Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY OF METHANOL EXTRACT AND ITS SOLVENT FRACTIONS OBTAINED FROM FOUR MOROCCAN MACRO ALGAE SPECIES

In vitro antioxidant activities of methanolic extract and its solvent fraction (petroleum ether (PE), ethyl acetate (EA), dichloromethane (DCM), butanol (BuOH) and aqueous) were obtained from four Moroccan macroalgae species: Ulva rigida, Enteromorpha intestinalis, Fucus spiralis and Bifurcaria bifurcata using DPPH scavenging activity, metal chelating activity and total phenol content. Brown algae, Bifucaria bifurcata and Fucus spiralis contained higher amounts of polyphenols than green algae, Enteromorpha intestinalis and Ulva rigida . DCM fraction of Fucus spiralis and EA fraction of Bifucaria bifurcate showed higher phenolic content (29,79 and 24,44 mg gallic acid equivalent/g DW extract respectively) when compared to other solvent fraction and total methanol extract. DPPH radical scavenging activity of algae species extract tested showed lower activity than that of a standard compounds: ascorbic acid (EC 50 = 0,11 mg /ml) and α tocopherol (EC 50 = 0,215 mg /ml). Aqueous fraction of Enteromorpha intestinalis exhibited the most effective scavenging ability on DPPH radical (68,70%) than other fraction at the concentration of 3 mg/ml followed by aqueous and EA fraction of Fucus spiralis (49,50% and 50% respectively). The antioxidant activity of seaweed extracts increased in concentration-in a dependent manner. In accordance with DPPH results, potent chelation abilities were again detected in methanolic extract and its solvent fraction. All solvent and aqueous fraction of Ulva rigida and Fucus spiralis exhibited equivalent chelating effects as compared to EDTA-Na2 standard compound (IC50 was lower than 0,05mg/ml). The other fractions of Bifucaria bifurcata European Scientific Journal May 2014 edition vol.10, No.15 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 18577431 36 and Enteromorpha intestinalis showed less potent chelating effect as compared to other seaweeds (IC50 was high than 0,4mg/ml). However, there was no direct relationship between antioxidant activity and the phenolic content, suggesting that polyphenol play a minor role in the metal chelating ability and other compounds such as polysaccharides, protein, organic acid which can contribute to the overall antioxidant activities.
UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS UPPSALA 2015 Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 1118 Molecular mechanisms of biphasic insulin secretion

Gandasi, N. R. 2015. Molecular mechanisms of biphasic insulin secretion. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 1118. 42 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-9281-6. Pancreatic beta-cells secrete insulin in response to increase in blood glucose concentration with a rapid first phase and slower, sustained second phase. This secretion pattern is similar in entire pancreas, isolated islets of Langerhans and single beta-cells and it is disrupted in type 2-diabetes. Insulin stored in secretory vesicles has to undergo preparatory steps upon translocation to the plasma membrane which include docking and priming before being released by exocytosis. A better understanding of the molecules involved in these steps is required to determine the rate limiting factors for sustained secretion. Here these processes were studied in real time using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, which enables observation of insulin granules localized at the plasma membrane. A pool of granules morphologically docked at the plasma membrane was found to be depleted upon repeated stimulations. Recovery of the docked pool of granules took tens of minutes and became rate limiting for sustained secretion. Shorter depolarization stimuli did not deplete the docked pool and allowed rapid recovery of releasable granules. When a new granule arrived at the plasma membrane, docking was initiated by de novo formation of syntaxin/munc18 clusters at the docking site. Two-thirds of the granules which arrived at the plasma membrane failed to recruit these proteins and hence failed to dock. Priming involved recruitment of several other proteins including munc13, SNAP25 and Cav1.2 channels. Exocytosing granules were in close proximity to Ca influx sites with high degree of association with Cav1.2 channels. This is because of the association of these channels to exocytosis site through syntaxin and SNAP25. During exocytosis the assembled release machinery disintegrated and the proteins at the release site dispersed. Syntaxin dispersal was initiated already during fusion pore formation rather than after release during exocytosis. This was studied using a newly developed red fluorescent probe NPY-tdmOrange2 which was the most reliable pH sensitive red granule marker to label insulin granules. Overall these data give new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in biphasic insulin secretion. Disturbances in the secretion at the level of granule docking and fusion may contribute to the early manifestations of type-2 diabetes.
Constraining Hypotheses on the Evolution of Art and Aesthetic Appreciation

