Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FORMULATION, OPTIMIZATION, AND EVALUATION OF IN-SITU GEL OF MOXIFLOXACIN HYDROCHLORIDE FOR OPHTHALMIC DRUG DELIVERY

Objective: The present study emphasizes the synthesis, optimization, and evaluation of ocular in-situ gel for ophthalmic drug delivery against conjunctivitis. Methods: Pre-formulation studies on the drug and polymers were carried out, which included the study of various physicochemical properties of the drug and drug-polymer compatibility studies. The 12 different formulations were further pre-optimised by Taguchi method for determining the number of influential factors. Furthermore, the formulation optimization was done by using ‘Box–Behnken’ design (BBD) (Design expert 10 software) for assessing the effect of formulation variables on product characteristics viz. viscosity, gelation temperature (GT), and mean release time (MRT). About 13 suggested runs of the experiment were carried out and formulations were optimised. Finally, three batches of the optimised formulation were prepared and evaluated for in vitro drug release, isotonicity of formulation, anti-microbial potential, ocular irritancy, and accelerated stability testing. Results: Pre-formulation study confirmed the purity, solubility, and compatibility of drug measured by λmax, partition coefficient, stability study, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Taguchi screening method suggested about 12 different formulations and 3 most prominent influential factors including viscosity, GT, and drug release. 13 different formulations designed based on ‘BBD’ method were further optimised by considering the most influential factors suggested by Taguchi screening. The in vitro evaluation of the optimised formulation gave satisfactory results in terms of drug release, and anti-microbial activity. It was found to be isotonic with no ocular irritancy. Further, the preparation immediately transformed from sol to gel upon administration into cul-de-sac region of the eye due to multi-dimensional approaches utilised for in-situ gel formation namely temperature change Pluronic, ion sensitivity due to Gellan-gum, pH sensitivity because of Carbopol. Conclusion: The optimised in-situ gelling ocular drug formulation showed promising potency for ophthalmic drug delivery with no irritancy due to the multifactorial mechanism.
Performance variation considered helpful

Understanding the performance of a multi-threaded application is difficult. The threads interfere when they access the same resource, which slows their execution down. Unfortunately, current profiling tools focus on identifying the interference causes, not their effects.The developer can thus not know if optimizing the interference reported by a profiling tool can lead to better performance. In this thesis, we propose to complete the profiling toolbox with an effect-oriented profiling tool able to indicate how much interference impacts performance, regardless of the interference cause. With an evaluation of 27 applications, we show that our tool successfully identifies 12 performance bottlenecks caused by 6 different kinds of interference
Synthesis, Characterization, and Molecular Docking Studies of Fluoro and Chlorophenylhydrazine Schiff Bases

Six Schiff bases synthesized by condensation reaction of p-fluoro and chlorophenylhydrazines with some carbonyl compounds were reported in this work. Structures of the prepared compounds were elucidated by FT-IR, 1 H- and 13 C-NMR spectroscopy. FT-IR spectra exhibited characteristic transitions for all compounds. Also, their structures were proved by NMR spectroscopy, especially with the imine peak which is an indicator of the formation of Schiff bases. In addition, molecular docking studies of the Schiff bases were carried out on Alzheimer’s disease. The calculated docking scores and inhibition constants pointed out the usage probability of 2-chloro-5-nitrobenzaldehyde Schiff bases as a new drug candidate for Alzheimer’s disease after structural regulations.
Optimization of the conditions of the extraction and purification stages of the Shilajit substance

The Shilajit was prepared according to different technologies, depending on the extraction stages, the purification method and the drying method, after which the content of the ballast substances was determined in the obtained samples. For the obtained samples, complete elemental analysis was performed on the S8 Tiger Wave X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. In the course of the experiment, the dependence of the content of ballast silicon (Si) and aluminum (Al) substances was revealed depending on the extraction stages, the purification method, and the drying method. As a result of the research, the optimum technological regime was chosen, observance of which of the Shilajit will be the minimum content of ballast substances.
Motor expertise facilitates the precision of state extrapolation in perception

Predicting the behavior of objects in the environment is an important requirement to overcome latencies in the sensorimotor system and realize precise actions in rapid situations. Internal forward models that were acquired during motor training might not only be used for efficiently controlling fast motor behavior but also to facilitate extrapolation performance in purely perceptual tasks. In this study, we investigated whether preceding virtual cart-pole balancing training facilitates the ability to extrapolate the pole motion. We compared a group of 10 subjects, proficient in performing the cart-pole balancing task, to 10 naïve subjects. Our results demonstrate that preceding motor training increases the precision of pole movement extrapolation, although extrapolation is not trained explicitly. Additionally, we modelled subjects’ behaviors and show that the difference in extrapolation performance can be explained by individual differences in the accuracy of internal forward models. When subjects are provided with feedback about the true pole movement in a second phase, both groups improve rapidly. The results indicate that the perceptual capability to extrapolate the state of the cart-pole system accurately is implicitly trained during motor learning. We discuss these results in the context of shared representations and action-perception transfer.
Structure of amyloid fibrils. A computational analysis

