Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diversity and abundance of small mammals in Iberia: peninsular effect or habitat suitability?

The influence of geographica! and climatic factors (latitude, longitude, altitude, mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature) were investigated on the diversity and abundance of Iberian small mammal fauna. We analysed 92983 small mammal preys from barn owl pellets. Data were taken both from the literature and by ourselves in 183 localities throughout the Iberian Peninsula. No relationships were found between altitude and mean annual temperature. In contrast, a positive relationship between diversity, abundance, latitude and mean annual precipitation was found. Such a trend is discussed in relation to the "peninsular effect" hypothesis. Our results do not support this hypothesis, since we did not find differences in small mammal abundance between southern Spain and northern Morocco. We conclude that the latitudinal pattern observed in the diversity and abundance is most likely the result of the poor conditions of the Mediterranean environment for small mammals.
Escherichia coli strains with precise domain deletions in the ribonuclease RNase E can achieve greatly enhanced levels of membrane protein production

Abstract Escherichia coli is one of the most widely utilized hosts for production of recombinant membrane proteins (MPs). Bacterial MP production, however, is usually accompanied by severe toxicity and low‐level volumetric accumulation. In previous work, we had discovered that co‐expression of RraA, an inhibitor of the RNA‐degrading activity of RNase E, can efficiently suppress the cytotoxicity associated with the MP overexpression process and, simultaneously, enhance significantly the cellular accumulation of membrane‐incorporated recombinant MPs in bacteria. Based on this, we constructed the specialized MP‐producing E. coli strain SuptoxR, which can achieve dramatically enhanced volumetric yields of well‐folded recombinant MPs. Ιn the present work, we have investigated whether domain deletions in the E. coli RNase E, which exhibit reduced ribonucleolytic activity, can result in suppressed MP‐induced toxicity and enhanced recombinant MP production, in a manner resembling the conditions of rraA overexpression in E. coli SuptoxR. We have found that some strains encoding specific RNase E truncation variants can achieve significantly enhanced levels of recombinant MP production. Among these, we have found a single RNase E variant strain, which can efficiently suppress MP‐induced toxicity and achieve greatly enhanced levels of recombinant MP production for proteins of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin. Based on its properties, and in analogy to the original SuptoxR strain, we have termed this strain SuptoxRNE22. E. coli SuptoxRNE22 can perform better than commercially available bacterial strains, which are frequently utilized for recombinant MP production. We anticipate that SuptoxRNE22 will become a widely utilized host for recombinant MP production in bacteria.
Phytochemical analysis of carotenoid profile in Mentha piperita and Artemisia vulgaris: cytotoxicity in tumoral cells and evaluation of plasmid DNA cleavage

ABSTRACT Several medicinal plants have been administered to cancer patients attributed to their anticarcinogenic and chemoprotective properties, in addition to lower toxicity compared to traditional therapies. The aim was to investigate the antioxidant properties and carotenoid composition of aqueous extracts of Mentha piperita or Artemisia vulgaris which were previously found to exert beneficial effects on human health through diet. aqueous extracts exhibited potent antioxidant activity. A diversity of carotenoids was identified in these extracts using HPLC-PDA-MS/MS. Both extracts contained predominantly all-trans-lutein as the main component within this class. In order to investigate antioxidant properties, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) techniques were used. The (3–4,5 dimethylthiazol-2, 5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) (MTT) and Crystal Violet assays assessed cellular cytotoxicity. Assessments of presence of reactive species were carried out following exposure of oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line (SCC-4) to various aqueous extracts of M piperita or A vulgaris utilizing dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) and nitric oxide (NO) assays. Exposure to these extracts induced severe cytotoxic effects, which led to investigation of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying this observed effect. Data demonstrated that both solutions induced oxidative stress and DNA damage, especially at higher concentrations using agarose gel subjected to electrophoresis. It is known that exposure to excess amounts of antioxidants results in a prooxidant effect which is beneficial in cancer therapy. Further, the extracts were found to reduce viability of SCC-4 in culture, indicating that this antitumoral activity may be of therapeutic importance and requires further study.
Acquiring Linguistic Knowledge from Multimodal Input

