Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Applications of Atomic Force Microscopy in HIV-1 Research

Obtaining an understanding of the mechanism underlying the interrelations between the structure and function of HIV-1 is of pivotal importance. In previous decades, this mechanism was addressed extensively in a variety of studies using conventional approaches. More recently, atomic force microscopy, which is a relatively new technique with unique capabilities, has been utilized to study HIV-1 biology. Atomic force microscopy can generate high-resolution images at the nanometer-scale and analyze the mechanical properties of individual HIV-1 virions, virus components (e.g., capsids), and infected live cells under near-physiological environments. This review describes the working principles and various imaging and analysis modes of atomic force microscopy, and elaborates on its distinctive contributions to HIV-1 research in areas such as mechanobiology and the physics of infection.
Phenols, Volatile Compounds, Organic Acids and Antioxidant Activity of Strawberry Tree (Arbutus Unedo L.) Fruits Belonging to Five Genotypes Growing in Morocco

ABSTRACT This study aims to identify the individual phenolics and volatile compounds, as well as the organic acids of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) genotype fruits. The antioxidant activities were also assessed using three methods (DPPH, ABTS and βeta carotene bleaching assays) significant differences (p˂0.05) were observed among all the genotypes. Total phenols varied from 25.37 to 39.06 mg GAE/g dried weight (DW), total flavonoids ranged between 3.30 and 7.07 mg RE/g DW, and anthocyanins varied from 0.15 to 0.64 mg cya-3-glu/100 g DW. Moreover, the antioxidant activities were in the range of 3.33–21.08, 2.25–19.58, and 1.08–13 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g DW for DPPH, ABTS and βeta carotene bleaching assays, respectively. Seventeen phenolics compounds were identified by HPLC in A. unedo fruits. Gallocatechol and catechin were the most abundant compounds. Among the volatile compounds identified, hexadecanoic acid was the most abundant in all the genotype fruits. The principal component analysis revealed that the first two components formed 66.47% of the total inertia.
Exploring DSS for Personality Assessment: Influence of Personality on Citizenship

The research has been undertaken with the objective of studying the factors of personality and its’ impact on Organization Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) among Information Technology (IT) sector employees. The study will help human resource managers in devising a strategy for selecting personnel who will exhibit OCB, thus helping organisations in improving their output. For fulfilling the objectives, descriptive analysis has been conducted on the data of 504 IT sector employees who have relevant technical background. The variables have been measured with the help of self-administered questionnaire. Data was analysed through Structural equation modelling technique. IBM SPSS Amos software has been used to fit the SEM model. The outcome demonstrated that variables of OCB and Personality traits are significant representatives as proved in the first order constructs. We find a high positive relation between Personality traits and OCB.
The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Clinical Application of Evidence-Based Practice in Health Science Professionals

(1) Background: Evidence-based practice (EBP) informs daily clinical interventions with the purpose of seeking changes to traditional practice through scientific evidence that justifies the reasons for our actions. The objectives were to describe the barriers, beliefs, and attitudes in the application of EBP among university health professionals (not doctors) and to evaluate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic among them. (2) Methods: This prospective study is both descriptive and observational. The individuals under study were university health professionals (not doctors) from various autonomous regions within Spain, in both public and private spheres. Sociodemographic and labor-related variables linked to the research and its completion were studied. Likewise, the survey instrument Health Sciences Evidence-Based Practice questionnaire (HS-EBP) was administered to evaluate the barriers to, beliefs in, and attitudes towards evidence-based practice. (3) Results: A total of 716 responses were gathered, of which 387 were collected during the period of confinement, and 343 in the COVID-19 post-confinement period. Possible associations that might help respond to the objectives were explored through a correlational study between the sociodemographic variables and each sub-scale of the HS-EBP 30 questionnaire (n = 716). (4) Conclusions: Barriers to, beliefs in, and attitudes towards evidence-based practice are described. There is a leadership gap where line management provides insufficient motivation to follow work routines. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense stress among health professionals. The post-confinement group showed a significant change in the variables “beliefs and attitudes”, and likewise in the “evaluation” block, justified by the need to update knowledge and to apply evidence.
Development of simplified characterization factors for the assessment of expanded polystyrene and tire wear microplastic emissions applied in a food container life cycle assessment

