Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF PECTIC OLIGOSACCHARIDES FROM FRUIT PEELS AS PREBIOTIC IN ANIMAL FEED

The objective of this study was to improve fruit peels (pomelo peel, lime peel and mango peel) with enzyme (Hemicell®) as prebiotics in animal feed. There were 2 experiments designed in completely randomized design (CRD). In the experiment 1, it consisted of 6 treatments with 3 types of fruit peels (pomelo peel, lime peel and mango peel) and 2 levels of enzymes (0 and 1% (w/w)) with 3 replications. The samples were taken to measure chemical compositions, reducing sugar content and oligosaccharides analysis. The results were showed that chemical compositions were significantly different among treatments (P<0.01). Enzyme treated lime peel had higher ash, crude protein and ether extract content but lower cellulose than other treatments (P<0.01), 4.98, 6.40, 8.87% and 9.92%, respectively. Enzyme treated and untreated mango peel contained higher gross energy than other treatments (P<0.01), 4,100.54 and 4,069.14 kcal/kg, respectively. In addition, reducing sugar content was significantly different among treatments (P<0.05). Enzyme treated mango peel contained higher reducing sugar content than other treatments (P<0.05). There were 42.04, 28.86, 177.06, 77.28, 37.09 and 265.91 mg/g, respectively. Oligosaccharides analysis by Thin layer chromatography method showed that all treatments releasing oligosaccharides. In experiment 2, it was examined prebiotic properties (concentration of sugar 1.5 mg/ml), the results showed that glucose product from all treatments could increase growth of Lactobacillus plantarum but enzyme treated lime peel could decrease growth of Escherichai coli. In conclusion, lime peel treated enzyme can be used as prebiotics as it could increase probiotics and decrease growth of pathogenic bacteria .
A Survey of Bootstrapping Techniques in Natural Language Processing

This paper surveys a selection of seminal bootstrapping articles and present an in-depth discussion of the algorithms and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the techniques used. We also examine the problems these authors attempt to solve and analyze when it is appropriate to utilize a bootstrapping algorithm. Finally, we discuss some of the limitations inherent in any bootstrapping approach.
Steps toward a luciferase assay system for investigating gene expression

The luciferase reporter assay is a powerful method of studying gene expression at the transcriptional level because of its high sensitivity and convenience. It detects the activity of luciferase, a light-producing enzyme encoded by the luxCDABE operon. By cloning promoters of interest upstream of the luxCDABE operon in the pCS26 vector, light production can be correlated to promoter activity. In this study, we developed steps toward a luciferase assay system that can be used to investigate gene expression in a variety of biological models by attempting to establish positive and negative controls within the context of the previously proposed AcrS repression of the acrAB and acrEF operons. To assess this repression, luciferase activity can be compared in the Escherichia coli wild-type BW25113 and ΔacrS JW3232-1 strains transformed with pCS26 vectors fused with promoters. Attempts at cloning the promoters of acrAB and acrEF into pCS26 through Gibson cloning failed, likely as a result of inefficient enzyme activity. We assessed the suitability of ydcWp-pCS26 as a positive control, which contains the promoter of ydcW, an aldehyde dehydrogenase gene, fused upstream of the luxCDABE operon. Through luciferase assay measurements, we determined that ydcWp-pCS26 acts as an appropriate positive control for studying AcrS repression which produces light at consistent levels regardless of the presence of AcrS. ydcWp-pCS26 can be similarly evaluated in future experiments as a potential positive control due to its constitutive expression. We also attempted to create a negative control containing a non-promoter insert upstream of the luxCDABE operon in pCS26 which should not produce light in any condition. Cloning the negative control by inverse PCR was unsuccessful but should be continued along with construction of the acrABpand acrEFp-pCS26 constructs in future experiments to create a complete luciferase assay system functional for investigating regulation of acrAB and acrEF and various other biological systems.
Sustainable Agroforestry Adoption in a Small-Scale Food Production System: the Case of Yam in Rotation with the Intercropping Gliricidia Sepium and Herbaceous in the Guinea-Sudan Zone of Benin