In contrast to children, language models (LMs) exhibit considerably inferior data efficiency when acquiring language. In this submission to the BabyLM Challenge (Warstadt et al., 2023), we test the hypothesis that this data efficiency gap is partly caused by a lack of multimodal input and grounding in the learning environment of typical language models. Although previous work looking into this question found that multimodal training can even harm language-only performance, we speculate that these findings can be attributed to catastrophic forgetting of complex language due to fine-tuning on captions data. To test our hypothesis, we perform an ablation study on FLAVA (Singh et al., 2022), a multimodal vision-and-language model, independently varying the volume of text and vision input to quantify how much text data (if any) can be offset by vision at different data scales. We aim to limit catastrophic forgetting through a multitask pretraining regime that includes unimodal text-only tasks and data sampled from WiT, the relatively diverse Wikipedia-based dataset (Srinivasan et al., 2021). Our results are largely negative: Multimodal pretraining does not harm our models' language performance but does not consistently help either. That said, our conclusions are limited by our having been able to conduct only a small number of runs. While we must leave open the possibility that multimodal input explains some of the gap in data efficiency between LMs and humans, positive evidence for this hypothesis will require better architectures and techniques for multimodal training.
A Comprehensive Overview of the Past, Current, and Future Randomized Controlled Trials in Hepatic Encephalopathy

Background: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) caused by cirrhosis has severe consequences on an individual’s lifespan, leading to long-term liver complications and potentially life-threatening outcomes. Despite recent interest in this condition, the effectiveness of secondary prophylaxis involving rixafimin, lactulose, or L-ornithine L-aspartate (LOLA) may be hindered by the unique microbial profiles each patient possesses. Methods: Thus, in this manuscript, we aimed to search, identify, and gather all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2000–2023 (November) in four major academic databases such as PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and ScienceDirect by using a controlled terminology and web strings that reunite six main keywords. We complementarily retrieved data on the ongoing RCTs. Results: Regardless of the relatively high number of results displayed (n = 75), 46.66% (n = 35) were initially deemed eligible after the first evaluation phase after removing duplicates, n = 40 (53.34%). At the second assessment stage, we eliminated 11.42% (n = 4) studies, of which n = 22 finally met the eligibility criteria to be included in the main body of the manuscript. In terms of RCTs, otherwise found in distinct stages of development, n = 3 target FMT and n = 1 probiotics. Conclusions: Although we benefit from the necessary information and technology to design novel strategies for microbiota, only probiotics and synbiotics have been extensively studied in the last decade compared to FMT.
Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Renal Cell Carcinoma in Prof. dr. I.G.N.G. Ngoerah General Hospital 2018 – 2022

RCC is a tumor that manifests in proximal tubule epithelial cells and accounts for 3% of total adult neoplastic cases. In Indonesia, RCC cases are still deemed low, but show a tendency to increase annually. This study’s objective is to provide a description on the clinicopathologic features of RCC patients in Prof. dr. I.G. N.G. Ngoerah General Hospital in the province of Bali from 2018 to 2022. This is a cross-sectional study which implemented total sampling in collecting secondary data from the laboratory of anatomical pathology in Prof. dr. I.G. N.G. Ngoerah General Hospital. There were 38 cases of RCC from a total of 108 kidney cases which underwent histopathologic examinations. Descriptive analysis showed that the majority of RCC cases were found in the age range of 51 – 60 years old (36.8%), males (76,3%), left tumor laterality (57,9%), operative procedures for specimen collection (94,7%), ccRCC subtype (63,2%), tumor size of >10 cm (50,0%), grade III – IV (57,9%), and pT3a stage (47,4%). The combination of these clinicopathologic findings suggested that the RCC patients in Bali were shown to be associated with worse prognosis and should consider further analytical studies.
Special Nuclear Structures in the Germinal Vesicle of the Common Frog with Emphasis on the So-Called Karyosphere Capsule

