Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Usages alimentaires de Moringa oleifera dans la région de l’Extrême-Nord Cameroun

L’objectif de notre travail etait d’identifier et caracteriser les usages alimentaires de Moringa oleifera au sein des menages de la region de l’Extreme-Nord Cameroun. Pour y parvenir, nous avons administre a 246 menages (104 en zone rurale et 142 en zone urbaine) un questionnaire portant sur l’identification et la localisation du menage, les connaissances generales sur Moringa oleifera, les differents usages et les modes de consommation dont elle fait l’objet. Notre etude revele que tous les menages interroges (100%) aussi bien en zone rurale qu’urbaine connaissent Moringa oleifera. La consommation de ses feuilles fait partie des habitudes alimentaires locales et leur approvisionnement se fait soit au niveau des marches locaux, soit par prelevement dans les champs et jardins de concessions. Les feuilles sont utilisees a l’etat frais ou apres sechage soit a l’ombre, soit par exposition directe au soleil. Pour 80,0% de menages en zone rurale et 83,5% en zone urbaine, les feuilles de Moringa oleifera servent principalement d’ingredient majeur a la preparation de sauces traditionnelles. Cependant, nous avons observe de faibles frequences de consommation: pas plus de 1 a 2 fois par semaine pour 80,5% des menages en zone rurale et 86,3% en zone urbaine. Cette etude revele l’effectivite de l’usage alimentaire de Moringa oleifera dans l’Extreme-Nord Cameroun, et la necessite de promouvoir la consommation de cette ressource dans le cadre de la lutte contre la malnutrition qui sevit dans cette region. Mots cles : Moringa oleifera, usages alimentaires, menages, Extreme-Nord Cameroun.
Troglitazone in Combination With Sulfonylurea Restores Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To determine if the combination of troglitazone (a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ activator) and sulfonylurea will provide efficacy not attainable by either medication alone. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS There were 552 patients inadequately controlled on maximum doses of sulfonylurea who participated in a 52-week randomized active-controlled multicenter study. Patients were randomized to micronized glyburide 12 mg q.d. (G12); troglitazone monotherapy 200, 400, or 600 mg q.d. (T200, T400, T600); or combined troglitazone and glyburide q.d. (T200/G12, T400/G12, T600/G12). Efficacy measures included HbA1c, fasting serum glucose (FSG), insulin, and C-peptide. Effects on lipids and safety were also assessed. RESULTS Patients on T600/G12 had significantly lower mean (± SEM) FSG (9.3 ± 0.4 mmol/l; 167.4 ± 6.6 mg/dl) compared with control subjects (13.7 ± 0.4 mmol/l; 246.5 ± 6.8 mg/dl; P < 0.0001) and significantly lower mean HbA1c (7.79 ± 0.2 vs. 10.58 ± 0.18%, P < 0.0001). Significant dose-related decreases were also seen with T200/G12 and T400/G12. Among patients on T600/G12, 60% achieved HbA1c ≤8%, 42% achieved HbA1c ≤7%, and 40% achieved FSG ≤7.8 mmol/l (140 mg/dl). Fasting insulin and C-peptide decreased with all treatments. Overall, triglycerides and free fatty acids decreased, whereas HDL cholesterol increased. LDL cholesterol increased slightly, with no change in apolipoprotein B. Adverse events were similar across treatments. Hypoglycemia occurred in 3% of T600/G 12 patients compared with <1% on G12 or troglitazone monotherapy CONCLUSIONS Patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on sulfonylurea can be effectively managed with a combination of troglitazone and sulfonylurea that is safe, well tolerated, and represents a new approach to achieving the glycemic targets recommended by the American Diabetes Association.
Multivitamin use and telomere length in women 1 – 3

