Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neural Network Methodology for the Identification and Classification of Lipopeptides Based on SMILES Annotation

Artificial Neural Networks can be applied for the identification and classification of prospective drug candidates such as complex compounds, including lipopeptide, based on their SMILES string representation. The training of neural networks is done with SMILES strings, which are predictive of structural identification; the ANNs are efficient of correctly classifying all compounds, substructures and their analogues distinguishing the drugs based upon atomic organization to obtain lead optimization in drug discovery. The proficiency of the trained ANN models in recognizing and classifying the analogous compounds was tested for analysis of similar compounds, which were not taken previously for training and achieved results with correct classification in the validation set. The best result was achieved with 10 numbers of hidden layers. The R2 value for training is 0.90586; the R2 value for testing is 0.99508; the R2 value after validation is 0.94151; the final value of R2 for total sets is 0.89456. The graphs are plotted between 21 epochs and mean square error (MSE) to report the performance of the model. The value of 798.1735 for the gradient of the curve after 21 iterations and 6 validation checks was obtained. A successful model was developed for the identification and classification of lipopeptides from their SMILES annotation that efficiently classifies similar compounds and supports in decision making for analogue-based drug discovery. This will help in appropriate lead optimization studies for the prediction of potential anticancer and antimicrobial lipopeptide-based therapeutics.
Bending of Layered Silicates on the Nanometer Scale: Mechanism, Stored Energy, and Curvature Limits

Bending and failure of aluminosilicate layers are common in polymer matrices although mechanical properties of curved layers and curvature limits are hardly known. We examined the mechanism of bending, the stored energy, and failure of several clay minerals. We employed molecular dynamics simulation, AFM data, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of montmorillonite embedded in epoxy and silk elastin polymer matrices with different weight percentage and different processing conditions. The bending energy per layer area as a function of bending radius can be converted into force constants for a given layer geometry and is similar for minerals of different cation exchange capacity (pyrophyllite, montmorillonite, mica). The bending energy increases from zero for a flat single layer to ∼10 mJ/m2 at a bending radius of 20 nm and exceeds 100 mJ/m2 at a bending radius of 6 nm. The smallest observed curvature of a bent layer is 3 nm. Failure proceeds through kink and split into two straight layers of shorter.
Boiling Heat Transfer in a Small Diameter Tube below Atmospheric Pressure on a Natural Circulation Condition

Boiling heat transfer is experimentally examined in a vertical small diameter tube(ID= 2.8 mm) using water, ethanol and Freon R-113 working fluids over a wide low pressure range of 0.06 to 0.97 bar. Comparisons of the measured heat transfer coefficients with existing pool boiling correlations and a boiling correlation developed for a thermosyphon show that the measured coefficients are a little larger than the pool boiling correlations and lower than thermosyphon correlation. But for ethanol and Freon R-113 the measured coefficients at high pressure are larger than the thermosyphon correlation. The effect of pressure on the boiling heat transfer for water is found to be less than that in a pool boiling condition. But for ethanol and Freon R-113 the measured heat transfer coefficients increase with increase in pressure. Finally correlations are developed that show good agreement with the experimental data.
Epistemology and biology teaching: obstacles to a contemporary conceptualisation of living organisms among future teachers and biologists

ABSTRACT The historical dimension of biology attests to the various conceptions of living organisms that have governed the construction of scientific knowledge over time, some of which still persist today. The present study aimed to identify and characterise the various conceptions of living organisms held by future teachers and biologists and the influence of university education (with or without a scientific profile). The results show that animist, vitalist, finalist, evolutionist, interactionist, hereditary and behavioural determinist conceptions coexist in explaining living organisms and the university education with a scientific profile appears to promote current conceptions over outdated ones. Thus, 80.6% of future science teachers and biologists rejected metaphysical explanations of living organisms, whereas 55.3% of future elementary and secondary school teachers accepted them. Yet, the results of this study also brought out finalist explanations of living organisms among the majority of both profiles, without (90.6%) and with science (79.0%), indicating that a poor understanding of evolutionism still persists today, despite a well-developed science culture. The continued existence of obstacle-conceptions and the influence on them of a well-developed science culture points to the importance of the quality of science education for gaining a better grasp of the concepts related to living organisms.
Complexity of Infinite-Domain Constraint Satisfaction

Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) are natural computational problems that appear in many areas of theoretical computer science. Exploring which CSPs are solvable in polynomial time and which are NP-hard reveals a surprising link with central questions in universal algebra. This monograph presents a self-contained introduction to the universal-algebraic approach to complexity classification, treating both finite and infinite-domain CSPs. It includes the required background from logic and combinatorics, particularly model theory and Ramsey theory, and explains the recently discovered link between Ramsey theory and topological dynamics and its implications for CSPs. The book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in theoretical computer science and to mathematicians in logic, combinatorics, and dynamics who wish to learn about the applications of their work in complexity theory.
The Perception and Usage of Google Drive Among Higher Education Institution Students in Brunei Darussalam

