Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of antimicrobial properties of two spices commonly consumed in Nigeria and effect of temperature on their antioxidant properties

The study compared the antimicrobial activities of essential oils (EOs) from Piper guineense (Uziza) and Xylopica aethiopica (Uda) using diffusion and dilution assays, and evaluated their antioxidant properties at different temperatures. Comparison of the antimicrobial activities was determined using well-in-agar diffusion, disc diffusion and broth dilution methods against Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp and Bacillus cereus as test isolates. The antioxidant activities at different temperatures (28, 50 and 70°C) were determined using 1,1- diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and Fe2+ chelation methods. Their antimicrobial activities increased with increase in concentration. From the diffusion assays, B. cereus was more susceptible to the EOs than other isolates (19.5 and 18.0 mm). MIC values obtained from the broth dilution assay (8.0 – 16.0 mg/mL) were generally much lower than those obtained from disc diffusion and well-in-agar diffusion assays. Percent inhibition of isolates using broth dilution method ranged from 91.28 to 96.86%. Their antioxidant activities decreased with increase in temperature. P. guineense EO yielded higher DPPH scavenging activity (43.25, 46.64 and 33.36%, respectively) and Fe2+ chelating ability (25.60, 12.58 and 8.97 mg/g, respectively) at the different temperatures, while FRAP elicited the strongest antioxidant ability of the EOs (70.10, 37.51 and 26.55 mg/g, respectively). The EOs exhibited their strongest antioxidant abilities at 28°C. Key words: Microbial isolates, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, antioxidant capacity, spices, essential oils.
More Reliable EEG Electrode Digitizing Methods Can Reduce Source Estimation Uncertainty, but Current Methods Already Accurately Identify Brodmann Areas

Electroencephalography (EEG) and source estimation can be used to identify brain areas activated during a task, which could offer greater insight on cortical dynamics. Source estimation requires knowledge of the locations of the EEG electrodes. This could be provided with a template or obtained by digitizing the EEG electrode locations. Operator skill and inherent uncertainties of a digitizing system likely produce a range of digitization reliabilities, which could affect source estimation and the interpretation of the estimated source locations. Here, we compared the reliability of five digitizing methods (ultrasound, structured-light 3D scan, infrared 3D scan, motion capture probe, and motion capture) and determined the relationship between digitization reliability and source estimation uncertainty, assuming other contributors to source estimation uncertainty were constant. We digitized a mannequin head using each method five times and quantified the reliability and validity of each method. We created five hundred sets of electrode locations based on our reliability results and applied a dipole fitting algorithm (DIPFIT) to perform source estimation. The motion capture method, which recorded the locations of markers placed directly on the electrodes had the best reliability with an average electrode variability of 0.001cm. Then, in order of decreasing reliability were the method using a digitizing probe in the motion capture system, an infrared 3D scanner, a structured-light 3D scanner, and an ultrasound digitization system. Unsurprisingly, uncertainty of the estimated source locations increased with greater variability of EEG electrode locations and less reliable digitizing systems. If EEG electrode location variability was ~ 1 cm, a single source could shift by as much as 2 cm. To help translate these distances into practical terms, we quantified Brodmann area accuracy for each digitizing method and found that the average Brodmann area accuracy for all digitizing methods was > 80%. Using a template of electrode locations reduced the Brodmann area accuracy to ~ 50%. Overall, more reliable digitizing methods can reduce source estimation uncertainty, but the significance of the source estimation uncertainty depends on the desired spatial resolution. For accurate Brodmann area identification, any of the digitizing methods tested can be used confidently.
Structure and mechanism of TagA, a novel membrane-associated glycosyltransferase that produces wall teichoic acids in pathogenic bacteria

