Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Streptococcus mutans, sugar consumption, and oral hygiene: Which one has more effect on decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) score in Iranian adults?

Background: Streptococcus mutans as an acid-generator of biofilm, sugar as a caries-conducive environment, and oral hygiene have been implicated as major etiological agents in dental caries. This study was designed to assess the association and impact of S. mutans, sugar consumption, and tooth brushing on decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) score in Iranian 20–30-year-old individuals and compare the effect of the three mentioned factors to find the most effective one. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 459 adults completed a Sugar Frequency Questionnaire and were examined for dental caries using DMFT index, sugar consumption level, and tooth brushing frequency per day. Saliva and plaque samples were collected, and the target population without Streptococcus sobrinus in their microbial oral community was selected using polymerase chain reaction technique. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and multiple linear regression tests (α = 0.05). Results: Nearly 77.1% of the study population were harboring S. mutans. Mean DMFT of the population was 6.62. Mean comparison analysis showed that there is a strong relationship between S. mutans existence in mouth flora and DMFT scores (P < 0.0001). Multiple linear regression test showed higher percentage of S. mutans contribution (28.2%) in DMFT score changes than sugar consumption (3.6%) and tooth brushing (0.7%). Conclusion: This study provides a recent report from S. mutans frequency and DMFT score in Iranian adult population. It is also the first study that shows significantly higher impact of S. mutans in microbial population of mouth microflora on caries development than sugar consumption and oral hygiene. Accordingly, S. mutans screening program should be more highlighted in preventive strategies.
A weak microwave detection method based on resonator noise suppression technology

We put forward a simple method to test extremely weak microwaves by a self-made near field microwave detection system, which is made up of a λ/4 tunable resonance cavity and tungsten tip. By increasing the number of cycles of coupling loops, the technical problem of impedance matching is solved, and the background noise is suppressed. Hence, we can obtain a good sensitivity and spatial resolution of microwave power testing. In this way, the gigahertz electromagnetic wave is loaded to the tip-sample system efficiently, and the thermal parameter measurement of a chip with picowatt level can be obtained by non-contact scanning mode.
Individual variation in response to intraspecific competition: problems with inference from growth variation measures

1. The intensity of intraspecific competition may influence the growth of differently sized individuals to different extents. Measures of among‐individual variation in growth and body size are commonly applied to assess such effects. The measure chosen is then supposed to control for the effect of mean (also influenced by competition) on variance [e.g. coefficient of variation (CV)].
The cicada announces the fire of the Brazilian public school: Analysis of the era of privatizing guidelines

This text seeks to analyze the privatization guidelines both globally and at the local level and their deployment in public basic education in Brazil. For that, a bibliographic and documentary study was used, using only public domain. It is possible to diagnose the double movement of endo and exoprivatization carried out in the educational panorama of Brazil, especially through the insertion of large business groups, as well as the reforms undertaken to put into operation the privatization agenda of public basic education. It is observed that the insertion of the private sector into the spaces of human formation reverberate metamorphoses, including that of the social function of the school institution, since it incorporates a link with the business and financial logic and, consequently, will facilitate a loss of the public sense of education as a social right.
Etudes fonctionnelles des protéines nucléaires dupliquées chez Arabidopsis thaliana

Chez les eucaryotes, les genes d’ARNr 45S sont presents en un grand nombre de copies organisees dans des regions chromosomiques appelees NOR pour « Nucleolus Organizer Region ». Cependant, seule une fraction de ces genes est activement exprimee et leur activation/repression est majoritairement controlee par des mecanismes epigenetiques. Parmi les facteurs requis pour l’expression de ces genes, se trouve la nucleoline, une proteine majeure du nucleole. Chez A. thaliana, la proteine NUC1 est necessaire pour le maintien de la methylation et le control de l’expression de variants specifiques des genes d’ARNr. De maniere interessante, contrairement aux animaux et aux levures, le genome des plantes possede un deuxieme gene codant la nucleoline : NUC2. Au cours de cette etude, nous avons montre que les deux genes NUC1 et NUC2 sont necessaires pour la survie de la plante. L’etude de plantes mutees pour le gene NUC2 a revele que cette proteine est impliquee dans l’organisation et l’expression des ADNr mais par des mecanismes antagonistes a ceux de son homologue NUC1. En effet, l’absence de la NUC2 induit une hypermethylation des ADNr ainsi qu’une reorganisation spatiale et une variation du nombre de copie des differents variants des genes d’ARNr. Par ailleurs, la proteine NUC1 se lie aux genes actifs alors que la proteine NUC2 est associee a la chromatine condensee en peripherie du nucleole. En parallele, nous avons montre que l’expression des ADNr est affectee en reponse a la chaleur et que le gene NUC2 est fortement induit. L’ensemble de ces donnees suggerent un potentiel role de la NUC2 dans la repression des genes d’ARNr au cours du developpement et en reponse au stress.
The Flora of Bitlis River Valley

