Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial and Antiviral Activities of Grape Seed Extracts

Grape seed extract (GSE) is a rich source of polyphenols. The polyphenols are important secondary metabolites which play multiple essential roles in plant physiology and which show a broad range of bioactive properties in human organism, mainly as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, cardioprotection, and antiaging. GSE is recognized as a complex mixture of monomeric, oligomeric, and polymeric flavan-3-ols. The principal monomers identified are (+)-catechin, (−)-epicatechin, (−)-epicatechin gallate, (−)-epigallocatechin, and (−)-epigallocatechin gallate. The content of flavan-3-ols in seed grapes is influenced by several factors mainly cultivar, irrigation, nitrogen fertilization, delayed harvest, and storage conditions. Antimicrobial and antiviral activities of GSE have been described. Moreover, some researchers showed that seed extracts were more effectively antimicrobial than other parts of grapes. The decrease order of the antimicrobial activity is seed, skin and flesh grape extracts. We demonstrated, for the first time, a significant correlation between the content of the flavan-3-ols in GSEs, with a polymerization degree ≥4, and antifungal activity. Recently, we also demonstrated a significant inhibition of Candida albicans, in an experimental murine model of vaginal candidiasis, using GSE with high content of polymeric flavan-3-ols. Technologies to deliver GSEs for an effective inhibition of pathogens have been reported. GSE is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS), approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and also sold as dietary supplement. Antimicrobial activity together with lack of toxicity suggests that GSE could be used for  Corresponding Author address: Gabriella Pasqua, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy. Email: gabriella.pasqua@uniroma1.it. No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted commercially in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services. G. Pasqua and G. Simonetti 212 the prevention and control of infection diseases without side effects, making greater potential for grape in the field of food and pharmaceutical application.
EFEITO IN VITRO DE COMPOST OS DE PLANT AS SOBRE O FUNGO Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz. ISOLADO DO MARACUJAZEIRO In vitro effect of plant compounds on the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz. isolated from passion fruit

The objective of the work was to evaluate the effect of extracts and essential oils of fourteen medicinal and or native plants popularly known in the North of Minas Gerais, on the germination of spores and the mycelial growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides fungus. The following were used in the mycelial growth inhibition test: the watery extracts of rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis), Cordia verbenacea, Solanum sisymbriifolium, Phyllanthus corcovadensis, Eclipta alba, and Curcuma longa obtained through the infusion process ; essential oils of “alecrim de vargem” (Lamiaceae Family), Lippia sidoides, Ocimum gratissimum, Lippia citriodora, white guava (Psidium guajava), lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus); copaiba oil resin (Copaifera langsdorffi) as well as hydrolates of “alecrim de vargem”, red guava ( Psidium guajava), Lippia citriodora, lemongrass, white guava, Ocimum gratissimum; and cassava manipueira (Manihot esculenta). The same hydrolates and essential oils were also tested on the germination of the fungus spores. All the treatments were carried out in vitro, cultivating the fungus in PDA supplemented with 100µL of the vegetal compounds. In the germination inhibition test, all the essential oils prevented the germination of the fungus. However, the hydrolates did not have this effect. In the mycelial growth test, the essential oils of all of the plants completely inhibited the fungus growth, except the white guava oil. The watery extracts, the cassava manipueira, the oil resin and hydrolates were also not efficient in preventing the growth of the pathogen. These results indicate the fungitoxic potential of some essential oils of medicinal plants.
‘Columbia Star’ Thornless Trailing Blackberry

‘Columbia Star’ is a new thornless, trailing blackberry (Rubus subg. Rubus Watson) cultivar from the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) breeding program in Corvallis, OR, released in cooperation with the Oregon State University’s Agricultural Experiment Station. ‘Columbia Star’ is the first thornless blackberry to be released with the ‘Lincoln Logan’ source of thornlessness other than the original ‘Lincoln Logan’ and ‘Waimate’ that have ‘Logan’-type fruit and ‘Marahau’ that has ‘Boysen’-type fruit (Hall et al., 1986; Hall and Stephens, 1999; Fig. 1). ‘Columbia Star’ is introduced as a very highquality, high-yielding, machine-harvestable, thornless trailing blackberry with firm, sweet fruit that when processed are similar in quality to or better than fruit from the industry standards ‘Marion’ and ‘Black Diamond’. ‘Columbia Star’ should be adapted to areas where other trailing blackberries can be grown successfully. The name recognizes the importance of the Columbia River in the geography and history of the Pacific Northwest.
Genetic Analysis of Intron 2 of Muscling Gene Myostatin (MSTN) and its Association with Body Weight in Marwari Sheep

