Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and Characterization of a Fluidic Device for the Evaluation of SIS-Based Vascular Grafts

Currently available small diameter vascular conduits present several long-term limitations, which has prevented their full clinical implementation. Commercially available vascular grafts show no regenerative capabilities and eventually require surgical replacement; therefore, it is of great interest to develop alternative regenerative vascular grafts (RVG). Decellularized Small Intestinal Submucosa (SIS) is an attractive material for RVG, however, the evaluation of the performance of these grafts is challenging due to the absence of devices that mimic the conditions found in vivo. Thereby, the objective of this study is to design, manufacture and validate in silico and in vitro, a novel fluidic system for the evaluation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) proliferation on SIS-based RVG under dynamical conditions. Our perfusion and rotational fluidic system was designed in Autodesk Inventor 2018. In silico Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) validation of the system was carried out using Ansys Fluent software from ANSYS, Inc for dynamical conditions of a pulsatile pressure function measured experimentally over a rigid wall model. Mechanical and biological parameters such as flow regime, pressure gradient, wall shear stress (WSS), sterility and indirect cell viability (MTT assay) were also evaluated. Cell adhesion was confirmed by SEM imaging. The fluid flow regime within the system remains laminar. The system maintained sterility and showed low cytotoxicity levels. HUVECs were successfully cultured on SIS-based RVG under both perfusion and rotation conditions. In silico analysis agreed well with our experimental and theoretical results, and with recent in vitro and in vivo reports for WSS. The system presented is a tool for evaluating RVG and represents an alternative to develop new methods and protocols for a more comprehensive study of regenerative cardiovascular devices.
Production of Free Conjugated Linoleic Acid by Fermentation Performed Using Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium bifidum

2 Abstract: This study investigated the potential factors affecting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) production by 24 candidate probiotic Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains. Strains were cultured in de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) medium, MRS with cysteine hydrochloride, or skim milk with 1% hydrolyzed soybean oil (SO) at 37°C for 24h. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of CLA were performed by UV spectrometry and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, respectively. Of the strains examined, 10 were CLA producers, with two strains each of B. bifidum and L. casei producing the highest amounts of CLA in skim milk, ranging from 80-90 and 125-153 µg CLA/g lipid, respectively. CLA isomers produced by the two species were qualified as C18:2 cis-9,trans-11 and C18:2 trans-10, cis-12, respectively. B.bifidum was characterized as a C18:3 conjugated linolenic acid producer. CLA production was significantly affected by 1.5%SO, while extending the fermentation time was detrimental. Characterization of the CLA-producing potential of these strains can be applied by the dairy industry to the production of new types of probiotic-containing foods for human consumption.
News consumption and risk perception of Covid-19 in Spain

España ha sido uno de los países más azotados por la pandemia de la Covid-19 En un contexto de incertidumbre y estrés, los medios de comunicación desempeñan un papel relevante en la difusión de información En esta investigación se determinan qué factores influyeron en la percepción del riesgo ante el Coronavirus, qué elementos condicionaron la confianza en las medidas adoptadas por el ejecutivo, y cómo influyó la exposición informativa a la propagación de fake news Para responder a las cuestiones se realizó un cuestionario online en el que participaron 2 034 personas de diferentes comunidades autónomas de España, poniéndose a prueba dos modelos de regresión lineal múltiple, además de diferentes técnicas bivariadas de análisis estadístico paramétrico Los datos evidencian una mayor percepción del riesgo entre los sectores con mayor exposición informativa a noticias sobre el Coronavirus Una segunda conclusión referencia el papel que desempeñan las predisposiciones políticas previas del individuo, como la ideología, en la confianza que inspiran las medidas adoptadas por el Gobierno Asimismo, los análisis realizados muestran que los sectores que realizan un mayor seguimiento informativo no son inmunes a la propagación de fake news Esta investigación pone de manifiesto la importancia que desempeña la comunicación en la percepción del riesgo, y la necesidad de ahondar en este campo, por las implicaciones psicológicas, sociales y económicas que implica dicho fenómeno Alternate abstract:Spain is one of the countries that has been most severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic In times of uncertainty and stress, the media plays an important role in disseminating information This study establishes which factors affected risk perception regarding the Coronavirus, which factors determined trust in the measures taken by the Government, and how the presentation of information influenced the spread of fake news To answer these questions an online survey was created and was completed by 2,034 people from different autonomous communities in Spain, using two multiple linear regression models, as well as different bivariate techniques for parametric statistical analysis The data shows increased risk perception among the sectors with greater exposure to news about the Coronavirus A second conclusion refers to the role played by an individual's pre-existing political biases, such as ideology, and their effects on the trust placed in the measures adopted by the Government In addition, the analysis conducted shows that sectors that follow the news more closely are not immune to the spread of fake news This research highlights the importance of communication in risk perception and the need to conduct further research in this field, in terms of the psychological, social, and economic implications of this phenomenon
The challenges of studying 4chan and the Alt-Right: ‘Come on in the water’s fine’

