens (22.5%), Klebsiella spp. (15.0%), Enterobacter spp. (11.5%) and the other isolates (26.5%). In comparison with USFDA standard, the amount of histamine in 22.2 and 42.2% of the examined samples were 20- 50ppm, and >50ppm, respectively. Therefore, there are seafood safety risks in the current harvesting and post harvesting methods used in skipjack industry and proper preventional methods for histamine formation are recommended.
Prevalence of Schistosoma Haematobium among Primary School Children in Girei Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Nigeria

A study on Schistosoma haematobium among primary school children in Gerei Local government Area of Northeastern Nigeria was conducted to determine the infection prevalence and relationship among primary school children and to assess infection rate in respect to age and parents occupation of the subjects. A total of three hundred school children were randomly selected from two primary schools within the Local Government Area. The samples was examined for the ova of Schistosoma haematobium using sedimentation technique.The overall prevalence rate of 33.3% was observed. Higher infection rate was observed among males, 64(21.3%) than their female, 40(13.3) counterpart. However, there was no statistical significant difference (P>0.05). Prevalence was also noted to be higher among Pupils 10 years and above, 19.0% followed by age group 8-9 years, 10.7%, while the least was recorded among pupils within 6-7 years 5.0%. Chi-square revealed that, there was association between age group and rate of infection (p<0.05). Infection rate in relation to parents’ occupation implies that, children whose their parents are farmer had the highest infection rate of 20.7% followed by those whose their parents are civil servants with 9.0% infection rate. Traders’ children had the least with 5.0%.
A dataset and baselines for sequential open-domain question answering

Previous work on question-answering systems mainly focuses on answering individual questions, assuming they are independent and devoid of context. Instead, we investigate sequential question answering, asking multiple related questions. We present QBLink, a new dataset of fully human-authored questions. We extend existing strong question answering frameworks to include previous questions to improve the overall question-answering accuracy in open-domain question answering. The dataset is publicly available at http://sequential.qanta. org.
Randomised, placebo-controlled trial

11 we ! a! behaviour inve«igal e'! societal fndor.J. Thh ~ produced i.mportam wtre--laUonal evidence but does not demofl. 'lrrate that such factors have cau.U reluLiunships with antls.ocial behaviour, as this requires more rigorous ex~rim~ntai designs (AJ.tman, 1991; Rutter, 1995). Such d~n~ are difflcuk ro achkve iu sodoiogicai research, which lea'le. <>quMtlous ofvoliUou, <. -uipHblliLy, prev~ntiurr and rehabilitation open, If cause and effe<:t ace more precl->ely undcrnood. it is noteworthy that a D1teetor of the US National lnslitut~ of Mental Hnalth suggested that U"eatme.at progr-. irnDU';. 'J for offendcr:J tend nol to be rlgorousiy evaluated: "jt s easy to fooj yourselves about efficacy if you haven't done a proper clinlca.i trtaf (Marshal, 2000). il ha'>, how ever, been ~ted that deeper knowledge of th~ biolog_v of anttsnctal beh<lviours will help lnterwmlons (Stone & Kelner, 2000).
Nitroreductases: Enzymes with Environmental, Biotechnological and Clinical Importance