This paper describes a floristic study of Bitlis river basin. The research was carried out from 2001 and 2003 to 2150 vascular plant specimens were collected. After the identification of the specimens, the flora was determined to include 925 taxa (at specific and infraspecific ranks) belonging to 770 species, 386 genera and 85 families. One hundred and seventy-nine taxa were defined as new records for the B9 square. The endemism rate of the area is 6.8% based on 63 taxa. The largest families are Asteraceae (109 taxa), Fabaceae (101 taxa) and Poaceae (77 taxa). The largest genera are Trifolium L. (27), Astragalus L. (22) and Silene L. (18). The phytogeographic elements are represented in the study area as follows: Irano-Turanian 292 (31.8%), Mediterranean 81 (8.7%) and Euro-Siberian 46 (4.9%). When the flora of the area is analysed by Raunkiaer’s life form system, the results are as follows: hemicryptophytes 345 (37.3%), therophytes 308 (33.3%), chamaephytes 103 (11.1%), cryptophytes 101 (10.9%) and phanerophytes 68 (7.35%). The descriptions of 29 species in our study were different in terms of some characteristics from the descriptions in the Flora of Turkey and in some cases from the flora of neighbouring countries.
Control System for Wheeled Humanoid Following Robot

Aiming at application and development prospects of following robot, a control system for humanoid 18-DOF robot supported by four wheels is designed. The system adopts the double-controller structure composed of master controller Raspberry Pi and slave controller STM32 for servo control of robot based on multi-sensor information fusion. In this control system, USB camera and two-axis pan-tilt are used for capturing images with wide viewing angles. Multi-scale template matching and Median-Flow algorithm are used for target recognition. Kalman Filter is used to fuse acceleration and angular velocity given by attitude sensor to obtain the reliable upright angle. PID algorithms are applied to the control system to realize robot’s upright angle control, speed control and turning angle control. Robot’s action adjustment is achieved by controlling its joint steering gears. The experimental results show that this low-cost wheeled humanoid robot has good self-balancing stability, anti-interference and following stability.
Lateral Variations of Shear‐Wave Velocity in the D″ Layer Beneath the Indian‐Eurasian Plate Collision Zone

Seismic tomography has demonstrated that the shear‐wave velocity is relatively high over a 3,000‐km wide region in the lowermost mantle beneath southern and eastern Asia. This seismic anomaly demarcates the current position of slab remnants that may have subducted in the Cretaceous. To further characterize the seismic structure at smaller scales, we measure 929 residual travel time differences (δt) between the phases ScS and S using recordings of eight earthquakes beneath the Indian Ocean at stations from the Chinese Digital Seismic Network. We interpret variations of δt up to 10 s as due to horizontal shear‐velocity variations in D″ beneath northern India, Nepal, and southwestern China. The shear velocity can vary by as much as 7% over distances shorter than 300 km. Our observations provide additional observational evidence that compositional heterogeneity and possibly melt contribute to the seismic structure of the lower mantle characterized by long‐term subduction and mantle downwelling.
An Evolutionary RGD Motif in the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 may Serve as a Potential High Risk Factor for Virus Infection?

Pneumonia caused by a new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has caused serious harm to people's lives and health in Wuhan, China. By February 26, 2020, over 80,000 people were infected and 2,814 died from the infection. The initial route of infection is the binding of the spike protein (S protein) of the virus to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). From bioinformatics analysis, we found that the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 produced an evolutionary mutation of K403R compared with the S protein of SARS-CoV, forming an adjacent RGD motif at the interaction surface. As the RGD motif is considered as a ligand for many cell surface integrins, we proposed that the binding of S protein of SARS-CoV-2 with integrins may facilitate the infection process of the virus. Therefore, high-throughput virtual screening was performed by choosing the key residues of S protein interface of SARS-CoV-2 and the adjacent RGD motif as potential binding site, to search for the potential agents targeting interaction of S protein of SARS-CoV-2 with both ACE2 and integrins as potential therapeutic drugs. Various libraries including the FDA-approved drugs etc. were screened, and Nadide, Losartan, 9'''-Methyllithospermate B and Leonurine etc. were identified as representative potential drugs candidate for COVID-19.
Biochemical, genetic and genomic approaches to studying sulfur metabolism by the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus

The model archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus grows optimally near 100°C on carbohydrates and peptides. Its genome sequence (NCBI) was determined twelve years ago. A geneticallytractable strain, COM1, was very recently reported and herein we describe its genome sequence. Of 1,910,278 bp in size, it is 2,013 bp longer (0.1%) than the reference NCBI sequence. The COM1 genome contains numerous chromosomal rearrangements, deletions and single base changes. COM1 also has 45 full or partial insertion elements compared to 35 in the reference NCBI strain and these have resulted in the direct deletion or insertional inactivation of thirteen genes. Another seven genes were affected by chromosomal deletions and are predicted to be non-functional. In addition, the amino acid sequences of another 102 of the 2134 predicted gene products are different in COM1. These changes potentially impacted various cellular functions, including carbohydrate, peptide and nucleotide metabolism, DNA repair, CRISPR-associated defense, transcriptional regulation, membrane transport and growth at 72°C. Hence, the IS-mediated inactivation of riboflavin synthase in COM1 resulted in a riboflavin-requirement for growth. Nevertheless, COM1 grew on cellobiose, maltooligosaccharides and peptides in complex and minimal media at 98 and 72°C to the same extent as both its parent strain and a new culture collection strain (DSMZ 3638). This was in spite of COM1 lacking several metabolic enzymes, including non-phosphorylating glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and beta-glucosidase. The P. furiosus genome is therefore of high plasticity and the availability of the COM1 sequence will be critical for the future studies of this model hyperthermophile.
Signaling Pathways and Biomarkers in Renal Tumors

Sunitinib malate (Sutent, Pfizer inc., New York, NY) is an orally administered, multitargeted inhibitor of tyrosine kinases, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor, stem cell factor receptor (KIT), fms-like ty‐ rosine kinase (FLT) -3, CSF-1R, and RET. Since the introduction of sunitinib for patients with advanced renal tumor [1], significant objective responses of sunitnib have been revealed [2-6]. In a randomized, multicenter, phase III trial enrolled 750 patients with previously-un‐ treated metastatic renal tumor to receive either sunitinib or interferon (IFN) -α, sunitinib was superior to IFN-α in the objective response rate (47% vs 12%), progression-free survival time (11.0 vs 5.0 months), and overall survival time (26.4 vs 21.8 months) [3, 4]. Also in a Jap‐ anese, multicenter, phase II trial enrolled 51 patients with first-line and pretreated metastatic clear-cell renal tumor to recieve sinitinib, significant responses of sunitinib have been report‐ ed that objective response rate was 52.9%, the median progression-free survival time was 12.2 and 10.6 months, and the median overall survival time was 33.1 and 32.5 months in first-line and pretreated patients, respectively [5, 6]. Sunitinib is approved worldwide for first-line treatment of advanced clear-cell renal tumor. However, approximately half of pa‐ tients with advanced renal tumor do not see clinical benefits from sunitinib treatment. A prognostic marker is needed for selecting patients who will benefit most from sunitinib.
Determination of Optimal Allocation and Penetration Level of Distributed Energy Resources Considering Short Circuit Currents

The integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) in the distribution network has plenty of advantages if their allocation and Penetration Level (PL) are done appropriately. Hence, the challenge of finding the best allocation and PL of DERs in large distribution networks is an important but intricate problem. This paper proposes a novel methodology to simultaneously determine the optimal location/capacity and PL of DERs based on both power losses and voltage deviation minimization, while constraints of voltage profile of feeders under light loading and short circuit capability of the CBs are met. Moreover, a Multi-Objective Mutation based PSO (MOMPSO) is presented that by introducing two modifications of dynamic inertia weight and utilizing a mutation operator improves exploration and exploitation searchability as well as convergence capability of the PSO algorithm. The proposed methodology is tested on a practical distribution network to evaluate its effectiveness in finding optimal location and capacity of DERs along with the feeders.
Improving Planter Pressure Distribution Could Reduce the Risk of Fall in Patients with Diabetic Neuropathy

1Department of Physical Therapy for Neuromuscular Disorders and its Surgery, Cairo University, Egypt 2University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, Austin, Texas, USA 3Department of Physical Therapy for Cardio-Pulmonary Dysfunctions & Geriatrics, Misr University for Science and Technology, Egypt 4Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia 5Department of Physiotherapy, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE 6Department of Physical Therapy for Growth and Development Disorders in Children and its Surgery, Cairo University, Egypt
Development and validation of a nomogram to predict survival in patients with metastatic testicular germ cell tumors