representations, an improved analysis of spatial relations, together with a heightened ability for cognitive control, respectively. These changes in the brain bases of aesthetic preference may have occurred at different times throughout human evolution. Furthermore, they might have been driven by diverse selective pressures, which need not have been related to aesthetic preference originally. Hence, evolutionary approaches to this human experience can, and probably must, include more than one hypothesized selective advantage, and even evolutionary mechanism. The development of connectivity patterns in the human brain is sensitive to environmental factors. It is possible that this increased plasticity has played a relevant role in the evolution of aesthetic preference. At least during the last 200,000 years the exposure of human infants to diverse cultural practices, including those designed to embellish the environment—body painting, ornamental objects, bone carving, and so on—has surely been a keynote aspect in the development of an aesthetically tuned mind. The cultural production of aesthetic elements has been slow and gradual, with many different local traditions and forms of expression. Evolutionary approaches to aesthetic preference need to account for the interplay between cultural and biological evolution.
Transport properties of random arrays of freely overlapping cylinders with various orientation distributions

We present dimensionless effective transport coefficients (formation factors) for arrays of cylinders of various orientation distributions, namely, cylinders randomly positioned and oriented with their axes parallel to a line, parallel to a plane, or in the three‐dimensional space with no preferred orientation. Both cases of conducting cylinders dispersed in a nonconducting matrix and nonconducting cylinders dispersed in a conducting matrix are considered. The transport coefficients are computed by means of a random walk simulation scheme. A comprehensive survey of past studies on transport properties of random arrays of cylinders is also presented, and our results are compared with the predictions of various analytical approximations or bounds and with experimental data of the literature.
Poultry Meat Quality and Welfare as Affected by Organic Production System

Most of consumers preferring organic food accompanied emerge of environmental awareness in the last decades. Organic production system is considered as an important solution for the environment problems because it improves sustainable agriculture by using organic compounds and avoiding synthetic chemical ones, restricting intensive production and making the entire chain of production under control. Therefore, it is encouraged and supported by environmental protection agencies in spite of the higher production cost of organic production compounds. Due to its higher production cost most producers prefer intensive systems because they focus on reducing cost and increasing production regardless of environmental degradation. Organic poultry system usually mentioned with free-range system and poultry welfare. That is because all organic systems are free-range. Organic system gets a lot of attention of animal welfare organizations because it assists birds to express normal behavior by offering plenty space. Organic or free-range system by some modifications and developing of the system regarding good management of its environment in addition to establishment of biosecurity measures it could considered as a suitable system for human, poultry and environment rather than intensive system because it achieves human health by avoiding dangerous remainders in food such as chemical residues, and for poultry by offering good welfare and health, and also to environment by improving sustainable agriculture.
Ultraviolet - A Protection in Nonprescription Sunglasses

Results: Overall, 53% of the sunglasses acquired from roadside vendors failed to meet the AOA UVA -protection standard while all of the sunglasses from optical shops met the standard. Mean UVA was 100% in optical shop sunglasses and 77.23% in roadside vendor sunglasses. Most common purchase locations were from roadside vendors (65.5%) and fashion stores/boutique (21.3%). Participants’ main reasons for wearing sunglasses included glare reduction (38.3%) and fashion (30.8%). Price (41.5%) was the most important factor considered when buying sunglasses whiles 1.25% indicated amount of UV protection as the most important factor. Conclusion: More than half of sunglasses sold by roadside vendors did not meet the AOA standard. Most of our study respondents did not consider UV protection when buying sunglasses.
Diagnostic performance of contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography in detecting intracranial aneurysms in patients presenting with subarachnoid haemorrhage

Introduction: Most centres use computed tomographic angiography (CTA) as the primary diagnostic tool in patients presenting with a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CEMRA) might be an alternative. In this study the ability to detect cerebral aneurysms with CEMRA in patients presenting with a SAH is investigated and compared with CTA. Methods: In 75 consecutive patients, two experienced neuroradiologists evaluated CEMRA and CTA images. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) served as standard of reference. The diagnostic performance in detection of aneurysms was calculated for both modalities and a comparison was made between the two. Results: No significant difference was found between the two modalities for the detection of aneurysms: sensitivities for the two observers were 96.6 and 93.8 respectively for CEMRA and 90.8 and 92.3 respectively for CTA; specificities were 77.8 and 88.9 for CEMRA and 94.4 for both observers for CTA. Kappa values for interobserver variability were 0.82 for CEMRA and 0.85 for CTA. Conclusion: The diagnostic accuracy of CEMRA and CTA in the work-up of patients presenting with a SAH does not differ significantly. The choice to use either CEMRA or CTA depends on preference or availability.
Martian aeolian activity at the Bagnold Dunes, Gale Crater: The view from the surface and orbit

