Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Enterococcus faecalis Biofilm Removal Efficiency among Bacteriophage PBEF129, Its Endolysin, and Cefotaxime

Enterococcus faecalis is a Gram-positive pathogen which colonizes human intestinal surfaces, forming biofilms, and demonstrates a high resistance to many antibiotics. Especially, antibiotics are less effective for eradicating biofilms and better alternatives are needed. In this study, we have isolated and characterized a bacteriophage, PBEF129, infecting E. faecalis. PBEF129 infected a variety of strains of E. faecalis, including those exhibiting antibiotic resistance. Its genome is a linear double-stranded DNA, 144,230 base pairs in length. Its GC content is 35.9%. The closest genomic DNA sequence was found in Enterococcus phage vB_EfaM_Ef2. 3, with a sequence identity of 99.06% over 95% query coverage. Furthermore, 75 open reading frames (ORFs) were functionally annotated and five tRNA-encoding genes were found. ORF 6 was annotated as a phage endolysin having an L-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidase activity. We purified the enzyme as a recombinant protein and confirmed its enzymatic activity. The endolysin’s host range was observed to be wider than its parent phage PBEF129. When applied to bacterial biofilm on the surface of in vitro cultured human intestinal cells, it demonstrated a removal efficacy of the same degree as cefotaxime, but much lower than its parent bacteriophage.
EFL Teachers' Beliefs and Practices of Teaching Pronunciation in a Vietnamese Setting

A plethora of research has witnessed the relationship between beliefs and practices that influence how language teachers make their own decisions to improve their instruction and enhance student learning at tertiary education. In particular, to date, there has been a growing interest in pronunciation teaching of English as a foreign or second language. However, research into beliefs and practices of foreign language learning, namely English, with regard to pronunciation within the Vietnamese context is still scarce. This current study, therefore, is aimed to explore what beliefs teacher hold and how they teach pronunciation in a Vietnamese context. This paper draws on data collected as part of a larger study including questionnaires, interviews, and observations over a fifteen-week semester of an EFL pronunciation course. The focus of this paper is on the data from the questionnaire and observations. The study was conducted with seventy teachers at an English language center in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The findings indicate that the teachers had positive beliefs about teaching pronunciation and that the teachers integrated pronunciation in their English classes with specific focus on intelligibility. The findings further extend the literature on pronunciation teaching practices by providing insights into how contextual factors mediate teachers' existing beliefs and actual happenings that inform their future practices by reflecting on their professional development and learning regarding pronunciation as crucial constituent of learners' communicative competence. The paper concludes by discussing pedagogical implications for teachers, school administrators for the sake of better pronunciation instruction.
Biochemical effects of effluent pollutants from coal mining activities on the freshwater snails, Helisoma duryi

We assessed the biochemical effects of effluent pollutants from coal mining activities using the freshwater snail, Helisoma duryi, as a bioindicator species. Water samples were collected from 3 different sites in a coal mining area in Hwange. Physical parameters were measured on site and these were pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), temperature and conductivity. The water was analyzed for zinc, lead, copper and cadmium. Fresh water snails, in groups of 60, were exposed to sampled water diluted with tap water in the ratios 95:05 for sites 1 (coal processing plant) and 2 (underground acid rock drainage point) and 10:90 for site 3 (power production plant). The exposure duration was 28 days with snails collected at 7 day intervals to determine time dependent effects of effluent from mining activities. After the exposure duration, post mitochondrial fractions were prepared and used to determine catalase, superoxide dismutase and acetylcholinesterase activities. Very low acidic figures were observed in the water samples with site 2 having a pH of 2.13. High levels of TDS (1.21 ppt) and conductivity of 2.42 mS were observed at Site 1. High levels of zinc (540.0 mg/L ± 4.86 mg/L), copper (53.2 mg/L ± 0.16 mg/L), lead (9.6 mg/L ± 0.03 mg/L) and cadmium (4.3 mg/L ± 0.07 mg/L) were observed in the water samples. Time depended inhibitions of acetylcholinesterase and catalase were observed in snails exposed to water collected from Site 3 whilst superoxide dismutase activity showed a decrease over time. These results suggest that pollutants from the mining activities affect the reactive oxidative status of aquatic biota as indicated by the alterations of the studied enzymes in the freshwater snail H. duryi. There is therefore, need for constant monitoring of water bodies in coal mining areas to safeguard the health of aquatic life from adverse effects of effluent from coal mining activities.
Health-related quality of life and related factors among pregnant women

