Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Steady state analysis of an M/D/1 queue with Coxian-2 server vacations and a single vacation policy

We analyze the steady state behavior of an M/D/1 queue with Bernoulli shedules and Coxian-2 server vacations. Customers arrive one by one at the system in a Poisson stream. The service time of a customer is assumed to be deterministic. At each service completion epoch, the server may opt to take a vacation with probability p or else with probability 1-p may continue to be available in the system for the next service. The vacation period of the server is assumed to have a Coxian-2 distribution. We obtain steady state probability generating functions for the queue size and the system size in explicit and closed forms. Some particular cases of interst including known results of the M/D/1 queue have been derived.
Terrestrial ecosystem carbon flux estimated using GOSAT and OCO-2 XCO2 retrievals

Abstract. In this study, both the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) XCO2 retrievals produced by the NASA Atmospheric CO2 Observations from Space (ACOS) project (version b7.3) are assimilated within the GEOS-Chem 4D-Var assimilation framework to constrain the terrestrial ecosystem carbon flux during 1 October 2014 to 31 December 2015. One inversion for the comparison, using in situ CO2 observations, and another inversion as a benchmark for the simulated atmospheric CO2 distributions of the real inversions, using global atmospheric CO2 trends and referred to as the poor-man inversion, are also conducted. The estimated global and regional carbon fluxes for 2015 are shown and discussed. CO2 observations from surface flask sites and XCO2 retrievals from Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) sites are used to evaluate the simulated concentrations with the posterior carbon fluxes. Globally, the terrestrial ecosystem carbon sink (excluding biomass burning emissions) estimated from GOSAT data is stronger than that inferred from OCO-2 data, weaker than the in situ inversion and matches the poor-man inversion the best. Regionally, in most regions, the land sinks inferred from GOSAT data are also stronger than those from OCO-2 data, and in North America, Asia and Europe, the carbon sinks inferred from GOSAT inversion are comparable to those from in situ inversion. For the latitudinal distribution of land sinks, the satellite-based inversions suggest a smaller boreal and tropical sink but larger temperate sinks in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere than the in situ inversion. However, OCO-2 and GOSAT generally do not agree on which continent contains the smaller or larger sinks. Evaluations using flask and TCCON observations and the comparisons with in situ and poor-man inversions suggest that only GOSAT and the in situ inversions perform better than a poor-man solution. GOSAT data can effectively improve the carbon flux estimates in the Northern Hemisphere, while OCO-2 data, with the specific version used in this study, show only slight improvement. The differences of inferred land fluxes between GOSAT and OCO-2 inversions in different regions are mainly related to the spatial coverage, the data amount and the biases of these two satellite XCO2 retrievals.
In vivo approach to myelin turnover and oligodendrocyte-dependent axonal integrity

Deletion of the most abundant protein of CNS myelin, proteolipid protein (PLP) causes type 2 spastic paraplegia (SPG2) in humans, which is characterized by axonal degeneration. The assumption that the primary cause of SPG2 is the lack of PLP from oligodendrocytes has been challenged by studies reporting Plp gene products (official gene name Plp1) also in a subset of neurons. To clarify the cellular origin of SPG2, we established mice with a floxed Plp allele to selectively delete Plp in neurons or oligodendrocytes. Recombination of Plp in excitatory projection neurons did not cause neuropathology, whereas oligodendroglial deletion of Plp caused the complete neurodegenerative spectrum observed in Plpnull/Y mice including axonopathy, gliosis and elevated numbers of T cells in the brain and thus provide a novel model of SPG2. We conclude that the primary cause of SPG2 is the lack of PLP in oligodendrocytes. To better understand the interplay of PLP-deficient oligodendrocytes, axons and T cells, we analyzed the emergence of neuropathological events upon Plp-deletion over time in tamoxifen-inducible Plp knockout mice. Importantly, axonal spheroids were observed prior to elevated numbers of T cells, implying that axonopathy occurs independent from T cells in this model, at least initially. Together, by analyzing novel mouse models of SPG2 this work provides relevant information about the cellular neuropathology caused by PLP-deficiency.
ECOTOXICITY OF FOAMING AGENT CONDITIONED SOILS TESTED ON TWO TERRESTRIAL ORGANISMS