Staphylococcus aureus and other bacterial pathogens affix wall teichoic acids (WTAs) to their surface. These highly abundant anionic glycopolymers have critical functions in bacterial physiology and their susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics. The membrane-associated TagA glycosyltranserase (GT) catalyzes the first-committed step in WTA biosynthesis and is a founding member of the WecB/TagA/CpsF GT family, more than 6,000 enzymes that synthesize a range of extracellular polysaccharides through a poorly understood mechanism. Crystal structures of TagA from T. italicus in its apo- and UDP-bound states reveal a novel GT fold, and coupled with biochemical and cellular data define the mechanism of catalysis. We propose that enzyme activity is regulated by interactions with the bilayer, which trigger a structural change that facilitates proper active site formation and recognition of the enzyme’s lipid-linked substrate. These findings inform upon the molecular basis of WecB/TagA/CpsF activity and could guide the development of new anti-microbial drugs. AUTHOR SUMMARY Gram-positive bacteria cause thousands of deaths in the United States each year and are a growing health concern because many bacterial strains have become resistant to commonly used antibiotics. One of the most abundant polymers displayed on the surface of Gram-positive bacteria is wall teichoic acid (WTA), a negatively charged carbohydrate polymer that has critical functions in cell division, morphology, adhesion and pathogenesis. The WTA biosynthetic pathway has drawn significant interest as a drug target because clinically important methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains that lack WTA are defective in host colonization and re-sensitized to β-lactam antibiotics. To understand how bacteria produce WTA, we determined the structure and deduced the enzymatic mechanism of TagA, an important enzyme that is required for WTA synthesis. This research reveals a new method for enzyme regulation, whereby peripheral membrane association enables TagA to adopt its active form as a monomer. As TagA enzymes are highly conserved in bacteria, they can be expected to operate through a similar mechanism. The results of this work provide insight into WTA biosynthesis and could lead to innovative approaches to treat infections caused by pathogenic bacteria.
An Improved Recombineering Toolset for Plants

A scalable recombineering procedure for whole-gene editing in plants via homologous recombination in bacteria was used to tag 62 auxin-related genes in 123 transgenic Arabidopsis lines. Gene functional studies often rely on the expression of a gene of interest as transcriptional and translational fusions with specialized tags. Ideally, this is done in the native chromosomal contexts to avoid potential misexpression artifacts. Although recent improvements in genome editing have made it possible to directly modify the target genes in their native chromosomal locations, classical transgenesis is still the preferred experimental approach chosen in most gene tagging studies because of its time efficiency and accessibility. We have developed a recombineering-based tagging system that brings together the convenience of the classical transgenic approaches and the high degree of confidence in the results obtained by direct chromosomal tagging using genome-editing strategies. These simple, scalable, customizable recombineering toolsets and protocols allow a variety of genetic modifications to be generated. In addition, we developed a highly efficient recombinase-mediated cassette exchange system to facilitate the transfer of the desired sequences from a bacterial artificial chromosome clone to a transformation-compatible binary vector, expanding the use of the recombineering approaches beyond Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We demonstrated the utility of this system by generating more than 250 whole-gene translational fusions and 123 Arabidopsis transgenic lines corresponding to 62 auxin-related genes and characterizing the translational reporter expression patterns for 14 auxin biosynthesis genes.
Enhancement of mechanical properties of Copper Brazed by laser surface modification

Nowadays, laser surface modification (LSM) has become the most advance technique for improving the surface properties for joining methods. This is due to its advantages such as cleaner, precise, more reliable and provides exact control compare to other surface modification techniques. This technique also applicable on wide range of materials, such as metal/alloy, ceramic and polymer. Brazing is a metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joint together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the base materials. The brazing process performed under a controlled atmosphere in vacuum tube furnace. Microscopic observations were made by use of both optical and electron microscopes. Fibre laser surface modification-brazing of 2 mm thick 99% pure copper plate in the lap joint configuration performing with Cu-based filler metal. There are three microgrooves were produced with three different laser power apply 15 watt, 21 watt and 27 watt. It found that successful brazing and wetting can be achieved by modified the surface for the base metal. The result of shear tensile test indicated that the highest shear strength was achieve in groove by using 27. This is because of its excellent of its excellent spreading behaviour of molten filler metal, largest bonding interface area and suitable intermetallic compound (IMC) distribution.
Transferring Deep Belief Networks for the Classification of LANDSAT8 Remote Sensing Imagery

This paper studies the structure and characteristics of LANDSAT8 OLI data, and transfers Deep Belief Networks model to OLI datasets. Firstly, the sub-sampling window is used to filter the pretraining data, which reduces the calculation cost of the hidden layer feature representation of the model. The parameters of each layer of DBN are trained forward, optimization parameters are used to make the error converge to a low value in back propagation. Finally, the activation function is used to reduce the dimension of the hidden layer of the model, and the output vector is used as the global feature representation of the image. Running DBN to complete the classification of LANDSAT8 remote sensing image in the study area, the experimental results show that the model has completed the classification and achieved high user accuracy and reliability in the case of that all types of the wetlands have similar spectral characteristics. The conclusion is that the pretrained features can be well applied to the LANDSAT8 remote sensing datasets. The accuracy is improved within the scope of cost calculation, and the local minina problem will also occur in deepening model.
Diffusion of Sucrose and a,a-Trehalose in Aqueous Solutions