The nitroreductase family comprises a group of flavin mononucleotide (FMN)or flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) dependent enzymes that are able to metabolize nitroaromatic and nitroheterocyclic derivatives (nitrosubstituted compounds) using the reducing power of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(P)H). These enzymes can be found in bacterial species and, to a lesser extent, in eukaryotes. The nitroreductase proteins play a central role in the activation of nitrocompounds and have received a lot of attention in recent decades based on their (a) environmental and human health importance due to their central role in mediating nitrosubstituted compound toxicity; (b) biotechnological application for bioremediation biocatalysis; and (c) clinical importance in chemotherapeutic tumor treatment, ablation of specific cells and antibiotic resistance. Nitrosubstituted compounds are mainly produced by industrial processes or other human activities and have become an important group of environmental pollutants. Human health concerns have arisen with regard to these compounds because their metabolization leads to the formation of potent genotoxic and mutagenic metabolites and to the generation of reactive nitrogen oxide species, which readily react with biological macromolecules. In addition, many genotoxic tests have been performed using mutant strains of bacteria such as Salmonella typhimurium that do not express or overexpress these enzymes, to identify and elucidate the molecular mechanism of mutagenesis caused by several nitrocompounds. Bioremediation treatments for nitroaromatic and nitroheterocyclic compounds, in particular phytoremediation using transgenic plants expressing bacterial nitroreductases or soil bacteria such as Bacillus sp. , may be effective in decontaminating soil in situ. The nitroreductases have clinical application due to their ability to convert nontoxic prodrugs such as CB1954 (5-[aziridin-1-yl]-2,4-dinitrobenzamide) into a potent DNA-crosslinking cytotoxic agent that kills tumor cells. These enzymes have great clinical interest because they are used in techniques such as gene (or virus) directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT or VDEPT) and antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) for potential use in the treatment of certain tumors. Nitroreductases are also involved in resistance to metronidazole, a drug used mainly in infections caused by Helicobacter pylori, which causes gastric ulcers and constitutes a risk factor for adenocarcinoma and gastric lymphoma. In this chapter, the most relevant aspects of nitroreductases enzymes are presented and discussed: the occurrence of these enzymes in organisms, their catalytic reduction mechanism, physiological role and importance in mediating the toxicity of nitrocompounds, and their influence on the environment and human health, as well as their potential biotechnological and medical applications.
Production of rice bran protein hydrolysates from traditional Thai rice bran ( Plai-Ngahm-Prachinburi )

Enzymatic processes for protein extraction of defatted rice bran from Plai-Ngahm-Prachinburi rice were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The extraction yield could be influenced by various factors including enzyme concentrations (0.025-0.075 gram / 5 gram of protein), extraction temperatures (40-60oC) and time (2-4 h). The obtained protein solution was further dried using a rotary evaporator and a freeze dryer, respectively. Results showed that the optimal conditions for extracting proteins were 0.075 gram enzyme concentration at 50oC for 3 h. Then, the hydrolyzed protein powder was analyzed for physicochemical and functional properties. The hydrolyzed time comparison between 2 h and 3 h was reported. There was no difference found in moisture content and solubility (pH 4) while, aw, color and bulk density were significant. The hydrolyzed protein of 2 h affected the greatest enhancement of 2,2 – diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and emulsifying activity index (EAI). For the degree of hydrolysis (DH), solubility (pH 5 and pH 6) and foaming capacity, 3 h was found to have higher capacity than hydrolyzed protein for 2 h. This study shows that hydrolyzed rice bran protein has potential as value-added ingredient food industry.
Vasculogenic mimicry and expression of ALDH1, Beclin1, and p16 correlate with metastasis and prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is a new blood supply in malignant tumors and has long been considered as an effective factor in the metastasis and prognosis of many cancers. ALDH1 (a marker of cancer stem cells), Beclin1 (a biomarker of autophagy) and p16 (a suppressor gene of tumor) are all useful predictive factors for many cancer metastases. However, the prognostic and metastatic value of VM, ALDH1, Beclin1, or p16 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is unclear. In this study, we analyzed correlations among VM, ALDH1, Beclin1, and p16 in OSCC, and their respective associations with clinicopathological parameters and survival in OSCC. METHODS Positive rates of VM, ALDH1, Beclin1, and p16 in 186 whole OSCC specimens were detected by immunohistochemical and histochemical staining. Patients' clinical information was also collected. RESULTS Positive rates of VM, ALDH1, and Beclin1 were significantly higher, and levels of p16 were significantly lower in OSCC than in normal oral tissues. Positive rates of VM, ALDH1, and Beclin1 were positively associated with tumor grade, primary tumor (pT), lymph node metastasis (LNM), and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, and inversely with patients overall survival (OS) time. Levels of p16 was negatively associated with grade, pT, LNM, and TNM stage, and positively associated with smoking and alcohol. The p16+ subgroup had significantly longer OS time than did the p16- subgroup. In multivariate analysis, high ALDH1, VM, Beclin1 levels, tumor grade, pT, LNM, TNM stage, and low p16 levels were potential to be independent prognostic factors for OS time in OSCC patients. CONCLUSIONS VM, and the expression of ALDH1, Beclin1, and p16 represent promising markers for metastasis and prognosis, and potential therapeutic targets for OSCC.
NOVEL TYPE OF DISLOCATION IN AN AL-PD-MN QUASICRYSTAL APPROXIMANT

