Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Determining Factors of the Self-Assembly of Collagen Mimetic Peptide

The Determining Factors of the Self-assembly of Collagen Mimetic Peptide by Fangfang Chen Adviser: Dr. Yujia Xua We recently reported that a designed triple helix Col108 self-associates to form collagen-like minifibrils having a d-periodicity of 35 nm. Recombinant protein Col108 consists of 378-residue triple helix domain organized into three repeating sequence units, and a C-terminal foldon domain. The 35 nm d-period of Col108 mini-fibrils is consistent with the one unit staggered arrangement of the associating helices. To further investigate if the sequence periodicity is crucial for collagen mimetic peptide fibril formation, we studied the self-assembly of four other designed triple helical peptides. Peptide 2U108 has two repeating sequence units; peptide Col877 consists of three repeating units but the amino acid sequence of each unit is very different from that of Col108; peptide 1U108 has only one sequence unit and peptide. Col108r has the same amino acid composition of that of Col108 but lacks the sequence periodicity. Both 2U108 and Col877 formed mini-fibrils having the same periodicity of 35 nm as that observed in Col108 under electron microscopy, but no fibril-like assemblies were observed for either 1U108 or Col108r. Since both 2U108 and Col877 have tandem repeats of sequence units while 1U108 and Col108r do not, these findings support the essential roles of the long-range repeating sequence units on the self-assembly of collagen-like, staggered fibrils and suggest a design-rule for the self-assembly of triple helices into collagen-like mini-fibrils.
Spatial distribution and variation of risk factors for poor consumption of foods rich in vitamin A among children age 6 -23 months in Ethiopia. Geographical weighted regression analysis

Introduction: Vitamin A deficiency is a major nutritional public health problem in poor societies. Dietary consumption of foods rich in vitamin A was low in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the spatial distribution and its determinants of dietary consumption of foods rich in vitamin A among children age 6-23 months in Ethiopia. Methods: A total of 3055 children were included and data were accessed from 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey dataset . The data was cleaned and weighted by STATA version 14.1 software and Microsoft excel. The Bernoulli model fitted using Kuldorff’s SaTScan version 9.6 software. ArcGIS version 10.7 software was used to visualize spatial distribution for poor consumption of foods rich in vitamin A. Geographical weighted regression analysis was employed by MGWR version 2.0 software. A P-value of less than 0.05 was used to declare statistically significant predictors locally. Results: Overall, 62% (95% CI: 60.56, 64.00) of children age 6-23 months had poor consumption of foods rich in Vitamin A in Ethiopia. Poor consumption of foods rich in vitamin A highly clustered at Afar, eastern Tigray, southeast of Amhara, and eastern Somali region of Ethiopia. Spatial scan statistics identified 142 primary spatial clusters located at Afar, the eastern part of Tigray, most part of Amhara and some part of Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia. Children living in the primary cluster were 46% more likely venerable poor consumption of foods rich in vitamin A than outside the window (RR= 1.46, LLR = 83.78, P < 0.001). Poor wealth status of the household, rural residence and living tropical area of Ethiopia were statistically significant predictors spatially. Conclusion: Overall, the consumption of foods rich in vitamin A was low and spatially non-random in Ethiopia. Poor wealth status of the household, rural residence and living tropical area were significant predictors for the consumption of foods rich vitamin A locally in Ethiopia. Policymakers and health planners should intervene in nutrition intervention at the identified hot spot areas to reduce poor consumption of foods rich in vitamin A among children age 6-23 months.
Preparation of high-performance activated carbons using bamboo through one-step pyrolysis

One-step pyrolysis is a promising thermal degradation process that has a fast reaction rate and high energy efficiency. In this study, high performance bamboo activated carbon was successfully prepared by one-step pyrolysis with different pyrolysis times (2.5 h, 5 h, and 10 h). Using a high pyrolysis temperature of 1050 °C, the specific surface area was remarkably increased to 2348 m2/g, which was substantially higher than the findings reported previously by other studies. The mesopore ratio was increased to 77.4%, which indicated that the bamboo activated carbon mainly contained microporous carbon and the mesoporosity was considerably developed. The activated carbon was then applied successfully to remove Methylene Blue from aqueous solutions. The adsorption equilibrium data was fit best to the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacity ranged from 495 mg/g to 1667 mg/g.
FORMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TOPICAL NANO EMULGEL OF TERBINAFINE