The karyosphere (karyosome) is a structure that forms in the oocyte nucleus—germinal vesicle (GV)—at the diplotene stage of meiotic prophase due to the assembly of all chromosomes in a limited portion of the GV. In some organisms, the karyosphere has an extrachromosomal external capsule, the marker protein of which is nuclear F-actin. Despite many years of theories about the formation of the karyosphere capsule (KC) in the GV of the common frog Rana temporaria, we present data that cast doubt on its existence, at least in this species. Specific extrachromosomal strands, which had been considered the main elements of the frog’s KC, do not form a continuous layer around the karyosphere and, according to immunogold labeling, do not contain structural proteins, such as actin and lamin B. At the same time, F-actin is indeed noticeably concentrated around the karyosphere, creating the illusion of a capsule at the light microscopy/fluorescence level. The barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) and one of its functional partners—LEMD2, an inner nuclear membrane protein—are not localized in the strands, suggesting that the strands are not functional counterparts of the nuclear envelope. The presence of characteristic strands in the GV of R. temporaria late oocytes may reflect an excess of SMC1 involved in the structural maintenance of diplotene oocyte chromosomes at the karyosphere stage, since SMC1 has been shown to be the most abundant protein in the strands. Other characteristic microstructures—the so-called annuli, very similar in ultrastructure to the nuclear pore complexes—do not contain nucleoporins Nup35 and Nup93, and, therefore, they cannot be considered autonomous pore complexes, as previously thought. Taken together, our data indicate that traditional ideas about the existence of the R. temporaria KC as a special structural compartment of the GV are to be revisited.
Electrostatic-hydraulic coupled soft actuator for micropump application

The development of a soft actuator with high displacement is crucial for the effective operation of micropumps, ensuring a high fluid pump rate. This study introduces an innovative approach by presenting the design and fabrication of a novel electrostatic-hydraulic coupled soft actuator for a micropump within a microfluidic system. This pioneering soft actuator, leveraging electrostatic-hydraulic coupling, showcases a unique solution to enhance the performance of micropumps. The versatility of such a soft actuator makes it particularly promising for biomedical applications. The actuator comprises dielectric fluid in an elastomeric shell and electrodes to form the out-of-plane fluid-amplified displacement. This displacement amplification was used to generate a pumping actuation in the micropump. The actuator was characterized in terms of dielectric fluid volume, electrode size, temporal response, and amplification displacement. The soft actuator showed a maximum amplified displacement of 0.51 mm at 10 kV of the applied voltage, but a higher voltage caused a dielectric breakdown. Moreover, the actuator demonstrated the ability to operate at frequencies of 0.25 Hz and 0.1 Hz. The results of the study indicate that the fabricated electrostatic-hydraulic coupled soft actuator is a dependable and effective method of actuation for a micropump in a microfluidic system. The experimental characterization of the micropump revealed a maximum flow rate of 2304 μl min−1.
Endophytic bacteria of Catharanthus roseus as an alternative source of Vindoline and application of response surface methodology to enhance its production

The requirement for novel, cost-effective pharmaceutical compounds is growing. We screened endophytic bacteria of Catharanthus roseus for the production of vinca alkaloids. Vindoline-producing endophytic bacteria was identified as Microbacterium sp. Vindoline was purified and characterized using column chromatography, TLC, HPLC and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The subsequent aim of this study was to design a cost-efficient media that can maximize vindoline production from Microbacterium sp. Initial optimization of the nutritional requirement and of the process parameters were carried out by monothetic analysis. Key factors obtained were optimized by the central composite design of response surface methodology. This model was also validated by repeating the experiment under the optimized conditions, which resulted in maximum production of 82 ? g/L (predicted response was 76.21 ? g/L). Reliability of the experiments was confirmed by ANOVA analysis, regression coefficient, prediction vs actual chart and a 3D response plot, which determined the fit of the model. This study should serve as a reference point for the use of statistical techniques in bacterial systems for production of bioactive, anticancer compounds by plant endophytes.
Live‐virus serum neutralization after bivalent SARS‐CoV‐2 mRNA vaccination in hemodialysis patients

