Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rapid extraction of Cu(II) heavy metal from industrial waste water by using silver nanoparticles anchored with novel Schiff base

ABSTRACT A new Schiff base named N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzylidine)-biphenyl-4-amine was synthesized from refluxing of equimolar quantity of vanillin and biphenyl-4-amine in alcoholic medium. Its composition, properties, and morphology were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), UV–vis (ultraviolet visible spectroscopy), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and mass spectral studies. Then, silver nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical reduction method and characterized by scanning electron microscope, UV–vis, FTIR, and mass spectra. The silver nanoparticles are then trapped with Schiff base by suitable method. The metal ion was analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was used as solid phase for the removal of heavy metal from industrial waste water. Activation of solid phase was done with the base and acid, respectively. The Ag nano@Schiff base was adsorbed on the SCB. The effects of several parameters that affect the adsorption of Cu(II) metal ion including initial metal ion concentration, contact time, Schiff base weight, and pH were analyzed.
The Effects of Financial Crisis on Hedging Efficiency of Indian Rubber Future Markets

This research, under Engle-Granger Co-integration framework, examines the hedging efficiency of Indian rubber future markets during the period 2004-2017. The essence of this study is to seek evidence for the effects of global financial crisis of 2008 on the efficiency of rubber futures in hedging price risks of spot rubber in India. The study proved the hedging efficiency of rubber futures during both pre and post recession periods. However, increased price volatility of Indian rubber after recession heightened risk exposure to market participants that eventually lead to unexpected changes in the hedging efficiency of rubber futures. The research concludes with a suggestion that writing of rubber futures in India allows traders to hedge risk exposures in spot market along with the potentials of arbitrage gains.
Root Suberin Plays Important Roles in Reducing Water Loss and Sodium Uptake in Arabidopsis thaliana

Suberin is a cell-wall-associated hetero-polymer deposited in specific plant tissues. The precise role of its composition and lamellae structure in protecting plants against abiotic stresses is unclear. In Arabidopsis thaliana, we tested the biochemical and physiological responses to water deficiency and NaCl treatment in mutants that are differentially affected in suberin composition and lamellae structure. Chronic drought stress increased suberin and suberin-associated waxes in wild-type plants. Suberin-deficient mutants were not more susceptible than the wild-type to the chronic drought stress imposed in this study. Nonetheless, the cyp86a1-1 cyp86b1-1 mutant, which had a severely altered suberin composition and lamellae structure, exhibited increased water loss through the root periderm. Cyp86a1-1 cyp86b1-1 also recorded lower relative water content in leaves. The abcg2-1 abcg6-1 abcg20-1 mutant, which has altered suberin composition and lamellae, was very sensitive to NaCl treatment. Furthermore, cyp86a1-1 cyp86b1-1 recorded a significant drop in the leaf K/Na ratio, indicating salt sensitivity. The far1-2 far4-1 far5-1 mutant, which did not show structural defects in the suberin lamellae, had similar responses to drought and NaCl treatments as the wild-type. Our results provide evidence that the suberin amount and lamellae structure are key features in the barrier function of suberin in reducing water loss and reducing sodium uptake through roots for better performance under drought and salt stresses.
Electrochemical Removal of Cesium Ions via Capacitive Deionization Using an Ion-Exchange Layer Coated on a Carbon Electrode

This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using electrosorption to remove cesium (Cs+) ions from aqueous solutions using the membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) process. The electrochemical properties were analyzed using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The activated carbon electrode coated by a polymer layer showed higher specific adsorption capacity (SAC) and removal efficiency of Cs+ than the AC electrode. The effects of potential, flow rate, initial Cs+ concentration, and pH values were investigated to optimize the electrosorption performance. The electrosorption capacity increased with an increase in the applied potential and the concentration of Cs+ in the influent water. The pH value is an important parameter on electrosorption performance. The removal of Cs+ ions was affected by the pH of the influent water because H+ ions acted as competing ions during the electrosorption process. Cs+ was preferentially adsorbed to the electrode in the early stages of adsorption but was later replaced by H+. A higher presence of H+ ions could reduce the adsorption capacity of Cs+ ions. The ion-exchange layer coated AC electrode was shown to be favorable for the removal of Cs+, despite the limited electrosorption ability in a highly acidic solution.
Development and Validation of an Efficient MRI Radiomics Signature for Improving the Predictive Performance of 1p/19q Co-Deletion in Lower-Grade Gliomas