H. Klein,* M. Feuerbacher, P. Schall, and K. Urban Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany (Received 1 December 1998 ) A single crystal of thej0-AlPdMn phase was plastically deformed in a three-point bending geomet The deformed crystal shows a periodic lattice of phason lines. In a high-resolution electron micros (HREM) study a novel dislocation type, termed metadislocation, was observed for the first time. magnitude of its Burgers vector is 171 Å. At the core of the metadislocation a dislocation of j0 structure is found. For the first time its structure and Burgers vector were determined by HR In magnitude and direction it is equivalent to the most common Burgers vector in the icosahe quasicrystal. The structural relationship between the dislocation and the metadislocation is discu [S0031-9007(99)08984-X]
Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Risk Profile in Cameroon:A Cross-Sectional Study in a Sub-Saharan African (SSA) Setting

Citation: Liliane Mfeukeu-Kuate. , et al. “Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Risk Profile in Cameroon: A CrossSectional Study in a Sub-Saharan African (SSA) Setting”. EC Cardiology 5.8 (2018): 596-605. Abstract Background: Contrary to earlier thoughts, metabolic syndrome is no longer rare in Africa. The prevalence is increasing, and it tends to increase with age. This increase in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the continent is thought to be due to departure from traditional African to western lifestyles. Cardio-metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with a high cardiovascular risk and present an increasing prevalence in Africa, thereby, more attention has been brought to the topic recently. However, reports of MetS and the associated cardiovascular risk profile are still scarce in sub Saharan Africa context. Methodology: We carried out a cross-sectional study in a population of adults ≥ 18 years, working in a local enterprise between October and November 2016. The WHO STEPwise approach for epidemiological surveillance of chronic non-communicable diseases was used to this end. Results: A total of 236 participants were screened for MetS and assessed for cardiovascular risk profile. The study population consisted of 137 (58.1%, [95% CI: 51.5 64.4]) males. Their mean age was 45.5 ± 10.6 years ranging from 23 to 62 years. MetS was present in 97 (41.1%, [95% CI: 35 47.5) of the participants. The average number of risk factors per participant was 2.2 ± 1.2, and ranged from 0 to 5 risk factors. The average 10-year risk was 11.6 ± 9.8%, and this was significantly higher in men. The 10-year risk was very high in 116 (49.2%, [95% CI: 42.8 55.5]) participants. Conclusion: Metabolic syndrome is frequent in professional milieu in our context with, and close to half of individuals present a very high 10-Year risk profile.
On the Relation between Linguistic Typology and (Limitations of) Multilingual Language Modeling

A key challenge in cross-lingual NLP is developing general language-independent architectures that are equally applicable to any language. However, this ambition is largely hampered by the variation in structural and semantic properties, i.e. the typological profiles of the world’s languages. In this work, we analyse the implications of this variation on the language modeling (LM) task. We present a large-scale study of state-of-the art n-gram based and neural language models on 50 typologically diverse languages covering a wide variety of morphological systems. Operating in the full vocabulary LM setup focused on word-level prediction, we demonstrate that a coarse typology of morphological systems is predictive of absolute LM performance. Moreover, fine-grained typological features such as exponence, flexivity, fusion, and inflectional synthesis are borne out to be responsible for the proliferation of low-frequency phenomena which are organically difficult to model by statistical architectures, or for the meaning ambiguity of character n-grams. Our study strongly suggests that these features have to be taken into consideration during the construction of next-level language-agnostic LM architectures, capable of handling morphologically complex languages such as Tamil or Korean.
Energy spectra and angular distributions of charged particles backscattered from solid targets