Terbinafine is a broad spectrum antifungal drug. The aim of present study was to develop topical nano emulgel of terbinafine using carbopol 934 as a gelling agent. The objective behind the formulation was to avoid dosing frequency and to increase the stability and bioavailability by avoiding the first pass metabolism. The formulations were prepared by using oleic acid, carbopol 934, span 20, propylene glycol in different ratios and analyzed by pseudo tertiary phase diagram. All the five prepared nano emulgel formulations have shown satisfactory physiochemical properties. The stability and particle size is been determined by zeta potential. The highest drug release 82.38 %was found in formulations of batch F4, which follows non-fickian mechanism. The studies showed that changing the concentration of oil, surfactant, co surfactant and double distilled water as aqueous phase has an impact on the behavior and thermodynamic stability of the nanoemulsion. Study concludes that of Terbinafine can be deliverered effectively by nano emulgel formulations.
Taken by Storm : Business Financing , Survival , and Contagion in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina ∗

We use hurricane Katrina’s damage to the Mississippi coast in 2005 as a natural experiment to study business survival in the aftermath of a capital-destruction shock. We find very high exit rates for businesses that incurred physical damage, particularly for small firms and less-productive establishments. Auxiliary evidence from the Survey of Business Owners suggests that the differential size effect is tied to the presence of financial constraints. In the long run, the cumulative effect of the storm was even larger, compounded by local demand externalities due to the proximity of surviving businesses to damaged businesses that had exited. These forces explain why the most heavily damaged coastal areas of Mississippi had not recovered within five years despite significant help from both federal and state sources. JEL Codes: D22, L11, L81, L83, Q54
Coagulation and Sedimentation of Concentrated Laterite Suspensions: Comparison of Hydrolyzing Salts in Presence of Grewia spp. Biopolymer

Coagulation and sedimentation performances of aluminum sulphate and ferric chloride were comparatively investigated in presence of Grewia spp. biopolymer for the treatment of concentrated laterite suspensions. Jar tests experiments were carried out at different laterite suspension concentrations (10, 20, and 30 g/L) and pH values (5 and 7). The performances of these coagulants were assessed in terms of interfacial settling velocities and sediment concentration factors. Results showed that after addition of Grewia spp. biopolymer, sedimentation velocities were greater when ferric chloride and aluminum sulphate were used alone. When hydrolyzing salts were used alone, the highest settling velocities were obtained with 10 g/L of laterite suspension at pH 5 and settling speeds were 0.22 and 0.28 cm/min for aluminum sulphate and ferric chloride, correspondingly. Addition of Grewia spp. biopolymer led to an increase of settling velocities to 0.56 and 0.57 cm/min, respectively. The sediment concentration factor was also found to be high when Grewia spp. was added. With 30 g/L of laterite suspension, sediment concentration factors at pH 5 were 1.47 and 2.12 for aluminum sulphate and ferric chloride separately. Addition of Grewia spp. biopolymer with aluminum sulphate and ferric chloride produced more compact sludge with sediment concentration factors of 4 and 3.13, respectively. Flocs structures could successfully explain the obtained results.
Explaining machine learning models using entropic variable projection