CONTEXT: Quality of life is significant in all stages of life, including within pregnancy. The hormonal, emotional, psychological, and physical factors specific to pregnancy can affect and threaten the quality of life of pregnant mothers. AIMS: This study sought to investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and related factors among pregnant women SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was performed on 300 pregnant women who were in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy without any risk of high-risk pregnancy covered by a community health center in Yazd, Iran, between 2018 and 2019. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The required data were collected using demographic questionnaire and HRQoL (SF-12v2) questionnaire STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 software and ANOVA statistical tests (P < 0.05). RESULTS: Physical dimension of quality of life of pregnant women had the mean and standard deviation of 43.7 ± 7.3 and that psychological dimension had the mean and standard deviation of 31.5 ± 11.8. Physical dimension of quality of life was significantly correlated with maternal age, gestational age, body mass index before 12 weeks of pregnancy, mother's education and job as well as spouse's level of education (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the psychological dimension of quality of life was significantly correlated with gestational age, mother's education and occupation as well as spouse's level of education (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: According to the findings, attention to physical and psychological aspects of quality of life of pregnant women and demographic factors affecting it is essential for improving maternal and child health during and after pregnancy.
Advanced Positioning System for Harsh Environments Using Time-Varying Magnetic Field

Harsh environments, which are complex, mutable, and hard to model, prevent high-accuracy positioning and navigation. In this article, a novel magnetic-based positioning system (MBPS) based on a low-frequency time-varying magnetic field (MF) is reported. Related investigations have shown that low-frequency MF signals have better propagation characteristics in harsh environments and achieve good penetration into obstacles. Unlike the intensity decay method, our proposed method is not affected by the uncertainty of the intensity decay model caused by the complex magnetic medium. The novelty of our proposed approach lies in the large effective coverage, outstanding penetrability, and rapid results offered by it compared with those of the traditional method, achieved using a constant magnetic feature vector as the observation. Furthermore, considering the installation error of the magnetic beacon (MB), which is hard to avoid and measure, we proposed an improved Rao–Blackwellized particle filter (RBPF) algorithm to estimate the receiver position and installing error on the position and angle. For the proposed MBPS, the best accuracy of 0.06 m can be reached under conditions at which the installing position error is 0.5 m and the angle error is 10°–15° with daily electromagnetic interference. The MB and its model verification were also investigated. In summary, the effectiveness of the proposed MBPS and the algorithm was verified sufficiently in this study.
RPL Objective Functions Evaluation For The Application Of Smart Grid AMI Networks

The power grid is going towards great evolution which is called smart grids(SG). It provides many other functions in addition to measure energy consumption like energy management, reliability and security with the help of different devices.AMI(advanced metering infrastructure) is an integral part of SG for two-way communication and structured in such a way that position of its nodes are fixed. Nodes used in AMI have limited power and resources and are energy constrained therefore they are considered as low power and lossynetworks(LLNS). Routing between these nodes is a major concern and our research issue. Simulation is done in COOJA in order to observe the performance of routing protocol for low power and lossy network (RPL) for AMI networks. RPL performance for medium and high density network has been simulated for two different objective functions(OF) and analyze different performance parameters. After simulation we have concluded that considering the quality, low latency and high reliability factors minimum rank with hysteresis objective function(MRHOF) gives better results as compare to objective function zero(OF0) in medium density networks. In high density network (above 100 nodes) OF0 outrun MRHOF in terms of packet delivery ratio(PDR). Average value of PDR for OF0(in high density network) is 2%to 6% higher as compare to MRHOF.COOJA simulation provide reasonable results for RPL nodes in high density networks. But due to load balancing and selection of unreliable links RPL nodes in large scale network suffers from performance degradation.
Detection of the Toxin Associated Genes of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Using a Multiplex PCR Assay in Wasit General Hospitals -