Background To develop a nomogram to predict cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with metastatic testicular germ cell tumors (mTGCTs). Methods Data were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used to identify factors associated with CSS. Survival times between different groups were compared using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and the log-rank test. A nomogram visualization model was established using the R language to predict survival rates. Harrell’s concordance index (C-index), the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and calibration plots were used to assess the performance of the model. Results We analyzed the data of 949 patients. The median follow-up time was 32 months (range 0 to 83 months), and 224 (23.60%) patients died before the last follow-up, of whom 193 (20.33%) died of mTGCTs. The site of distant metastases was an independent prognostic factor for CSS. Compared to patients without involvement of the corresponding organ, patients with bone, brain, liver, and lung involvement had worse CSS. We also found that age, histological type, surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, metastatic site and insurance status affected the CSS of patients with mTGCTs. We used these prognostic factors to construct our nomogram. Harrell’s C-index for CSS was 0.739. The AUC and calibration plots indicated good performance of the nomogram. Conclusions A nomogram for predicting CSS in patients with mTGCTs has been developed, which can help patients and clinicians accurately predict mortality risk and recommend personalized treatment modalities.
Moving Object Detection and Tracking Based on Interaction of Static Obstacle Map and Geometric Model-Free Approachfor Urban Autonomous Driving

Detection and tracking of moving objects (DATMO) in an urban environment using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a major challenge for autonomous vehicles due to sparse point cloud, multiple moving directions, various traffic participants, and computational load. To address the complexity of this issue, this study presents a novel model-free approach for DATMO using 2D LiDAR implemented on autonomous vehicles. The approach has been used to classify moving points in the point cloud using the predicted Static Obstacle Map (SOM) generated via interaction between Geometric Model-Free Approach (GMFA) and SOM, and estimates the state of each moving object via GMFA. The motion of each point represented by the state of moving objects updates the SOM. The interaction between GMFA and SOM estimates the correspondence between consecutive point clouds in real-time. The proposed approach has been evaluated via RT range and labeled dataset. The accuracy of estimation of the yaw angle and the velocity of a moving vehicle has been quantitatively evaluated using the RT-range. The performance is significantly improved compared with the geometric model-based tracking (MBT). The estimation of the yaw angle, which has a significant effect on the cut-in/cut-out intention of the target vehicle, is shown to be remarkably improved. Based on the evaluation of the labeled dataset, false-positive and false-negative features are suppressed more than MBT.
Cooperative calcium and zinc signaling underlies oxidantinduced neuronal injury

Intracellular zinc release triggered by oxidative injury leads to cellular K+ efflux and neuronal apoptosis. Low intracellular K+ enables protease and nuclease activation during cell death processes. Our laboratory has demonstrated that the reduction in cytosolic K+ occurs via zinc-dependent phosphorylation of Kv2.1 by Src kinase and p38 MAPK, leading to the insertion of new Kv2.1 channels into the plasma membrane of dying neurons. As calcium dyshomeostasis is also observed in many models of neuronal injury, I tested the hypothesis that zinc- and Kv2.1-mediated apoptosis also depended on increased intracellular calcium. I observed that oxidant exposure triggered release of calcium from the endoplasmic reticulum, which led to the activation of the calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Molecular or pharmacological inhibition of CaMKII prevented both the oxidant-induced K+ current enhancement and, importantly, subsequent cell death. Further, I found that CaMKII regulated apoptosis by its direct association with the SNARE protein syntaxin, with syntaxin mediating the plasma membrane insertion of Kv2.1 via enhanced association with the phosphorylated channel. As such, Kv2.1/syntaxin binding was enhanced under conditions that promoted apoptosis, and inhibiting CaMKII prevented this interaction. Moreover, expression of a Kv2.1-derived peptide containing the channel’s c-terminal syntaxin binding site (C1a) was also sufficient to disrupt Kv2.1/syntaxin binding, preventing both the oxidant-induced K+ current enhancement and downstream apoptosis. Together, these findings support a novel role for calcium and CaMKII in an established zinc-mediated injury cascade. Further, they suggest that the metals work in concert to elicit the pro-apoptotic Kv2.1 channel activity necessary for oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Finally, disruption of the pro-apoptotic syntaxin/Kv2.1 interaction may lead to novel therapeutic approaches for neurological disorders associated with oxidant-induced signaling.
Associating State of Water and Sanitation with Childhood diarrhoea: Anomalies and Contradictions

Abstract Information on safe water, sanitation and hand washing obtained in large scale surveys are used to validate its responsiveness to childhood ailments. Definition of these variables are uniform to enable comparison within and across countries and devoid of the context and circumstance. Associating these variables with prevalence of diarrhoea overlooking the context seem to distort the relationship and lead to spurious results. An empirical verification of such an association in an Indian context based on the most recently conducted NFHS-4 data set brings to the fore apparent contradictions that cautions on the use of these variables as they are obtained. It calls for a redefinition of these variables prior to verifying their responsiveness to childhood diarrhoea as illustrated here.
Zur Taxonomie des Dunklen Tigerpythons, Python molurus bivittatus KUHL, 1820, speziell der Population von Sulawesi

The taxonomic status of the Burmese Python ( Python molurus bivittatus) is reassessed and elevated to specific rank again. The population from Sulawesi, Indonesia, is a dwarf form of this giant snake that is redefined as Python bivittatus progschai ssp. n.