To date, life cycle assessment (LCA) does not include a methodology for assessing the impacts of plastic litter leaked to the environment. This limits the applicability of LCA as a tool to compare the potential impacts of single‐use plastics and their alternatives on ecosystem quality and human health. As a contribution to tackle this issue, this work proposes simplified fate and characterization factors (CFs) for modeling the impacts of two types of microplastics—expanded polystyrene and tire and road wear particles—in the marine environment. In terms of fate mechanisms, this work explores different sedimentation, degradation, and fragmentation rate scenarios, based on literature values and expert estimates. Whereas the fate of expanded polystyrene is sensitive to the different fragmentation, degradation, and sedimentation scenarios, for tire and road wear particles the fate is primarily sensitive to sedimentation. The fate factors are integrated into CFs using an existing exposure and effect factor for microplastics in aquatic environments. Since the CFs of the two studied microplastics show important differences, these results reveal the need for developing polymer‐specific CFs. Finally, the CFs are tested in a case study of on‐the‐go food containers (one single‐use plastic, two compostable alternatives, and one reusable plate). Depending on the fate scenario, plastic litter impacts range from barely noticeable to more than doubling the total potential damage to ecosystem quality, compared to no plastic litter impact assessment. The high uncertainty of the results encourages further research on modeling microplastic fate and impacts in detail.
A Rare Case of Fat Embolism Syndrome Masquerading as COVID-19 Pneumonia

In the wake of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated mortality and virulence, a high clinical suspicion must be maintained for all patients presenting with respiratory failure. However, there are well-known disease processes that may have a similar presentation. We present a case of a 25-year-old male who suffered a right tibia fracture after a motor vehicle collision. He had acute hypoxic respiratory failure within 24 hours of admission, requiring mechanical ventilation. His condition significantly improved with airway pressure release mode of ventilation and proning. Although his chest CT demonstrated characteristic findings of COVID-19, he subsequently tested negative. The differential included aspiration pneumonia and fat embolism syndrome from the lower extremity fracture. Fat embolism syndrome can very closely mimic COVID-19. The rapid onset and improvement of symptoms coupled with serial negative COVID-19 testing may aid in the diagnosis.
Mother’s Time Allocation, Childcare, and Child Cognitive Development

This paper analyzes the effects of maternal and nonparental time on a child’s cognitive development. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate a model that allows the mother’s time productivity to depend on her education level and that distinguishes between formal and informal care. The results show that childcare time of high-educated mothers is more productive than that of low-educated mothers and that of nonparental care. The simulation of policies subsidizing mothers’ wages or regulating the nonparental care market indicates that children with low-educated mothers benefit more from replacing maternal time with nonparental time.
THE INFLUENCE OF SPACE QUANTIZATION EFFECTS ON THE THRESHOLD VOLTAGE, INVERSION LAYER AND TOTAL GATE CAPACITANCES IN SCALED SI-MOSFETS

We investigate the influence of space quantization and poly-gate depletion on the inversion layer capacitance Cinv, total gate capacitance Ctot and threshold voltage VT in scaled Si-MOSFETs. We also present an analytical expression for the total gate capacitance Ctot that uses classical charge description and takes into account the depletion of the poly-silicon gates. Our simulation results suggest that poly-gate depletion influences the magnitude of Ctot more than the quantum mechanical charge description. For the threshold voltage VT the situation is more complicated; it is significantly affected by both the poly-gate depletion and the quantum effects in the channel.
Theoretical and experimental comparison of microelectrode sensing configurations for impedimetric cell monitoring