The development of bivalent booster vaccines addresses the ongoing evolution of the emerging B.1. 1.529 (omicron) variant subtypes that are known to escape vaccine‐induced neutralizing antibody response. Little is known about the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of bivalent mRNA vaccines in hemodialysis patients with impaired vaccine response. In this prospective, observational cohort study, we analyzed SARS‐CoV‐2 anti‐S1 IgG, surrogate neutralizing antibodies (SNA), and live‐virus neutralization against the SARS‐CoV‐2 wildtype and the BA.5 variant in 42 hemodialysis patients with and without prior SARS‐CoV‐2 infection before and after an additional fifth bivalent vaccine dose. Anti‐S1 IgG and SNA were significantly higher in hemodialysis patients with prior infection than in patients without infection (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). In patients without prior infection, both antibody levels increased, and live‐virus neutralizing antibodies against the wildtype and the BA.5 variant were correspondingly significantly higher after bivalent booster vaccination (p < 0.001 for both). Conversely, in patients with prior infection, anti‐S1 IgG and SNA did not alter significantly, and bivalent booster vaccination did not induce additional humoral immune response against the SARS‐CoV‐2 wildtype and the BA.5 variant. Thus, bivalent mRNA vaccines might increase humoral responses in hemodialysis patients without prior infection. Larger clinical trials are needed to help guide vaccination strategies in these immunocompromised individuals.
Molecular identification of cryptic species of oysters (Genus Crassostrea Sacco, 1897) in the northeast Atlantic coast of Brazil

Oysters of the genus Crassostrea Sacco, 1897 are widely distributed worldwide, being important extractive and cultivation resources in Brazil. Because they have high phenotypical plasticity and congeneric similarity, identifications based on shell morphology are not always safe. The goal of this study was to identify the oysters of the Bahia State, northeast Brazil, using the molecular tools Polymerase Chain Reaction, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Oysters were collected at 12 sampling stations, from October 2014 to March 2015 and included samples of rhizomes (aerial roots)/stems of the red mangrove Rhizophorae mangle L. and in the sediment near to the underground roots of this one, on berths, natural rock outcrops near the mangrove swamp and in three oyster crops. It was confirmed the presence of two species of oysters: Crassostrea rhizophorae (Guilding, 1828) and C. gasar (Deshayes, 1830) and that the latter was genetically identical to C. brasiliana reported in previous studies on the Brazilian coast. There was no co-occurrence of the two species on the same substrate, but these were found in nearby environments at two sampling points. Crassostrea rhizophorae was observed on the rhizomes/stems of R. mangle, as well as on artificial concrete walls (berths). The semi-buried oysters near R. mangle's subterranean roots and adhered to small rocks of a rocky outcrop were C. gasar, which was also the exclusive oyster of the crops.
Does Profitability, Liquidity, Leverage, and Productivity Affect Sukuk Ratings? Evidence from Islamic Banks in Indonesia