Huge amounts of soil debris are produced during the underground excavation with Earth Pressure Balance-Tunnel Boring Machines (EPB-TBM). Soil debris may contain residual concentrations of the anionic surfactant sodium lauryl ether sulphate (SLES), the main component in some foaming agents used as excavation additives. The reuse of this debris or its discharge as waste is a critical environmental question in construction engineering. There are only few studies on ecotoxicological effects on soil debris coming from a real excavation site. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ecotoxicity of two deep soils, with different lithological compositions, conditioned with three foaming agents. In some cases, lime was added to the soil. The soils were placed in mesocosms (1 m3) to simulate the temporary storage of the soil debris at a construction site. At fixed times, soil sub-samples were collected and ecotoxicological tests on terrestrial organisms (Lepidium sativum, Eisenia foetida) and an assessment of SLES concentration were performed with soils and aqueous elutriates produced from them. Results showed that at day 28, a SLES reduction was observed in both the soil and aqueous elutriates, with various rates of decrease. The differences were due to different soil lithological compositions and foaming agent products composition. In general, the two soils were not suitable for both plant growth and earthworm reproduction, but in Soil 1 the earthworm mortality was very low, except when lime was added. Tests with soil elutriates showed that 7 days after conditioning no toxic effect was found for the organisms tested.
Multi-environment Manifestation of Heterosis for Morphological and Quality Traits in Maize (Zea mays L.)

An investigation was carried out with 10 parents, their 45 hybrids mated in half-diallel fashion and 4 checks in RBD for estimation of heterosis in two environment (Kharif, 2014 and Rabi, 2014-15) at the Instructional farm, RCA, MPUAT, Udaipur, India. The average productivity of maize in USA is 11.07 MT ha-1 while, in India it is only 3.02 MT ha-1 during 2018-19. We lag far behind USA and are still not able to harness the optimum yield potential in maize that could partly be addressed by evolving hybrid maize cultivar. The present study aims to is identify heterotic hybrids that could yield stably with better grain quality over a range of environments. Environment wise Analysis of variance revealed that mean squares due to genotypes were significant for all the traits in both the environments. Partitioning of total genotypic variance indicated significant contribution of parents for all the traits. Mean squares due to crosses were significant for all the traits under study except for days to 50% tasseling. Mean squares due to parents vs. crosses were significant for all the traits except for days to 75% brown husk. Bartlett test showed homogeneity of error variance only for one trait i.e. grain oil content. The pooled analysis for grain oil content revealed significant differences between the environments. The mean squares due to genotypes including parents, crosses and parents vs. crosses were also significant. Significance of GE interaction for oil content indicates the influence of environments on the expression of this trait. The partitioning of GE interaction into those that by parents×environment and crosses×environment interaction were also significant. Two hybrids in E1, viz., P3×P6 and P2×P4 has shown significant negative economic heterosis for days to 50% tasseling, days to 50% silking and days to 75% brown husk. None of the hybrids has shown significant negative economic heterosis for these traits in E2 environment. The hybrid P3×P5 exhibited maximum positive economic heterosis (6.71%) for grain oil content over the best check HQPM-5 on pooled basis. The hybrid P5×P7 (2.78%) in E1 and P5×P10 (2.58%) in E2 exhibited maximum positive economic heterosis for grain starch content over the best check HQPM-1. The maximum positive economic heterosis for grain protein content was exhibited by hybrid P5×P8 (4.14 %) in E1 and by P3×P5 (2.49%) in E2 over the best check HQPM-5.
Epigenomic analysis of Parkinson’s disease neurons identifies Tet2 loss as neuroprotective

