Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MOLECULAR DOCKING GUIDED SCREENING OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS FROM GINKGO BILOBA AS MULTI-POTENT ANTI- ALZHEIMER’S AGENTS

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an ultimately fatal degenerative brain disorder that has an increasingly large burden on health and social care systems. There are only five drugs for AD on the market but their adverse effect, toxicity and limited targets in AD pathology limits their use. Therefore, it is crucial to find an effective compound to combat AD. Various medicinal plants have been used to treat diseases for thousands of years and screening herbal remedies is a way to develop new drugs. Ginkgo biloba was reported having potential in the treatment of AD and phenolic compounds were reported beneficial in treatment of AD. Based on this we had selected some phenolic compounds found in G. biloba for molecular docking studies to investigate the binding interactions between these phenolic compounds and eight anti-Alzheimer’s drug targets (Nmethyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor, nitric oxide synthase, beta secretase 1, tumor necrosis factor alpha, mono amine oxidase A, mono amine oxidase B and butylcholine esterase). Amongst the compounds tested in silico, catechin and ginkgolic acid displayed appreciable docking interactions with five different targets of AD. Most of these compounds showed good pharmacokinetic properties that make them potentially promising drug candidates for the treatment of AD.
Genetic and reproductive characterization of distylous Primula reinii in the Hakone volcano, Japan: implications for conservation of the rare and endangered plant

Genetic and ecological evaluation are crucial in effective management of rare and endangered species, including those exhibiting complex breeding systems such as distyly. We studied a threatened distylous herb Primula reinii in the Hakone volcano, central Japan, to obtain baseline information of reproductive and genetic status towards conservation. In two representative populations inhabiting a central cone and somma of the volcano, population size, floral morph ratio, stigmatic pollen deposition, and fruit-set were measured. Using microsatellite markers, we evaluated genetic diversity, structure and differentiation of populations. Population bottlenecks and historical changes in population size were also estimated from genotype data. We found significant deviation from equal morph ratios in the central cone population, which also exhibited skewed mating success together with a high frequency of pollination within the same morph. These trends were not detected in the somma population. From genetic insights, the central cone population showed slightly lower genetic diversity, whereas no significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was found in either population. The estimated moderate genetic differentiation and admixed genetic structure suggest recent lineage divergence and/or gene flow between populations. While robust evidence for a recent bottleneck was not obtained in our analyses, a clear signature of historical population contraction was detected in the central cone population. Our findings suggest that the skewed morph ratio strongly influenced the reproduction of small and isolated populations in the short-term, highlighting the vulnerability of distylous plant populations under ongoing anthropogenic pressure.
Ceramic membranes originated from cost effective and abundant natural minerals and industrial wastes for broad applications - a review

The wide application of ceramic membranes in nowadays can be rationalized by their intrinsic properties, notably in terms of thermal and chemical stability and high mechanical strength. Compared to the conventional metal oxide materials, this article summarized comprehensively the natural minerals and industrial wastes, which are in abundance and need lower firing temperature, for the ceramic membrane fabrication as the raw materials. These cost-effective ceramic membranes prepared from clay, silty marls, kaolin, zeolite, bauxite, quartz sands, bentonite, cordierite, apatite, perovskite, coal fly ash, coal gangue, blast furnace slag, rice husk ash, pozzolan, etc. have emphasized the remarkable cost reduction and been broadly applicable to a variety of fields like removal of solid, dye, ion, heavy metal, oily wastewater treatment, juice clarification, seawater desalination, sterilization, hydrogen separation, oxygen permeation, CO2 adsorption and separation, membrane catalysis, etc. The cost of these natural minerals and industrial wastes based ceramic membrane was estimated several times cheaper than the conventional oxide ceramic membrane. This review encouraged a more economically viable and environmentally sustainable strategy, not only giving a new and facile insight for waste management but also endow a possibility of high-valued recycling.
ASSOCIATION OF PLECTOSPHAERELLA MELONIS WITH CANTALOUPE DECLINE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN EGYPT

Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis) is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. Under Egyptian condition, this crop is cultivated under protected plastic tunnels to produce an off-season crop for mainly exportation, as well as local consumption during the Autumn and Winter seasons. During harvesting time of cantaloupe (October, 2017) grown at Wadi El Natron Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo Univ., a collapse of cantaloupe plants was noticed as yellowing of older leaves, great reduction in green growth, corky and decayed areas on roots, after 70 days of transplanting. Isolation trials from naturally infected cantaloupe roots resulted in the presence of 6 different fungi. These fungi were identified as Plectosphaerella melonis, Sclerotium bataticola, Rhizoctonia solani, Botryodiplodia sp. , Monosporascus cannonballus and Fusarium solani. The most dominant fungus in Behera governorats was Plectosphaerella melonis. Through light microscopy of the isolated fungus the conidia formed on phyalides were observed. The chlamydospores were also obvious. Scanning electron microscopy of the fungal colonies of Plectosphaerella melonis clearly revealed the intensive formation of the characteristic chlamydospores. Pathogenicity test carried out by using the six testes fungi either singly or in different double combination under greenhouse condition in pots and in plots near the greenhouse revealed that these fungi had the ability to cause the typical symptoms of cantaloupe decline (root rot with different disease severity degrees ) in Gal 290 cv. This was accompanied with great reduction in some plant growth parameters tested. On the basis of these data, it is considered that Plectosphaerella melonis may cause cantaloupe decline under Egyptian condition during winter plantation and this is the first record of the fungus in Egypt.
Soil Biology Is Enhanced under Soil Conservation Management

Robert J. Kremer is a professor of soil microbiology in the School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. Kristen S. Veum is a research soil scientist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research Unit, Columbia, Missouri. Soil biology embodies a stunning array of soil-inhabiting organisms ranging from viruses and microorganisms to macroinvertebrates and burrowing mammals, encompassing their activities and inter-organismal relationships, resulting in an environment with likely the most complex biological communities on earth. The “soil microbiome” is defined as the characteristic microbial community occupying specified microhabitats with distinct physio-chemical properties. The soil microbiome represents both taxonomic and functional diversity that is mediated by individual members as well as the overall community. This perspective provides a framework for describing and understanding how soil biological relationships interact with conservation management. Historically, soil conservation goals focused on modification of land use and management practices to protect the soil resource against physical loss by erosion or chemical deterioration and loss of fertility. With recent scientific advancements, the emphasis of current efforts has shifted toward microbiome interactions with soil physical and chemical processes, and how this important soil biological component is also prone to degradation by poor management. The primary objectives of this chapter are to (1) consider detrimental land management effects on the soil microbiome and essential biological processes, and (2) consider how biological functioning of the soil microbiome can be improved through application of soil conservation practices to reverse soil
Jukuri, open repository of the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

The aim of plant gene banks is to preserve genetic resources selected based on their phenotypic, agronomic, historical or other cultural values for future utilization. In the present study the modified PVS2 droplet vitrification technique was tested and optimized for cryopreservation of a large diversity of blackcurrant (R. nigrum L.) accessions propagated in vitro and selected into a national gene bank core collection. Out of four accessions tested to optimize the method, three recovered and regenerated by 89–97% on average, but one recalcitrant in vitro line only by 25%. The tested post-cryopreservation recovery media with different macronutrient and growth regulator levels showed no generalized effect on regenerated shoots, but the effect of recovery media was different between cultivars. When the whole regeneration chain from cryopreservation via micropropagation to greenhouse conditions was tested, shoots at least 1 cm in length were found necessary for successful transfer ex vitro. The long-term cryopreservation of 22 blackcurrant accessions was finally conducted, with practices slightly modified from the tested protocol. The estimated recovery of shoot tips after 9 weeks in vitro was 17–94% with at least 75% recovery in seven accessions and at least 40% recovery in 19 out of 22 accessions. Only one accession had no cryopreservation success. The results demonstrated that the modified droplet vitrification technique is appropriate for a large diversity of blackcurrant accessions. However, cultivar-related differences and recovery procedures are to be considered for success in regeneration and ex vitro adaptation.
Study of Shear Walls in Different Locations of Multistoried Building with Uniform Thickness in Seismic Zone III

In the seismic design of buildings, reinforced concrete structure walls, or shear walls, act as a major earthquake resisting members. Structural walls provide a resistance against the lateral loads system. The properties of these seismic shear walls dominate the response of the building, it is important to evaluate the seismic response of the walls appropriately. In this project we are considering 5x5 bay plan with G+14 storey height of building to be constructed in zone III by providing shear walls of uniform thickness (200mm) in various locations of buildings. “Linear equivalent static method” analysis of the building is done using ETABs 2015. In this present study, main focus is to determine the solution for shear wall location in multi storey building. Effectiveness of shear wall has been studied with the help of five different models. Model-I is bare frame structural system and other four models are dual type structural system. An earthquake load is applied to a building of 15 stories located in zone III. The building act as a vertical cantilever in the form of separate planner walls.
Rule-based Intelligent System for Dictating Mathematical Notation in Polish