In this paper, we present a new explainability formalism designed to shed light on how each input variable of a test set impacts the predictions of machine learning models. Hence, we propose a group explainability formalism for trained machine learning decision rules, based on their response to the variability of the input variables distribution. In order to emphasize the impact of each input variable, this formalism uses an information theory framework that quantifies the influence of all input–output observations based on entropic projections. This is thus the first unified and model agnostic formalism enabling data scientists to interpret the dependence between the input variables, their impact on the prediction errors and their influence on the output predictions. Convergence rates of the entropic projections are provided in the large sample case. Most importantly, we prove that computing an explanation in our framework has a low algorithmic complexity, making it scalable to real-life large datasets. We illustrate our strategy by explaining complex decision rules learned using XGBoost, Random Forest or Deep Neural Network classifiers on various datasets such as Adult Income, MNIST, CelebA, Boston Housing, Iris, as well as synthetic ones. We finally make clear its differences with the explainability strategies LIME and SHAP, which are based on single observations. Results can be reproduced using the freely distributed Python toolbox https://gems-ai.aniti. fr/.
Metal complexes of 1,4,7-triazacyclononane and their oligonucleotide conjugates as chemical nucleases

Introduction. Biomimetic hydrolysis of DNA and RNA is of increasing importance in biotech nology and medicine. The ability to cleave nucle ic acids efficiently and selectively will offer many practical applications including gene manipulations, the design of structural probes and the development of novel therapeutics. Biological systems have developed nuclease and topoisomerase enzymes to catalyze DNA strand cleavage and repair. Many of these hydrolytic enzymes are metalloenzymes, utiliz ing hard Lewis acids such as Ca(II), Mg(II) and Zn(II) to activate both the P O bond and the water nucleophile. The application of synthetic metal chelating compounds in DNA and RNA hydrolysis has attracted considerable attention (see reviews [1 8]). Nucleic acids cleavage by artificial nucleases generally proceeds via hydrolytic or oxidative mechanism. Much of the earlier literature on phosphodiester degradation by catalysts such as Fe EDTA has focused on oxidative degradation of DNA, which requires Red Ox active metals like Cu(II), Fe(III), Mn(III) etc and activation by oxidant (or light). RNA can be degraded by hydrolytic P O bond cleavage relatively easily. The hydrolytic cleavage of DNA is however challenging because of the stability of its phos phate ester bond. Unlike RNA, whose 2' hyd roxyl group serves as an internal nucleophile to promote backbone strand scission, DNA is extremely resistant to hydrolysis under physio logical conditions. Metal complexes of 1,4,7 triazacyclononane and their oligonucleotide conjugates as chemical nucleases
Synthesis of Titania Doped Copper Ferrite Photocatalyst and Its Photoactivity towards Methylene Blue Degradation under Visible Light Irradiation

This paper reports the photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue (MB) over titania doped copper ferrite, CuFe2O4/TiO2 with 50 wt% loading, synthesized via sol-gel method. The synthesized photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-vis diffuse reflectance, and photoluminescence, Mott-Schottky (MS) analysis and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The catalyst loadings were varied from 0.25 – 1.0 g/L and the optimum catalyst loading found to be 0.5 g/L. At the optimum loading, the conversion achieved was 83.7%. The other loadings produced slightly lower conversions at 82.7%, 80.6% and 80.0%, corresponding to 0.25, 1 and 0.75 g/L after 3 hours of irradiation. The study on the effect of initial concentration indicated that 20 ppm as the optimum concentration, tested with 0.5 g/L catalyst loading. The spent catalyst was used for the recyclability test and demonstrated a high longevity with a degradation efficiency less than 6 % for each time interval. The novelty of this study lies on the new application of photocatalytic material, CuFe2O4/TiO2 on thiazine dye that shows remarkable activity and reusability performance under visible light irradiation. Copyright © 2019 BCREC Group. All rights reservedReceived: 15th November 2018; Revised: 14th January 2019; Accepted: 17th January 2019; Available online: 25th January 2019; Published regularly: April 2019How to Cite: Arifin, M.N. , Karim, K.M.R. , Abdullah, H. , Khan, M.R. (2019). Synthesis of Titania Doped Copper Ferrite Photocatalyst and Its Photoactivity towards Methylene Blue Degradation under Visible Light Irradiation. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 14 (1): 219-227 (doi:10.9767/bcrec.14.1.3616.219-227) Permalink/DOI: https://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.14. 1.3616. 219-227
Polymer Membranes Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PMDLC): a new electro-optical device