Staphylococcus aureus, especially MRSA, has spread to all parts of the world and is becoming a significant concern in public health as one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of MRSA toxin genes. The study was conducted in the medical microbiology laboratory of medicine college, Wasit University, Iraq, from January 2017 - June 2019. Fifty-seven isolates were isolated from blood culture, wound infections, urine culture, and nasal swabs, which were identified using microbiological and biochemical tests; antibiotic susceptibility was estimated by the clinical laboratory standards institute. Then the isolates were tested for Molecular screening to detect toxin genes. S. aureus was found in 33 (57.89%) isolates. MRSA was detected in 29 (87.8%) S. aureus isolated by cefoxitin, the results showed high susceptibility to imipenem (94%), ciprofloxacin (91%), clindamycin (91%) and nitrofurantoin (91%). In comparison, high resistance was observed with penicillin (94%). Molecular screening for eta, etb and tsst-1 genes, revealed positive amplification with 41.3%, 27.5 %, and 31 %, respectively. Fem A and luk-PV genes were detected in 44.8% and 10.3% of the isolates, respectively. There is a high prevalence of MRSA among different clinical isolates, which harbors toxin genes.
Solubility and Diffusion of H2S and CO2 in the Ionic Liquid 1-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-3-methylimidazolium Tetrafluoroborate

The solubilities and diffusion coefficients of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide gases in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([hemim][BF4]), at temperatures ranging from (303.15 to 353.15) K and pressures up to 1.1 MPa, were determined. The solubility data were correlated using the Krichevsky−Kasarnovsky equation, and Henry’s law constants at different temperatures were obtained. From the solubility data, the partial molar thermodynamic functions of solution such as Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy were calculated. The diffusion coefficients were obtained for H2S and CO2 using a semi-infinite volume approach, and a correlation equation with temperature is presented for each gas. A comparison showed that the solubility of H2S was about three times its magnitude, and its diffusion coefficient is of the same order of magnitude as that of CO2 in the IL studied in this work.
In Vitro Activity of Ibrexafungerp against a Collection of Clinical Isolates of Aspergillus, Including Cryptic Species and Cyp51A Mutants, Using EUCAST and CLSI Methodologies

Ibrexafungerp is a new orally-available 1,3-β-D-glucan synthesis inhibitor in clinical development. Its in vitro activity and that of amphotericin B, voriconazole, and micafungin were evaluated against a collection of 168 clinical isolates of Aspergillus spp. , including azole–susceptible and azole–resistant (Cyp51A mutants) Aspergillus fumigatus sensu stricto (s.s.) and cryptic species of Aspergillus belonging to six species complexes showing different patterns of antifungal resistance, using EUCAST and CLSI antifungal susceptibility testing reference methods. Ibrexafungerp displayed low geometric means of minimal effective concentrations (MECs) against A. fumigatus s.s. strains, both azole susceptible (0.040 mg/L by EUCAST and CLSI versus 1.231 mg/L and 0.660 mg/L for voriconazole, respectively) and azole resistant (0.092 mg/L and 0.056 mg/L, EUCAST and CLSI, while those for voriconazole were 2.144 mg/L and 2.000 mg/L). Ibrexafungerp was active against most of the cryptic species of Aspergillus tested, yielding MEC values only comparable to those of micafungin. Nevertheless, this new compound exhibited a moderate activity against A. ustus complex species, MECs ≥ 0.5 mg/L against Aspergillus insuetus and Aspergillus keveii strains, and was inactive against the Aspergillus alliaceus isolates tested (MEC90s ≥ 16 mg/L). All in all, ibrexafungerp shows encouraging in vitro results against cryptic species of Aspergillus and azole–susceptible and azole resistant strains of A. fumigatus, some of which are difficult to treat using the available therapeutic options.
Antifouling and Flux Enhancement of Reverse Osmosis Membrane by Grafting Poly (3-Sulfopropyl Methacrylate) Brushes