West Africa is now confronted with a land scarcity and slash-and-burn shifting cultivation systems come to their limits. With the aim of designing more sustainable yam cropping systems, the agronomic research is promoting alternative agroforestry yam-based systems. Alley cropping was implemented in several research structures and was transferred in rural areas. The most important constraints of alley cropping adoption are its pruning workload as well as competition between shrubs and crops for nutrients and light. It is well-known today that smallholders deeply readjust technologies developed in close relationship with researchers when confronted with various constraints. Farmers have been adjusting the alternative systems with alley cropping to their own constraints. This paper investigates adoption, constraints, and adaptations of mixed inter-cropping an agroforestry tree species, Gliricidia sepiumherbaceous in the Guinea-Sudan zone of Benin. The differences between adopters and non-adopters of yam-based agroforestry systems with Gliricidia in terms of their age, education, gender, Households' size, active members of the family, farm income, land tenure, extension contact, training, credit, belong to organisation and other socioeconomic and agro-ecological variables are examined. Results from logistic regression analysis suggest that extension contact, credit and population density in zone are important variables in determining the adoption of new yam-based agroforestry systems. It was observed that farmers adapted technologies to suit their situation.
A Study of Cybersecurity Framework for Healthcare Internet of Thing Systems

As with any technical innovation in culture, many will still use it to their own gain when new opportunities emerge. Current Internet of Things (IoT) applications have particular protection vulnerabilities owing primarily to their complexities and variability of technologies and data. This could not incorporate the risks resulting from these IoT networks within an established risk structure. And outside the technology nomenclature, cyber security is as important to our society as the application itself. They cannot really be divided: the innovations on which we depend every day today decide our society, our national security and therefore the nature of our society. As they connect this healthcare system to the network through the Internet, the software is susceptible to many cyber threats and security initiatives. A secure protection framework cannot impede basic security aspects such as authentication, anonymity, availability, accessibility and non-repudiation. This paper discusses improved constructive security against dynamic and inventive threats against critical health infrastructures. They recommend a comprehensive solution to cyber-attacks through an interconnected system of knowledge security. To model and test this method by designing and checking the adaptive technique for defense and attack.
Discussion on using the approach of a Maxwellian electron energy distribution function from low to moderated pressures in a global kinetic model for pure O2 discharges

This paper presents a study on the influence of the Electron Energy Distribution Function (EEDF) on the calculated species densities in pure O2 DC discharges, for pressures in the range 0.075 – 5 Torr. A time dependent global kinetic model is used, considering either a Maxwellian EEDF or one calculated by solving the electron Boltzmann equation. The study focus on the O2(a), O2(b), O(P), O3 and O species densities, together with their creation and destruction mechanisms. The results point out that the differences in these two distribution functions can have an important effect on the electron reaction rates and ensuing densities of some of the major species, which draws attention to the limits of validity of using a Maxwellian distribution, even at low pressure conditions.
A SHIFT IN TECHNOLOGICAL PARADIGM: CLOUD COMPUTING TO FOG COMPUTING

Over the years, we continue to experience changes in the field of information and technology; these changes are initiated and geared towards addressing the dynamic nature of our environment. The ubiquitous nature of mobile devices has continued to create the need to manage and control the flow and transmission of data within our environment. The technological paradigm of cloud computing was conceptualized to deal with the ever-increasing need for data storage resulting from the Internet of Things (IoT) and different mobile computing devices. Due to some shortcomings of cloud computing, Fog computing was conceptualized. The term Fog Computing in this paper is discussed to give clear assertion on the technical term, opportunities, and drawbacks.
Martin Graff

There are multiple negative effects, which can occur after experiencing bullying victimisation. The current study aims to investigate whether experiencing such victimisation throughout compulsory education has an effect on an individual’s trust levels throughout adulthood. A sample of 110 participants were employed, all of whom completed a survey containing the Retrospective Bullying Questionnaire (Schäfer et al., 2004), and four different trust scales. Using four separate multiple regressions, it was found that nine variables significantly predicted variations in trust level scores for all four of the scales, which suggests that being the victim of bullying reduces trust levels in adulthood. Indirect bullying and gender were the two predictor variables, which significantly predicted trust levels when viewed individually. The findings of this study may be applied to both future interventions aimed at reducing bullying and counselling techniques when attempting to increase victims’ trust levels.
INTESTINAL IMMUNE REGULATION EXEMPLIFIED BY COELIAC DISEASE