PD pathogenesis may involve the epigenetic control of enhancers that modify neuronal functions. Here, we comprehensively profile DNA methylation at enhancers, genome-wide, in neurons of 57 PD patients and 48 control individuals. We found a widespread increase in cytosine modifications at enhancers in PD neurons, which is partly explained by elevated hydroxymethylation levels. Epigenetic dysregulation of enhancers in PD converge on transcriptional abnormalities affecting neuronal signaling and immune activation pathways. In particular, PD patients exhibit an epigenetic and transcriptional upregulation of TET2, a master-regulator of cytosine modification status. TET2 inactivation in a neuronal cell line results in cytosine modification changes that are reciprocal to those observed in PD neurons. Furthermore, Tet2 inactivation in mice fully prevents dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra induced by prior inflammation. Tet2 loss in mice also attenuates transcriptional immune responses to an inflammatory trigger. Thus, widespread epigenetic dysregulation of enhancers in PD neurons may, in part, be mediated by increased TET2 expression. Decreased Tet2 activity is neuroprotective, in vivo, and may be a novel therapeutic target for PD.
Functional Demonstration of a Memristive Arithmetic Logic Unit (MemALU) for In‐Memory Computing

The development of in‐memory computing has opened up possibilities to build next‐generation non‐von‐Neumann computing architecture. Implementation of logic functions within the memristors can significantly improve the energy efficiency and alleviate the bandwidth congestion issue. In this work, the demonstration of arithmetic logic unit functions is presented in a memristive crossbar with implemented non‐volatile Boolean logic and arithmetic computing. For logic implementation, a standard operating voltage mode is proposed for executing reconfigurable stateful IMP, destructive OR, NOR, and non‐destructive OR logic on both the word and bit lines. No additional voltages are needed beyond “VP” and its negative component. With these basic logic functions, other Boolean functions are constructed within five devices in at most five steps. For arithmetic computing, the fundamental functions including an n‐bit full adder with high parallelism as well as efficient increment, decrement, and shift operations are demonstrated. Other arithmetic blocks, such as subtraction, multiplication, and division are further designed. This work provides solid evidence that memristors can be used as the building block for in‐memory computing, targeting various low‐power edge computing applications.
Response of Rhizobium-Faba Bean Symbiosis System to Rhizobacterial Inoculation and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi under Graded Levels of Natural Rock Phosphate in Sandy Soil

Two field trials were conducted during two winter growing seasons of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, using drip irrigation system. The target of this study was to evaluate the response of Rhizobium-faba bean symbiosis system to rhizobacterial inoculation (Serratia marcescens and Bacillus megaterium) and AM-fungi under graded levels of natural rock phosphate (15,30 and 45 kg P2O5/fed). The experimental design was arranged in a completely randomized block design with four replicates. The number and dry weight of nodules, N2-ase activity, plant height, dry weight of shoot and their contents of N, P and K ,the number of pods plant -1 and the number of seeds podas well as 100-seed weight, the biological yield, seed yield and seed crude protein percentage were evaluated. The study was also concerned with the impacts of such microbial inocula and rock phosphate on dehydrogenase and phosphatase activities in soil rhizosphere. The obtained results elicited that the uninoculated plants were poorly nodulated. While, inoculating faba bean seeds with efficient Rhizobium exerted great improvement in nodulation status and N2-ase activity. The microbiological properties of rhizosphere soil, which expressed by dehydrogenase enzyme activity and the activity of phosphatases displayed higher response to applied biofertilizers. In fact, the splendid effect was observed with the use of inoculation approach (mixture of Rhizobium, Serratia, Bacillus and AM-fungi), which caused promotive impression in nodulation, the activity of rhizosphere soil enzymes, plant growth aspects and all faba bean yield charactersin relative to other combinations or plants inoculated with Rhizobium only. Irrespective of inoculation, there is an increase in nodulation status, all vegetative growth characters, the activity of rhizosphere soil enzymes and faba bean yield with increasing natural rock-phosphate rate from 60 to 180 kg/fed(15 to 45 kg P2O5/fed). Hence, data confirmed the superiority of treatment comprising (Rhizobium conjugated mixture of PGPR's and AM-fungi)in combination with 30 or 45 kg P2O5/fed, which surpassed the other tested combinations and caused a significant augmentation in all studied faba bean parameters. While, inoculation with Rhizobium combined with PGPRs or AM-fungi and fertilized with 45 kg P2O5/fed came in the second rank. Obtained findings displayed a considerable evidence that inoculation of faba bean seeds with Rhizobium combined with a mixture of rhizobacteria may revealing a good practice for improving faba bean growth and yield characters and leading to healthier food, particularly when this practice supported by effective AM-fungi and natural rock phosphate (30 kg P2O5/fed).
EVALUATION OF BIODEGRADABILITY OF POLYLACTIC ACID FILMS IN THE SOIL