Diffusion coefficients for sucrose and trehalose in aqueous solutions were measured using pulsed-gradient-spin-echo NMR and calculated using molecular dynamics simulations. The diffusion coefficients of sucrose and trehalose are comparable at low disaccharide concentrations but differ from each other with increasing concentration and decreasing temperature. At 400 K and the highest disaccharide concentration considered in this work (80 wt %), the simulated trehalose diffusion coefficient is a factor of 3.5 smaller than that of sucrose (2.6 × 10-8 cm2/s and 9.3 × 10-8 cm2/s, respectively). In a 74 wt % disaccharide solution, the experimental diffusion coefficient for trehalose is a factor of 3 smaller than that of sucrose at 358 K. The diffusion coefficients of water are at least 1 order of magnitude larger than those of the disaccharides. This difference increases to 2 orders of magnitude at the highest disaccharide solutions considered here. The decoupling of the water and disaccharide motion is attribut.
Evaluation of SSR and SNP markers in Rubus glaucus Benth progenitors selection

Abstract Rubus glaucus Benth (known as “mora de castilla”) is a Colombian agricultural product, with probably, the major potential. This fruit combines features of Idaeobatus and Rubus subgenera. Despite its recognized importance in the economy of small producers, this crop has received little technological development; as a result, sowing procedures of this specie is done by using local cultivars asexually propagated by producers. Associated Rubus producers in Colombia has noticed the necessity to formalize the offer of planting material, starting with plant breeding programs tending to the obtention of more productive varieties with morphological features that facilitates cultural activities. This study presents the results of the evaluation of SSR and SNPs markers obtained in previous experimental works from a RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis. It was evaluated 15 promissory R. glaucus cultivars, which could be potential progenitors in future breeding schemes. Genetic characterization was accomplished by testing 22 SSR microsatellite and 78 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers. From evaluated SSR markers, 15 yielded positive PCR amplification generating 29 loci and 58 alleles. From evaluated SNPs markers, 36 yielded positive PCR amplification. Obtained sequences from amplified products with SNPs showed high homology with species belonging to Rosaceae family. Selection criteria of progenitors were based on the results of molecular characterizations and useful morphological features in the culture management. This research demonstrates the utility of molecular markers to assess genetic diversity of potential progenitors susceptible to plant breeding processes. This process, highly known as development of parental populations, determines in a great manner the success of plant breeding processes.
Determining the Role of Food-Related Values and Food-Related Lifestyle in Influencing Food-Related Behavior of Guilford County Residents

Guilford County is a food insecure county with 24 census tracts regarded as a food desert. Seventeen of these tracts are in Greensboro and seven in High point. The medical cost of combating diseases arising from unhealthy eating associated with food insecurity (practically food desert areas) is high. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of food-related values on the food-related lifestyle and food-related behavior of Guilford County residents. Data was collected by trained enumerators from a random sample of 350 respondents (82 food desert.268 non-food desert) via a telephone survey. Data was analyzed as follows (1) factor analysis was used to identify the underlying dimensions that summarized food related value and food-related lifestyle, (2) cluster analysis was used to segment respondents into 2 groups each for food desert and non-food desert residents based on social values and personal values (3) following segmentation, Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare segments derived from cluster analysis on personal &social values, food-related lifestyles, and food-related behavior (4) Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare food desert & non-food desert respondents on personal & social values, food-related lifestyles, and food-related behavior. The result showed that food desert and non-food desert respondents share the same social values but different personal value, food desert respondents love to snack rather than eating a big dinner, prefer to buy organic food while non-food desert respondents prefer eating more than one course of dinner time and eating lunch at café restaurant. Respondents defined as food desert and non-food desert residents and the segments in each group differed on food-related values, food-related lifestyle, and food-related behavior. Intervention programs developed should start with behaviors that are familiar to the target audience and should involve them in the design of these programs. For example, since non-food desert respondents love to eat out, educating them on how to select healthy food off the menu and start with small portion size would be more effective in modifying their behavior rather than just asking them to stop eating out.
Investigation of Effect of KBr Matrix on Drift Infrared Spectra of Some Minerals

Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy was used in this work to investigate the effect of KBr on infrared spectra of calcite and illite/smectite. 30 mg of each of these minerals were dispersed in 270 mg of KBr and their drifts spectra were obtained and analysed using OMNIC software. Same minerals samples were also run in DRIFT spectroscopy without being dispersed in KBr matrix and their spectra were obtained and analysed. After the investigation it was observed that minerals dispersed in KBr have spectra that are better than those run without KBr in terms of peaks resolution, repeatability and peaks height. Therefore, KBr played a vital role for better DRIFTS spectra which aid for the diagnosis of functional groups of different minerals useful during shale gas exploration processes. Keywords: Calcite, DRIFTS, illite/smectite KBr, Mineral samples
Electromagnetically induced absorption resonances in Hanle-configuration prepared in a paraffin coated 87Rb cell