The first in situ investigation of an active dune field on another planetary surface occurred in 2015–2016 when the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover investigated the Bagnold Dunes on Mars. High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment images show clear seasonal variations that are in good agreement with atmospheric model predictions of intra‐annual sand flux and migration directions that together indicate that the campaign occurred during a period of low wind activity. Curiosity surface images show that limited changes nevertheless occurred, with movement of large grains, particularly on freshly exposed surfaces, two occurrences of secondary grain flow on the slip face of Namib Dune, and a slump on a freshly exposed surface of a large ripple. These changes are seen at Martian solar day (sol)‐to‐sol time scales. Grains on a rippled sand deposit and unconsolidated dump piles show limited movement of large grains over a few hours during which mean friction speeds are estimated at 0.3–0.4 m s−1. Overall, the correlation between changes and peak Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) winds is moderate, with high wind events associated with changes in some cases, but not in others, suggesting that other factors are also at work. The distribution of REMS 1 Hz wind speeds shows a significant tail up to the current 20 m s−1 calibration limit, indicating that even higher speed winds occur. Nonaeolian triggering mechanisms are also possible. The low activity period at the dunes documented by Curiosity provides clues to processes that dominated in the Martian past under conditions of lower obliquity.
Improvements in Dispersion of Nano-Silver in MgB 2 Matrix through Graphene Oxide Net

The effects of graphene oxide (GO) addition on the dispersion of nano-silver (Ag) in an MgB2 matrix were studied using bulk samples prepared through a diffusion process. The influence of the dispersion of Ag and Ag/GO particles on the critical current density (JC) of MgB2 was also investigated. GO has emerged as an excellent dopant which can significantly improve both lowand highfield performance of MgB2 due to its capability to improve inter-grain connectivity (GO), and interand intra-grain pinning (GO and AgMg). The addition of nano-size Ag particles also results in improvement of vortex pinning, and at the same time, it offers the advantage of preventing the loss of Mg during the sintering process. It is found that dispersion of nano-silver in the presence of GO results in significant improvements to the critical current density in MgB2, particularly at high magnetic fields, due to improved inter-grain connectivity and flux pinning. The use of the GO net as a platform for doping MgB2 in our case with Ag, yielded a 10 times better critical current density (JC) than standard Ag doping at 9 T and 5 K. Even without sophisticated processes, we obtained JC result of 10 A/cm at 9 T and 5 K, which is one of the best ever achieved.
Microbial Profile and Antimicrobial Effect of Donkey Milk against Staphylococcus aureus

In India, donkey milk (DM) is gaining lot of attention for human (children) consumption in view of its medicinal and therapeutic values with special reference to its antimicrobial property. Since ages, donkey milk has been known for its significant medicinal and therapeutic properties (Zhang et al., 2008, Vincenzetti et al., 2008). Some of these properties of DM are in prevention of atherosclerosis (Tafaro et al., 2007), antibacterial (Saric et al., 2012; Tidona et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2008) antiviral (Brumini et al., 2013), antiproliferative and anti-tumor effects (Mao et al., 2009) but majority of its application is by considering it as a alternative to cow/mother milk for children affected with milk allergy. The DM is having higher tolerability, palatability, nutritional adequacy (Iacono et al., 1992; Mansueto et al., 2013; Monti et al., 2007, 2012) Low fat and casein International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 03 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Rock walls: small-scale diversity hotspots in the subtidal Gulf of Maine

The physical orientation of rocky substrate profoundly affects subtidal marine commu- nities of sessile organisms. Anecdotal descriptions of dramatic differences between communities on rock walls and adjacent horizontal rocky bottoms abound in the literature and are common knowl- edge among scuba divers, yet these differences have rarely been quantified by ecologists. We sam- pled rock walls and adjacent horizontal rock bottoms at 8 subtidal sites across the Gulf of Maine. Spe- cies richness and abundance, in percent cover, of sessile invertebrates on vertical walls averaged 4 times higher than that on horizontal platforms, whereas abundance of macroalgae on horizontal rock was about 3 times that on vertical walls. Both macroalgae and sessile invertebrates were less abundant, particularly on horizontal surfaces, at sites with high sea urchin densities. The consistency of sessile invertebrate domination of vertical walls versus macroalgal domination of horizontal rock, combined with previous experimental results, suggests that competition for space between autotro- phic and heterotrophic organisms drives this pattern. The partitioning of autotrophs (macroalgae) and heterotrophs (sessile invertebrates) between horizontal and vertical surfaces respectively implies that topographic heterogeneity plays an important role in the structure, composition and function of rocky subtidal ecosystems.
An Accent-Based Approach to Automatic Rendering of Piano Performance: Preliminary Auditory Evaluation

