Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DESIGN OF A COMBINED APTAMER FOR PARAOXON AND ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE BY IN SILICO APPROACH

Poisoning by organophosphates (OPs) takes one of the leading places in the total number of exotoxicoses. Detoxication of OPs at the first stage of poisoning could be achieved with the help of aptamers, which are able to bind poisons in the bloodstream [1]. The effectiveness of the aptamers for OPs could be strengthened by their possibility to bind non-covalently with the peripheral anionic site (PAS) of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) defending the active site gorge from OPs molecules. In the present work, we have applied for the first time the in silico design of a combined aptamer for paraoxon and PAS of AChE. Based on the published sequence of an aptamer binding organophosphorus pesticides [2], its three-dimensional model was constructed. The most probable binding site for paraoxon was determined by molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) methods. Then the nucleotides of the binding site were mutated consequently and the values of free binding energy were calculated using MD trajectories and MM-PBSA approach [3]. On the basis of the energy values, the sequences that bind paraoxon most efficiently have been selected. Molecular docking of sixteen possible nucleotide pairs into PAS of AChE was performed and the pairs that bind with PAS most efficiently have been selected. The 5’-end of the aptamers for paraoxon was modified based on the results of molecular docking. The calculations have shown that the final aptamers interact with paraoxon and PAS of AChE more efficiently than AChE interacts with paraoxon.
Something old, something blue: bereavement and institutional ageism in The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil

Abstract The dystopian fiction genre within Western media has historically highlighted the flaws associated with societal attempts to achieve an unattainable ideal – or utopia. Through storytelling, these texts highlight the present issues in society, and among them, readers find deeply concerning messages about dehumanisation and oppression. The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins is uniquely placed within this larger genre due to the exceptional use of negative space; that is, the text communicates multiple meanings through what Collins includes and does not include. The following article engages in a deep reading of The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil through textual analysis to interpret and describe the message Collins communicates highlighting institutional ageism and bereavement. Consideration for the use of both negative and positive space within narrative construction reveals a story that encourages societal and social change to better care for the mentally ill, geriatric population.
Pemanfaatan Zeolit Alam Teraktivasi HNO3 sebagai Ion Logam Fe(III) dan Cr(VI)

Penelitian ini terkait dengan pemanfaatan zeolit alam teraktivasi HNO3 sebagai adsorben ion logam Fe(III) dan Cr(VI). Tujuan dalam penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana karakteristik zeolit alam sebelum dan sesudah dilakukan aktivasi, pengaruh variasi pH, waktu kontak dan konsentrasi ion logam dan kapasitas adsorpsi zeolit alam dan zeolit teraktivasi dalam menyerap ion logam Fe(III) dan Cr(VI). Pengaktivasian zeolit alam dilakukan dengan HNO3 1M serta dikalsinasi pada suhu 400˚C. Karakteristik zeolit alam sebelum dan sesudah aktivasi dapat dilihat melalui data XRD. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kristalinitas zeolit teraktivasi lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan zeolit alam. Kondisi optimum ion logam Fe(III) pada zeolit alam diperoleh pada pH 8, waktu kontak 120 menit dan konsentrasi 200 ppm sedangkan pada zeolit teraktivasi diperoleh pada pH 2, waktu kontak 150 menit dan konsentrasi 125 ppm. Kondisi optimum ion logam Cr(VI) pada zeolit alam diperoleh pada pH 8, waktu kontak 180 menit dan konsentrasi 100 ppm sedangkan pada zeolit teraktivasi diperoleh pada pH 4, waktu kontak 120 menit dan konsentrasi 150 ppm. Adsorpsi zeolit alam pada ion logam Fe(III) mengikuti pola isoterm Freundlich dengan nilai n sebesar 0,09 sedangkan pada ion logam Cr(VI) mengikuti pola isoterm Langmuir dengan kapasitas maksimum (Qm) sebesar 1,48 mg/g. Adsorpsi zeolit teraktivasi pada ion logam Fe(III) mengikuti pola isoterm Langmuir dengan kapasitas maksimum (Qm) sebesar 1,18 mg/g sedangkan pada ion logam Cr(VI) mengikuti pola isoterm Freundlich dengan nilai n sebesar 0,17.
Infrared spectra of complex organic molecules in astronomically relevant ice mixtures: IV. Methylamine

