Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diversity of Endophytic Fungi Isolated from Pinus densiflora and Juniperus rigida Distributed in Mt. Baekryeonsan and Mt. Johangsan, Korea

We investigated the biodiversity of endophytic fungi in Pinus densiflora and Junipreus rigida from Mt. Baekryeonsan and Mt. Johangsan in Korea. In total, 59 isolates were discovered from 26 host plants and identified using sequences from the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Twenty taxa of endophytic fungi were identified in this study; 62% of isolates belonged to Leotiomycetes, 34% belonged to Sordariomyetes, and 4% belonged to Agaricomycetes. Results confirmed three previously unreported endophytic fungi in Korea: Phanerochaete concrescens, Creosphaeria sassafras, and Scopuloides rimosa. Community analysis showed that the fungal diversity patterns of the samples from Mt Baekryeonsan and Mt. Johangsan are similar to those from previous studies and varied depending upon host and locality.
VCAM-directed Immunoliposomes Loaded with Vascular–Disrupting Agents for Selective Targeting and Occlusion of the Tumor Vasculature - As a Novel Therapeutic Strategy

Targeting the tumor vasculature and selectively modifying endothelial functions with agents that exert their action on the tumor endothelial cells instead of the tumor cells themselves, is an attractive anti-tumor strategy. Polyethylenglycol modified immunoliposomes (IL) directed against vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM), a surface receptor over-expressed on tumor vessels, were prepared and investigated the liposomal targetability in vitro and in vivo. The vascular destructing agents, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) and the TNFinducing drug, DMXAA, are known to selectively target the tumor endothelium and induce a pro-coagulative state, which leads to a collapse of the tumor vasculature. The hypothesis that TNFand DMXAA modulate the coagulative state of the endothelium through the up-regulation of tissue factor (TF) was investigated in vitro. VCAM-targeted and non-targeted liposomes loaded with either TNFor DMXAA were formulated and upon administration tumor growth delay was investigated in vivo. In vitro, VCAM antibodies conjugated to PEGylated liposomes through the cyanur anchor displayed specific binding to activated endothelial cells under static conditions, as well as under simulated blood flow conditions. The in vivo targeting of IL was analyzed in mice bearing human Colo 677 tumor xenografts 30 min and 24 h post i.v. injection. Whereas biodistribution studies using [ H]-labeled liposomes displayed only marginal higher tumor accumulation of VCAM targeted vs. unspecific ILs; fluorescence microscopy evaluation revealed that their localization within tumors differed strongly. VCAM targeted ILs accumulated in tumor vessels with increasing intensities from 30 min to 24 h, while control ILs accumulated in the tumor tissue by passive diffusion. TNFand DMXAA displayed a direct cytotoxic effect on the murine endothelial cells, and induced an 3-fold up-regulation of TF expression and activity after 6 and 12 hours in vitro. TNFand DMXAA were encapsulated into PEGylated liposomes with reasonable encapsulation efficiencies of 33 % and 18 %, respectively. Treatment of mice bearing human Colo 677 xenografts with VCAM-targeted liposomes loaded with TNFor DMXAA delayed the tumor growth compared to mice treated with non-targeted TNFliposomes and non-treated mice. The mechanism behind the tumor growth delay was investigated using TNFELISA, TUNEL assay and TF immunohistochemistry, but did not add to the understanding of the mechanism behind the tumor growth delay. However, in a pilot experiment, tumors from mice treated with VCAMtargeted TNFliposomes displayed an increased TF expression after 24 and 72 hours, indicating that the mechanism behind the targeted TNFliposomes might be the induction of TF. This is the first morphological evidence for selective in vivo targeting of tumor vessels using ILs and the first study to show that VCAM-targeted TNFloaded liposomes have an antitumor effect in a human xenograft model.
The influence of iron substitution on the magnetic properties of hausmannite, Mn2+(Fe,Mn)3+2O4