A commercial thin film composite (TFC) polyamide (PA) reverse osmosis membrane was grafted with 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium (SPMK) to produce PA-g-SPMK by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The grafting of PA was done at varied concentrations of SPMK, and its effect on the surface composition and morphology was studied by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), optical profilometry, and contact angle analysis. The grafting of hydrophilic ionically charged PSPMK polymer brushes having acrylate and sulfonate groups resulted in enhanced hydrophilicity rendering a reduction of contact angle from 58° of pristine membrane sample labeled as MH0 to 10° for a modified membrane sample labeled as MH3. Due to the increased hydrophilicity, the flux rate rises from 57.1 L m−2 h−1 to 71.2 L m−2 h−1, and 99% resistance against microbial adhesion (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) was obtained for MH3 after modification
N-Acetyl Cysteine Overdose Inducing Hepatic Steatosis and Systemic Inflammation in Both Propacetamol-Induced Hepatotoxic and Normal Mice

Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose induces acute liver damage and even death. The standard therapeutic dose of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) cannot be applied to every patient, especially those with high-dose APAP poisoning. There is insufficient evidence to prove that increasing NAC dose can treat patients who failed in standard treatment. This study explores the toxicity of NAC overdose in both APAP poisoning and normal mice. Two inbred mouse strains with different sensitivities to propacetamol-induced hepatotoxicity (PIH) were treated with different NAC doses. NAC therapy decreased PIH by reducing lipid oxidation, protein nitration and inflammation, and increasing glutathione (GSH) levels and antioxidative enzyme activities. However, the therapeutic effects of NAC on PIH were dose-dependent from 125 (N125) to 275 mg/kg (N275). Elevated doses of NAC (400 and 800 mg/kg, N400 and N800) caused additional deaths in both propacetamol-treated and normal mice. N800 treatments significantly decreased hepatic GSH levels and induced inflammatory cytokines and hepatic microvesicular steatosis in both propacetamol-treated and normal mice. Furthermore, both N275 and N400 treatments decreased serum triglyceride (TG) and induced hepatic TG, whereas N800 treatment significantly increased interleukin-6, hepatic TG, and total cholesterol levels. In conclusion, NAC overdose induces hepatic and systemic inflammations and interferes with fatty acid metabolism.
Influence of hydrogen on SiO2 thick film deposited by PECVD and FHD for silica optical waveguide

Silicon dioxide (SiO2) thick films have been deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and flame hydrolysis deposition (FHD). PECVD SiO2 films were obtained at low temperatures (<350 °C) by the decomposition of the appropriate mixture of (SiH4+N2O) gases under suitable rf power and N2O/SiH4 ratio. For low N2O/SiH4 ratio, a refractive index(n) value close to 1.50 is obtained. The deposition rate increased with the increase of rf power. FHD SiO2 films were produced by the flame hydrolysis reaction of halide materials such as SiCl4, POCl3 and BCl3 in an oxy‐hydrogen torch. The porous SiO2 layer, under the POCl3/BCl3 ratio deposition condition, has to be consolidated by annealing at around 1300 °C.
Extraction of alcohol using emulsion liquid membrane consisting of paraffin oil as an organic phase and lecithin as a surfactant

This paper reports on the use of a liquid emulsion membrane involving paraffin light oil as membrane phase and lecithin as surfactant for the extraction of alcohol from anthocyanin extract and simulated pineapple wine. RESULTS: The extraction of alcohol was found to depend on the many factors such as surfactant concentration, contact time, stirring speed, stirring time, and ratio of membrane emulsion to feed volume. Results showed that optimum conditions for maximum alcohol extraction (25%) were lecithin concentration 3%, contact time 20 min, stirring speed 250 rpm and ratio of membrane emulsion to feed volume 1 : 2. Multistage extraction using this liquid emulsionmembrane was found to completely remove alcohol from anthocyanin extract and from simulated pineapple wine in seven stages and five stages, respectively. CONCLUSION: This liquid emulsionmembranewas found to be a useful method for the extraction of alcohol from aqueous feed.
High Prevalence of Genogroup I and Genogroup II Picobirnaviruses in Dromedary Camels