Amyloid fibrils are misfolded proteins related to several different diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The aims of the report are to computationally analyze significant patterns and distributions of certain amino acids in the structure of amyloid fibrils. The direction relative to the fibril core is investigated for the charged amino acids and those present in bends. Amino acids in the amyloid fibrils tend to stack upon each other, these stacks are identified for the amino acids containing aromatic rings and the tilt of the aromatic rings are calculated relative to the axis of the fibril. The result from the analysis of the bends does not show significant patterns exclusive to amyloid fibrils, while the analysis of the charged amino acids indicates that they tend to face outwards relative to the fibril core. The tilt of the aromatic rings tends to be distributed around 55°. The results are consistent with previous findings and provide some information which could be of use when predicting the structure of amyloid fibrils.
Research on hydroxyethyl ammonium O,O′-diphenyl dithiophosphate: Synthesis, characterization, surface activity and corrosion inhibition performance

Abstract Hydroxyethyl ammonium O,O′-diphenyl dithiophosphate (HADD) acting as a surfactant and corrosion inhibitor was successfully synthesized and characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Meanwhile, the inhibition effect of HADD on Q235 steel (Q235s) corrosion in H2SO4 solution was studied by weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization measurements. HADD turned out to be an effective corrosion inhibitor and the inhibition efficiency increased with HADD concentration increasing, and significantly decreased with increasing both temperature and H2SO4 concentration. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements indicated that HADD was a mixed-type inhibitor. Graphical Abstract
Recyclable iron(ii) caffeine-derived ionic salt catalyst in the Diels–Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and α,β-unsaturated N-acyl-oxazolidinones in dimethyl carbonate

Iron(ii) triflate was used in combination with caffeine-derived salts as recyclable catalysts for the Diels–Alder reaction run in dimethyl carbonate (DMC) as a green solvent. The catalyst was prepared as an ionic salt from a xanthinium salt and Fe(OTf)2. Various substrates including α,β-unsaturated carbonyl and N-acyloxazolidinone derivatives were reacted with cyclopentadiene using this recyclable catalyst. The use of a low catalyst loading (1 mol%) afforded high yields (up to 99%) of the corresponding cycloadducts. The recycling and the efficiency of the catalyst were demonstrated for several runs.
The Role of Organic and Bio-Fertilizers in the Validity of Phosphate Fertilizers and their Effect on the Faba Bean Grown in Clay Soil

A pot experiment was carried out in 2015/2016 to study the role of organic and bio-fertilizers in the validity of mineral phosphate fertilizers and their effect on the beans grown in clay soil. The obtained results could be summarized as follows: There was a significant increase in the mean values of plant height, seed yield, the weight of 100 seeds and crude protein due to phosphorus fertilizers solely or in combination with bio and organic fertilization compared with the control. In addition, the mean values of N, P, K, Fe, Zn and Mn concentrations in the straw and seeds of faba bean plant after harvest stage were significantly increased. Using organic and biofertilizers coupled with phosphate rock or super phosphate increase the availability of plant nutrients and its productivity and reduces the soil pollution resulted from mineral fertilizers.
Template-Directed Synthesis of Photocatalyst-Encapsulating Metal–Organic Frameworks with Boosted Photocatalytic Activity

In the past decade, the use of visible light to promote organic transformations has gained intense attention. In this study, we developed a template-directed synthesis method to use homogeneous Ru and Ir photocatalysts as structure-directing templates and succeeded to prepare a series of photocatalyst-encapsulating metal–organic frameworks (photocatalyst@MOFs) with zeolite-like structures. The open channels and polyhedral cages of MOFs effectively dispersed the encapsulated photocatalysts and facilitated the transport of reactants and products, leading to boosted catalytic activity and good reusability toward important organic reactions such as aerobic oxidation reaction of benzyl halides and the cyclization of tertiary anilines and maleimides under visible light. Moreover, we also demonstrate the versatility and universality of our templating strategy. It not only can form MOFs which cannot be accessed by other synthesis methods, but also can encapsulate various commercially available homogeneous photoca.
Quick Release Nitrogenous Fertilizer from Human Hair