Abstract The occurrence of hausmannite with an apparent Curie temperature close to 750 K, instead of 41.8 K was recently described from hydrothermally altered manganese ore from the Kalahari manganese field, South Africa. The unusual magnetic properties were related to the substitution of Fe3+ for Mn in the hausmannite structure. Because of the large differences in the scattering lengths of Fe and Mn, bFe = 9.94 and bMn = -3.73 fm, respectively, we performed neutron powder diffraction experiments at 295 and 10 K on natural mineral separates and synthetic compounds to determine the influence of the Fe substitution on the crystal structure and the magnetic properties of the hausmannite. Riet- veld refinements of synthetic Fe-rich hausmannite neutron powder diffraction patterns at 295, 60, and 10 K indicate some significant and interesting changes of magnetic properties and crystal structure of hausmannite, which are directly linked to an increasing amount of iron substituting for manganese. The unit-cell parameters of Mn3-xFexO4, in particular, illustrate decreasing Jahn-Teller distortion with increasing Fe content, whereas the Curie temperature was found to increase significantly with increasing Fe content. Nevertheless, this study indicates that the presence of Fe-rich hausmannite causes the unusual high-temperature ferrimagnetic behavior in the Kalahari manganese field.
Why Do we Sabotage Love? A Thematic Analysis of Lived Experiences of Relationship Breakdown and Maintenance

Abstract Although many individuals are searching for love, failure can often be the expected outcome. A previous study investigated self-sabotage in romantic relationships and explored how psychologists in practice understand this phenomenon. A repertoire of self-sabotaging behaviors was identified by practitioners, with possible reasons as to why this occurs. The present study was the first to empirically explore self-sabotage in romantic relationships by gathering qualitative evidence from a diverse sample of 696 individuals. Participants’ lived experiences detailed motivations and strategies to self-sabotage romantic engagements. However, participants’ experiences have also helped inform essential steps toward breaking the cycle of self-sabotage.
A proposal for minimum reusability evaluation of design principles

ABSTRACT Many Design Science Research (DSR) papers in Information Systems (IS) suggest sets of design principles (DPs) that provide knowledge for creating instances, in different contexts, of IT artefacts that belong to the same class. However, despite frameworks for evaluating DSR contributions, the evaluation of DP reusability to, with and for practitioners has been largely neglected. We suggest that in order to maintain the practical relevance of DSR, papers with DPs as their key outcomes should contain a reusability evaluation of the proposed principles. We propose a framework of minimum reusability evaluation of DPs by members of the target community of practitioners. The framework comprises five criteria: (1) accessibility, (2) importance, (3) novelty and insightfulness, (4) actability and guidance, and (5) effectiveness.
The Influence of Social Media Marketing on Consumers’ Purchase Decision: Investigating the Effects of Local and Nonlocal Brands

Abstract Growing usage of social media has provided marketers a better space to engage with customers. However, research examining effects of social media marketing from the perspective of branding, has been relatively unexplored. Further, few researches on international branding have investigated the influence of brand’s localness/non-localness on consumer-brand relationships. The purpose of this paper is to increase an understanding of the antecedents of social media marketing and their effects on purchase intention, as well as the moderating influence of local and nonlocal brands on these relationships. Data were collected online from 343 social media users in Saudi Arabia. The research model was empirically tested using structural equation modeling. The findings support most of the proposed direct and moderating effects. Brand trust, brand community, brand awareness and interaction were found to influence purchase intention. Brand origin had a moderating effect in the relationships between brand trust and interaction with purchase intention. The proposed framework contributes to social media marketing and branding research by integrating the contingent effect of brand localness and non-localness. Detailed discussion of the theoretical and practical implications concludes the paper.
Africa’s heterogeneous middle class: A 10-city study of consumer lifestyle indicators