A theoretical and experimental comparison between vertical and coplanar interdigitated sensing configurations for impedimetric cell growth tracking is presented. These widely-adopted approaches are quantitatively compared on the same cell populations and on the same 10 μm interdigitated microelectrodes using a versatile custom-made monitoring platform including a 24-channel miniaturized potentiostat. The characterization of bare microelectrodes in buffer and tracking experiments with HeLa cells over 16 hours demonstrate that the coplanar configuration provides a higher sensitivity to cell adhesion and spreading (Cell Index = 1.6 vs. 0.4) albeit at a higher frequency of maximum sensitivity (100 kHz vs. 24 kHz) shifting over time.
Understanding the Bibliometric Patterns of Publications in IEEE Access

The IEEE Access journal started in 2013, and in a short period, it has attained recognition for being a preferred multidisciplinary journal, with characteristics of rapid and continuous publishing. It is now ranked among the top journals in Engineering and Computer Science (General) by Scopus. Recognizing the distinctive nature of the journal and its contributions in the broader area of Engineering and Computer Science, this article attempts to present a detailed bibliometric analysis of the journal to identify publishing patterns, authorship and collaboration structure, citation impact, funding patterns of the published research, and the thematic structure of the publication. The gender distribution is also computed to identify papers published by male and female authors. The social media visibility of the articles and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) connections of articles were also identified. The results indicate that the IA journal can attract novel, high-quality multidisciplinary research, which aligns with the relevant and the most pressing SDGs. Furthermore, the journal has experienced increased multi-authored multidisciplinary research, and it is publishing a more significant percentage of articles with female first authors.
Synthesis and Characterization of Atmospherically Relevant Hydroxy Hydroperoxides

Hydroxy hydroperoxides are formed upon OH oxidation of volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere and may contribute to secondary organic aerosol growth and aqueous phase chemistry after phase transfer to particles. Although the detection methods for oxidized volatile organic compounds improved much over the past decades, the limited availability of synthetic standards for atmospherically relevant hydroxy hydroperoxides prevented comprehensive investigations for the most part. Here, we present a straightforward improved synthetic access to isoprene-derived hydroxy hydroperoxides, i.e., 1,2-ISOPOOH and 4,3-ISOPOOH. Furthermore, we present the first successful synthesis of an α-pinene derived hydroxy hydroperoxide. All products were identified by 1H, 13C NMR spectroscopy for structure elucidation, additional 2D NMR experiments were performed. Furthermore, gas-phase FTIR- and UV/VIS spectra are presented for the first time. Using the measured absorption cross section, the atmospheric photolysis rate of up to 2.1 × 10−3 s−1 was calculated for 1,2-ISOPOOH. Moreover, we present the investigation of synthesized hydroxy hydroperoxides in an aerosol chamber study by online MS techniques, namely PTR-ToFMS and (NO3−)-CI-APi-ToFMS. Fragmentation patterns recorded during these investigations are presented as well. For the (NO3−)-CI-APi-ToFMS, a calibration factor for 1,2-ISOPOOH was calculated as 4.44 × 10−5 ncps·ppbv−1 and a LOD (3σ, 1 min average) = 0.70 ppbv.
The Role of Advanced Glycation End Products and Its Soluble Receptor in Kidney Diseases

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are more prone to oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, which may lead to an increase in the synthesis of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Because AGEs are mostly removed by healthy kidneys, AGE accumulation is a result of both increased production and decreased kidney clearance. On the other hand, AGEs may potentially hasten decreasing kidney function in CKD patients, and are independently related to all-cause mortality. They are one of the non-traditional risk factors that play a significant role in the underlying processes that lead to excessive cardiovascular disease in CKD patients. When AGEs interact with their cell-bound receptor (RAGE), cell dysfunction is initiated by activating nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), increasing the production and release of inflammatory cytokines. Alterations in the AGE-RAGE system have been related to the development of several chronic kidney diseases. Soluble RAGE (sRAGE) is a decoy receptor that suppresses membrane-bound RAGE activation and AGE-RAGE-related toxicity. sRAGE, and more specifically, the AGE/sRAGE ratio, may be promising tools for predicting the prognosis of kidney diseases. In the present review, we discuss the potential role of AGEs and sRAGE as biomarkers in different kidney pathologies.
Fuzzy system in a ferrous sulfate pre-treatment of elephant grass

