Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SOME BIOACTIVE PROPERTIES OF WILD AND COMMERCIAL MUSHROOM SPECIES

In this study, the protein and total phenolic contents of some commercially cultivated ( Agaricus bisporus , Pleurotus ostreatus ) and wild mushrooms ( Amanita caesarea , Fistulina hepatica , Meripilus giganteus ) were determined. Antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of these mushrooms against Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , Enterococcus faecalis , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Salmonella typhimurium , Acinetobacter haemolyticus , Proteus mirabilis , Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans were also investigated. The protein contents, total phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of the mushrooms were found in the range of 11.00 - 25.1%, 1.111 - 3.858 mg GAE g -1 , and 1.528 - 9.340 μmol FeSO 4 ·7H 2 O g -1 , respectively. Meripilus giganteus had higher protein than all the tested mushrooms. The highest total phenolic content was detected in Agaricus bisporus obtained from B company (3.858 mg GAE g -1 ), whereas the lowest total phenolic content was observed in Meripilus giganteus (1.111 mg GAE g -1 ). Total phenolic and antioxidant properties of mushrooms were found significantly different (P<0.05) by Duncan’s multiple range test. Methanolic extracts of the tested mushrooms showed no inhibitory activity against bacteria and yeast.
Farmland cash rents and the dollar

We explore whether the U.S. exchange rate could have an influence on cash rental rates for farmland in five U.S. cornbelt states. We find that farmland cash rents have a fairly strong, positive correlation with the U.S. dollar, in terms of its real value relative to major agricultural trading partners. One explanation for the correlation is that a strong dollar lowers the price of key inputs and thus has purchasing power effects. A strong dollar may therefore be associated with higher net returns, and the payment of higher cash rents by farmers. We find support for this hypothesis through a series of econometric models.
Antimicrobial activity of peach and grapevine defensins

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an important component of the innate immune system of the plants. Plant defensins are a large family of antimicrobial peptides with several interesting features, such as small dimension, high stability and broad spectrum of action. The discovery of new molecules and the study of their mechanism of action allow to consider them attractive for biotechnological applications. In this PhD thesis a defensin from Prunus persica (PpDFN1) and four novel DEFensin Like (DEFL) peptides from Vitis vinifera have been studied. In order to characterize the antimicrobial activity of these molecules, the recombinant mature peptides have been expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity by chromatography techniques. PpDFN1 is able to inhibit the growth of B. cinerea, P. expansum and M. laxa with different intensity. The recombinant peptide is capable of membrane permeabilization as demonstrated by SYTOX green fluorescence uptake in treated mycelia. Its interaction with membranes containing sphingolipid species has been shown by artificial lipid monolayers. Furthermore, PpDFN1 displays stronger interaction with monolayers composed by lipids extracted from sensitive fungi with the highest interaction against P. expansum, the most sensitive fungi to PpDFN1 action. DEFL 13, a defensin from grapevine, resulted the strongest antibotrytis peptides. It is electrostatically attracted to the fungal membranes as shown by the antagonist effect of the cations and is able to membrane permeabilization in B. cinerea hyphae. DEFL 13 is internalized in fungal cells and leads to fungal death by activation of some signaling pathways as demonstrated by screening of a mutant collection of B. cinerea
Assessing Food Safety Concepts on the Dairy Farm: The Case of Chemical Hazards

Adaptive conjoint analysis was used to elicit farmers' and experts' preferences for attributes of improving food safety with respect to chemical hazards on the dairy farm. Groups of respondents were determined by cluster analysis based on similar farmers' and experts' perceptions of food safety improvement. Results show differences in priority of the more important attributes. However, respondents in all groups valued "identification of treated cows" as one of the most important attributes. The results provide the processing industry and extension service with a better understanding of aspects that may form farmers' perceptions of improving food safety, and thus help to define the message for targeting different farmer groups.
Learning Deterministic Policy with Target for Power Control in Wireless Networks

Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) is a promising way to improve energy efficiency in wireless networks, especially where small base stations are densely deployed. However, traditional optimization based ICIC schemes suffer from severe performance degradation with complex interference pattern. To address this issue, we propose a Deep Reinforcement Learning with Deterministic Policy and Target (DRL-DPT) framework for ICIC in wireless networks. DRL- DPT overcomes the main obstacles in applying reinforcement learning and deep learning in wireless networks, i.e. continuous state space, continuous action space and convergence. Firstly, a Deep Neural Network (DNN) is involved as the actor to obtain deterministic power control actions in continuous space. Then, to guarantee the convergence, an online training process is presented, which makes use of a dedicated reward function as the target rule and a policy gradient descent algorithm to adjust DNN weights. Experimental results show that the proposed DRL-DPT framework consistently outperforms existing schemes in terms of energy efficiency and throughput under different wireless interference scenarios. More specifically, it improves up to 15% of energy efficiency with faster convergence rate.
Molecular Aspects of Dendritic Cell Activation in Leishmaniasis: An Immunobiological View

Dendritic cells (DC) are a diverse group of leukocytes responsible for bridging innate and adaptive immunity. Despite their functional versatility, DCs exist primarily in two basic functional states: immature and mature. A large body of evidence suggests that upon interactions with pathogens, DCs undergo intricate cellular processes that culminate in their activation, which is paramount to the orchestration of effective immune responses against Leishmania parasites. Herein we offer a concise review of the emerging hallmarks of DCs activation in leishmaniasis as well as a comprehensive discussion of the following underlying molecular events: DC-Leishmania interaction, antigen uptake, costimulatory molecule expression, parasite ability to affect DC migration, antigen presentation, metabolic reprogramming, and epigenetic alterations.
Cycling Quiescence in Temozolomide Resistant Glioblastoma Cells Is Partly Explained by microRNA-93 and -193-Mediated Decrease of Cyclin D

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a fatal malignancy of the central nervous system, commonly associated with chemoresistance. The alkylating agent Temozolomide (TMZ) is the front-line chemotherapeutic agent and has undergone intense studies on resistance. These studies reported on mismatch repair gene upregulation, ABC-targeted drug efflux, and cell cycle alterations. The mechanism by which TMZ induces cell cycle arrest has not been well-established. TMZ-resistant GBM cells have been linked to microRNA (miRNA) and exosomes. A cell cycle miRNA array identified distinct miRNAs only in exosomes from TMZ-resistant GBM cell lines and primary spheres. We narrowed the miRs to miR-93 and -193 and showed in computational analyses that they could target Cyclin D1. Since Cyclin D1 is a major regulator of cell cycle progression, we performed cause-effect studies and showed a blunting effects of miR-93 and -193 in Cyclin D1 expression. These two miRs also decreased cell cycling quiescence and induced resistance to TMZ. Taken together, our data provide a mechanism by which GBM cells can exhibit TMZ-induced resistance through miRNA targeting of Cyclin D1. The data provide a number of therapeutic approaches to reverse chemoresistance at the miRNA, exosomal and cell cycle points.
Cell Type-Specific Human APP Transgene Expression by Hippocampal Interneurons in the Tg2576 Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic animal models of Alzheimer’s disease have become versatile tools for basic and translational research. However, there is great heterogeneity of histological, biochemical, and functional data between transgenic mouse lines, which might be due to different transgene expression patterns. Here, the expression of human APP (hAPP) by GABAergic hippocampal interneurons immunoreactive for the calcium binding proteins parvalbumin, calbindin, calretinin, and for the peptide hormone somatostatin was analyzed in Tg2576 mice by double immunofluorescent microscopy. Overall, there was no GABAergic interneuron subpopulation that did not express the transgene. On the other hand, in no case all neurons of such a subpopulation expressed hAPP. In dentate gyrus molecular layer and in stratum lacunosum moleculare less than 10% of hAPP-positive interneurons co-express any of these interneuron markers, whereas in stratum oriens hAPP-expressing neurons frequently co-express these interneuron markers to different proportions. We conclude that these neurons differentially contribute to deficits in young Tg2576 mice before the onset of Abeta plaque pathology. The detailed analysis of distinct brain region and neuron type-specific APP transgene expression patterns is indispensable to understand particular pathological features and mouse line-specific differences in neuronal and systemic functions.
Cytosolic Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Is Involved in Seed Germination and Root Growth Under Salinity in Arabidopsis