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the impact of profitability, liquidity, leverage, and productivity on Sukuk ratings within the banking sector. The study focused on Islamic Commercial Banks and Islamic Business Units in Indonesia. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select a dataset of 80 observations from Islamic Commercial Banks and Islamic Business Units rated by PT. PEFINDO between 2015 and 2019. Secondary data for the study were gathered from financial reports on the official websites of the mentioned entities and Sukuk or bond ratings issued by PT. PEFINDO, accessible through its website. The analysis utilized multiple regression analysis. The research findings indicate that profitability, liquidity, and leverage negatively impact Sukuk ratings, whereas productivity does not show a significant influence. This study contributed a distinctive approach to comprehending Sukuk ratings by thoroughly analyzing four crucial independent variables, emphasizing the Indonesian banking sector. However, the study's generalizability is limited due to its restricted timeframe and reliance on secondary data. Keywords: Profitability, Liquidity, Leverage, Productivity, Sukuk Rating ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi dampak profitabilitas, likuiditas, leverage, dan produktivitas terhadap peringkat Sukuk dalam sektor perbankan, khusunya pada Bank Umum Syariah dan Unit Usaha Syariah di Indonesia. Teknik purposive sampling digunakan untuk memilih kumpulan data sebanyak 80 observasi dari Bank Umum Syariah dan Unit Usaha Syariah yang dinilai oleh PT. PEFINDO antara tahun 2015 dan 2019. Data sekunder untuk penelitian ini dikumpulkan dari laporan keuangan yang tersedia di situs resmi entitas yang disebutkan dan peringkat Sukuk atau obligasi yang dikeluarkan oleh PT. PEFINDO, yang dapat diakses melalui situs webnya. Analisis menggunakan analisis regresi berganda. Temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa profitabilitas, likuiditas, dan leverage berdampak negatif pada peringkat Sukuk, sementara produktivitas tidak menunjukkan pengaruh yang signifikan. Penelitian ini memberikan pendekatan yang khas dalam memahami peringkat Sukuk dengan menganalisis secara menyeluruh empat variabel independen penting, dengan menekankan sektor perbankan Indonesia. Namun, generalisabilitas penelitian ini terbatas karena batasan waktu yang terbatas dan ketergantungan pada data sekunder. Kata Kunci: Profitabilitas, Likuiditas, Leverage, Produktivitas, Peringkat Sukuk
Exploring the Role of Academic Development in Supporting Tertiary Educators’ Well-Being: The Case of Online Consultations at UniSA

In this practice report, we posit that academic development encompasses more than improving and developing courses; it offers a space for tertiary educators to develop professionally, personally, and improve their well-being. The report is focussed on an initiative of a Teaching Innovation Unit to offer individual consultations to tertiary educators as a way of supporting well-being while building professional knowledge and capacity. Preliminary findings based on evaluation data suggest that the consultations were indeed a valued resource for educators. Moving forward, we propose that our assertion of the value of the consultations can be tested by applying well-being models and frameworks, such as Ryff and Keyes’ (1995) scale and Wheatley’s (2022) workplace well-being framework.
Statistical Model of Hydrogen Diffusion in BCC Metals

The purpose of this work is developing of the statistical model of hydrogen diffusion in the crystal lattice of BCC metals with an estimate of the contribution of quantum effects and deviations from the Arrhenius equation. The values of the statistical model calculations of H diffusion coefficients in Fe, V, Nb and Ta are in good agreement with the experimental data. The statistical model can also explain deviations from the Arrhenius equation at temperatures 300-500 K in Fe and Nb. The downward deviation of the diffusion coefficient at 300K can be explained by the fact that the statistical model does not consider the tunneling effect at temperatures below 300K. It was suggested that thermally activated fast tunnelling transition of hydrogen atoms through the potential barrier at temperatures below 500 K provides an almost free movement of H atoms in the α-Fe and V. Using the statistical model allows for the prediction of the diffusion coefficient for H in BCC metals at intermediate temperatures.
The present state of online teaching of general education courses in terms of instructors’ and students’ experiences, needs, and challenges

This study explores both teachers’ and students’ perceptions regarding the teaching and learning of general education (GE) courses in an online environment, where activities such as pair work, group work, and discussion frequently feature. These activities typically necessitate a high level of interaction during class time. This presents an intriguing environment for studying both teachers’ and learners’ experiences due to the abrupt switch to online education in recent years. The participants included 10 Thai teachers of GE courses and 431 Thai and international undergraduates enrolled in the GE courses and taught via an online platform. Online questionnaires and interviews were used to obtain participants’ perceptions of both instructors’ and students’ experiences regarding online learning, particularly in terms of communication difficulties and potential intercultural communication difficulties. The data obtained from the online questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The frequency count and the percentage were used for calculating and thematizing the numeric data. Interview data was transcribed, analyzed, and reported based on themes. Key quotes from the participants’ responses were collated and presented in a narrative. The findings revealed the students’ and the lecturers’ perceptions of the benefits of online teaching, challenges, and their future needs.