Myostatin (MSTN), a negative regulator of skeletal muscle development in mammals, represents a key target for genetic investigations in meat-producing animals, with mutations responsible for increased skeletal-muscle mass was described in several livestock species. The aim of present study was to investigate myostatin gene polymorphism and its association with body weight records in Marwari sheep using PCR-SSCP methods. Blood samples were collected from randomly selected Marwari sheep ((n=71), and DNA was extracted using spin column method. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out to amplify 311 bp fragment of intron 2 region of myostatin gene. SSCP analysis showed two different conformations (AA and AB) in intron 2 region of MSTN gene in Marwari sheep and the frequencies of AA and AB genotypes were observed to be 0.86 (n=61) and 0.14 (n=10), respectively. This locus was not found in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and no significant effect of intron 2 of MSTN gene on body weights was observed.
Growth inhibitory activity of selected microalgae and cyanobacteria towards human cervical carcinoma cells (HeLa)

Although a large number of strains have been shown to possess anticancer activity, the microalgal and cyanobacterial potential is still largely unexplored. The present study was aimed to evaluate and compare the growth inhibitory activity of 33 extracts, 15 fatty acid mixtures and five exopolysaccharides from 19 species on HeLa cells, using MTT assay. All investigated strains showed growth inhibitory activity of at least one tested extract/constituent. More than 80% decrease in Hela cells viability was registered for the crude hot water extract of Gloeocapsa sp. and ethanol extracts of the new Bulgarian isolates Gloeocapsa sp. and Chlorella sp. Most active cell-free culture liquids were these of Anabaena sp. and Synechocystis sp. , while the exopolysaccharides of Gloeocapsa sp. exhibited the lowest IC 50 value (24.4 µg/ml). An interesting and useful finding of our investigation was that the isolated fatty acid mixtures from five out of eight cyanobacterial strains and from four out of seven microalgal strains studied had potent activity against HeLa tumor cells with the IC 50 values under 30 µg/ml and even under 15 µg/ml. High percentage of the active Bulgarian isolates among the strains tested fulfil the effort of screening cyanobacteria and microalgae of local habitats. In conclusion, the most promising strains for further study are the thermal cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. and especially Gloeocapsa sp. , which showed the strongest inhibition of tumor cell growth and produced wider range of active components.
STUDI ANATOMI ENDOFITIK Rafflesia patma DI DALAM INANG Tetrastigma sp.

As an endoparasite, growth and development of Rafflesia occurred inside the host tissue. This cryptic habit is one factor hindering our understanding on how the relationship of host-parasite began. The anatomical study on host-parasite tissue is the approached used in this study. Using infected root tissue of Rafflesia patma , anatomical figures depicting the early event of infection to perfect stage of a flower was derived. However, more study is still required to completely represent the whole life growth and development of Rafflesia during its early stage as endophyte.
Evolutionary ecology of fig wasps associated with the Port Jackson fig

V List of tables . XII List of figures . XIV List of abbreviations . XVI Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 The fig – fig wasp mutualism . 3 1.2 Coevolution of plant-insect interactions . 6 1.2.1 Population genetics and the ‘geographic mosaic theory of coevolution’ 8 1.3 The species delimitation problem . 9 1.3. 1 The DNA barcoding ‘solution’ . 11 1.4 Geographic distribution and species’ responses to climate change . 13 1.5 Thesis aims and outline . 16 1.5. 1 Study system: Port Jackson fig (Ficus rubiginosa) and its associated fig wasps . 17 1.5. 2 Host-parasitoid coevolution: a biogeographic investigation . 19 1.5. 3 Assessment of DNA barcoding in sympatric and allopatric lineages . 22 1.5. 4 The effect of climate change on temperate fig wasps . 23 1.6 Conclusion . 25 Chapter 2: Characterisation of microsatellite markers for fig-pollinating wasps in the Pleistodontes imperialis species complex . 26 2.1 Abstract . 27 2.2 Introduction . 28 2.3 Methods, results and discussion . 28
Optimization of media components for the production of laccase from Pleurotus ostreatus PKN 04 using Response surface methodology

The influence of media components plays an important role on the enhanced production of products from microorganism. An approach was done to enhance the production of laccase from Pleurotus ostreatus – white rot fungi by manipulating the different concertation of variables using Response surface methodology. The Enzyme production was correlated with the biomass produced during the production process.6 g/L NaNO3, 1.5 g/L K2HPO4, 1 g/L Tryptone, 10 g/L Glucose, 0.5 g/L MgSO4 combination showed maximum enzyme activity of 96 IU/ml with an agreeable increase in biomass (5.2 g/L). 50 experiments runs were attained this optimum conditions for enzyme production and the coefficient of determination was 99.5%.
Genetic Basis of Tocopherol Accumulation in Soybean (Glycine Max [L.] Merr.) Seeds