We present an experimental investigation of electromagnetically-induced absorption (EIA) at the D1 line of 87Rb contained in an anti-relaxation coated vacuum optical cell. The configuration includes a pump and a probe beam propagating in opposite directions and having mutually orthogonal linear polarizations; the probe beam absorption is registered depending on the value of a magnetic field scanned around zero and applied collinearly to the laser beams. The advantages of this scheme have been recently evidenced in vapor cells filled with a buffer gas. In the present work we studied the width and the contrast of the EIA resonances obtained in a coated cell for different values of the pump power. The results are compared with those obtained in a buffer gas cell for the same transition of 87Rb. The theoretical calculations are in good agreement with the experiment.
The potential role of benfotiamine in the treatment of diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy

Background. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy is a serious complication of diabetes mellitus that is strongly associated with approximately five-fold increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy manifests itself in a spectrum of things, ranging from resting tachycardia and fixed heart rate to the development of silent myocardial infarction. The significance of diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy has not been fully appreciated and there is no unified treatment algorithm. The purpose was to investigate the effects of benfotiamine on the heart rate variability, the corrected QT interval, QT dispersion and spatial QRS-T angle in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Materials and methods. Thirty-two patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and definite stage of cardiac autonomic neuropathy were allocated into two treatment groups: control (n = 15) received traditional antihyperglycaemic therapy; group 2 (n = 17) — benfotiamine 300 mg/day for three months in addition to standard treatment. Results. It was found that benfotiamine contributed to an increase in the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent normal-to-normal intervals, pNN50 ( Δ % = +45.90 ± 7.91 %, p < 0.05), high-frequency component of heart rate variability during the active ( Δ % = +25.80 ± 5.58 %, p < 0.05) and passive periods of the day ( Δ % = +21.10 ± 4.17 %, p < 0.05), led to a decrease in the corrected QT interval ( Δ % = –7.30 ± 1.36 %, p < 0.01), QT dispersion ( Δ % = –27.7 ± 9.0 %, p < 0.01) and spatial QRS-T angle ( Δ % = –24.4 ± 10.2 %, p < 0.01). Conclusions. The positive influence of benfotiamine suggests the feasibility of its administration to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and definite stage of cardiac autonomic neuropathy.
First Real-Time PCR in Morocco for Human Leptospirosis Using TaqMan Probes Targeting the LipL32 Gene

Background: Currently, qPCR has been used as a rapid diagnostic method for human leptospirosis. Previous studies have indicated that qPCR has high sensitivity in the early days of the illness. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate qPCR as a diagnostic method for human leptospirosis in the National Institute of Hygiene, Rabat, Morocco. Methods: From 2004 to 2016, 67 sera related to 67 patients with clinical signs mimic to leptospirosis were sent to the laboratory of Bacteriology for routine diagnosis and confirmation. SAT, ELISA IgM, ELISA IgG, and qPCR were used for the diagnosis. Results: High positivity was observed by SAT (88.24%), ELISA IgM (58.82%), and real-time PCR (17.64%), in sequence. No negative results by serological tests had positive results by real-time PCR. Forty-six patients were males (68.68%) and 21 were females (31.34%). The high incidence observed was from Sidi Qacem (40%). Conclusions: SAT and ELISA IgM are useful for the diagnosis of human leptospirosis in Morocco and they can provide prompt and low-cost diagnosis, especially when resources are limited.
Polarized skylight-based heading measurements: a bio-inspired approach

Many insects such as desert ants, crickets, locusts, dung beetles, bees and monarch butterflies have been found to extract their navigation cues from the regular pattern of the linearly polarized skylight. These species are equipped with ommatidia in the dorsal rim area of their compound eyes, which are sensitive to the angle of polarization of the skylight. In the polarization-based robotic vision, most of the sensors used so far comprise high-definition CCD or CMOS cameras topped with linear polarizers. Here, we present a 2-pixel polarization-sensitive visual sensor, which was strongly inspired by the dorsal rim area of desert ants' compound eyes, designed to determine the direction of polarization of the skylight. The spectral sensitivity of this minimalistic sensor, which requires no lenses, is in the ultraviolet range. Five different methods of computing the direction of polarization were implemented and tested here. Our own methods, the extended and AntBot method, outperformed the other three, giving a mean angular error of only 0.62° ± 0.40° (median: 0.24°) and 0.69° ± 0.52° (median: 0.39°), respectively (mean ± standard deviation). The results obtained in outdoor field studies show that our celestial compass gives excellent results at a very low computational cost, which makes it highly suitable for autonomous outdoor navigation purposes.