Background: Telomere length may be a marker of biological aging. Multivitamin supplements represent a major source of micronutrients, which may affect telomere length by modulating oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Objective: The objective was to examine whether multivitamin use is associated with longer telomeres in women. Design: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from 586 early participants (age 35–74 y) in the Sister Study. Multivitamin use and nutrient intakes were assessed with a 146-item food-frequency questionnaire, and relative telomere length of leukocyte DNA was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: After age and other potential confounders were adjusted for, multivitamin use was associated with longer telomeres. Compared with nonusers, the relative telomere length of leukocyte DNA was on average 5.1% longer among daily multivitamin users (P for trend 1⁄4 0.002). In the analysis of micronutrients, higher intakes of vitamins C and E from foods were each associated with longer telomeres, even after adjustment for multivitamin use. Furthermore, intakes of both nutrients were associated with telomere length among women who did not take multivitamins. Conclusion: This study provides the first epidemiologic evidence that multivitamin use is associated with longer telomere length among women. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;89:1857–63.
GNOS — Radio occultation sounder on board of Chinese FY3 satellites

GNOS is a dual-frequency GPS/Beidou receiver developed for GNSS radio occultation studies. It is developed and manufactured by National Space Science Center(NSSC) under a contract with the China Meteorological Administration(CMA) and is designed to provide vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature, pressure, humidity, as well as ionospheric electron density on a global scale. GNOS first flight mission is on-board the Chinese FY3C meteorological satellite, launched on Sep, 2013. It will also be on-board the follow-up FY3 satellites in the future. This paper focuses on the current GNOS design and characteristics for the FY3C mission. The instrument performance derived from analysis of measurement data in laboratory and mountain-based occultation validation experiments is presented. The comparison between Open Loop and Close Loop are shown. The refractivity profiles of GNOS obtained during the mountain-based experiment are also compared with those from radiosondes.
Studies on Expression of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase in Normal and Cancerous Tissues of Thyroids

Abstract Recently published articles have reported the controversial data regarding expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase isozyme 1A1 (ALDH1A1), a potential candidate marker for normal and cancer stem cells (CSCs), in thyroid tissues. These data prompted us to re-evaluate expression of ALDH1A1 in normal and cancerous thyroid tissues by 2 different means. The first method was immunohistochemistry with 2 different anti-ALDH1A1 antibodies from distinct companies. Following validating the integrity of these 2 antibodies by Western blotting with ALDH-expressing and nonexpressing cancer cell lines and immunohistochemistry with breast and colon tissues, we report here significant and comparable expression of ALDH1A1 in both normal and cancerous thyroid tissues with both antibodies. Next, relative expression levels of ALDH isozymes were evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), revealing that ALDH1A1 was the most highly expressed isozyme followed by ALDH9A1 and relative expression patterns of isozymes were very similar in normal and cancerous tissues. All these data demonstrate that thyroid cells of normal and cancer origins do express ALDH1A1 and to a lesser extent 9A1. Further study will be necessary to study functional significance of ALDH1A1 in the function and behaviors of thyroid normal and cancer stem cells.
Type I Phosphatidylinositol Phosphate Kinase Beta Regulates Focal Adhesion Disassembly by Promoting β1 Integrin Endocytosis

ABSTRACT Cell migration requires the regulated disassembly of focal adhesions, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined. We have previously shown that focal adhesion disassembly requires the dynamin 2- and clathrin-dependent endocytosis of ligand-activated β1 integrins. Here, we identify type I phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase beta (PIPKIβ), an enzyme that generates phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PI4,5P2), as a key regulator of this process. We found that knockdown of PIPKIβ by RNA interference blocks the internalization of active β1 integrins and impairs focal adhesion turnover and cell migration. These defects are caused by the failure to target the endocytic machinery, including clathrin adaptors and dynamin 2, to focal adhesion sites. As a consequence, depletion of PIPKIβ blocks clathrin assembly at adhesion plaques and prevents complex formation between dynamin 2 and focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a critical step in focal adhesion turnover. Together, our findings identify PIPKIβ as a novel regulator of focal adhesion disassembly and suggest that PIPKIβ spatially regulates integrin endocytosis at adhesion sites to control cell migration.
Agenda setting en medios ecuatorianos. Diarios: El Universo, El Mercurio, El Comercio y El Telégrafo