GENETIC BASIS OF TOCOPHEROL ACCUMULATION IN SOYBEAN (GLYCINE MAX [L.] MERR.) SEEDS Eric Shaw Advisor: University of Guelph, 2012 Dr. Istvan Rajcan This thesis is an investigation of the genetic basis of tocopherol accumulation in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merrill) seeds. Soybean is the world’s most widely grown protein and oilseed crop and the principle source of vitamin E (tocopherols) as a supplement. Tocopherols (α-, β-, γand δ-isomers) are powerful antioxidants that contain human health benefits, including a decrease in the risk of lung cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis. The purpose of this research was to identify genetic and biochemical components affecting tocopherol accumulation in soybean seeds. The objectives were to: 1) investigate location and year effects on soybean seed tocopherol levels in the field; 2) determine environmental factors affecting soybean seed tocopherol levels under controlled conditions; 3) identify simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers that tag quantitative trail loci (QTL) for individual and total tocopherols; and 4) evaluate the potential role of VTE1, VTE3 and VTE4 genes in tocopherol accumulation using the candidate gene approach. Seventy nine recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross between OAC Bayfield and OAC Shire were grown in the field at Elora, Woodstock and St. Pauls, ON, in 2009 and 2010. The tocopherol components were quantified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed a significant (p < 0.001) genotype, environment and genotype x environment effect for each tocopherol component. It was discovered that a 2 x phosphate fertilizer (K2SO4 at 1.0M/150mL) and 30 ̊C temperature treatment increased each tocopherol component, whereas drought had no effects. Single marker analysis identified 42 QTL and interval mapping identified 26 QTL across 17 chromosomes. Significant two-locus epistatic interactions were found with a total of 122 and 152 in the 2009 and 2010 field seasons, respectively. The multiple locus models explained 18.4% to 72.2% with an average of 45.7% of the total phenotypic variation. The candidate gene approach using nucleotide sequences from the coding regions identified two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in VTE1, five SNPs in VTE4 and none in VTE3. The SNPs were predicted to cause functional protein changes and the genes co-localized with some of the identified QTL. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the environmental factors and genetic mechanisms that influence the accumulation of tocopherols in soybean seeds.
Revisiting Modularized Multilingual NMT to Meet Industrial Demands

The complete sharing of parameters for multilingual translation (1-1) has been the mainstream approach in current research. However, degraded performance due to the capacity bottleneck and low maintainability hinders its extensive adoption in industries. In this study, we revisit the multilingual neural machine translation model that only share modules among the same languages (M2) as a practical alternative to 1-1 to satisfy industrial requirements. Through comprehensive experiments, we identify the benefits of multi-way training and demonstrate that the M2 can enjoy these benefits without suffering from the capacity bottleneck. Furthermore, the interlingual space of the M2 allows convenient modification of the model. By leveraging trained modules, we find that incrementally added modules exhibit better performance than singly trained models. The zero-shot performance of the added modules is even comparable to supervised models. Our findings suggest that the M2 can be a competent candidate for multilingual translation in industries.
A Demonstration of Smart Doorbell Design Using Federated Deep Learning

Smart doorbells have been playing an important role in protecting our modern homes. Existing approaches of sending video streams to a centralized server (or Cloud) for video analytics have been facing many challenges such as latency, bandwidth cost and more importantly users' privacy concerns. To address these challenges, this paper showcases the ability of an intelligent smart doorbell based on Federated Deep Learning, which can deploy and manage video analytics applications such as a smart doorbell across Edge and Cloud resources. This platform can scale, work with multiple devices, seamlessly manage online orchestration of the application components. The proposed framework is implemented using state-of-the-art technology. We implement the Federated Server using the Flask framework, containerized using Nginx and Gunicorn, which is deployed on AWS EC2 and AWS Serverless architecture.
On Bayesian sparse canonical correlation analysis via Rayleigh quotient framework

We propose a semi-parametric Bayesian method for the principal canonical pair that employs the scaled Rayleigh quotient as a quasi-log-likelihood with the spike-and-slab prior as the sparse constraints. Our approach does not require a complete joint distribution of the data, and as such, is more robust to non-normality than current Bayesian methods. Moreover, simulated tempering is used for solving the multi-modality problem in the resulting posterior distribution. We study the numerical behavior of the proposed method on both continuous and truncated data, and show that it compares favorably with other methods. As an application, we use the methodology to maximally correlate clinical variables and proteomic data for a better understanding of covid-19 disease. Our analysis identifies the protein Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 1 (AGP 1) as playing an important role in the progression of Covid-19 into a severe illness.
Subsecond Time Evolution of Type III Solar Radio Burst Sources at Fundamental and Harmonic Frequencies