The paper describes the design and implementation of the system for dictation of mathematical expressions in Polish. The details of the developed solution environment are presented, as well as the workflow scheme of the actual natural language parser. In order to test the dictation engine, we have extended the Equation wizard editor, developed initially as a classic desktop application for MS Windows operating system. Preliminary experiments prove the system works efficiently and accepts even complex expressions and can, therefore, be used as a basis for the novel approach to editing mathematical documents by people with disabilities. The proposed solution provides an efficient interface for input of mathematical content and may be easily adapted to human-computer interaction systems for educational purposes. Keywords—Natural language; Mathematical notation; Assistive technologies; Verbalization.
On the Effective Parallelization and Near-Optimal Deployment of Service Function Chains

Network operators compose Service Function Chains (SFCs) by tying different network functions (e.g., packet inspection, flow shaping, network address translation) together and process traffic flows in the order the network functions are chained. Leveraging the technique of Network Function Virtualization (NFV), each network function can be “virtualized” and decoupled from its dedicated hardware, and therefore can be deployed flexibly for better performance at any appropriate location of the underlying network infrastructure. However, an SFC often incurs high latency as traffic goes through the virtual network functions one after another. In this article, we first design an algorithm that leverages virtual network function dependency to convert an original SFC into a parallelized SFC (p-SFC). Then, to deploy multiple p-SFCs over the network for serving a large number of users, we model the deployment problem as an Integer Linear Program and propose a heuristic, ParaSFC, based on the Viterbi dynamic programming algorithm to estimate each p-SFC’s occupation of the bottleneck resources and adjust the processing order of the p-SFCs in order to approximate the optimal solution. Finally, we conduct extensive trace-driven evaluations and exhibit that, compared to the Greedy method and the state-of-the-art CoordVNF method, ParaSFC reduces the average service latency of all the deployed p-SFCs by about 15 percent through parallelization while accommodating more SFC deployment requests over resource-limited networks.
LYTIC BACTERIOPHAGES EFFECTIVE AGAINST ESCHERICHIA COLI O157:H7, A FOODBORNE PATHOGEN

Bakteriyofajlar, coklu ilac direncli patojen bakterilerin yaygin olmasi nedeniyle gida endustrisinde ve faj terapisinde alternatif antibakteriyel ajanlar olarak kabul edilmektedirler. Bu calismanin amaci, gida kaynakli patojen Escherichia coli O157:H7'ye etkili litik bakteriyofajlari izole etmektir. Bakteriyofajlarin taranmasi icin kanalizasyon, balik ciftliklerinin, kesimhanelerin ve gida fabrikalarinin atik sularindan toplam 51 ornek toplanmis ve 18 bakteriyofaj izole edilmistir. Saflastirilmis faj orneklerin titreleri 1.7×104-1.02×108 PFU/ml arasinda degismistir. Izole edilen fajlarin tumu, E. coli O157: H7 suslarina karsi litik aktiviteye sahip oldugu ve bu nedenle berrak plaklar olusturdugu gozlenmistir. On sekiz fajdan dordunun, E. coli O157:H7'ye ek olarak CFAI, ATCC 25922 ve DSa dâhil olmak uzere diger E. coli suslarina karsi enfektif olduklari bulunmustur. Sadece iki fajin Salmonella Kentucky DMC35'e karsi enfektif oldugu gozlenmistir. Eco-OH-fajlari, E. coli O157:H7 suslarina karsi 0.5 ila 0.1 arasinda EOP degerleri ile yuksek enfeksiyon kabiliyetine sahip oldugu bulunmustur.
Sectoral Linkages with Non-Tradable Goods: a Comparative Analysis of Regional Trade Agreements in Africa

This article uses a Ricardian model with sectoral linkages between trade and non-tradable sectors to quantify the impact of four Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) in Africa. We find that the four RTAs studied, namely COMESA, SADC, EAC and CEMAC have been costly for many participating countries, as in each agreement there are countries that have registered a loss in welfare and real wages due to a deterioration in their terms of trade and to trade diversion. These losses however are small, often below 0.1% in terms of welfare. The winners’ gains are also small, albeit slightly bigger, ranked between 0.1% and 0.7%. Our results highlight the poor results of African RTAs where only a reduction in tariffs is achieved. However, we find that while these aggregated effects are small, RTAs have strong effects at the sectoral level (e.g., in the agricultural sector). F1, F13, F15 Trade integration, Gravity, RTA
Board characteristics, ownership structures and firm R&D intensity