Simple Summary Low-grade gliomas (LGG) with the 1p/19q co-deletion mutation have been proven to have a better survival prognosis and response to treatment than individuals without the mutation. Identifying this mutation has a vital role in managing LGG patients; however, the current diagnostic gold standard, including the brain-tissue biopsy or the surgical resection of the tumor, remains highly invasive and time-consuming. We proposed a model based on the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) classifier to detect 1p/19q co-deletion mutation using non-invasive medical images. The performance of our model achieved 87% and 82.8% accuracy on the training and external test set, respectively. Significantly, the prediction was based on only seven optimal wavelet radiomics features extracted from brain Magnetic Resonance (MR) images. We believe that this model can address clinicians in the rapid diagnosis of clinical 1p/19q co-deletion mutation, thereby improving the treatment prognosis of LGG patients. Abstract The prognosis and treatment plans for patients diagnosed with low-grade gliomas (LGGs) may significantly be improved if there is evidence of chromosome 1p/19q co-deletion mutation. Many studies proved that the codeletion status of 1p/19q enhances the sensitivity of the tumor to different types of therapeutics. However, the current clinical gold standard of detecting this chromosomal mutation remains invasive and poses implicit risks to patients. Radiomics features derived from medical images have been used as a new approach for non-invasive diagnosis and clinical decisions. This study proposed an eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost)-based model to predict the 1p/19q codeletion status in a binary classification task. We trained our model on the public database extracted from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), including 159 LGG patients with 1p/19q co-deletion mutation status. The XGBoost was the baseline algorithm, and we combined the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis to select the seven most optimal radiomics features to build the final predictive model. Our final model achieved an accuracy of 87% and 82.8% on the training set and external test set, respectively. With seven wavelet radiomics features, our XGBoost-based model can identify the 1p/19q codeletion status in LGG-diagnosed patients for better management and address the drawbacks of invasive gold-standard tests in clinical practice.
Comparison of Performance of Recursive Partitioning Models and Parametric Imputation Models Based On Predictive Mean Matching In Multiple Imputation By Chained Equations, in Order to Impute The Missing Values of The Binary Outcome, in The Presence of An Interaction Effect

Background: Among the new multiple imputation methods, Multiple Imputation by Chained ‎Equations (MICE) is a ‎popular ‎approach for implementing multiple imputations because of its ‎flexibility. Our main focus in this study ‎is to ‎compare the performance of parametric ‎imputation models based on predictive mean matching and ‎recursive partitioning methods ‎in multiple imputation by chained equations in the ‎presence of interaction in the ‎data.Methods: We compared the performance of parametric and tree-based imputation methods via simulation using two data generation models. For each combination of data generation model and imputation method, the following steps were performed: data generation, removal of observations, imputation, logistic regression analysis, and calculation of bias, Coverage Probability (CP), and Confidence Interval (CI) width for each coefficient Furthermore, model-based and empirical SE, and estimated proportion of the variance attributable to the missing data (λ) were calculated.Results: ‎We have shown by simulation that to impute a binary response in ‎observations involving an ‎interaction, manually interring the interaction term into the imputation model in the ‎predictive mean matching ‎model improves the performance of the PMM method compared to the recursive partitioning models in ‎ ‎multiple imputation by chained equations. ‎ The parametric method in which we entered the interaction model into the imputation model (MICE-‎‎‎Interaction) led to smaller bias, slightly higher coverage probability for the interaction effect, but it ‎had ‎slightly ‎wider confidence intervals than tree-based imputation (especially classification and ‎regression ‎trees). Conclusions: The application of MICE-Interaction led to better performance than ‎recursive ‎partitioning methods in MICE, although ‎the user is interested in estimating the interaction and does not ‎know ‎enough about the structure of the observations, recursive partitioning methods can be ‎suggested to impute ‎the ‎missing values.
Electrodeposition as a facile way for the preparation of piezoelectric ultrathin silk film–based flexible nanogenerators

This article demonstrates the use of the electrodeposition technique as a viable alternative for depositing uniform, ultra‐smooth thin films of silk fibroin (SF). Herein, the electrodeposition of silk fibroin films from a homogeneous silk solution prepared by dissolving SF in formic acid (FA) solution is demonstrated. Ion electrodiffusion is used as the mechanism for the silk deposition. Optimizations were carried out to increase the β‐sheet crystallinity, which in turn would enhance the inherent piezoelectric response of silk thin films, an exquisite property of silk that is seldom explored. The piezoelectric coefficient (d33) of electrodeposited silk thin film was experimentally figured out to be 8.39 pm/V. As a proof of concept, silk‐based flexible nanogenerator was fabricated and tested successfully. Silk‐based nanogenerator is able to produce a maximum open‐circuit voltage of 1.02 V (peak–to‐peak value) and short‐circuit current of 0.8 mA at bending state. The device also exhibits good stability and reliability in terms of electrical outputs.
Altered brain network centrality in patients with retinal vein occlusion: a resting-state fMRI study.