In 2019, the authors led a workshop at King’s College London examining how to study 4chan and assess their association with the Alt-Right. Unbeknownst to the authors, a participant was a 4chan user and started a mid-workshop thread on its notorious /pol/ (politically incorrect) board. It gained significant attention. Reviewing it later, the authors realised that this parallel thread illustrates perfectly the challenges researching 4chan – and similar – communities. We conducted discourse analysis on this unique dataset, providing an alternative perspective to predominant anthropological and informatic approaches. Our analysis enhances understanding of ‘free-extremist’ communities such as 4chan in several ways. It assesses how the /pol/ community responds to observation and provides new insights into roles influencers might have in radicalising others. It illustrates the value of discourse analysis in evaluating users’ associations with the Alt-Right. Finally, it proposes ways researchers can overcome the challenges faced when analysing such communities.
Brazilian Mineral Clays: Classification, Acid Activation and Application as Catalysts for Methyl Esterification Reactions

In this study, three raw Brazilian clays from João Pessoa, Paraíba State (Aço AP, AVL and Verde Lodo) were characterized before and after purification and acid activation. Several instrumental techniques were used, and the raw clays were classified as dioctahedral smectites with different compositions, where the AVL sample had the highest content of montmorillonite. In addition, analyses showed modification in clay mineral compositions, mainly due to removal of impurities and octahedral sheet cation leaching during acid activation, which resulted in specific areas ranging from 42 to 93 m g and increase of the Brønsted/Lewis acid site ratio, until 1.52 (AVL). Then, methyl esterification reactions were performed using the acid-activated clays as catalysts. The maximum acid conversions obtained were of 92 and 64%, for acetic acid using activated AVL and for lauric acid using activated Verde Lodo, respectively, and these data were correlated mainly to the Brønsted-Lowry acidity.
A study of The professionalism of Administrative Personnel at SMK Country 7 Bulukumba, Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia.

Professionalism is a very important aspect of supporting the quality of school administration management. This research is a research that aims to determine the implementation of professionalism of the administrative workforce at SMK Country 7 Bulukumba. In this study using a qualitative descriptive study. The informants in this study were the principal, vice-principal, head of administrative staff, and administrative staff. The technique of collecting data through observation methods, interview methods, and documentation methods. The technique of data analysis in this study uses data collection techniques, data presentation, reduction, and conclusions. The results showed that the professionalism of the administrative staff at SMK Country 7 Bulukumba in their proficiency in using equipment and attitudes in school administrative services can be said to be good and quite satisfying. This is evident in the proficiency of administrative staff in operating all the equipment that supports their work and the friendly and polite attitude of administrative staff in providing services, especially in school administrative services. However, from the readiness, responsibility, and disciplinary attitude in implementing school administrative services, it is considered that they are still not good because there is still administrative staff who have not carried out their duties and responsibilities professionally. This will affect the quality and performance of the administrative staff on the professionalism of their work at SMK Country 7 Bulukumba.
The Teachers Teaching Teachers GIS Institute: Assessing the Effectiveness of a GIS Professional Development Institute