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH or G6PD) is the key regulatory enzyme in the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP). The cytosolic isoforms including G6PD5 and G6PD6 account for the major part of the G6PD total activity in plant cells. Here, we characterized the Arabidopsis single null mutant g6pd5 and g6pd6 and double mutant g6pd5/6. Compared to wild type, the mutant seeds showed a reduced germination rate and root elongation under salt stress. The seeds and seedlings lacking G6PD5 and G6PD6 accumulate more reactive oxygen species (ROS) than the wild type under salt stress. Cytosolic G6PD (cy-G6PD) affected the expression of NADPH oxidases and the G6PD enzymatic activities in the mutant atrbohD/F, in which the NADPH oxidases genes are disrupted by T-DNA insertion and generation of ROS is inhibited, were lower than that in the wild type. The NADPH level in mutants was decreased under salt stress. In addition, we found that G6PD5 and G6PD6 affected the activities and transcript levels of various antioxidant enzymes in response to salt stress, especially the ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase. Exogenous application of ascorbate acid and glutathione rescued the seed and root phenotype of g6pd5/6 under salt stress. Interestingly, the cytosolic G6PD negatively modulated the NaCl-blocked primary root growth under salt stress in the root meristem and elongation zone.
Learning-Based Proxy Collision Detection for Robot Motion Planning Applications

This article demonstrates that collision detection-intensive applications such as robotic motion planning may be accelerated by performing collision checks with a machine learning model. We propose Fastron, a learning-based algorithm, to model a robot's configuration space to be used as a proxy collision detector in place of standard geometric collision checkers. We demonstrate that leveraging the proxy collision detector results in up to an order of magnitude faster performance in robot simulation and planning than state-of-the-art collision detection libraries. Our results show that Fastron learns a model more than 100 times faster than a competing C-space modeling approach, while also providing theoretical guarantees of learning convergence. Using the open motion planning libraries (OMPLs), we were able to generate initial motion plans across all experiments with varying robot and environment complexities and workspace obstacle locations. With Fastron, we can repeatedly generate new motion plans at a 56 Hz rate, showing its application toward autonomous surgical assistance task in shared environments with human-controlled manipulators. All performance gains were achieved despite using only CPU-based calculations, suggesting further computational gains with a GPU approach that can parallelize tensor algebra. Code is available online.1
Top–Down Attention Is Limited Within but Not Between Feature Dimensions

In natural vision, processing of spatial and nonspatial features occurs simultaneously; however, the two types of attention in charge of facilitating this processing have distinct mechanisms. Here, we tested the independence of spatial and feature-based attention at different stages of visual processing by examining color-based attentional selection while spatial attention was focused or divided. Human observers attended to one or two of four fields of randomly moving dots presented in both left and right visual hemifields. In the focused attention condition, the target stimulus was defined both by color and location, whereas in the divided attention condition stimuli of the target color had to be attended in both hemifields. Sustained attentional selection was measured by means of steady-state visual evoked potentials elicited by each of the frequency-tagged flickering dot fields. Additionally, target and distractor selection was assessed with ERPs to these stimuli. We found that spatial and color-based attention independently modulated the amplitude of steady-state visual evoked potentials, confirming independent top–down influences on early visual areas. In contrast, P3 amplitudes elicited only by targets and distractors of the attended color were subject to space-based enhancement, suggesting increasing integration of spatial and feature-based selection over the course of perceptual processing.
QbD-Based Development of Cationic Self-nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery Systems of Paclitaxel with Improved Biopharmaceutical Attributes