Recently cloud computing services have been adopted by many people and organizations. Google Drive is one of the cloud computing platforms that has gained popularity among students in higher education institutions. This study examines the perceptions and the current usage of Google Drive among students in higher education institutions in Brunei Darussalam. The study adopted the technology acceptance model (TAM) and two additional factors, namely perceived speed of access (PSA) and perceived security (PS). The primary objectives of this research are to explore the factors affecting the usage of Google Drive by the students in higher education institutions in Brunei, to investigate the perceptions of the students on the use of Google Drive, and to find whether attitude influences the behavioral intention to use Google Drive among the students. The findings of this study connote that the students' perceptions on Google Drive have a significant influence towards their attitude to use Google Drive which in turn influence their behavioral intention to use Google Drive in the future.
Supering Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera, Apidae) beehives impairs honey production and biomarker genes

ABSTRACT: For honey production, beekeepers add one or more supers to the hives to allow honeybees to store their products. However, the increase in hive space can affect the social and health organization in the colony, promoting stress. This study assessed the management of honey production, physicochemical honey properties, population development, and forages immune system gene expression patterns to be used as biomarker for monitoring beekeeping welfare. The treatments comprised 40 beehives divided in four treatments. Treatment 1 - control, supers added according to storage necessity. Treatments 2, 3, and 4 presented two, three, and four supers at the beginning of the experiment, respectively. T1 presented greater honey production (39.4 % increased). No difference in open brood area in the colonies was observed and honey properties and only T2 showed closed brood area higher than the other treatments. Foragers from T4 showed higher catalase and defensin gene expression at the middle-end experiment. Thus, the increasing internal space at the beginning of honey season can affect honey production and immune system of foragers. Catalase and defensin can be used as biomarkers for monitoring honey production welfare.
Chinatowns Lost? The Birth and Death of Urban Neighborhoods in an American City

This article historicizes and links the ways in which ethnically segregated neighborhoods are born and die in American cities. Based on a historical ethnography of five Chinatowns in Los Angeles from 1850 to 1950, I highlight Chinese residents’ agency in both the birth and death of their own neighborhoods through a process called neighborhood architomy. Chinese residents split off new neighborhoods from dying neighborhoods while maintaining their institutions and memories, showing how neighborhood death and birth are intimately intertwined. To understand either process fully, we must treat neighborhoods and their residents as sociological and historical agents at both the birth and death of neighborhoods.
The effects of multiple-period promotions differing in frequency and depth on internal reference price

ABSTRACT Many marketers use sales promotions but excessive discounting can lower consumers’ internal reference prices. Scant research examines the implications of discounts and premiums varying in frequency and depth across multiple buying periods on period-by-period reference prices. In three studies, we find discounts with deep depth generate lower internal reference prices than those with shallow depth at high frequency. Then, we find frequency moderates depth, identifying approximate threshold levels of reference-price change. Finally, we find that premiums with the same value as discounts preserve internal reference price even if they are implemented with high frequency and deep depth.
When Deaths Are Dehumanized: Deathcare During COVID-19 as a Public Value Failure

The COVID-19 pandemic, which is still gripping the world, brought death front and center into many people’s lives. In the United States, however, some of the deaths were treated as “more tragic” than others given someone’s economic use value coupled with dehumanizing language. Using Debord’s Society of the Spectacle, this is understood as a public values failure when economic productivity eclipses public health and humanity. Introducing a conceptual framework, this article explores this death narrative and implores public administrators to think about death management in a humane framing.
Interactive Analysis Between Gastrointestinal Bacteria and Immune Capacities of Yellow-Feathered Chickens to Flavonoids Supplement

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of replacing antibiotics with Kudzu-leaf flavonoids (KLF) on the growth performances, immune capacity, and gastrointestinal health of Yellow-feathered broilers. For this purpose, total of 216 one-day-old male Yellow-feathered chickens with the similar birth weight (31.0±1.0g) were randomly divided into 3 treatments: the control treatment (CON), the kudzu-leaf flavonoids supplement treatment (KLF), and the antibiotics supplementation treatment (AGP). All birds were provided with a 56d-feeding procedure, followed by the measurement of production performances, immune organs, blood anti-oxidant parameters and cecal microbiota. Results showed the feed conversion ratio significantly decreased after KLF supplement compared with CON (P< 0.05), while no significant differences for immune organ indexes among the three treatments (P > 0.05). Further, anti-oxidant activities were partly promoted after KLF supplement on account of the increased activity of Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the decrease content of malondialdehyde (MDA). Cecal microbiota results showed a significant promition of bacterial diversity and partial representative probiotic bacteria (P<0.05) after KLF supplementation. Moreover, correlation analysis indicated that probitics including Bifidobacterium, Butyricimonas, Lactobacillus, and Streptococcus positively correlated with production performances while negatively correlated with immune organs. In conclusion, KLF supplement may promote feed efficiency and benefit the gastrointestinal health through improving gut bacterial diversity and probiotic bacteria. The KLF might be applied as a proper antibiotic alternative.
A New Inverse Modeling Approach for Emission Sources based on the DDM-3D and 3DVAR techniques: an application to air quality forecasts in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region