ABSTRACT Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals (PDLCs) are liquid crystal dispersions in a polymer matrix, which look like opaque in their OFF state, when no electric field is applied, and transparent in their ON state. They are generally obtained by a phase separation process, such as Thermal, Solvent- and Polymerization-Induced Phase Separation (TIPS, SIPS and PIPS, respectively), between two transparent conductive glass substrates. In this paper, a new electro-optical device, formed by a porous polymer membrane imbibed with liquid crystal by capillary suction, is presented (Polymer Membranes Dispersed Liquid Crystals, PMDLC). Polymer membrane surfaces were made conductive before liquid crystal loading by magnetron sputtering of a thin layer of conductive indium tin oxide. The morphology and the electro-optical response of these devices were investigated and the observed transmittances and relaxation times were found to be similar to those of conventional PDLCs. In addition, PMDLCs showed interesting flexibility as no solid conductive substrate is required and economic convenience as there is no loss of liquid crystal in the polymer matrix. Graphical Abstract
Effect of degumming and catalyst type on physiochemical and biodiesel properties of tropical-almond (Terminalia catappa) seed oil

This study investigates the effect of degumming process and catalyst type on physiochemical and biodiesel properties of tropical-almond ( Terminalia catappa ) seed oil (TCSO) extracted via mechanical pressing and solvent extraction method. The oil was degummed using 4% citric acid in amount of 10% by volume of the oil to reduce the acid value, ash content, and water and sediment value of the degummed oil compared to the raw oil. Data obtained show that degumming process reduces the acid value, ash content and water and sediment value from 7.57 mg KOH/g, 0.86 %w/w and 2.48% to 3.82 mg KOH/g, 0.65 %w/w and 2.40% respectively, and the percentage oil yield was 56.30±1.50%. Biodiesel was produced using a two-step reaction system from raw and degummed TCSO catalyzed by NaOH, KOH and CaO/Al 2 O 3 . The process yielded a higher yield (97.20±0.35) of biodiesel from degummed oil catalyzed by CaO/Al 2 O 3 . The fuel properties of the biodiesels were found to fulfill both ASTM D6751 and EN14214 biodiesel standard except the raw biodiesel. this study confirm that degumming process improves the susceptibility of oil for biodiesel production and that heterogeneous base catalyst produce higher yield and quality fuel than their homogenous counterpart. Keywords: Degummed, Transeterification, Biodiesel, Catalyst, Raw oil, unsaturation
Triflumuron Effects as Insect Growth Inhibitor (IGI) on Amino-Acids Contents on Adults Reproductive Tracts of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.)

The present study was designed to evaluate the physiological-insecticidal activity of triflumuron as IGI on amino acids content in the testes and ovaries of both sexes reproductive tracts of Spodoptera littoralis. The lethal dose 50% of those individuals subjected to triflumuron (LD50=0.006 μl/larva) was topically applied on newly molted fifth instar larvae of the cotton leafworm S. littoralis. The treatment decreased the amounts of amino acids content of testes of adult males (2 days-old) obtained from treated larvae. This content was highly noticed and were ranged between 0.00 to 9.65% in 9 amino acids from 16 total amino acids examined i.e. DL-2-Amino-N-butyric Acid, Tryptophan(TRP), Isoleucine(ILE), DL-Threonine(THR), L-Arginine(ARG), L- Leucine(LEU), L- Alanine(ALA), DL- Serine(SER) and L- Lysine(LYS), while these amino acids amount percentages were ranged between 3.45 to 16.94%. The present results showed strong effects of LD50 of triflumuron on the major amino acids that may stimulate and activate certain physiological functions in spermatogenesis in the testes of male reproductive tract i.e. SER and LYS. These latter amino acids in control males (2days-old) were 5.51 and 3.45%, respectively, but they were zero% in treated males. Both amino acids SER and LYS may play many important roles in the structure of both types of spermatozoa of the cotton leafworm. Moreover, the greatest decrease in amino acid content was observed especially in case of LYS (zero %) with triflumuron (LD50) , while it was 19.92% in control female. LYS may play a specific role in the structure of egg of the cotton leafworm. The greatest increase of amino acid content was noticed in case of ASPARTIC ACID (ASP) (17.40%) with triflumuron (LD50), while it was zero% in control female. The average weight of ovaries andtesticles were recorded (32.21, 1.08 mg) with treated female and male by triflumuron in respect, while it was 78.65, 3.74 mg in control female and male, respectively. The results indicated that the biochemical composition of both sexes reproductive tracts were reduced. Triflumuron caused reproductive suppression, also, it affects the amino acids amount and it had its function on adults reproductive tracts, ultimately leading to reduce sperm transfer from the treated male insect to female.
Exploratory Synthesis of Low-Silica Nanozeolites through Geopolymer Chemistry