ABSTRACT Renewable energies have been occupying more and more space in energy matrices worldwide, and lignocellulosic biomasses are promising for these energy sources. This study aimed to develop a fuzzy model to optimize the ferrous sulfate concentration and temperature in the pre-treatment of elephant grass. Five concentrations (10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mM) and three temperatures (25, 40 and 55 ºC) were used as input. The application of the fuzzy model evidenced that the best results for cellulose exposure (53.1 %) were achieved by using a ferrous sulfate concentration between 20 and 22.5 mM and temperature between 39.5 and 42.5 ºC.
A Methodological Comparison on Spatiotemporal Prediction of Criteria Air Pollutants

Air pollution monitoring devices are widely used to quantify at-site air pollution. However, such monitoring sites represent pollution of a limited area, and installing multiple devices for a vast area is costly. This limitation of unavailability of data at non-monitoring sites has necessitated the Spatio-temporal analysis of air pollution and its prediction. Few commonly used methods for Spatio-temporal prediction of pollutants include - ‘Averaging’; ‘Best correlation coefficient method’; ‘Inverse distance weighting method’ and ‘Grid interpolation method. ’ Apart from these conventional methods, a new methodology, ‘Weighted average method,’ is proposed and compared for air pollution prediction at non-monitoring sites. The weights in this method are calculated based on both on the distance and directional basis. To compare the proposed method with the existing ones, the air pollution levels of NO2 (Nitrogen dioxide), O3 (Ozone), PM10 (Particulate matter of 10 microns or smaller), PM2.5 (Particulate matter of 2.5 microns or smaller), and SO2 (Sulphur dioxide) were predicted at the non-monitoring site (test stations) by utilizing the available data at monitoring sites in Delhi, India. Preliminary correlation analysis showed that NO2, PM2.5, and SO2 have a directional dependency between different stations. The ‘average’ method performed best with the mode RMSE of 18.85 µg/m3 and R2 value 0.7454 when compared with all the methods. The RMSE value of the new proposed method ‘weighted average method’ was 21.25 µg/m3, resulting in the second-best prediction for the study area. The inverse distance weighting method and the Grid interpolation method were third and fourth, respectively, while the ‘best correlation coefficient’ was the worst with an RMSE value of 41.60 µg/m3. Results also showed that the methods that used dependent stations had performed better when compared to methods that used all station data.
Comparative Evaluation of Autogenous Bone Graft and Autologous Platelet-Rich Fibrin with and Without 1.2 mg in situ Rosuvastatin Gel in the Surgical Treatment of Intrabony Defect in Chronic Periodontitis Patients