Picobirnaviruses (PBVs) are small non-enveloped bisegmented double-stranded RNA viruses found in humans, mammals, and birds. Increasing molecular epidemiology studies suggest a high sequence diversity of PBVs in numerous hosts and the environment. In this study, using 229 fecal samples from dromedary camels in Dubai, 52.8% were positive for PBVs, of which 77.7% and 41.3% were positive for genogroup I and II, respectively, and 19.0% were positive for both genotypes. Phylogenetic analysis showed high diversity among the sequences of genogroup I and II dromedary PBVs. Marked nucleotide polymorphisms were observed in 75.5% and 46.0% of genogroup I and II RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) sequences, respectively, suggesting the co-existence of multiple strains in the same specimen. Both high genetic diversity and prevalence of genogroup I and II PBV in dromedaries were observed. In fact, the prevalence of genogroup II PBV in dromedaries is the highest among all animals to date. The complete/near-complete core genomes of five genogroup I and one genogroup II dromedary PBVs and partial segment 1 and 2 of both genotypes were also sequenced. The dromedary PBV genome organizations were similar to those of other animals. Genetic reassortment and mutation are both important in the ecology and evolution of PBVs.
Education promotion based on “mobile technology” in the Critical Care Nursing Department: Four-phase intervention

INTRODUCTION: Evaluation of students’ clinical performance is an essential part of nursing education. Mobile technology is one of the new methods of evaluation that has opened a new horizon for nursing professors. Therefore, this study aimed to design, implement, and evaluate mobile health technology in critical care nursing department in four-phase intervention. METHODS: This study was a four-stage educational intervention in which all postgraduate students of intensive care nursing in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences participated in the study. The four steps were designing and developing a logbook, needs assessment, designing and implementing an Android app, and evaluating users (students) of the Android app. Subjects’ satisfaction scores were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire with 14 questions. Data were analyzed using SPSS 14 software. RESULTS: In this study, a clinical practice evaluation app was designed at four levels of access (student, professor, department manager, and faculty dean). The results showed that more than half of app users reported this technology in terms of an overall response to the tool (87.5%), tool specificity (100%), the amount of information displayed (75%), page layout (62.5%), information rate (75%), recall information (87.5%), and ease of doing instructions (100%) were positive. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of clinical practice using technology was associated with increasing students’ satisfaction with evaluation method. In addition, this application enabled the simultaneous interaction between the professor with the higher and lower ranks, including the department manager and student and vice versa and the simultaneous recording of this interaction.
Reduced-Rank L1-Norm Principal-Component Analysis With Performance Guarantees

Standard Principal-Component Analysis (PCA) is known to be sensitive to outliers among the processed data. On the other hand, L1-norm-based PCA (L1-PCA) exhibits sturdy resistance against outliers, while it performs similar to standard PCA when applied to nominal or smoothly corrupted data <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">[1]</xref>. Exact calculation of the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$</tex-math></inline-formula> L1-norm Principal Components (L1-PCs) of a rank-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$r$</tex-math></inline-formula> data matrix <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbf X \in \mathbb {R}^{D \times N}$</tex-math></inline-formula> costs <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {O}(N^{(r -1)K + 1})$</tex-math></inline-formula> <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">[1]</xref>, <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2">[2]</xref>. In this work, we present reduced-rank L1-PCA (RR L1-PCA): a hybrid approach that approximates the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$</tex-math></inline-formula> L1-PCs of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbf X$</tex-math></inline-formula> by the L1-PCs of its L2-norm-based rank-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d$</tex-math></inline-formula> approximation (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d \leq r$</tex-math></inline-formula>), calculable exactly with reduced complexity <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {O}(N^{(d -1)K + 1})$</tex-math></inline-formula>. The proposed method combines the denoising capabilities and low computation cost of standard PCA with the outlier-resistance of L1-PCA. RR L1-PCA is accompanied by formal performance guarantees as well as thorough numerical studies that corroborate its computational and corruption resistance merits.