In this study, the EGSnrc (Electron Gamma Shower) Monte Carlo radiation transport code is used to simulate the energy spectra and the angular distributions of charged particles backscattered from solid targets. The study covers the energy range 10–70 keV, which is of interest to applied physics fields such as scanning electron microscopy, microprobe analysis and x-ray imaging. Simulation results are compared with experimental data from 11 different published experiments (1954–2002). Comparisons include electrons and positrons, low- and high-Z targets, normal and oblique incidence, different backscatter angles and backscatter planes, and backscatter from thin films. EGSnrc simulation results show excellent agreement with the majority of the published experimental data. Possible experimental and computational uncertainties explaining the few noted discrepancies are discussed. This study concludes that EGSnrc produces accurate backscatter data in the kilovoltage energy range. A documented EGSnrc user-code customized for backscatter calculations is available from the authors at http://www.physics. carleton.ca/clrp/backscatter.
A Study of Strong Motion Response Spectrum in West-Central Taiwan

In this paper, a total of 901 free-field accelerograms recorded at the stations in west-central Taiwan from 32 earthquakes that occurred in Taiwan area between 1993 and 1999 are separated as four data groups based on PGA levels, the station sites are classified into three types by their dominant periods of acceleration response spectra. The characteristics of response spectra in regard to both earthquake intensity and station type are analyzed. In order to highlight the behavior of the Chi-Chi mainshock, several kinds of comparisons of the near-fault responses have been made with those of far-field data. The results show that the response spectra increase generally with the earthquake intensity for all stations. The spectral shape in long period regions become more predominant if the soil condition is softer. The mean response spectra plus one standard-deviation of the Chi-Chi mainshock are significantly larger than the required values of the current seismic design code. In terms of the long-period range, the spectra of the Chi-Chi mainshock are larger than the mean value of 32 events by more than 200 times. The spectral ratios of vertical to horizontal component almost exceed 2/3; this phenomenon reflects the intensified vertical ground motion due to the thrusting movement of the Chelungpu fault. Therefore, a modified design code is suggested for applications to near-fault areas.
The Relationship Between Firm Resources and Joint Ventures: Revisited

Purpose - – This study is a replication of Wolff and Reed’s (2000) work. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the combination of resources brought to joint ventures influence parent-firm performance. This study is also interested in whether or not the exposure of immobile resources through the semi-transparent membrane of the joint venture can have negative effects on parent-firm performance. Design/methodology/approach - – The sample consists of two-parent joint ventures formed by publicly traded US firms between 1997 and 2013. The event-study methodology is used to calculate each parent-firm’s abnormal returns. This work also uses content analysis to analyze parent-firms’ annual reports (10-K). Findings - – While Wolff and Reed’s results on resource allocation within joint ventures were not statistically significant, this replication study provided strong support to the resource allocation hypothesis. It was found that intangible resource heterogeneity within a joint venture creates higher performance gains for parent-firms than tangible resource heterogeneity. This work also successfully replicated Wolff and Reed’s findings on the negative impact of immobile resources exposure on parent-firm performance. Wolff and Reed’s results on resource complementarity were, however, not successfully replicated. Originality/value - – This replication study goes beyond simply showing that engaging in a joint venture strategy creates value for parent-firms. Through the use of a new content analysis method, this study was able to provide strong support for Wolff and Reed’s theory on the performance gains provided by resource heterogeneity in a joint venture setting, and to confirm the results on potential adverse performance effects of immobile resources exposure.
Bit-Regularized Optimization of Neural Nets