The authors assessed eight years of a national professional development institute focused on providing geographic information systems (GIS) teaching and technical skills for educators, titled Teachers Teaching Teachers GIS (T3G). Through a survey (N = 276 [out of a total population of 450]), the authors determined that the institute generally met its goals of equipping educators so that they could (1) teach GIS concepts and skills for their peers, (2) create GIS-based curricula, and (3) communicate the value of GIS to other disciplines. Over the eight years that the institute ran in a face-to-face format, the institute reflected broad changes in GIS technology and methods, including the transition from desktop to Web-based GIS and the movement to shorter lessons. Our study also revealed challenges and benefits of this model of professional development and broader issues of adoption of GIS in primary, secondary, university, and informal areas of education. These revelations allowed us to expose and evaluate strategies to advance the implementation and effectiveness of the use of GIS in instruction.
Propagation of Aspergillus niger in Stirred Fermentor for the Production of Glucose Oxidase

The present research work was planned for enhanced glucose oxidase production in Aspergillus niger by optimizing the growth conditions in a stirred fermentor. The results revealed that medium M2 containing (g/L) glucose 80.0, peptone 3.0, (NH4)2HPO4 0.388, KH2PO4 0.188 and MgSO4.7H2O 0.156 was the best among four tested media. Glucose (8%) was the best carbon source for the maximum yield of glucose oxidase (118 U/g cell mass) followed by sucrose (103 U/g cell mass) and fructose (99 U/g cell mass). (NH4)2HPO4 followed by peptone were the best nitrogen sources for the growth of A. niger and production of glucose oxidase. The maximum activity (118 U/g) of glucose oxidase was produced after 72 hours of fermentation at pH 5.0, temperature 30°C, agitation 200 rpm and aeration of 1 vvm.
An Empirical Investigation of the Fairness of Multiple-Choice Items Relative to Constructed-Response Items on Tests of Students’ Mastery of Course Content

Although many instructors prefer multiple-choice (MC) items due to their convenience and objectivity, many others eschew their use due to concerns that they are less fair than constructed response (CR) items at evaluating student mastery of course content. To address three common unfairness concerns, I analyzed performance on MC and CR items from tests within nine sections of five different biology courses I taught over a five-year period. In all nine sections, students’ scores on MC items were highly correlated with their scores on CR items (overall r = 0.90), suggesting that MC and CR items quantified mastery of content in an essentially equivalent manner—at least to the extent that students’ relative rankings depended very little on the type of test item. In addition, there was no evidence that any students were unfairly disadvantaged on MC items (relative to their performance on CR items) due to poor guessing abilities. Finally, there was no evidence that females were unfairly assessed by MC items, as they scored 4% higher on average than males on both MC and CR items. Overall, there was no evidence that MC items were any less fair than CR items testing within the same content domain.
Wood and Pulping Properties Variation of Acacia crassicarpa A.Cunn. ex Benth. and Sampling Strategies for Accurate Phenotyping