Introduccion. Tomando como base fundamental los conceptos de la agenda setting el estudio busca conocer la linea que siguen los cuatro medios de comunicacion de Ecuador (El Universo, El Telegrafo, El Comercio y El Mercurio) para el establecimiento cotidiano de sus temarios periodisticos. Metodologia. Se trabajo con el analisis de contenido a traves de una semana compuesta entre el 16 de abril al 18 de mayo de 2012, usando como instrumento una ficha de investigacion que comprende nueve apartados. Resultados. Se destacan las entidades publicas como los principales motores de la informacion; las rutinas productivas cotidianas de los medios resultan favorecedoras frente al periodismo de investigacion; y las noticias breves tienen mayor numero de publicaciones en dichos periodicos objeto de estudio. Discusion. La falta de periodismo de investigacion es notoria en los casos de estudio. Los periodistas prefieren hacer rutinas cotidianas en especial con organismos o entidades publicas en donde permanentemente encuentran hechos noticiosos. Conclusiones. Los medios de comunicacion estan constantemente monitoreados para conocer la importancia que le brindan a la labor periodistica. Las empresas informativas suelen moverse atendiendo a determinados intereses de grupos especificos.
Biomarkers in Zebra mussel for monitoring and quality assessment of Lake Maggiore (Italy)

Abstract Three different biomarkers (acetylcholinesterase (AChE), ethoxy resorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and DNA strand breaks) were measured in Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) specimens collected in April 2005 at six different sampling sites on Lake Maggiore, the second largest Italian lake in terms of depth and volume, in order to assess the spatial variation of exposure to man-made contaminants. Mussels maintained at fixed laboratory conditions were used as controls to eliminate potential interference due to environmental factors. Biomarker data were also supported by the analysis of several chemicals (six dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs), 23 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 14 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), 11 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB)) measured in the mussel soft tissues by gas chromatographic analyses. We found a negative correlation between temperature and AChE activity, while any measured environmental or physiological factor seemed to influence EROD activity and DNA strand breaks. A positive relationship was found between EROD activity and all of the measured chemicals, except for PAHs, which correlated with the amount of DNA strand breaks. Significant differences were noted for all biomarkers, both among sampling stations and between control and experimental data, even if the general level of variability was low. The biomarkers showed a distinct pattern of spatial variation, but the evaluation of DNA strand breaks was the strongest discriminating power between sites. In addition, the comparison between AChE and EROD activity measured in 2005 was compared with results obtained in a previous study carried out over the same sampling period in 2003. Results indicated a strong influence of temperature on AChE activity and probable interference of substrate inhibition of EROD activity, pointing out the need to take care in the interpretation of data comparisons. The results obtained with two different metrics used for the measure of DNA strand breaks is also discussed, as well as the relationship between EROD activity data and potential genotoxicity.
Implementation of treatment planning in the routine clinical procedure of regional hyperthermia treatment of cervical cancer: An overview and the Rotterdam experience

Purpose: This manuscript provides an overview in the field of hyperthermia treatment planning (HTP) in cervical cancer. Treatment planning techniques: The workflow of an HTP assisted treatment generally consists of patient imaging, tissue segmentation, model generation, electromagnetic (EM) and thermal calculations, optimisation, and clinical implementation. A main role in HTP is played by numerical simulations, for which currently a number of software packages are available in hyperthermia. To implement these simulations, accurate applicator models and accurate knowledge of dielectric and thermal parameters is mandatory. Model validation is necessary to check if this is implemented well. In the translation from HTP models to the clinic, the main aspect is accurate representation of the actual treatment situation in the HTP models. Accurate patient positioning and organ-specific segmentation can be helpful in minimising the differences between model and clinic. Steering strategies: In the clinic, different approaches are possible: simple, i.e. target centre point (TCP) steering, often called ‘target steering’, or only pretreatment planning versus advanced, i.e. active HTP guided steering or image guided hyperthermia by non-invasive thermometry (NIT). The Rotterdam experience: To illustrate the implementation of HTP guided steering, the Rotterdam approach of complaint adaptive steering is elaborated, in which optimisation is adapted with increased constraints on tissues with heat-induced discomfort. Conclusions: Many publications on HTP show that HTP can be considered a feasible method to optimise and control a hyperthermia treatment, with the objective to enhance treatment quality and documentation. Ultimately, after overcoming the various uncertainties, this may lead to dose prescription.
Pottery Production at the Phoenician Colony of El Castillo de Dona Blanca (El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain) c. 750-550 BCE