Income and living standards measures have long been used in market research and marketing in Africa. This study examined a set of lifestyle indicators (both belongings and behaviors) to determine their success in profiling middle-class consumers in sub-Saharan Africa. The African middle class exhibits robust growth and the definition of the lifestyle of these consumers is a major topic for debate between researchers and marketing organizations. Existing absolute monetary definitions do not adequately provide insights into the true nature of middle-class consumer behavior in sub-Saharan Africa. Similarly, current living standards measures are very focused on capturing consumer durables but do not consider other daily lifestyle factors. By analyzing six key lifestyle indicators (housing, income and expenditure, education, employment, mobile and internet penetration, and health care), middle-class lifestyle was assessed in 10 cities across sub-Saharan Africa. The research used a multi-method approach by designing a structured questionnaire that was completed by a probability sample of 6,465 participants from the sample cities. The study found large lifestyle differences between cities and that no single lifestyle indicator could be applied to all middle-class consumers across the cities. The implications of these findings relate directly to understanding broad middle-class consumer behavior. Specifically, international businesses targeting middle-class growth in Africa must consider both the similarities and differences between countries when proposing strategies to successfully engage middle-class consumers in sub-Saharan Africa.
Development and use of lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with influenza B haemagglutinins: application to vaccine immunogenicity, mAb potency and sero-surveillance studies

Influenza B viruses cause respiratory disease epidemics in human populations and are included in seasonal influenza vaccines. Serological methods are employed to evaluate vaccine immunogenicity prior to licensure. However, the haemagglutination inhibition assay, which represents the gold standard for assessing the immunogenicity of influenza vaccines, has been shown to be relatively insensitive for the detection of antibodies against influenza B viruses. Furthermore, this assay, and the serial radial haemolysis assay are not able to detect stalk-directed cross-reactive antibodies. For these reasons there is a need to develop new assays that can overcome these limitations. The use of replication-defective viruses, such as lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with influenza A haemagglutinins, in microneutralization assays is a safe and sensitive alternative to study antibody responses elicited by natural infection or vaccination. We have produced Influenza B haemagglutinin-pseudotypes using plasmid-directed transfection. To activate influenza B haemagglutinin, we have explored the use of proteases by adding relevant encoding plasmids to the transfection mixture. When tested for their ability to transduce target cells, the newly produced influenza B pseudotypes exhibit tropism for different cell lines. Subsequently the pseudotypes were evaluated as surrogate antigens in microneutralization assays using reference sera, monoclonal antibodies, human sera collected during a vaccine immunogenicity study and surveillance sera from seals. The influenza B pseudotype virus neutralization assay was found to effectively detect neutralizing and cross-reactive responses despite lack of significant correlation with the haemagglutinin inhibition assay.
Further Important Characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgA Antibody Response, Potentially Influencing Clinical Outcome: Immediate Antibody Degression and Dependency on Sex

Background: For future progress on controlling the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, an effective vaccine and/or herd immunity would be important goals. Both require a robust humoral immune response to raise sufficiently high titers of antibodies. Methods: We repeatedly measured anti-nucleocapsid IgG and anti-spike IgG and IgA antibodies in 159 COVID-19 patients during a time course of two to ten weeks after PCR proven SARS-CoV-2 infection, reporting here in weekly intervals. Findings: IgG were detected in in 93·5% to 95·4% of the patients at the peak of the antibody concentrations at week five after positive PCR. Thereafter, an immediate decline occurred in both IgG antibody types and became statistically significant by week eight (all p <0·012). The extent of the antibody response is associated to sex, with significantly higher concentrations observed in male patients (all p<0·0095). IgA showed a potential second wave after week eight, predominantly in men, which requires further clarification. Interpretation: (Non-)control of the SARS-CoV-2 infection may depend on mechanisms beyond humoral response. The IgG decline immediately after reaching peak concentrations at week five is reason of concern, as an effective vaccine and/or herd immunity depend on a robust humoral response. The increased antibody concentrations observed in men might help to explain the worse clinical outcome in male COVID patients, e.g. through an increased inflammatory response. Funding Statement: Center for Laboratory Medicine St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen Declaration of Interests: No competing interests are reported. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was registered with and approved by the regional ethics committee (ID2020-00941) and is registered in the Swissethics COVID 19 database (https://swissethics.ch/covid 19/approved-projects).
Effect of cold and frozen temperatures on artisanal goat cheese containing probiotic lactic acid bacteria isolates (Lactobacillus plantarum TW14 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus TW2)