Liquid nitrogenous fertilizer was synthesized using waste human hair as the raw material. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) and Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) were used as the nonrecoverable solvents for diffusion controlled reductive cleavage of hair protein. Performance of these solvents was analyzed and compared both individually and for different combinations. Experiments showed that KOH was better for dissolving hair and extraction of nitrogen in the forms of ammonium and nitrate ions compared to TMAH. Thereafter a vegetation pot experiment was established to investigate the performance of the produced liquid fertilizers compared to the commercial Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium, NPK (15-15-15), fertilizer on the growth and yield of a short cycle crop, spinach (Spinacia oleracea L). The study design consisted of four treatments viz. no fertilization (T1), KOH based liquid fertilizer from human hair (T2), TMAH based liquid fertilizer from human hair (T3) and commercial NPK (T4). Each treatment had four replicate pots and was also done in parallel. The different treatments were added to the pot based on the total nitrogen requirement of 50 kg/ha for the spinach following broadcasting method. Plant physiology Original Research Article Rahman et al.; BJAST, 14(2): 1-11, 2016; Article no.BJAST. 23454 2 including plant height, number of the leaves, fresh and dry weight of the edible part of the harvested plant after 28 days suggested that the performance of the synthesized fertilizers as a nitrogen source were better than the commercial NPK fertilizer. These outcomes encourage such novel use of waste human hair.
Using Approximate Dynamic Programming to Solve the Stochastic Demand Military Inventory Routing Problem with Direct Delivery

A brigade combat team must resupply forward operating bases (FOBs) within its area of operations from a central location, mainly via ground convoy operations, in a way that closely resembles vendor managed inventory practices. Military logisticians routinely decide when and how much inventory to distribute to each FOB. Technol– ogy currently exists that makes utilizing cargo unmanned aerial vehicles (CUAVs) for resupply an attractive alternative due to the dangers of utilizing convoy operations. However, enemy actions, austere conditions, and inclement weather pose a significant risk to a CUAV’s ability to safely deliver supplies to a FOB. We develop a Markov decision process model that allows for multiple supply classes to examine the military inventory routing problem, explicitly accounting for the possible loss of CUAVs dur– ing resupply operations. The large size of the motivating problem instance renders exact dynamic programming techniques computationally intractable. To overcome this challenge, we employ approximate dynamic programming (ADP) techniques to obtain high-quality resupply policies. We employ an approximate policy iteration algorithmic strategy that utilizes least squares temporal differencing for policy eval– uation. We construct a representative problem instance based on an austere combat environment in order to demonstrate the efficacy of our model formulation and so– lution methodology. Because our ADP algorithm has many tunable features, we perform a robust, designed computational experiment to determine the ADP policy with the best quality of solutions. Results indicate utilizing least squares temporal differences with a first-order basis function is insufficient to approximate the value function when stochastic demand and penalty functions are implemented.
A Modified Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm based on Self-Adaptive Acceleration Constants

Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is one of most widely used metaheuristics which is based on collective movement of swarm like birds or fishes. The inertia weight (w) of PSO is normally used for maintaining balance between exploration and exploitation capability. Many strategies for updating the inertia weight during iteration were already proposed by several researchers. In this paper, a Modified Particle Swarm Optimization (MPSO) algorithm based on self-adaptive acceleration constants along with Linear Decreasing Inertia Weight (LDIW) technique is proposed. Here, in spite of using fixed values of acceleration constants, the values are updated themselves during iteration depending on local and global best fitness value respectively. Six different benchmark functions and three others inertia weight strategies were used for validation and comparison with this proposed model. It was observed that proposed MPSO algorithm performed better than others three strategies for most of functions in term of accuracy and convergence although its execution time was larger than others techniques.
Appropriating Music Computing Practices Through Human-AI Collaboration

This paper presents a prototypical computational framework for music computing appropriation. Putting Human-Computer Interaction at the center of the issue, it proposes to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist humans in their first uses of music computing systems—namely, their exploration. We first review how interaction design may be central to exploration and appropriation of music computing systems, highlighting guidelines and potential directions to improve it. We then present our framework proposal , centered on exploration, detailing both its interactive workflow and the AI model at stake. We finally illustrate the pedagogical potential of our framework in two musical applications that we implemented, and discuss future research toward understanding how AI could be used by humans as collaborators for self-expression and appropriation of music computing practices.
Antioxidant Activities and Related Phytochemical Constituents of Ethanolic Extract of Some Fruits in Vitro

This work was achieved to study the antioxidant activities of ethanolic extracts of four fruits, physalis peruviana L. ( pp ), Ziziphus spina-christi (z c ), Syzygium cumini (s c) and Eriobotrya japonica (E j) using in vitro antioxidant methods and determine the total phenolic compounds (TP) , flavonoids (F), total tannins( TT) and flavonols( FL) contents in fruits ethanolic extracts. Syzygium cumini (Sc) extract gave the highest contents of TP,F, TT , and FL contents. Also, Syzygium cumini (Sc) extract gave the highest total antioxidant activity, reducing power, scavenging activity of H2O2 radical, superoxide radical, DPPH radical, and the highest metal chelating activity followed by Eriobotrya japonica (E j) extract, Ziziphus spina-christi (z c) extract and physalis peruviana L. ( pp) extract respectively .
PEMFC catalyst layer modification with the addition of different amounts of PDMS polymer in order to improve water management