AIM To explore the intrinsic brain activity variations in retinal vein occlusion (RVO) subjects by using the voxel-wise degree centrality (DC) technique. METHODS Twenty-one subjects with RVO and twenty-one healthy controls (HCs) were enlisted and underwent the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) examination. The spontaneous cerebrum activity variations were inspected using the DC technology. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was implemented to distinguish the DC values of RVOs from HCs. The relationships between DC signal of definite regions of interest and the clinical characteristics in RVO group were evaluated by Pearson's correlation analysis. RESULTS RVOs showed notably higher DC signals in right superior parietal lobule, middle frontal gyrus and left precuneus, but decreased DC signals in left middle temporal gyrus and bilateral anterior cingulated (BAC) when comparing with HCs. The mean DC value of RVOs in the BAC were negatively correlated with the anxiety and depression scale. CONCLUSION RVO is associated aberrant intrinsic brain activity patterns in several brain areas including pain-related as well as visual-related regions, which might assist to reveal the latent neural mechanisms.
A novel wood identification method for Pterocarpus santalinus L.f. species based on fluorescence features

Abstract The precise identification of wood plays a vital role in protecting rare timber species. Among the various wood identification techniques, the fluorescence characteristics of Pterocarpus santalinus L.f. species have rarely been investigated. In this study, the types, number of fluorescent compounds, maximum excitation and emission wavelengths, and effects of solvent and pH were characterized by fluorescence photographs, fluorescence emission spectra and fluorescence contour spectra, respectively. The results indicate that the fluorescence of P. santalinus species is relatively strong, and the fluorescent substances extracted in different solvents exhibit different color photographs under irradiation. The spectrum is also affected by the polarity of the solvent and the pH of the solution. In addition, the method for extracting the fluorescent compounds in P. santalinus samples was optimized. Based on the reported results, a good correlation between the fluorescence characteristics and the wood species was obtained as a potentially new identification method for precious rosewoods at the species level.
Analysis on the Driving Factors and Realization Path of the Value of Tutor-Student Relationship of Postgraduates-with Medical and Pharmaceutical Universities as an Example

A harmonious relationship between teachers and postgraduates presents the comprehensive value of psychological education, which guarantees training quality and acts as an effective carrier of mental health education of the postgraduates. Based on Bandura’s theory of reciprocal determinism and Austin’s input-output theory, this paper constructs a model concerning the value of psychological education in the tutor-student relationship. The path of realization is also explored in a structural equation model through a questionnaire survey of 1112 graduate supervisors and administrators in medical colleges. The experimental result indicates that (1) The interaction between teachers and postgraduates promotes the value of psychological education in the highest measure, among which the quality and frequency of tutor-student communication, mutual trust, and respect act as the key influencing indicators. (2) Tutor’s professional quality is considered as the fundamental driving force in the realization of psychological education value in the tutor-student relationship, the maximum mediating effect is observed in the developing path of “tutor’s professional quality-interaction behavior between teachers and postgraduates-psychological growth of teachers and postgraduates. (3) The objective results obtained by teachers and postgraduates, such as the improvement of quality and quantity, positively promote the overall quality of life satisfaction of both sides, which improves the major psychological growth indicators. (4) In the path that affects the psychological growth of teachers and postgraduates, female groups mainly focusing on natural sciences pay more attention to the tutorstudent emotional experience, while male and lower-grade groups pay more attention to behavioral interaction; In the path that affects the interaction between teachers and postgraduates, the tutor does not value the difference in the quality of graduate students, lower-grade and natural science professional groups pay more attention to institutional environment.
Analysis of Air-Coupled Transducer-Based Elastic Waves Generation in CFRP Plates

In this paper, the analysis of non-contact elastic waves generation in carbon fiber reinforced-polymer (CFRP) plate was conducted. Full non-contact elastic waves generation and sensing methods were also analyzed. Elastic waves generation was based on an air-coupled transducer (ACT) while waves sensing was based on a laser Doppler vibrometer. The excitation frequency was equal to 40 kHz. An optimal ACT slope angle for the generation of elastic waves mode was determined with the aid of dispersion curves calculated by using a semi-analytical model. Due to the stack sequence in the composite plate (unidirectional composite), ACT slope angles were different for waves generation in the direction along and across reinforcing fibers direction. Moreover, experimental verification of the optimal ACT slope angles was conducted. It was possible to generate A0 wave mode in the direction along and across the reinforcing fibers. Optimal angles determined using ACT were equal to 16° (along fibers) and 34° (across fibers). In the case of optimal angles, elastic waves amplitudes are almost two times higher than for the case of ACT oriented perpendicularly to the plate surface. Moreover, experimental results based on ACT showed that it was possible to generate the SH0 mode in the direction across the fiber for optimal angles equal to 10°. Finally, based on the A0 wave mode propagation, the process for localization of discontinuities was performed. Discontinuities in the form of additional mass simulating damage were investigated. A simple signal processing algorithm based on elastic wave energy was used for creating damage maps. Authors compared discontinuity localization for ACT oriented perpendicularly to the plate and at the optimal slope angle. The utilization of non-contact waves excitation at optimal ACT slope angles helped to focus the wave energy in the desired direction. Moreover, in this case, elastic waves with the highest amplitudes were generated.
Short‐ and long‐read metabarcoding of the eukaryotic rRNA operon: Evaluation of primers and comparison to shotgun metagenomics sequencing