Abstract. We develop a new inversion method which is suitable for linear and nonlinear emission sources (ES) modeling, based on the three-dimensional decoupled direct (DDM-3D) sensitivity analysis module in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model and the three-dimensional variational (3DVAR) data assimilation technique. We established the explicit observation operator matrix between the ES and receptor concentrations, and the background error covariance (BEC) matrix of the ES which can reflect the impacts of uncertainties of the ES on assimilation. Then we constructed the inversion model of the ES by combining the sensitivity analysis with 3DVAR techniques. We performed the simulation experiment using the inversion model for a heavy haze case study in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region during December 27–30, 2016. Results show that the spatial distribution of sensitivities of SO2 and NOX ES to their concentrations, as well as the BEC matrix of ES, are reasonable. Using the posteriori inversed ES, underestimations of SO2 and NO2 during the heavy haze period are remarkably improved, especially for NO2. Spatial distributions of SO2 and NO2 concentrations simulated by the constrained ES were more accurate compared with the priori ES in the BTH region. The temporal variations in regionally averaged SO2, NO2, and O3 modelled concentrations using the posteriori inversed ES are consistent with in-situ observations at 45 stations over the BTH region, and simulation errors decrease significantly. These results are of great significance for: studies on the formation mechanism of heavy haze; reducing uncertainties of ES and its dynamic updating; providing accurate “virtual” emission inventories for air-quality forecasts and decision-making services for optimization control of air pollution.
Research on the Risk of the Online Lending Market in China: A New Perspective Based on MF-DCCA

ABSTRACT This paper examines the risk in the online lending market by analyzing the cross-correlation between formal (Shibor) and informal lending markets (including online and offline lending markets) in China using the multifractal detrended cross-correlation analysis (MF-DCCA) approach by employing time series data of interest rates covering the period from July 20, 2015, to January 17, 2020. The results reveal cross-correlations between Shibor and offline lending markets and between the online and offline lending markets in both the short and long terms. In addition, the nonlinear Granger causality test showed significant bidirectional causality between Shibor and the offline lending interest rate, and offline lending was the cause of online lending. No obvious causality relationships were noted between Shibor and online lending. The cross-correlation analysis for markets supported further strengthening of regulations of online lending markets.
Rhizosphere engineering: leading towards a sustainable viticulture?

Microorganisms are a substantial component of the rhizosphere, and the activity and composition of rhizosphere microbial populations markedly affect interactions between plants and the soil environment. In addition, the microbiota of the rhizosphere can positively influence plant development, growth and vitality. In vineyards, management practices influence both grapevine root growth directly and the rhizosphere microbiota, but the exact mode of action is largely unknown. Recently, however, two new research approaches are increasingly coming into focus to enhance grapevine growth and health: plant engineering and rhizosphere engineering. In plant engineering, knowledge about plant-microbiome interactions is used for plant breeding strategies. In rhizosphere engineering, microbial communities are modified by adding specific fertilisers, nutrients or by bio-inoculation with certain bacteria and/or fungi. Taken together, these new methods suggest a potential for reaching a more sustainable development of pesticide-reduced viticulture in the future.
Gendered bodies and physical education (PE) participation: exploring the experiences of adolescent students and PE teachers in Nova Scotia

ABSTRACT Participation in physical education is often shaped by the gendered experiences of students. This study explored how the experiences of gendered bodies shaped participation in physical education (PE) among students in Nova Scotia, Canada. The study consisted of two phases: 1) focus groups with a total of 18 Grade 8 students (7 girls and 11 boys) attending public school in Nova Scotia, and 2) in-depth semi-structured interviews with six teachers (4 women and 2 men) responsible for teaching the Nova Scotia Grade 8 PE curriculum. Data were analysed through an interpretive phenomenological analysis. The analysis resulted in three main themes: 1) binary bodies, 2) competitive bodies, and 3) fluid bodies. Themes revealed the connections between gender, bodies, and participation in PE for students. Physical education in Nova Scotia (re)creates and (re)produces binary and heteronormative constructs of gender despite changes in the curriculum focused on inclusivity. The results of this study suggest that reviewing PE pedagogical methods and activities in relation to the influence it has on (re)producing gendered bodies would be critical in creating PE spaces that are inclusive to diverse genders and bodies. Such inclusive spaces can help increase student participation in PE.
Optimal and freely chosen paddling rate during moderate kayak ergometry