Context. In the near future, high spatial and spectral infrared (IR) data of star-forming regions obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope may reveal new solid-state features of various species, including more intriguing classes of chemical compounds. The identification of complex organic molecules (COMs) in the upcoming data will only be possible when laboratory IR ice spectra of these species under astronomically relevant conditions are available for comparison. For this purpose, systematic series of laboratory measurements are performed, providing high-resolution IR spectra of COMs. Here, spectra of pure methylamine (CH3NH2) and methylamine-containing ices are discussed. Aims. The work is aimed at characterizing the mid-IR (500–4000 cm−1, 20–2.5 μm) spectra of methylamine in pure and mixed ices to provide accurate spectroscopic data of vibrational bands that are most suited to trace this species in interstellar ices. Methods. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is used to record spectra of CH3NH2 in the pure form and mixed with H2O, CH4, and NH3, for temperatures ranging from 15 to 160 K. The IR spectra in combination with HeNe laser (632.8 nm) interference data of pure CH3NH2 ice was used to derive the IR band strengths of methylamine in pure and mixed ices. Results. The refractive index of amorphous methylamine ice at 15 K was determined as being 1.30± 0.01. Accurate spectroscopic information and band strength values are systematically presented for a large set of methylamine-containing ices and different temperatures. Selected bands are characterized and their use as methylamine tracers is discussed. The selected bands include the following: the CH3 antisymmetric stretch band at 2881.3 cm−1 (3.471 μm), the CH3 symmetric stretch band at 2791.9 cm−1 (3.582 μm), the CH3 antisymmetric deformation bands, at 1455.0 and 1478.6 cm−1 (6.873 and 6.761 μm), the CH3 symmetric deformation band at 1420.3 cm−1 (7.042 μm), and the CH3 rock at 1159.2 cm−1 (8.621 μm). Using the laboratory data recorded in this work and ground-based spectra of ices toward YSOs (Young Stellar Objects), upper-limits for the methylamine ice abundances are derived. In some of these YSOs, the methylamine abundance is less than 4% relative to H2O.
Social Media Marketing as a Branding Strategy in Extraordinary Times: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

This review expands our insight into the ways the required adaptation to digital channels caused by COVID-19 has affected the creation of brand equity through social media marketing. Based on a systematic literature review, we propose a conceptual framework that answers the following research question: How can businesses, amidst and after the COVID-19 pandemic, adapt their social media marketing strategy to create positive brand equity? The conceptual framework describes four components as the basis for a potential social media marketing strategy. First, (1) businesses need to develop a clear perspective on their current social media marketing activities, and (2) evaluate current branding elements. Based on this, (3) the timeline of marketing activities must be postponed or adapted to the needs of consumers. Lastly, (4) businesses must adapt their messaging to show empathy and deliver relevant information. Within this process, governmental parties, financial institutions, influencers, and consumers are identified as stakeholders who influence and assist businesses in optimizing their social media marketing strategy. These findings are relevant for academics and businesses to further understand the long-term effects of COVID-19 on social media marketing. Additionally, they highlight that the roles of online channels and the consumer are expanding in the future.
Increasing Hydrostatic Pressure Impacts the Prokaryotic Diversity during Emiliania huxleyi Aggregates Degradation