A pot experiment was carried out at Agriculture Faculty, Benha University, Qalubia Governorate, Egypt, during April to August in 2014 to evaluate biodegradability of two types of biodegradable plastic films produced from polylactic acid (Bi-OPL ® and Ecovio ® ) compared with nondegradable one produced from polyethylene that incubated in the soil for five months. As well as, the effects of degradation compounds on microbial activity were debated. The obtained data revealed increasing amount of evolved carbon dioxide, microbial biomass and dehydrogenase activity from the soil amended with degradable plastic by increasing incubation period. There are significantly increase in the previous parameters in the soil amended with degradable plastic compared with nondegradable one. Bi-OPL ® films that is produced from pure polylactic acid has higher weight loss and lower tensile strength compared with Ecovio ® which consists of 45% polylactic acid (PLA) and 55% Ecoflex. While, polyethylene films have slight decrease in weight during incubation periods. It worthy to reported that increasing weight loss values and decreasing tensile strength values of degradable plastic films were related to the higher values of CO2 evolution, microbial biomass and dehydrogenase activity. Accordingly, it may be depended on the previous parameters to evaluate biodegradability of PLA.
The Design and Optimization of Database

Database technology is one of the fastest technical fields in the process of computer development. Its popularity has affected all aspects of people’s lives, and it is the core of the management information system. This paper discusses and studies all the important aspects of database system optimization, including the importance of the third normal form (3NF) in table design, the design of extended database tables, the design of database table storage problems, and so on. At the same time, various techniques for optimizing database are put forward.
VOLATILE COMPOUNDS OF QURANI PLANTS’ MIXTURE; A NEW PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCT

Objective: QURANI plants’ mixture is a new pharmaceutical product composed of some edible and medicinal plants (15 plants) mentioned in the Holy Quran (in a certain percentage, according to that is mentioned in Patent no. 1429/2013, presented to the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt in 11/9/2013). The main aim of this work is to determine valuable volatile compounds in the ether extract of QURANI plants’ mixture. Methods: GC analysis of ether extract of QURANI plants’ mixture were carried out in this work. Results: Results of GC analysis of ether extract of QURANI plants’ mixture revealed that, it contained 37 volatile compounds. The most dominant compound in this extract is 2-Ethoxy-3-chlorobutane; Area % is 27.07, this compound is followed by 5-methyl-5-vinyl-1,3-cyclopentadiene; Area % is 16.71. This extract contained also many other important compounds such as: D-Limonene and 2-a-Pinene; Area percentages are 4.72 and 1.38, respectively. Octadecane, 1-chloro - (CAS) and 2-Undecanol (CAS) were found to be the least available compounds in this extract; Area % is 0.45 in case of these two compounds. Conclusion: Ether extract of QURANI plants’ mixture can be considered as a rich source of many valuable volatile compounds.
Genetic meta‐analysis of obsessive–compulsive disorder and self‐report compulsive symptoms