This study explores the impact of board characteristics and ownership structures on the strategic decisions taken for R&D investment. The study employs a sample comprising 1736 firm-year observations of 434 technological firms listed on the Taiwanese Stock Exchange (TWSE) between 2014 and 2017. Contrary to extant research, the findings reveal that board independence plays a crucial role relative to R&D intensity, as strong evidence reflects a positive and significant relationship thereon. Moreover, the empirical results demonstrate negative and significant relationships between CEO Duality, Board size (in big companies), Executive & Manager, Board of Directors and Top Blockholders; ownership structures, and firm R&D intensity. Interestingly, the ownership structure results emerging from this Taiwanese contextual study support, and are consistent with the predictions of the ‘entrenchment argument’ and are counter to the ‘convergence of interest’ argument. The findings emerging from this research provide an opportunity for further discussion and analysis regarding corporate governance principles and regulations. Firms seeking to optimize their R&D policy imperatives may benefit from such a study.
Disinfection of Poultry Chiller Water with Chlorine Dioxide: Consumption and Byproduct Formation

Chlorine dioxide is effective in controlling the natural flora occurring in poultry chiller water (PCW). However, it is not approved for use as a disinfectant because of the lack of information pertinent to its human health risks. In PCW, most added chlorine dioxide was rapidly reduced to chlorite and chlorate. The formation of chlorite was dependent on both chlorine dioxide dose and treatment time. The chlorine dioxide demand by PCW, the consumption at a given treatment time, was found to be independent of treatment dose. When used at the demand level, half of the added chlorine dioxide was reduced to a mixture of chlorite (90%) and chlorate (10%). On the basis of the acceptable daily intake of chlorite, 0.075 mg/kg, disinfecting PCW at the level of chlorine dioxide demand, 0.30 mM (20 mg/L), is not only effective but also has a low health risk from the standpoint of chlorite and chlorate contamination.
Detection of defective DNA in carbon nanotubes by combined molecular dynamics/tight-binding technique

A tight-binding method combined with molecular dynamics (MD) is used to investigate the electrostatic signals generated by DNA segments inside short semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The trajectories of DNA, ions, and waters, obtained from MD, are used in the tight-binding method to compute the electrostatic potential. The electrostatic signals indicate that when the DNA translocates through the CNT, it is possible to identify the total number of base pairs and the relative positions of the defective base pairs in DNA chains. Our calculations suggest that it is possible to differentiate Dickerson and hairpin DNA structures by comparing the signals.
Rivers, not refugia, drove diversification in arboreal, sub‐Saharan African snakes

Abstract The relative roles of rivers versus refugia in shaping the high levels of species diversity in tropical rainforests have been widely debated for decades. Only recently has it become possible to take an integrative approach to test predictions derived from these hypotheses using genomic sequencing and paleo‐species distribution modeling. Herein, we tested the predictions of the classic river, refuge, and river‐refuge hypotheses on diversification in the arboreal sub‐Saharan African snake genus Toxicodryas. We used dated phylogeographic inferences, population clustering analyses, demographic model selection, and paleo‐distribution modeling to conduct a phylogenomic and historical demographic analysis of this genus. Our results revealed significant population genetic structure within both Toxicodryas species, corresponding geographically to river barriers and divergence times from the mid‐Miocene to Pliocene. Our demographic analyses supported the interpretation that rivers are indications of strong barriers to gene flow among populations since their divergence. Additionally, we found no support for a major contraction of suitable habitat during the last glacial maximum, allowing us to reject both the refuge and river‐refuge hypotheses in favor of the river‐barrier hypothesis. Based on conservative interpretations of our species delimitation analyses with the Sanger and ddRAD data sets, two new cryptic species are identified from east‐central Africa. This study highlights the complexity of diversification dynamics in the African tropics and the advantages of integrative approaches to studying speciation in tropical regions.
Bone bonding ability—how to measure it?

Bone bonding ability can be examined using in vitro assays. However, conventional approaches use static conditions simulating body fluids without biologically relevant compounds (proteins/growth factors). These features could have a major impact on surface properties, thus we investigated the effect of perfusion and simulated body fluid (SBF) composition of medium on the formation of apatite layer on nickel-titanium alloy (NiTi) with modified surfaces. Apatite layer formation in SBF was investigated under three conditions: static, dynamic (perfusion) and dynamic in serum supplemented SBF (S-SBF). It was found that perfusion and protein supplemented media altered results significantly when compared with standard approaches. Adequate media that contained both organic and inorganic phases provided a more accurate model for bone bonding ability testing. It was also confirmed that both plasma modified and ground to a mirror finish (and cleaned) encourage formation of apatite layers in all test conditions, which suggests the positive interaction of the material in bone tissue environment.