The present studies describe quality-by-design-based design and characterization of cationic self-nanoemulsifying formulations of paclitaxel for improving its biopharmaceutical attributes. Solubility and phase titration experiments were designed to select the lipidic and emulsifying excipients. Two different types of lipidic nanoformulations were developed using medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) and long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). The nanoformulations were optimized by mixture designs and subjected to evaluation for globule size, zeta potential, drug release, and intestinal permeability. Following apt mathematical modeling, the optimum nanoformulation was earmarked using numerical optimization. Further, cationic formulations were developed for both LCT- and MCT-containing formulations and subjected to performance evaluation. The optimized formulations were extensively evaluated, where an in vitro drug release study indicated 2.7-fold improvement in dissolution rate from optimized cationic nanoformulations over powder pure drug. Ex vivo and in situ evaluation performed on Wistar rats exhibited nearly six- to eightfold enhancement in permeation and absorption parameters of the drug for the optimized cationic nanoformulation as compared to the pure paclitaxel. Pharmacokinetic studies indicated nearly 13.4-fold improvement in AUC and Cmax, along with 1.8-fold reduction in Tmax of the drug from cationic nanoformulations as compared to the pure drug suspension. Moreover, nanoformulation containing long-chain lipids exhibited superior performance (1.18-fold improvement in drug absorption) over medium-chain lipids. Cytotoxicity evaluation of cationic nanoformulations on MCF-7 cells revealed significant reduction in growth vis-à-vis the pure drug. Overall, the current paper reports successful systematic development of paclitaxel-loaded cationic self-nanoemulsifying systems with distinctly improved biopharmaceutical performance.
Density and Surface Tension of Aqueous H 2 SO 4 at Low Temperature

The density and surface tension of 0.12 to 0.75 acid mass fraction in aqueous sulfuric acid solutions have been measured in the temperature region from (220 to 300) K. The density has been expressed as a polynomial of the acid mass fraction and temperature, fitting the new measurements together with the tabulated values from International Critical Tables (1928). Older literature data for the surface tension of aqueous sulfuric acid has been corrected for systematic errors and used with the new data to derive a parametrization of the surface tension as a function of acid mass fraction and temperature.
Development of new algorithm for improving accuracy of pole detection to the supporting system of mobility aid for visually impaired person. (Développement d'un nouvel algorithme pour améliorer l'exactitude de la détection de poteau pour assister la mobilité des personnes malvoyantes)

This research aimed to develop a technology system of mobility aid for Visually Impaired Person (VIP) called Smart Environment Explorer Stick (SEES). Particular purpose of this research was developing new algorithm in improving accuracy of SEE-stick for pole detection using distance calculation method and vertical line pair search based on Canny edge detection optimization and Hough transform. Henceforth, the pole detection algorithm was named as YuRHoS algorithm.The developed SEES as supporting system of VIP mobility aid had been successfully integrated several devices such as global remote server (iSEE), embedded local server (SEE-phone) and smart stick (SEE-stick). Performance of SEE-stick could be improved through YuRHoS algorithm, which was able to fix the accuracy of SEE-stick in detecting pole. Test comparison of pole detection results among others algorithm concluded that YuRHoS algorithm had better accuracy in pole detection.Two most significant factors affecting SEE-stick ability in detecting pole was test location and pole color. Level of accuracy of SEE-stick would be optimum once the test location was performed outdoor and pole color was silver. Statistics result shown that YuRHoS algorithm performance indoor was 0.085 times worse than outdoor. Meanwhile, silver-pole-color as object detection could increase YuRHoS algorithm performance as much as 11 times better compare to black-pole-color.
Epidemic Clostridioides difficile Ribotype 027 Lineages: Comparisons of Texas Versus Worldwide Strains