We investigated whether obsessive compulsive (OC) symptoms from a population-based sample could be analyzed to detect genetic variants influencing OCD. We performed a GWAS on the obsession (rumination and impulsions) and compulsion (checking, washing, and ordering/precision) subscales of an abbreviated version of the Padua Inventory (N=8267 with genome-wide genotyping and phenotyping). The compulsion subscale showed a substantial and significant positive genetic correlation with an OCD case-control GWAS (rG=0.61, p=0.017) previously published by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC-OCD). The obsession subscale and the total Padua score showed no significant genetic correlations (rG=–0.02 and rG=0.42, respectively). A meta-analysis of the compulsive symptoms GWAS with the PGC-OCD revealed no genome-wide significant SNPs (combined N=17992, indicating that the power is still low for individual SNP effects). A gene-based association analysis, however, yielded two novel genes (WDR7 and ADCK1). The top 250 genes in the gene-based test also showed significant increase in enrichment for psychiatric and brain-expressed genes. S-Predixcan testing showed that for genes expressed in hippocampus, amygdala, and caudate nucleus significance increased in the meta-analysis with compulsive symptoms compared to the original PGC-OCD GWAS. Thus, inclusion of dimensional symptom data in genome-wide association on clinical case-control GWAS of OCD may be useful to find genes for OCD if the data are based on quantitative indices of compulsive behavior. SNP-level power increases were limited, but aggregate, gene-level analyses showed increased enrichment for brain-expressed genes related to psychiatric disorders, and increased association with gene-expression in brain tissues with known emotional, reward processing, memory, and fear-formation functions.
Mycelial and hyphal interactions in holocoenocytic Basidiomycotina

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Second Language Collocation Acquisition: Challenges for Learners and Pedagogical Insights from Empirical Research

Recent years have seen an increase in theoretical discussions and empirical research on second language (L2) collocation acquisition (e.g., Boers & Lindstromberg, 2012; Webb, Newton, & Chang, 2013; Wolter & Gyllstad, 2013). This increase reflects the expansion of work adopting usage-based approaches to language acquisition, which argue for the central role of multi-word units and statistical information in input, such as frequency of lexical co-occurrence, in L2 acquisition (Ellis, 2011, 2013; Ortega, 2013). The increase also follows from the growth of work in corpus linguistics (e.g., Gries, 2010) and the observation that an appropriate use of collocations indicates proficient L2 production (e.g., Pawley & Syder, 1983). In this paper, I first discuss specific definitions of the term collocations, which is sometimes vaguely defined in L2 research. This discussion is followed by a summary of theoretical issues and empirical evidence pertaining to the nature of and challenges in L2 collocation acquisition (e.g., Ellis, 2011, 2013; Wray, 2002). In addition, drawing on pedagogically–oriented empirical studies to date, I offer research-based insights as to how classroom instruction may facilitate L2 collocation acquisition. Limitations in existing studies and future research directions are then briefly discussed.
Poly(glycerol sebacate) nanoparticles for ocular delivery of sunitinib: physicochemical, cytotoxic and allergic studies.

Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) is a new biodegradable polymer with good biocompatibility used in many fields of biomedicine and drug delivery. Sunitinib-loaded PGS/gelatine nanoparticles were prepared by the de-solvation method for retinal delivery and treatment of diabetic retinopathy. The nanoparticles were characterised by Fourier-transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry. The effects of different formulation variables including drug-to-carrier ratio, gelatine-to-PGS ratio, and glycerine-to-sebacate ratio were assessed on the encapsulation efficiency (EE%), particle size, release efficiency (RE), and zeta potential of the nanoparticles. The in vitro cytotoxicity of PGS/gelatine nanoparticles was studied on L929 cells. Draize test on rabbit eyes was also done to investigate the possible allergic reactions caused by the polymer. Glycerine/sebacic acid was the most effective parameter on the EE and RE. Gelatine-to-PGS ratio had the most considerable effect on the particle size while the RE was more affected by the glycerine/sebacic acid ratio. The optimised formulation (S1G0.7D21.2) exhibited a particle size of 282 nm, 34.6% EE, zeta potential of -8.9 mV, and RE% of about 27.3% for drug over 228 h. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthuazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay indicated PGS/gelatine nanoparticles were not cytotoxic and sunitinib-loaded nanoparticles were not toxic at concentrations <36 nM.