In the dark ocean, the balance between the heterotrophic carbon demand and the supply of sinking carbon through the biological carbon pump remains poorly constrained. In situ tracking of the dynamics of microbial degradation processes occurring on the gravitational sinking particles is still challenging. Our particle sinking simulator system (PASS) intends to mimic as closely as possible the in situ variations in pressure and temperature experienced by gravitational sinking particles. Here, we used the PASS to simultaneously track geochemical and microbial changes that occurred during the sinking through the mesopelagic zone of laboratory-grown Emiliania huxleyi aggregates amended by a natural microbial community sampled at 105 m depth in the North Atlantic Ocean. The impact of pressure on the prokaryotic degradation of POC and dissolution of E. huxleyi-derived calcite was not marked compared to atmospheric pressure. In contrast, using global O2 consumption monitored in real-time inside the high-pressure bottles using planar optodes via a sapphire window, a reduction of respiration rate was recorded in surface-originated community assemblages under increasing pressure conditions. Moreover, using a 16S rRNA metabarcoding survey, we demonstrated a drastic difference in transcriptionally active prokaryotes associated with particles, incubated either at atmospheric pressure or under linearly increasing hydrostatic pressure conditions. The increase in hydrostatic pressure reduced both the phylogenetic diversity and the species richness. The incubation at atmospheric pressure, however, promoted an opportunistic community of “fast” degraders from the surface (Saccharospirillaceae, Hyphomonadaceae, and Pseudoalteromonadaceae), known to be associated with surface phytoplankton blooms. In contrast, the incubation under increasing pressure condition incubations revealed an increase in the particle colonizer families Flavobacteriaceae and Rhodobacteraceae, and also Colwelliaceae, which are known to be adapted to high hydrostatic pressure. Altogether, our results underline the need to perform biodegradation experiments of particles in conditions that mimic pressure and temperature encountered during their sinking along the water column to be ecologically relevant.
Prevalence of selected cardiometabolic risk factors in the global ART-naïve HIV infected population: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) are at increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases attributable to the effects of the virus, antiretroviral therapy (ART) and traditional risk factors. Most studies have focused on assessing the effect of ART on cardiometabolic diseases in PLHIV with fewer studies assessing the cardiometabolic risk profile prior to exposure to ART. Therefore, this protocol is for a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the global prevalence of selected cardiometabolic risk factors in ART-naïve PLHIV and their association with HIV specific factors. Methods We shall conduct a systematic search of observational studies on the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidaemia in ART-naïve PLHIV and their association with HIV specific characteristics. We will search PubMed-MEDLINE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, Academic Search Premier, Africa-Wide Information and Africa Journals Online databases to identify relevant studies published before June 2022. Two authors will independently screen, select studies, extract data, and conduct risk of bias assessments. Disagreements between the two authors will be resolved by consensus or consulting a third reviewer. Data consistently reported across studies will be pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Heterogeneity will be evaluated using Cochrane’s Q statistic and quantified using I2 statistics. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 guidelines are used for the reporting of this protocol. Discussion This review will help determine the burden of selected cardiometabolic diseases in ART-naïve HIV-infected populations and the contribution of HIV infection, independent of ART, to cardiometabolic diseases in PLHIV. It will provide new information that can help orientate future research and potentially guide healthcare policy making. This is part of a thesis that will be submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, for the award of a PhD in Medicine with protocol ethical clearance number (UCT HREC 350/2021). Registration PROSPERO: CRD42021226001. https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero/display_record. php? ID=CRD42021226001.
‘Just put it in perspective’: the perception of sexual voyeurism and violence in Singapore evaluated through Facebook comments

ABSTRACT There is scant research about sexual violence and attitudes towards it in Singapore. This study seeks to understand if Singapore has a rape-supportive culture, by examining how sexual violence is conceptualized, including the rising phenomenon of technology-enabled sexual violence. Facebook comments in response to mainstream media reporting of a well-known case of sexual voyeurism in 2019 were analysed. The data suggest that gender role expectations create an environment in which sexual violence is enabled and male perpetrators are absolved, and in which women are blamed for failing to avoid victimization. Gendered expectations also shape normative understandings of sexual behaviours, though the digital elements of voyeurism complicate understandings of violence and harm, inviting conceptualization of violence that goes beyond the element of physical contact. Commentators who resisted gender norms and scripts discussed violence in terms of interference with one's autonomy. Generally though, the frames of reference discovered in this analysis drew heavily on state norms and narratives and it is the state that can play a critical role in shifting mindsets to combat sexual violence.
Early Stages of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) in Non-english Speaking Countries and Factors That Affect the Recognition Process