Recent developments in astronomical radio telescopes opened new opportunities in imaging and spectroscopy of solar radio bursts at subsecond timescales. Imaging in narrow frequency bands has revealed temporal variations in the positions and source sizes that do not fit into the standard picture of type III solar radio bursts, and require a better understanding of radio-wave transport. In this paper, we utilize 3D Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulations that account for the anisotropic density turbulence in the inhomogeneous solar corona to quantitatively explain the image dynamics at the fundamental (near plasma frequency) and harmonic (double) plasma emissions observed at ∼32 MHz. Comparing the simulations with observations, we find that anisotropic scattering from an instantaneous emission point source can account for the observed time profiles, centroid locations, and source sizes of the fundamental component of type III radio bursts (generated where f pe ≈ 32 MHz). The best agreement with observations is achieved when the ratio of the perpendicular to the parallel component of the wavevector of anisotropic density turbulence is around 0.25. Harmonic emission sources observed at the same frequency (∼32 MHz, but generated where f pe ≈ 16 MHz) have apparent sizes comparable to those produced by the fundamental emission, but demonstrate a much slower temporal evolution. The simulations of radio-wave propagation make it possible to quantitatively explain the variations of apparent source sizes and positions at subsecond timescales both for the fundamental and harmonic emissions, and can be used as a diagnostic tool for the plasma turbulence in the upper corona.
Meta-Learning for Low-Resource Unsupervised Neural MachineTranslation

Unsupervised machine translation, which utilizes unpaired monolingual corpora as training data, has achieved comparable performance against supervised machine translation. However, it still suffers from data-scarce domains. To address this issue, this paper presents a meta-learning algorithm for unsupervised neural machine translation (UNMT) that trains the model to adapt to another domain by utilizing only a small amount of training data. We assume that domain-general knowledge is a significant factor in handling data-scarce domains. Hence, we extend the meta-learning algorithm, which utilizes knowledge learned from high-resource domains to boost the performance of low-resource UNMT. Our model surpasses a transfer learning-based approach by up to 2-4 BLEU scores. Extensive experimental results show that our proposed algorithm is pertinent for fast adaptation and consistently outperforms other baseline models.
MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF THE SUPPRESSION OF COLLETROTRICHUM FALCATUM BY TRICHODERMA HARZIANUM IN SUGARCANE

Detailed tritrophic interaction studies were conducted under in vitro and in vivo conditions among sugarcane, Colletotrichum falcatum, the red rot pathogen of sugarcane and its antagonist Trichoderma harzianum. Two way interaction under in vitro conditions clearly indicated that T. harzianum was able to inhibit the growth of C. falcatum which was evidenced by degradation of C. falcatum proteins and expression of new proteins by Trichoderma both at intra and extra cellular level. Similar suppression of the pathogen by the antagonist was also observed during three way interaction with sugarcane tissue in vitro and reduction of symptom production in stalk tissue in vivo. At the molecular level, SDS-PAGE analysis of proteins extracted from different samples of three way interaction in vitro revealed that there were differentially expressed proteins (ca. 100-150 kDa) when C. falcatum was inoculated in sugarcane tissue followed by Trichoderma at different intervals, particularly 72 h after pathogen inoculation. Under field conditions, C. falcatum symptoms in the stalk tissue were inhibited by simultaneous inoculation of Trichoderma and C. falcatum. Protein profiles of these samples in SDS-PAGE indicated that the sugarcane proteins (ca. 80-100 kDa) were degraded during the host-pathogen interaction and the same proteins were retained during three way interaction of pathogen along with the antagonist on sugarcane. Furthermore, the growth and proliferation of T. harzianum over C. falcatum inside the stalk tissue was shown by duplex PCR, tissue bioassay, and microscopic observations. All these results confirm that T. harzianum was able to suppress C. falcatum in sugarcane by antagonistic mechanism and expression of newer proteins that could be related to defence / antifungal nature.
Molecular identification and expression of papaya ringspot virus gene in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana Domin) plants

Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) belongs to Potyviridae family, genus Potyvirus and mainly transmitted by aphids (genera Macrosiphum and Myzus). Infected plants show mottling, blister-like patches and distortion of leaves as well as causes ring spot disease in papaya (Carica papaya L.) fruits. The HC-Pro (helper component proteinase), CI (cylindrical inclusion), NIb (nuclear inclusion body b) and Cp (coat protein) gene are involved in many other essential processes during the virus infection cycle as well as for transmission of potyvirus. Novel degenerate primers have been designed for amplification these genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the HC-Pro had the closest relationship with PRSV P isolate MP, CI with PRSV P isolate DEL and partial Nib plus CP with PRSV P isolate DEL as well as PRSV P isolate USA. Eluted PCR product of amplified gene was checked in 1 % agarose gel and cloned in binary vector with reporter gene (GUS). Agroinfiltration and GUS histochemical staining was performed for detecting the movement of a particular gene. The high sensitivity of GUS assays permitted temporal analysis of early expression of potyviral genes. Expression study proved that all genes are involved in long distance movement in host plants.