We present a novel optimization strategy for training neural networks which we call “BitNet”. The parameters of neural networks are usually unconstrained and have a dynamic range dispersed over all real values. Our key idea is to limit the expressive power of the network by dynamically controlling the range and set of values that the parameters can take. We formulate this idea using a novel end-to-end approach that circumvents the discrete parameter space by optimizing a relaxed continuous and differentiable upper bound of the typical classiﬁcation loss function. The approach can be interpreted as a regularization inspired by the Minimum Description Length (MDL) principle. For each layer of the network, our approach optimizes real-valued translation and scaling factors and arbitrary precision integer-valued parameters (weights). We empirically compare BitNet to an equivalent unregularized model on the MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets. We show that BitNet converges faster to a superior quality solution. Additionally, the resulting model has signiﬁcant savings in memory due to the use of integer-valued parameters.
Simulation of light-emitting diodes for new physics understanding and device design

The paper discusses various factors affecting internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of state-of-the-art III-nitride lightemitting diodes (LEDs). A general figure of merit for LED heterostructures, namely the quality factor, is proposed on the basis of a simple recombination model, which enables comparison of overall performances of the structures either emitting light at different wavelengths or having substantially different designs. The relationships between the quality factor, maximum value of IQE, and IQE droop with the current density are revealed. Some ways for IQE improvement and reducing its droop are considered. Among them, the use of short-period superlattice (SPSL) active regions is found to be quite promising. The operation of such structures and their properties are examined in detail by simulations accounting for quantum corrections to electron and hole transport within the quantum-potential concept.
Aflibercept for the Treatment of Recalcitrant Macular Degeneration: Results from a One Year Prospective Cohort Study. The Auckland Experience

Purpose: To investigate the effect of switching patients with neovascular age related macular degeneration (nAMD) nonresponsive to bevacizumab or ranibizumab to intravitreal aflibercept 2 mg on best corrected visual acuity, macula volume, and central macula thickness. Methods: 50 patients with nAMD non-responsive to bevacizumab or ranibizumab received 2 mg intravitreal aflibercept, at three 4-weekly doses, then every 8 weeks for 48 weeks. Primary outcome was BCVA at week 48 as measured on ETDRS charts. Secondary outcomes were proportion of patients with no fluid on OCT at week 12, 24 and 48; BCVA at week 12 and 24; mean changes in central macula thickness and macular volumes at week 12, 24 and 48; and tolerability and safety of aflibercept. Results: There was a trend towards an improvement of BCVA at week 48 compared to baseline (Student’s t-test p = 0.056, Wilcoxon signed-ranked test p = 0.09901). There was a statistically significant improvement in central macula thickness (-99 μm, p < 0.001), macular volume (-0.75 mm3 p < 0.001) and PED height (-52.5 μm p < 0.001). 62% of these patients with previous recalcitrant disease had complete resolution subretinal fluid at the close of the study. Conclusion: Intravitreal aflibercept is a potentially viable treatment strategy for patients with recalcitrant neovascular AMD nonresponsive to anti-VEGF monoclonal antibodies.
The Effect of Magnetic Fields on the Quorum Sensing-Regulated Luminescence of Vibrio fischeri

Quorum sensing (QS) is the mechanism by which the bioluminescent marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri is able to communicate with other cells of the same species. While there is much known about the mechanism of quorum sensing, little is known about the factors that affect it. Here we report the effects of a relatively high magnetic field on the QSregulated bioluminescence of V. fischeri using a different method than previous studies. V. fischeri were grown with photobacterium growth media and subjected to a magnetic field, then imaged over a forty-eight hour period to monitor the bioluminescence. The images were analyzed and the intensity was plotted against time. After analysis of the images and graphs, our results find no evidence that a strong magnetic field influences the luminescence output of Vibrio fischeri.