There has been a considerable stream in ASR over the past few decades, but it may seem strange why this field is still a subject for researchers to work on. There are many reasons, but somewhat because the discipline is created with the promise of human-level performance under pragmatic states and this is an inextricable problem. In addition, the increasing advancement of technology in various fields has caused a more compelling need for this field. Especially the establishment of such a system in the security sector in insecure third world countries such as Afghanistan is an urgent need. This paper began with the reflection of all the necessary knowledge about speech recognition and then suggested an unprecedented method for building an automated speech recognition (ASR) system in the Dari language using the two most powerful open source engines CMUSphinx, from Carnegie Mellon University and DeepSpeech v0.9. 3 /. These systems are much more impressive than early speech recognition systems. Using my own collected dataset, a speech-to-text model has been trained for the Dari language. Firstly, the dataset is filtered according to the task, then demonstrated the possible compatibility from the hidden Markov (HMM) models, the phoneme concept to RNN training. The system surpassed previously predicted results, as CMUSphinx stated, “for a typical 10-hour operation, the WER should be around 10%. " Finally, 3.3% WER was achieved with 10.3-hours of audio recording using CMUSphinx. 1% WER with DeepSpeech.
Environment-Attention Network for Vehicle Trajectory Prediction

In vehicle trajectory prediction, the difficulty in modeling the interaction relationship between vehicles lies in constructing the interaction structure between the vehicles in the traffic scene. Majority of existing models only focus on the interaction between the historical trajectory of the vehicle and the surrounding vehicles in the spatial domain, and do not pay attention to the interaction between the vehicle and the non-Euclidean correlation structure (graph structure) that exists in the environment. In order to overcome the deficiencies in the existing models, this paper proposes the Environment-Attention Network model (EA-Net) to obtain the full interactive information between the vehicle and its driving environment. In the proposed model, a new type of parallel structure consisting of Graph Attention network (GAT) and Convolutional social pooling containing Squeeze-and-Extraction mechanism (SE-CS), is constructed as the environmental feature extraction module and embedded in LSTM encoder-decoder. This structure solves the limitation of the dimension and structure influence when constructing the interaction model between the vehicle and the surrounding environment, making the extracted feature information comprehensive and effective. The prediction accuracy of the model with the RMSE loss function is tested on two public datasets– NGSIM and highD, and compared with several state-of-the-art trajectory prediction algorithm models. The results show that the prediction accuracy of the proposed Environment-Attention Network in the two datasets is more than 20% higher than that of the single structure model, which indicates that the proposed model proposed has superior performance and better adaptability to different traffic environments compared with the existing models.
Thermal analysis of the styrene bulk polymerization and characterization of polystyrene initiated by two methods

Abstract Among the accidents caused by highly exothermic reactions, the proportion of polymerization thermal runaway accident accounts for about 48%. The mechanism of styrene polymerization in normal reaction process had been studied thoroughly in the literature. However, the interpretation of mechanism of runaway reactions was lacking. Based on the complicated mechanism of styrene polymerization by thermoinitiated and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) initiated. Differential scanning calorimeter and adiabatic rate calorimeter were devoted to analyze the thermal runaway processes of styrene polymerization. The initial exothermic temperature, adiabatic temperature rise, and maximum reaction temperature of BPO-initiated synthesis reaction were lower than those of thermoinitiated polymerization. Moreover, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, gel permeation chromatography, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry were used to characterize the polymerization products. The polystyrene initiated by the two methods had the same hydrogen structure, and BPO-initiated process included the effects of the thermoinitiated process. However, their molecular weight and distribution uniformity differed considerably. The free radicals produced by BPO decomposition participated in the chain reaction of styrene polymerization, accelerated instantaneous grain growth, and promoted the formation of short-chain polystyrene. In brief, the BPO-initiated polymerization process exhibited the desired thermal safety characteristics and gained product under thermal runaway was still polystyrene.
Cross-bidge Kelvin resistor (CBKR) structures for measurement of low contact resistances