Moderate paddling, as in long distance kayaking, constitutes an endurance activity, which shares energetic aspects with activities such as long distance running and road cycling. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether in moderate paddling there is a U-shaped relationship between oxygen uptake and stroke rate, and also whether elite kayakers apply a freely chosen stroke rate, which is energetically optimal. Eleven young male elite kayakers performed moderate kayak ergometry at preset target stroke rates of 65, 75, and 90 strokes min-1, and at a freely chosen stroke rate, while physiological responses including oxygen uptake were measured. The results showed that considering average values calculated across all participants, there was an approximately U-shaped relationship between oxygen uptake and target stroke rate with a minimum at 75 strokes min-1. The freely chosen stroke rate was 67.0 ± 6.1 strokes min-1. Thus, the freely chosen stroke rate, for the group in total, appeared to be lower and require higher oxygen uptake as compared to the energetically optimal preset target stroke rate. Eight out of 11 participants had a higher oxygen uptake (5.1% ± 6.7%, p = 0.028, across all participants) at their freely chosen stroke rate than at the preset target stroke rate, which resulted in the lowest oxygen uptake. In conclusion, an approximately U-shaped relationship between oxygen uptake and stroke rate for young elite kayakers during moderate ergometer kayaking was found. Additionally, the freely chosen stroke rate was systematically lower and, consequently, required higher oxygen uptake than the preset stroke rate, which resulted in the lowest oxygen uptake.
Allelopathic effect of Parthenium hysterophorus extract on seed germination and seedling growth of selected eight plants

The present study was performed to investigate the allelopathic effect of Parthenium hysterophorus aqueous extract on seed germination and seedling growth of selected eight plants viz. Allium sativum L. (Garlic), Brassica campestris L. (Mustard), Coriandrum sativum L. (Coriander), Cucumis sativus L. (Cucumber), Eruca sativa Mill. (Taramira), Solanum lycopersicum L. (Tomato), Trifolium pratense L. (Clover), and Triticum aestivum L. (Wheat). Leaf aqueous extracts of P. hysterophorus at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% were applied to examine their effects under pot culture. The experiment was laid down in a completely randomized design using two replicates. The result revealed that the aqueous leaf extract of P. hysterophorus significantly reduced the germination and suppresses the growth parameters of tested species. The highest inhibitory effects of leaf extracts were observed in T. repens, E. sativa and A. sativum (except 25%), while a maximum deleterious effects were recorded at higher concentration. The seed germination of B. campestris, C. sativus, C. sativum, and S. lycopersicum was less inhibited at 50% and 75%, while an this concentration, a stimulatory effect was recorded in T. aestivum. It was concluded that P. hysterophorus aqueous leaf extract had allelopathic effects on seed germination and seedling growth of the tested crops.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-oh kinase: an important element in survival signalling

Homeostasis o f blood cells is maintained by a tighdy controlled system o f cell division and cel l death. Disruption of this homeostasis may have profound implications in the development o f cancer. T h i s disruption can be a result o f uncontrolled cell d iv is ion , and/or resistance of the cells to programmed cell death, termed apoptosis. Hemopoiet ic cytokines are integral in controlling both of these processes, and while the signall ing pathways that control cell division are quickly being elucidated, less is k n o w n about how these cytokines promote survival. One family of enzymes regulated by cytokine signalling are the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases. B y using pharmacological inhibitors o f these enzymes, it was determined that some, but not all cytokines require PI 3-kinase to prevent apoptosis. A wel l k n o w n downstream target o f PI 3-kinase is the p70 S6 kinase. However , we showed that p70 S 6 kinase could be dissociated f rom this survival function. T h e extracellular regulated kinases (termed p42 and p44) are M A P K s that may require a component o f PI 3-kinase activity for full activation. Therefore the E r k s could also be a component o f the PI 3-kinase mediated survival pathway. W e showed that inhibition of PI 3-kinase by wortmannin resulted in a 50% reduction in the activity o f p44 fo l lowing cytokine stimulation, consistent with published reports. H o w e v e r , ful l inhibition of PI 3-kinase by a structurally unrelated inhibitor, L Y 2 9 4 0 0 2 , d id not reduce the activation of p44"* 7 , implicating targets other than PI 3-kinase in the action of wortmannin. These results agree with the observation that IJL-4 can activate PI 3-kinase, and maintain survival dependent upon this activity, but IL-4 does not activate p 4 2 " * 2 , p44, or other M A P K family members such as p38 or S A P K . Furthermore, inhibition o f M E K , the upstream activator o f the Erks , prevented the ability o f cytokines to activate p44 "* / , but it did not have any effect on cel l survival. T h u s , PI 3-kinase probably does not mediate survival v ia Erks or other M A P K s .