The balance between preventing water flooding and adequate humidification of the membrane will provide a significant contribution to proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell performance. For this purpose, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a hydrophobic polymer, was added to the catalyst layer of the fuel cell at different amounts including 5, 10, and 20 wt%. The performances of the fuel cells including PDMS were compared with the commercial catalyst. Morphological changes of the gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) were confirmed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to determine the functional groups and contact angle measurements were used to determine the hydrophobic characteristics. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), impedance, and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) analysis were performed for electrochemical characterization and degradation behaviors. In situ PEM fuel cell tests were performed in order to define the best catalyst ink combination that include PDMS. The results of the cyclic voltammograms proved that the electrochemical surface area (ECSA) increased with the increasing amount of PDMS. The highest ECSA of 53.84 m2 g−1 was calculated for catalyst ink with 20‐wt% PDMS. The lowest ECSA loss after aging was observed in the catalyst ink with 10‐wt% PDMS. As a result, the catalyst layer having 10‐wt% PDMS showed the best polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) performance.
All-optical multiplexing schemes for multiple access networks based on wavelet packet filter banks

All optical architectures for Wavelet Packet Division Multiplexing (WPDM) are presented, that can be used in multiple access networks to increase the number of simultaneous users. Wavelet waveform coding spreads data signals both in time and frequency domains, with a large capacity improvement with respect to standard Optical-Code Division Multiple Access (O-CDMA) systems. In addition, the orthogonal property of the wavelet atoms ensures low InterSymbol Interference (ISI) and Multiple Access Interference (MAI) noises. To exploit the large bandwidth capacity of optical fibres, the Optical-Electrical-Optical (O-E-O) conversion is completely avoided, and we designed an all optical system that realizes the WPDM fully in the optical domain. A single Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) device multiplies/demultiplies N different users and a diffractive or an integrated optical device performs the waveform coding/decoding. The Wavelet Packet (WP) encoder/decoder is realized as a tree of lattice-form delay-line filters, and can be integrated on a single device along with the optical waveform modulator, resulting in a compact planar optical system. In addition, we show that different choices of WP encoders/decoders are possible to further enhance the system performances.
Les astrocytes réactifs, des partenaires anti-agrégants dans la maladie de Huntington : identification des mécanismes impliqués dans le dialogue neurone-astrocyte

La maladie de Huntington (MH) est une maladie neurodegenerative causee par une extension de repetitions du codon CAG dans le gene de la Huntingtine (Htt). Cette maladie est caracterisee par la mort des neurones striataux et la presence d’agregats de Htt mutee (mHtt). De plus, au cours de la MH, les astrocytes, qui sont essentiels au bon fonctionnement neuronal, changent d’etat et deviennent reactifs. La reactivite astrocytaire est caracterisee par des changements morphologiques et transcriptomiques mais l’impact fonctionnel de cette reactivite reste peu compris.Afin d’etudier le role des astrocytes reactifs dans la MH, nous avons utilise des vecteurs viraux recemment developpes par notre equipe, qui induisent ou bloquent la reactivite astrocytaire in vivo en ciblant la voie JAK2-STAT3. Nous avons montre que les astrocytes reactifs diminuent le nombre et la taille des agregats de mHtt majoritairement presents dans les neurones. Ceci est associe a l’amelioration de plusieurs alterations neuronales observees dans ces modeles. Une analyse transcriptomique realisee sur des astrocytes reactifs revele des changements majeurs d’expression de genes lies aux systemes de proteostasie. De plus, l’activite du lysosome et du proteasome est augmentee dans les astrocytes reactifs de souris modeles de la MH. Nous montrons egalement que les astrocytes reactifs eliminent plus efficacement leurs propres agregats de mHtt, suggerant qu’au cours de la MH, ces cellules pourraient degrader plus efficacement la mHtt provenant des neurones. De plus, certaines proteines chaperonnes sont induites dans les astrocytes reactifs. En particulier, la co-chaperonne DNAJB1/Hsp40 est surexprimee dans les astrocytes reactifs et est retrouvee dans les exosomes isoles a partir de striata de souris MH. Des experiences de gain et perte de fonction suggerent que cette chaperonne est impliquee dans les effets benefiques des astrocytes reactifs sur l’agregation de la mHtt et l’etat des neurones. Les astrocytes reactifs pourraient donc liberer des proteines anti-agregantes qui favorise l’elimination de la mHtt dans les neurones.Notre etude montre que les astrocytes peuvent, en devenant reactifs au cours de la MH, acquerir des proprietes benefiques pour les neurones et favoriser, via un dialogue complexe avec les neurones, l’elimination des agregats de mHtt.