Aim: The research was conducted to determine the effect of temperature and storage duration on the physicochemical, lipolytic, microbiological, and proteolytic characteristics of goat cheese made using Lactobacillus plantarum TW14 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus TW2 bacteria. Materials and Methods: The cheese was stored at 4°C and −20°C for 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 days. Observations were made on its physicochemical, lipolysis, and microbiological characteristics. The proteolysis pattern was measured with sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results: The protein, fat, ash and total solids levels of cold-stored cheese were higher than the frozen-stored one. The frozen-stored cheese’s free fatty acids (FFA) and acid degree value (ADV) levels are lower than those of the cold-stored cheese as indicated by the partial lipolysis event. The total yeast in the frozen-stored cheese is lower than that in the frozen-stored cheese. Finally, the electrophoresis profile indicates that proteolysis of the frozen-stored cheese is formed since there have been detected αs1-casein, αs2-casein, β-casein, and κ-casein in the casein breakdown during the 60-day storage. Conclusion: The physicochemical characteristics of cold-stored cheese are better than the cheese stored at frozen temperature. However, frozen-stored cheese produces lower FFA and ADV than cold-stored cheese and lipolysis occurs only partially.
Development of Module Linear Program Based Problem Solving Assisted QSB Application

The purpose of this study is to obtain a linear program module based on problem solving with the help of QSB applications that meet the valid, effective and practical criteria. Type of research is a method of research and development (Research and Development) with the design model of ADDIE (Analyze, Designed, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). The subjects of the study were Grade X students of SMK I Tanah Miring Merauke Regency, Papua Province. Module trials are carried out with stages of expert trials, legibility testing, and field trials. Experienced trials and legibility testing used a questionnaire, while field trials used the experimental one group pretest post-test design. The research instruments used were validation sheets, practical sheets, and learning achievement test sheets. The steps in this development are researching and gathering information, selecting and developing teaching materials, initial trials, revisions, main trials, and final product revisions. Product validation was validated by experts using a validation sheet. The practicality of the product is assessed by the product user, that is, the student who gets the treatment. The effectiveness of the product was tested using inferential statistical tests by looking at differences in the percentage of students' mastery learning from this cores pre-test and post-test. The results obtained by the results of validation in the category of very valid average score of student response questionnaire was 3.66 in the practical category and the percentage of percentage post-test of students 70.9% of students completed so it can be said to be effective.
Ranking Information Extracted from Uncertainty Quantification of the Prediction of a Deep Learning Model on Medical Time Series Data

Uncertainty quantification in deep learning models is especially important for the medical applications of this complex and successful type of neural architectures. One popular technique is Monte Carlo dropout that gives a sample output for a record, which can be measured statistically in terms of average probability and variance for each diagnostic class of the problem. The current paper puts forward a convolutional–long short-term memory network model with a Monte Carlo dropout layer for obtaining information regarding the model uncertainty for saccadic records of all patients. These are next used in assessing the uncertainty of the learning model at the higher level of sets of multiple records (i.e., registers) that are gathered for one patient case by the examining physician towards an accurate diagnosis. Means and standard deviations are additionally calculated for the Monte Carlo uncertainty estimates of groups of predictions. These serve as a new collection where a random forest model can perform both classification and ranking of variable importance. The approach is validated on a real-world problem of classifying electrooculography time series for an early detection of spinocerebellar ataxia 2 and reaches an accuracy of 88.59% in distinguishing between the three classes of patients.
Individual differences in analytical thinking and complexity of inference in conditional reasoning

Abstract An outstanding question for Hybrid dual process models of reasoning is whether both basic (e.g., modus ponens - MP) and more complex (e.g., modus tollens - MT) forms of conditional inference result from intuitive, type 1 processes. The present study considers whether a proclivity, ability, or capacity to engage in analytical (type 2) thinking might be more closely related to performance on MT than to performance on MP. Such a finding would suggest that the extent to which MT is intuitive for an individual is a function of analytical thinking level and that, in general, MT is not as intuitive an inference form as MP. The present study tested this prediction by way of a conditional reasoning task on which instructional set (belief or logic), congruency, and complexity of inference were manipulated. While results varied somewhat across experiments, it was generally the case that differences in performance between low and high levels of analytical thinking proclivity (AOT), ability (CRT), and capacity (Working Memory Span) were greater for MT problems than for MP problems suggesting that these inference forms may not be equally intuitive.
Action Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets of Renal Fibrosis