High‐throughput sequencing‐based analysis of microbial diversity has evolved vastly over the last decade. Currently, the go‐to method for studying microbial eukaryotes is short‐read metabarcoding of variable regions of the 18S rRNA gene with <500 bp amplicons. However, there is a growing interest in applying long‐read sequencing of amplicons covering the rRNA operon for improving taxonomic resolution. For both methods, the choice of primers is crucial. It determines if community members are covered, if they can be identified at a satisfactory taxonomic level, and if the obtained community profile is representative. Here, we designed new primers targeting 18S and 28S rRNA based on 177,934 and 21,072 database sequences, respectively. The primers were evaluated in silico along with published primers on reference sequence databases and marine metagenomics data sets. We further evaluated a subset of the primers for short‐ and long‐read sequencing on environmental samples in vitro and compared the obtained community profile with primer‐unbiased metagenomic sequencing. Of the short‐read pairs, a new V6‐V8 pair and the V4_Balzano pair used with a simplified PCR protocol provided good results in silico and in vitro. Fewer differences were observed between the long‐read primer pairs. The long‐read amplicons and ITS1 alone provided higher taxonomic resolution than V4. Together, our results represent a reference and guide for selection of robust primers for research on and environmental monitoring of microbial eukaryotes.
mir186 and mir145 In vivo Evaluation and Enrichment in Rats Submitted to Treadmill Strenuous Exercise

Aims: The present study aimed to identify miRNAs differentially expressed in rats submitted to strenuous exercise and in silico investigation of the biological implication of the findings. Place and Duration of Study: The in vivo experiments and analyses were performed in the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Gene Expression – LABIEX of the Superior Institute of Biomedical Science – ISCB from the State University of Ceará. Between 2017-2020. Methodology: The study was performed using as subjects 2-month-old male wistar rats, which initially were submitted to 2-week adaptation training. Later the animals were separated in two distinct groups, control (C) and trained (T), where only T performed a single session of strenuous exercise, while C were not submitted to this treatment. The applied exercise protocol consisted in a running training in treadmill with speed constant increasing until the animal exhaustion which was measured by the animal refusal to keep running. After 24h, soleus muscle was desiccated and submitted to RNAseq sequencing protocols. Obtained data were statistically evaluated in R environment with EBSeq package, to characterize and predict the miRNAs and their targets were used bioinformatics tools Gene Cards, mi RBase enrichR and KEGG. Results: Two differentially expressed miRNAs were found, mir145 and mir 186, both with downregulated expression pattern in strenuous exercise. These miRNAs have a total of 1201 predicted target genes, 67 were repeated and mostly correlate to cardiovascular disease pathways, between those 5 were differentially expressed as down-regulated. Conclusion: In conclusion, the findings suggest that mir186 and mir145 down-regulation profile mediated by strenuous exercise implicates in the non-alteration of the target genes expression profile, and consequently did not mediate alterations in the pathways they are evolved, which are mainly related to signaling and disorders.
Decreased Emotional Dysregulation Following Multi-modal Motion-assisted Memory Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (3MDR): Identifying Driving Factors in Remediation of Treatment-Resistant PTSD

Multi-modal Motion-assisted Memory Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (3MDR), an interactive, virtual-reality assisted, exposure-based intervention for PTSD, has shown promising results for treatment-resistant Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (TR-PTSD) among military members (MMs) and Veterans in Randomized Controlled Trials. Previous research has suggested that emotional regulation (ER) and emotional dysregulation (ED) may be factors which are correlated with symptom severity and maintenance of TR-PTSD. This embedded mixed-methods pilot study (n=9) sought to explore the impact of 3MDR on ER and ED of MMs and Veterans. Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS-18) data was collected at baseline, prior to each session, and at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months post-intervention and analyzed using a Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Qualitative data collected from sessions, debriefs, and follow-up interviews were transcribed and descriptively analyzed. Results demonstrated statistically significant decreases in DERS-18 scores from pre-intervention to post-intervention at each timepoint. Qualitatively, participants perceived improvements in ER within specified DERS-18 domains. We describe how 3MDR’s unique and novel approach may address ED through cognitive-motor stimulation, narration, divergent thinking, reappraisal of aversive stimuli, dual-task processing, and reconsolidation of traumatic memories. Further investigation is underway to better understand the underlying neurobiological mechanisms by which 3MDR addresses ER and PTSD.