A convenient test structure for measurement of the specific contact resistance (ρc) of metal-semiconductor junctions is the CBKR structure. During last few decades the parasitic factors which may strongly affect the measurements accuracy for ρc < 10-6 Ω • cm2 have been sufficiently discussed and the minimum of the ρc to be measured using CBKR structures was estimated. We fabricated a set of CBKR structures with different geometries to confirm this limit experimentally. These structures were manufactured for metal-to-metal contacts. It was found that the extracted CBKR values were determined by dimensions of the two-metal stack in the contact area and sheet resistances of the metals used. Index Terms—Contact resistance, cross-bridge Kelvin resistor (CBKR), sheet resistance, test structures, metal, silicon
Experimental Research on Grape Cluster Vibration Signals during Transportation and Placing for Harvest and Post-Harvest Handling

Berry dropping or shattering is an important factor during the harvest and post-harvest handling of fresh eating grapes until they reach the supermarkets. There are a lot of methods to measure post-harvest placing damage and the detachment force for single fruits. However, until now, there has been no objective method to observe and analyze the berry dropping mechanism of cluster fruits during robotic post-harvest handling. Therefore, in this paper, the effect of a cluster’s vibration on berry drop during vertical transportation and the impact of different packaging materials on fresh grape clusters during robotic placing were analyzed. For this purpose, a lead screw lathe, along with an attached actuator, three grape cluster samples (0.48, 0.50, 0.53 kg), three packaging materials (rigid plastic box, corrugated fiberboard box, expandable polystyrene box), four transportation speeds (0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 m/s), and four acceleration excitations (6, 8, 10, 12 m/s2) that were given in a mechanical system (actuator) were studied. In order to analyze the berry drop mechanism of grape clusters before and after the impact with packaging material, a force sensor and high-speed video camera were used. It was concluded from the vertical transportation test that with the increase in speed and acceleration excitations, the change in hanging force increased positively (R2 = 0.92). Additionally, the force after the striking of the grape cluster with packaging materials decreased negatively (R2 = 0.97), and the corresponding index of berry deflection increased. It was also observed from the high-speed camera images that rigid plastic boxes caused the maximum deflection of the grape berries, with the highest change in force of 8.6 N after the impact. Experimental results showed a negative correlation between the hanging force signals and the force after impact of the cluster, with a goodness of fit of R2 = 0.95 at different speeds. Overall, the proposed findings can be used as a reference study for improving robotic post-harvest handling, providing a useful visual and technical understanding of the berry fall susceptibility of cluster fruits, and can be used to develop a post-harvest robotic placing tool for avoiding berry drop damage on both industrial and farm levels.
Using Artificial Neural Network Algorithm and Remote Sensing Vegetation Index Improves the Accuracy of the Penman-Monteith Equation to Estimate Cropland Evapotranspiration

Accurate estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) can provide useful information for water management and sustainable agricultural development. However, most of the existing studies used physical models, which are not accurate enough due to our limited ability to represent the ET process accurately or rarely focused on cropland. In this study, we trained two models of estimating croplands ET. The first is Medlyn-Penman-Monteith (Medlyn-PM) model. It uses artificial neural network (ANN)-derived gross primary production along with Medlyn’s stomatal conductance to compute surface conductance (Gs), and the computed Gs is used to estimate ET using the PM equation. The second model, termed ANN-PM, directly uses ANN to construct Gs and simulate ET using the PM equation. The results showed that the two models can reasonably reproduce ET with ANN-PM showing a better performance, as indicated by the lower error and higher determination coefficients. The results also showed that the performances of ANN-PM without the facilitation of any remote sensing (RS) factors degraded significantly compared to the versions that used RS factors. We also evidenced that ANN-PM can reasonably characterize the time-series changes of ET at sites having a dry climate. The ANN-PM method can reasonably estimate the ET of croplands under different environmental conditions.