Polymeric IgA is produced by 80-90% of the plasma cells in normal intestinal mucosa. It is transported externally by the epithelial secretory component and acts in a first line of mucosal defence by blocking antigen penetration. IgG, IgE and T cell mediated responses against soluble non-replicating luminal antigens are normally downregulated, perhaps by mechanisms involving interactions between the gut epithelium, T cells and macrophages leading to anergy or suppression collectively termed "oral tolerance". It has been claimed that IgA-producing cells escape suppression due to a specific effect of contrasupressor cells but the mechanisms remain unclear. Abrogation of oral tolerance may lead to increased activation of mucosal T lymphocytes with elevated lymphokine production. An altered lymphokine profile may induce aberrant epithelial HLA class II expression, increased epithelial permeability, crypt hyperplasia and disproportionate local overproduction of IgG. Expansion of a particular TCRγ/δ+ intraepithelial T cell subset may also be involved in break of oral tolerance. Immunecomplex-mediated subepithelial complement activation together with local production of tumour necrosis factor and interferon-γ may cause epithelial damage and increased epithelial desquamation. Coeliac disease appears to be an example of break in oral tolerance to gluten peptides where the immunogenetics is at least partially defined.
The Moringin/α-CD Pretreatment Induces Neuroprotection in an In Vitro Model of Alzheimer’s Disease: A Transcriptomic Study

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and represents the most common form of senile dementia. Autophagy and mitophagy are cellular processes that play a key role in the aggregation of β-amyloid (Aβ) and tau phosphorylation. As a consequence, impairment of these processes leads to the progression of AD. Thus, interest is growing in the search for new natural compounds, such as Moringin (MOR), with neuroprotective, anti-amyloidogenic, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory properties that could be used for AD prevention. However, MOR appears to be poorly soluble and stable in water. To increase its solubility MOR was conjugated with α-cyclodextrin (MOR/α-CD). In this work, it was evaluated if MOR/α-CD pretreatment was able to exert neuroprotective effects in an AD in vitro model through the evaluation of the transcriptional profile by next-generation sequencing (NGS). To induce the AD model, retinoic acid-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were exposed to Aβ1-42. The MOR/α-CD pretreatment reduced the expression of the genes which encode proteins involved in senescence, autophagy, and mitophagy processes. Additionally, MOR/α-CD was able to induce neuronal remodeling modulating the axon guidance, principally downregulating the Slit/Robo signaling pathway. Noteworthy, MOR/α-CD, modulating these important pathways, may induce neuronal protection against Aβ1-42 toxicity as demonstrated also by the reduction of cleaved caspase 3. These data indicated that MOR/α-CD could attenuate the progression of the disease and promote neuronal repair.
Clinical performance of Non-invasive prenatal testing for sex chromosomal aneuploidies in Northeast China

Background: Along with the discovery of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and the invention of next-generation sequencing (NGS), non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) had appeared and been applied for detecting common aneuploidies such as trisomy 21, 18, and 13, with low false-negative and false-positive rates. Recently, it had also been used for sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs). To assess the clinical utility of NIPT for SCAs in Northeast China, we collected NIPT data from BGI 500 sequencing platform in the Center for Reproductive Medicine, Center for Prenatal Diagnosis of the First Hospital of Jilin University, and calculate the positive predictive value (PPV) and false positive rate (FPR). Results: A cohort of 14936 samples were analyzed by NIPT, and revealed 70 cases with SCAs high-risk, among them, 40 women agreed to undergo amniocentesis, but as many as 30 ones refused further diagnose. Based on verified fetal karyotype, 30.0% (12/40) were confirmed to be a true positive. Unluckily, the PPV for monosomy X performed 0%. Besides, positive 47,XXX were 46.67% (7/15), 40.00% (2/5) were positive for 47, XYY, and 42.86% (3/7) were positive for 47, XXY.Conclusions: In conclusion, our present results confirmed that NIPT sequenced by BGI 500 demonstrated lowest PPVs for 45,X, but the more accurate prediction for other SCAs, it is still a potential method for SCAs screening. Henceforth, we should focus on how to improve the test utility and provide better services for pregnant women in need.
Hydrometallurgical Treatment for Valuable Metals Recovery from Spent CoMo/Al2O3 Catalyst. 2. Oxidative Leaching of an Unroasted Catalyst Using H2O2