Abstract Background The epidemic Clostridioides difficile ribotype 027 strain resulted from the dissemination of 2 separate fluoroquinolone-resistant lineages: FQR1 and FQR2. Both lineages were reported to originate in North America; however, confirmatory large-scale investigations of C difficile ribotype 027 epidemiology using whole genome sequencing has not been undertaken in the United States. Methods Whole genome sequencing and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis was performed on 76 clinical ribotype 027 isolates obtained from hospitalized patients in Texas with C difficile infection and compared with 32 previously sequenced worldwide strains. Maximum-likelihood phylogeny based on a set of core genome SNPs was used to construct phylogenetic trees investigating strain macro- and microevolution. Bayesian phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses were used to incorporate temporal and geographic variables with the SNP strain analysis. Results Whole genome sequence analysis identified 2841 SNPs including 900 nonsynonymous mutations, 1404 synonymous substitutions, and 537 intergenic changes. Phylogenetic analysis separated the strains into 2 prominent groups, which grossly differed by 28 SNPs: the FQR1 and FQR2 lineages. Five isolates were identified as pre-epidemic strains. Phylogeny demonstrated unique clustering and resistance genes in Texas strains indicating that spatiotemporal bias has defined the microevolution of ribotype 027 genetics. Conclusions Clostridioides difficile ribotype 027 lineages emerged earlier than previously reported, coinciding with increased use of fluoroquinolones. Both FQR1 and FQR2 ribotype 027 epidemic lineages are present in Texas, but they have evolved geographically to represent region-specific public health threats.
Evaluation of Polyphenolics Content and Antioxidant Activity in Edible Wild Fruits

Plant diversity is a basic source of food and medicines for the local communities of the Himalayas. Current study was intended to assess polyphenolics content and antioxidant potential in edible wild fruits used as food and to treat various diseases by the inhabitants of Himalayan region of Pakistan. The fruits of 20 plant species were evaluated using standard protocols, whereas information on medicinal uses was gathered through semistructured interviews. Comparatively, Prunus domestica and Rubus ellipticus fruits exhibited highest levels of phenolics and flavonols contents (113.55 ± 0.61 mg GAE/100 g and 200.06 ± 1.57 mg RtE/100 g FW, respectively) in acetone extract. Nevertheless, flavonoids were maximum in the water extract of Rosa moschata (194.82 ± 3.46 mg RtE/100 g FW). Contrary, Duchesnea indica fruit depicted significant potential to scavenge DPPH and H2O2 radicals at 94.66 ± 8.89% in acetone extract and 83.54± 9.37% in water extract, while acetone extract of Rubus ellipticus had maximum potential to reduce ferric ions (133.66 ± 15.00 µM GAE/100 g FW). Additionally, total antioxidant capacity was highest in the acetone extract of Berberis lycium fruit (332.08 ± 21.90 µM AAE/100 g FW). The relationships between polyphenolics and antioxidant activity revealed synergistic role of secondary metabolites in the prevention of diseases. Our study revealed that wild fruits consumed by the local communities of Himalayas are rich in health beneficial phytochemicals and hold significant potential to treat chronic diseases, particularly associated with free radicals.
Fully Automated Lumen Segmentation Method for Intracoronary Optical Coherence Tomography

Background Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an innovative imaging technique that generates high-resolution intracoronary images. In the last few years, the need for more precise analysis regarding coronary artery disease to achieve optimal treatment has made intravascular imaging an area of primary importance in interventional cardiology. One of the main challenges in OCT image analysis is the accurate detection of lumen which is significant for the further prognosis. Method In this research, we present a new approach to the segmentation of lumen in OCT images. The proposed work is focused on designing an efficient automatic algorithm containing the following steps: preprocessing (artifacts removal: speckle noise, circular rings, and guide wire), conversion between polar and Cartesian coordinates, and segmentation algorithm. Results The implemented method was tasted on 667 OCT frames. The lumen border was extracted with a high correlation compared to the ground truth: 0.97 ICC (0.97–0.98). Conclusions Proposed algorithm allows for fully automated lumen segmentation on optical coherence tomography images. This tool may be applied to automated quantitative lumen analysis.