Nanozeolites are of great interest with the premise of their efficiency in traditional applications such as catalysis and separation, as well as their emerging applications including chemical sensors, medicine, and food industry. We report a new geopolymerization route for the synthesis of nanozeolites with different crystal structures by exploring the Na–Al–Si–H2O quaternary phase space under a mild hydrothermal condition. Nanostructured faujasite (FAU), cancrinite (CAN), and sodalite (SOD) zeolites with a crystallite size smaller than 40 nm were successfully produced from our exploration, as well as a submicron-sized Linde-Type A (LTA) zeolite. The transmission electron microscopy and nitrogen sorption analysis on representative zeolite samples showed that FAU and SOD zeolites exhibit textural mesopores, while CAN products have a more open aggregate structure. Our findings establish the geopolymerization as a convenient route for production of low-silica nanozeolites.
Computational Modelling of the Interaction of Gold Nanoparticle with Lung Surfactant Monolayer

Lung surfactant (LS), a thin layer of phospholipids and proteins inside the alveolus of the lung is the first biological barrier to inhaled nanoparticles (NPs). LS stabilizes and protects the alveolus during its continuous compression and expansion by fine-tuning the surface tension at the air-water interface. Previous modelling studies have reported the biophysical function of LS monolayer and its role, but many open questions regarding the consequences and interactions of airborne nano-sized particles with LS monolayer remain. In spite of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) having a paramount role in biomedical applications, the understanding of the interactions between bare AuNPs (as pollutants) and LS monolayer components still unresolved. Continuous inhalation of NPs increases the possibility of lung ageing, reducing the normal lung functioning and promoting lung malfunction, and may induce serious lung diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and more. Different medical studies have shown that AuNPs can disrupt the routine lung functions of gold miners and promote respiratory diseases. In this work, coarsegrained molecular dynamics simulations are performed to gain an understanding of the interactions between bare AuNPs and LS monolayer components at the nanoscale. Different surface tensions of the monolayer are used to mimic the biological process of breathing (inhalation and exhalation). It is found that the NP affects the structure and packing of the lipids by disordering lipid tails. Overall, the analysed results suggest that bare AuNPs impede the normal biophysical function of the lung, a finding that has beneficial consequences to the potential development of treatments of various respiratory diseases.
Experimental Study on the Influence of Bulbous Bow Form on the Velocity Field around the Bow of a Trimaran Using Towed Underwater 2D-3C SPIV

In this study, particle image velocimetry was applied to measure the flow field around the bow region of a trimaran with different appendages. The dimensionless axial velocity u/U in test planes 1 and 2 of the testing model was measured by using a towed underwater stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) system. Based on the measured flow field data, the local sinkage values in test planes 1 and 2 of the testing model with different appendages at speeds of 1.766 and 2.943 m/s were presented. In addition, the effects of speed, bulbous bow type, T foils, and bow wave on the axial velocity u/U were studied in detail. The acquired experimental data help in understanding the distribution of the flow field around the ship bow, and the data can also act as a reference to verify computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results.