Context: Rosuvastatin (RSV) is a new synthetic, hydrophilic statin with potent anti-inflammatory and osseodifferentiation actions. Autogenous bone graft (ABG) is still considered the gold standard in reconstructive bone surgery. Addition of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) to ABG provides sustained release of various growth factors and facilitates survival of the graft. Aims: The study aims to clinically and radiographically compare the effectiveness of ABG and PRF with and without 1.2 mg RSV gel in the surgical treatment of intrabony defect in chronic Periodontitis patient. Settings and Design: This was a randomized controlled clinical trial. Subjects and Methods: Thirty-nine patients (one site per participant) with chronic periodontitis were randomly divided into three groups: Group 1 (open flap debridement [OFD] + placebo), Group 2 (OFD + ABG + PRF), and Group 3 (OFD + ABG + PRF + 1.2 mg RSV). Relative attachment level (RAL) and probing pocket depth (PPD) were recorded at baseline, 3, 6, and 9 months. Radiographic measurements such as defect height (A and B) and defect width (C) were calculated at baseline and 9 months. Statistical Analysis Used: Intergroup comparison was done using Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA. An intragroup comparison was done using Friedman test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: The mean PPD reduction and mean RAL gain were highly significant in Group 3 and Group 2 than Group 1. For Group 3, a significant reduction of defect height and width and a significant amount of bone fill were achieved than Group 2 and Group 1. Conclusions: Addition of 1.2 mg RSV gel, PRF, and ABG has synergistic effects, explaining their role as a regenerative material in the treatment of intrabony defects.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Healthy and Inflamed Human Gingiva Respond Differently to Porphyromonas gingivalis

Gingiva-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (GMSCs) have been shown to play an important role in periodontitis. However, how P. gingivalis, one of the key etiological agents of the disease, affects healthy (H)- and periodontitis (P)-GMSCs is unknown. To address this problem, we established 10 H-GMSC and 12 P-GMSC lines. No significant differences in morphology, differentiation into chondroblasts and adipocytes, expression of characteristic MSCS markers, including pericyte antigens NG2 and PDGFR, were observed between H- and P-GMSC lines. However, proliferation, cell size and osteogenic potential were higher in P-GMSCs, in contrast to their lower ability to suppress mononuclear cell proliferation. P. gingivalis up-regulated the mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, GRO-α, RANTES, TLR-2, HIF-1α, OPG, MMP-3, SDF-1, HGF and IP-10 in P-GMSCs, whereas only IL-6, MCP-1 and GRO-α were up-regulated in H-GMSCs. The expression of MCP-1, RANTES, IP-10 and HGF was significantly higher in P-GMSCs compared to H-GMSCs, but IDO1 was lower. No significant changes in the expression of TLR-3, TLR-4, TGF-β, LAP, IGFBP4 and TIMP-1 were observed in both types of GMSCs. In conclusion, our results suggest that P-GMSCs retain their pro-inflammatory properties in culture, exhibit lower immunosuppressive potential than their healthy counterparts, and impaired regeneration-associated gene induction in culture. All these functions are potentiated significantly by P. gingivalis treatment.
Pricing of European options using empirical characteristic functions

Pricing problems of financial derivatives are among the most important ones in Quantitative Finance. Since 1973 when a Nobel prize winning model was introduced by Black, Merton and Scholes the Brownian Motion (BM) process gained huge attention of professionals. It is now known, however, that stock market log-returns do not follow the very popular BM process. Derivative pricing models which are based on more general Lévy processes tend to perform better. Carr & Madan (1999) and Lewis (2001) (CML) developed a method for vanilla options valuation based on a characteristic function of asset log-returns assuming that they follow a Lévy process. Assuming that at least part of the problem is in adequate modeling of the distribution of log-returns of the underlying price process, we use instead a nonparametric approach in the CML formula and replaced the unknown characteristic function with its empirical version, the Empirical Characteristic Functions (ECF). We consider four modifications of this model based on the ECF. The first modification requires only historical log-returns of the underlying price process. The other three modifications of the model need, in addition, a calibration based on historical option prices. We compare their performance based on the historical data of the DAX index and on ODAX options written on the index between the 1st of June 2006 and the 17th of May 2007. The resulting pricing errors show that one of our models performs, at least in the cases considered in the project, better than the Carr & Madan (1999) model based on calibration of a parametric Lévy model, called a VG model. Our study seems to confirm a necessity of using implied parameters, apart from an adequate modeling of the probability distribution of the asset log-returns. It indicates that to precisely reproduce behaviour of the real option prices yet other factors like stochastic volatility need to be included in the option pricing model. Fortunately the discrepancies between our model and real option prices are reduced by introducing the implied