This dissertation uses scientific analysis of pottery to examine social and economic process at a Phoenician colony in the Bay of Cádiz, Spain. Previous research on the Phoenician colonial economies has neglected social and diachronic dynamics, due to a lack of adequate data and proper theoretical frameworks. I address these shortcomings by examining the relative effect of the colonial encounter on Phoenician and indigenous potters, and studying changes in the organization of production over the duration of the Phoenician colonization. I accomplish this using a ‘colonial economic history,’ which combines a critical postcolonial perspective, anthropological methods for the study of production and knowledge transmission, and scientific (chemical, microscopic) data. I apply this approach to 169 pottery fragments from the site of El Castillo de Doña Blanca (CDB). The sample is structured to allow a comparison of Phoenician and indigenous practices, and of four chronological phases spanning the 8th to 6th centuries BCE. Visual examination of the samples combined with Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), portable X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF), and petrographic microscopy provides a basis for identifying technological practices and trends related to raw material use, vessel formation, and surface treatment. These in turn are used to infer the organization of production, and continuity in knowledge transmission among potters. The results shed light on the effect that the colonial environment had on the activities of both indigenous and Phoenician producers, as well as on CDB’s economic development, between c. 750 and 550 BCE.
Evaluation of immunogenicity of outer membrane proteins of Pasteurella multocida serotype B:2,5 in cattle

The studies involved P. multocida of serotype B:2,5 isolated from animal affected with haemorrhagic septicaemia. Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) and iron-regulated outer membrane proteins (IROMPs) were prepared b y extraction with 1 % sarcosyl from the strain cultured o n BHI medium and on a medium supplemented with 2,2’-dipyridyl. The a ntigen complexes were used to immunize calves. Each vaccine dose comprised 400 µg of OMPs suspension and 10% addition of aluminium hydroxide gel as adjuvant. The animals were injected twice at a 14-day interval. The blood was collected on the day of the first vaccination and then weekly for 6 weeks. The immunization o f calves with the complexes of OMPs and IROMPs antigens caused o ccurrence of the specific antibodies detected with the immunoblotting and ELISA.
Fast-Shared Current Transient Response in High-Precision Interleaved Inverters

A robust self-interleaving mechanism for paralleled hysteresis-current-controlled inverters is proposed, featuring sustained switching under all load conditions. A fast interleaving technique that can be applied when no clamping of the output voltage occurs is combined with a self-interleaving mechanism that ensures correct switching during output-voltage-clamping conditions. The self-interleaving mechanism was analyzed using the state-plane method, extended to multiple modules in parallel. A minimum switching frequency and maximum duty cycle are guaranteed under all load conditions, enabling the use of low-cost bootstrap circuits to drive the high-side switches. The interleaving approach results in reduced volume of the passive components and improved dynamic response. Simulations were conducted to verify the combined operation of both methods, and measurements were performed on a 2.8-kW prototype zero-voltage-switching inverter with a discrete hysteresis current controller.
Biofilm Attached Cultivation of Chlorella pyrenoidosa Is a Developed System for Swine Wastewater Treatment and Lipid Production

This study showed the new potential of using soluble contents and heavy metals in swine wastewater as nutrient supplements for the algae Chlorella pyrenoidosa with biofilm attached method. Algae with biofilm attached cultivation grew well in unpasteurized wastewater reaching a biomass productivity of 5.03 g m−2 d−1, lipid content of 35.9% and lipid productivity of 1.80 g m−2 d−1. Chlorella grew in BG11 medium delivered lower values for each of the aforementioned parameters. The FAMEs compositions in the algae paste were mainly consisted of C16:0, C18:2, and C18:3. Algae removed NH4+–N, total phosphorus (TP), and COD by 75.9, 68.4, and 74.8%, respectively. Notably, Zn2+, Cu+, and Fe2+ were removed from wastewater with a ratio of 65.71, 53.64, and 58.89%, respectively. Biofilm attached cultivation of C. pyrenoidosa in swine wastewater containing heavy metals could accumulate considerable biomass and lipid, and the removal ratio of NH4+–N, TP, COD, and as well as heavy metal were high. Treatment of wastewater with biofilm attached cultivation showed an increasingly popular for the concentration of microalgae and environmental sustainability.
Gamma Correction Technique Based Feature Extraction for Face Recognition System