Renal fibrosis was a chronic and progressive process affecting kidneys in chronic kidney disease (CKD), regardless of cause. Although no effective targeted therapy yet existed to retard renal fibrosis, a number of important recent advances have highlighted the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the renal fibrosis. The advances including TGF-β/Smad pathway, oxidative stress and inflammation, hypoxia and gut microbiota-derived from uremic solutes were highlighted that could provide therapeutic targets. New therapeutic targets and strategies that are particularly promising for development of new treatments for patients with CKD were also highlighted.
Enantioselective Transesterification of Allyl Alcohols with (E)-4-Arylbut-3-en-2-ol Motif by Immobilized Lecitase™ Ultra

Lecitase™ Ultra was immobilized on four different supports and tested for the first time as the biocatalyst in the kinetic resolution of racemic allyl alcohols with the (E)-4-arylbut-3-en-2-ol system in the process of transesterification. The most effective biocatalyst turned out to be the enzyme immobilized on agarose activated with cyanogen bromide (LU-CNBr). The best results (E > 200, ees and eep = 95–99%) were obtained for (E)-4-phenylbut-3-en-2-ol and its analog with a 2,5-dimethylphenyl ring whereas the lowest ee of kinetic resolution products (90%) was achieved for the substrate with a 4-methoxyphenyl substituent. For all substrates, (R)-enantiomers were esterified faster than their (S)-antipodes. The results showed that LU-CNBr is a versatile biocatalyst, showing high activity and enantioselectivity in a wide range of organic solvents in the presence of commonly used acyl donors. High operational stability of LU-CNBr allows it to be reused in three subsequent reaction cycles without negative effects on the efficiency and enantioselectivity of transesterification. This biocatalyst can become attractive to the commercial lipases in the process of the kinetic resolution of allyl alcohols.
Effect of Vacuum Packaging and Natural Ingredients on the Physical and Microbiological Properties of Fresh Oregano ( Origanum syriacum ) Products

Fresh oregano (Origanum syriacum L.) is considered one of the most commonly used aromatic herbs in the Mediterranean diet. This study aimed to evaluate the possibility to extend the shelf life of fresh oregano leaves by employing vacuum packaging and natural ingredients. In this study, 132 samples of fresh oregano have been prepared in vacuum packs and divided into four treatments (n=33/treatments). The oregano recipes treatments were labeled as A (Only fresh oregano leaves 100%, Control), B (fresh oregano 63.2%, fresh onion 15%, olive oil 20%, NaCl 1.8%), C (fresh oregano 61.91%, fresh onion 15%, olive oil 20%, NaCl 1.8%, sumac powder 1.29%), and D (Fresh oregano 59.2%, 15% Fresh onion, 20% oil, 1.8% salt, 4% lactic Acid, ultimate pH 4.4). The potential growth of Clostridium botulinum by using Clostridium sporogenes DSM795 as a surrogate microbe has been assessed. Moreover, color attributes (L*, a*, b*), microbiological counts (aerobic, anaerobic, and psychrotrophic as well as yeast and molds), and pH- values have been evaluated during the storage period (42 days). Both spot and spreading agar journey methods showed that groups B and D could be resisted the growth of Clostridium sporogenes DSM 795. It was found that lactic acid was the most effective ingredient against aerobic, anaerobic, and psychrotrophic bacteria if compared to sumac and onion. On another hand, Group C showed significantly (pL* and b*-values if compared with other groups. In conclusion, the addition of lactic acid (group D) was the most effective antimicrobial agent in comparison with other ingredients. In addition, lactic acid enhanced the safety of the product by inhibition of the growth of Clostridium sporogenes DSM 795.