Research Highlights: This study provides a comprehensive set of wood and pulping properties of Acacia crassicarpa A.Cunn. ex Benth. to assess variation and efficient sampling strategies for whole-tree level phenotyping. Background and Objectives: A. crassicarpa is an important tree species in Southeast Asia, with limited knowledge about its wood properties. The objective of this study was to characterize important wood properties and pulping performance of improved germplasm of the species. Furthermore, we investigated within-tree patterns of variation and evaluated the efficiency of phenotyping strategies. Materials and Methods: Second-generation progeny trials were studied, where forty 50-month-old trees were selected for destructive sampling and assessed for wood density, kraft pulp yield, α-cellulose, carbohydrate composition, and lignin content and composition (S/G ratio). We estimated the phenotypic correlations among traits determined within-tree longitudinal variation and its importance for whole-tree level phenotyping. Results: The mean whole-tree disc basic density was 481 kg/m3, and the screened kraft pulp yield was 53.8%. The reliabilities of each sampling position to predict whole-tree properties varied with different traits. For basic density, pulp yield, and glucose content, the ground-level sampling could reliably predict the whole-tree property. With near infrared reflectance spectroscopy predictions as an indirect measurement method for disc basic density, we verified reduced reliability values for breast height sampling but sufficiently correlated to allow accurate ranking and efficient selection of genotypes in a breeding program context. Conclusions: We demonstrated the quality of A. crassicarpa as a wood source for the pulping industry. The wood and pulping traits have high levels of phenotypic variation, and standing tree sampling strategies can be performed for both ranking and high-accuracy phenotyping purposes.
Complete plant regeneration of Valeriana wallichii DC. on auxin enriched medium and phytochemical analysis

Valeriana wallichii DC. (Valerianaceae) is a well-known medicinal herb distributed in Northwest Himalayas. The herb is utilized in the treatment of numerous ailments and diseases such as diarrhoea, diabeties, gastrospans, ulcer and wound healing, etc. Overexploitation, especially collection of rhizomes on a large scale for the medicinal purpose has significantly declined the availability of the herb in natural stands. Hence, there is a requirement of development of cultivation practices and protocol for mass propagation to achieve sustained utilization along with conservation of the species. In the present study, in-vitro culture of nodal segments on MS+2iP+IAA+2,4-D and MS+2iP+IAA+NAA resulted in multiple shoot induction along with regeneration of in-vitro roots on the same medium making the protocol cost-effective, efficient and comparatively less time-consuming. Moreover, the regeneration of adventitious roots from regenerated shoots enhanced the total number of plants obtained per explant as shoots with adventitious roots were individually excised and were transferred to natural conditions through the process of acclimatization. GC-MS analysis of a methanolic extract of leaves of the mother plant and micropropagated plant revealed the presence of 37 and 36 phytocompounds respectively. Phytocompounds including eucalyptol, neophytidiene, hexadecenoic acid, dimethyl palmitamine were identified to be present in the leaves of both mother and micropropagated plants whereas other compounds such as eicosyne, lilial, behenic alcohol were confined to be present in extract prepared from leaves of mother plant. Similary some phytocompounds (phytol, vinicizer, retinol) were detected in methanolic extract prepared from leaves of micropropagated plants.
The Link between Oral and Gut Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and a Synopsis of Potential Salivary Biomarkers

The objective of this review is to provide recent evidence for the oral–gut axis connection and to discuss gastrointestinal (GI) immune response, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis, and potential salivary biomarkers for determining GI health. IBD affects an estimated 1.3% of the US adult population. While genetic predisposition and environment play a role, abnormal immune activity and microbiota dysbiosis within the gastrointestinal tract are also linked in IBD pathogenesis. It has been inferred that a reduced overall richness of bacterial species as well as colonization of opportunistic bacteria induce systemic inflammation in the GI tract. Currently, there is supporting evidence that both oral and gut microbiota may be related to the development of IBD. Despite this, there are currently no curative therapies for IBD, and diagnosis requires samples of blood, stool, and invasive diagnostic imaging techniques. Considering the relative ease of collection, emerging evidence of association with non-oral diseases may imply that saliva microbiome research may have the potential for gut diagnostic or prognostic value. This review demonstrates a link between saliva and intestinal profiles in IBD patients, suggesting that saliva sampling has the potential to serve as a non-invasive biomarker for gut diseases such as IBD in the oral–gut axis.
How ants acclimate: Impact of climatic conditions on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile

1.Organisms from temperate zones are exposed to seasonal changes and must be able to cope with a wide range of climatic conditions. Especially ectotherms, including insects, are at risk to desiccate under dry and warm conditions, the more so given the changing climate. 2.To adjust to current conditions, organisms acclimate through changes in physiology, morphology and/or behaviour. Insects protect themselves against desiccation through a layer of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) on their body surface. Hence, acclimation may also affect the CHC profile, changing their waterproofing capacity under different climatic conditions. 3.Here, we investigated the acclimation response of two Temnothorax ant species to different climatic conditions. We analysed CHC profiles of queens, nurses and foragers that were acclimated to different humidity x temperature regimes, and tested the beneficial acclimation hypothesis by measuring survival of workers under desiccation-heat stress. 4.Both ants possessed a species-specific CHC profile. Nevertheless, they showed similar acclimation responses concerning changes of certain CHC classes, and finally similar survival rates under desiccation-heat stress. Warm-acclimated individuals generally showed longer n-alkanes, fewer dimethyl alkanes, and more (workers) or less (queens) monomethyl alkanes. In contrast, dry conditions resulted in more n-alkanes and fewer mono- and dimethyl alkanes, but these acclimatory changes were only observed in workers and not in queens. Warm- and dry-acclimated workers survived desiccation-heat stress better, but we found no species differences. 5.Our results indicate that both ant species can plastically adjust their cuticular hydrocarbon profile, allowing them to acclimate to different climatic conditions. Although their CHC composition differs in a species-specific manner, they showed similar chemical adjustments and concomitant changes in survival rate. Hence, chemical plasticity may be critical to determine a species’ climatic range and its survival under changing climatic conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Impact of Odor from a Landfill Site on Surrounding Areas: A Case Study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Airborne and odor pollutions generated from landfill operations can adversely affect human health and social well-being. These pollutants should be thus controlled and regulated. Further, the dispersion of odors in the areas surrounding landfills can create public complaints regarding air quality and can increase social tension. Therefore, in this context, we investigated the odor emission from a landfill in surrounding areas using a combination of measuring odor concentrations and conducting a questionnaire survey. The odor measured in three areas, namely, 1, 2, and 3 were at a distance of 1.5 km, 8.2 km, and 10 km from the landfill site, respectively. Results show that the level of odor concentration in area 1 is much higher than the acceptance level of 10-15 ou/m 3 with a mean value of 109.75±39.46 ou/m 3 . Odor concentration levels detected 8.2 km and 10 km from the landfill were 18.97±10.84 ou/m 3 and 10.97±10.50 ou/m 3 , respectively. Additionally, odor concentration and people’s perception of odor varied with geography. This study provides useful information for the management of odor from the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management facility in a developing country like Vietnam. Policymakers should consider public perception when framing regulations or making decisions about MSW facilities that also ensure environmental protection.
Factor Analysis and Variance Partitioning in Intelligence Test Research: Clarifying Misconceptions

This article addresses conceptual and methodological shortcomings regarding conducting and interpreting intelligence test factor analytic research that appeared in the Decker, S. L. , Bridges, R. M. , Luedke, J. C. , & Eason, M. J. (2020). Dimensional evaluation of cognitive measures: Methodological confounds and theoretical concerns. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment. Advance online publication article.
STIM1 is essential for Fcreceptor activation and autoimmune inflammation

￻￻ Fc receptors (FcRs) on mononuclear phagocytes trigger autoantibody and immune complex–induced diseases through coupling the self-reactive immunoglobulin G (IgG) response to innate effector pathways, such as phagocytosis, and the recruitment of inflammatory cells. FcRbased activation is critical in the pathogenesis of these diseases, although the contribution of FcR-mediated calcium signaling in autoimmune injury is unclear. Here we show that macrophages lacking the endoplasmic reticulum– resident calcium sensor, STIM1, cannot activate FcR-induced Ca2 entry and phagocytosis. As a direct consequence, STIM1 deficiency results in resistance to experimental immune thrombocytopenia and anaphylaxis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and acute pneumonitis. These results establish STIM1 as a novel and essential component of FcR activation and also indicate that inhibition of STIM1dependent signaling might become a new strategy to prevent or treat IgGdependent immunologic diseases. (Blood. 2009;113:1097-1104)