One of the most important challenges for practical face recognition systems is to make recognition more reliable under uncontrolled lighting conditions. We tackle this by using novel illumination-insensitive preprocessing method. The proposed face recognition system consists of a gamma correction, a preprocessing stage, a hybrid Fourier-based facial feature extraction, and Principal Component Linear Discriminant Analysis (PCLDA). Gamma Correction is a nonlinear gray-level transformation that replaces gray-level I with Iγ (for γ > 0), where γ is a user-defined parameter. In the preprocessing stage, an “Integral Normalized Gradient Image”, (INGI) is obtained by transform a face image into an illumination-insensitive image. The effect of illumination gets reduced in the INGI by normalizing and integrating the smoothed gradients of a facial image. Using frequency band model selection the hybrid Fourier features are extracted from three different Fourier domains in different frequency bandwidths and further by adding PCLDA the robustness of the system gets improved. In face recognition, it is not possible to process with the entire extracted features, hence the dimension of the feature vectors has to be reduced. In this paper, this is done by using the linear method called PCLDA. The proposed system using the Yale B data set which is having a 2-D face images under various environmental variations such as illumination changes and expression changes. Keywords-Gamma Correction, Preprocessing, Feature extraction, PCLDA and Yale B data set
Translation-Independent Localization of mRNA in E. coli

Sequences within messenger RNAs target them to sites in the bacterial cell where the resulting proteins function. Understanding the organization of a bacterial cell requires the elucidation of the mechanisms by which proteins localize to particular subcellular sites. Thus far, such mechanisms have been suggested to rely on embedded features of the localized proteins. Here, we report that certain messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in Escherichia coli are targeted to the future destination of their encoded proteins, cytoplasm, poles, or inner membrane in a translation-independent manner. Cis-acting sequences within the transmembrane-coding sequence of the membrane proteins are necessary and sufficient for mRNA targeting to the membrane. In contrast to the view that transcription and translation are coupled in bacteria, our results show that, subsequent to their synthesis, certain mRNAs are capable of migrating to particular domains in the cell where their future protein products are required.
Cost-Aware Big Data Processing Across Geo-Distributed Datacenters

With the globalization of service, organizations continuously produce large volumes of data that need to be analysed over geo-dispersed locations. Traditionally central approach that moving all data to a single cluster is inefficient or infeasible due to the limitations such as the scarcity of wide-area bandwidth and the low latency requirement of data processing. Processing big data across geo-distributed datacenters continues to gain popularity in recent years. However, managing distributed MapReduce computations across geo-distributed datacenters poses a number of technical challenges: how to allocate data among a selection of geo-distributed datacenters to reduce the communication cost, how to determine the Virtual Machine (VM) provisioning strategy that offers high performance and low cost, and what criteria should be used to select a datacenter as the final reducer for big data analytics jobs. In this paper, these challenges is addressed by balancing bandwidth cost, storage cost, computing cost, migration cost, and latency cost, between the two MapReduce phases across datacenters. We formulate this complex cost optimization problem for data movement, resource provisioning and reducer selection into a joint stochastic integer nonlinear optimization problem by minimizing the five cost factors simultaneously. The Lyapunov framework is integrated into our study and an efficient online algorithm that is able to minimize the long-term time-averaged operation cost is further designed. Theoretical analysis shows that our online algorithm can provide a near optimum solution with a provable gap and can guarantee that the data processing can be completed within pre-defined bounded delays. Experiments on WorldCup98 web site trace validate the theoretical analysis results and demonstrate that our approach is close to the offline-optimum performance and superior to some representative approaches.