We are exploring the relationship between accents and expression in piano performance. Accents are local events that attract a listener’s attention and are either evident from the score (immanent) or added by the performer (performed). Immanent accents are associated with grouping (phrasing), metre, melody and harmony. In piano music, performed accents involve changes in timing, dynamics, articulation, and pedalling; they vary in amplitude, form, and duration. We analyzed the first eight bars of Chopin Prelude op. 28 n. 6. In a separate study, music theorists had marked grouping, melodic and harmonic accents on the score and estimated the importance (salience) of each. Here, we mathematically modeled timing and dynamics in the prelude in two ways using Director Musices (DM) – a software package for automatic rendering of expressive performance. The first rendering focused on phrasing following existing and tested procedures in DM. The second focused on accents – timing and dynamics in the vicinity of the accents identified by the theorists. In an informal listening test, 10 out of 12 participants (5 of 6 musicians and 5 of 6 non-musicians) preferred the accent-based formulation, and several stated that it had more variation of timing and dynamics from one phrase to the next.
Dynamic Identification and Monitoring of St. Torcato Church

The paper is related to the San Torcato Church, in Guimarães, Portugal. At the moment, the church has significant structural problems due to soil settlements. Cracks can be observed on the main and the lateral façades, the bell-towers are leaning, and the arches in the nave exhibit a failure mechanism with cracks and vertical deformations. Non-stabilized phenomena are present in the structure. To stabilize the damage, a structural intervention is planned to occur soon and the church is already monitored to follow the intervention. The paper clearly presents the problem with emphasis to the dynamic analysis carried out before the structural strengthening, namely: the experimental tests with output-only techniques for frequencies, damping and mode shapes estimation, FE model updating analysis and dynamic monitoring
Beef animal welfare, attitudes and Willingness to Pay: A regional comparison across the Pyrenees

Attitudes towards beef animal welfare (AW) and Willingness to Pay (WTP) for AW certification are investigated among consumers in two Spanish and two French regions located on both sides of the Pyrenees (n=1213). Attitudes were measured through a scale of 11 animal practices, on which, consumers report their degree of concern and trust on the supply chain compliance. Attitudes significantly differed across regions, especially with respect to those AW practices carried out by farmers, while trust lies behind concerns. Three segments based on individual consumer attitudes are defined by opposing those consumers who are more concerned and who trust more on the compliance with AW standards (n=264, 22%) to those less concerned and who are more uncertain about stakeholders´ compliance with AW rules (n=356, 29%). Consumer location, gender, age and education significantly differed across attitudinal clusters. Results from a contingent valuation survey show that WTP for certified animal friendly beef ranged between 20.6% and 22.6% over the average market price of standard beef, in Spain and France, respectively. Both, consumers’ socio-demographic characteristics and habits regarding beef meat purchasing and attitudes towards farmers influenced this WTP (the more consumers trust in farmers’ involvement in animal welfare, the highest is their WTP), while a negative overall attitude significantly reduced WTP.
Primary Health care in Leprosy , Assessed by Users and Professionals Primary Health Care and leprosy

Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study involved 25 healthcare users with leprosy and 34 professionals (physicians and nurses) working in 13 municipal health units within the urban area of Teresina. The data were collected from January to June, 2017, using the Instrument for Assessing the Performance of Primary Care in Leprosy Control Actions, a document based on the Primary Care Assessment Tool/PCATool Brasil which measures the presence and extension of essential and derived attributes from primary health care.
Optical determination of thick graphene layer number based on surface plasmon resonance

Abstract. An optical method of measuring the number of layers in a graphene sample is formulated and compared with the conventional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) detection scheme, the latter being appropriate only for a very few graphene layers. Numerical results based on transfer-matrix method support that an alternative method, wherein the SPR substrate includes a dielectric overlayer, is feasible over a wide range of graphene layer numbers. While the multilayer graphene may lead to a broad and shallow SPR curve owing to the nonzero imaginary part in its relative permittivity, the dielectric overlayer makes the resonant surface plasmons less affected by graphene, resulting in a strong and deep absorption band at resonance. Linear regression analysis shows that the measurable graphene layer number can be as high as 50.