This study deals with the feasibility of the oxidative leaching of molybdenum and cobalt sulphides contained in a spent hydrodesulphurisation catalyst using H2O2 in acidic medium. The study was first carried out with MoS2 in order to define the important parameters of the leaching procedure and then applied to an unroasted CoMo/Al2O3 spent catalyst containing 11 wt % of Mo and 2.7 wt % of Co. In both cases, a 23 factorial design was used. The results obtained with MoS2 highlighted the necessity to limit the increase in temperature of the medium to minimize the decomposition of H2O2 and the necessity to keep pH constant to avoid an important acidification of the medium which could cause dissolution of alumina matrix when leaching will be applied to spent catalysts. The oxidative leaching of the unroasted CoMo/Al2O3 spent catalyst was performed without previous grinding. In a single-step, at pH = 1.3 with a stoichiometric factor equal to 2.4, an L/S ratio equal to 7.5, and an H2O2 concentration of 3.75 mol·.
Optimization of On-load Coil Parameters for High Frequency Industrial Induction Heater

An exhaustive as well as comprehensive method for determining and optimizing the coil parameters for the best possible performance of high frequency resonant mirror inverter based induction heater is presented. Here litz wire is used for heating coil of the induction heater which controls the skin effect and proximity effect of conductor operating at high frequency. With the calculated optimum values of inductance and resistance at a particular operating frequency, HF mirror inverter topology has been simulated using P-SIM and MATLAB-SIMULINK. Afterwards waveforms have been shown. It is seen that at a particular switching frequency, the quality output is obtained, which can justify the feasibility for real implementation of high frequency mirror inverter fed induction heater in industrial appliances.
A Survey on Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) Systems

: Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) is the extraction of vehicle license plate (LP) information from an image or a video. The extracted information can be used in many practical applications, such as automatic toll collection, traffic law enforcement, access control of private spaces and road traffic monitoring, due to which ALPR has been a frequent research subject. In real-world conditions, however, many of the existing solutions are still not reliable as they perform well only under specific constraints. A robust ALPR system should be able to work in unconstrained scenarios accounting for open environments, low quality images, and plate variations. This paper presents a comprehensive review of various techniques that have been developed for ALPR.The initial step for any ALPR system is to locate the LP region in an image and then apply some form of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) method on it to obtain the LP data. Hence, this paper further aims at presenting an explanation of how a typical ALPR system works and a comparative analysis of the different processes used.
Simulating Mass in Virtual Reality using Physically-Based Hand-Object Interactions with Vibration Feedback

Providing the sense of mass for virtual objects using un-grounded haptic interfaces has proven to be a complicated task in virtual reality. This paper proposes using a physically-based virtual hand and a complementary vibrotactile effect on the index ﬁngertip to give the sensation of mass to objects in virtual reality. The vibro-tactile feedback is proportional to the balanced forces acting on the virtual object and is modulated based on the object’s velocity. For evaluating this method, we set an experiment in a virtual environment where participants wear a VR headset and attempt to pick up and move different virtual objects using a virtual physically-based force-controlled hand while a voice-coil actuator attached to their index ﬁngertip provides the vibrotactile feedback. Our experiments indicate that the virtual hand and our vibration effect give the ability to discriminate and perceive the mass of virtual objects.
Incremental Software Quality Analysis for Embedded Systems

—Analysis tools play an important role in the development of high-quality software systems. For all aspects of software quality, including safety, security, maintainability or portability, there are tools that can automatically detect a large number of quality defects. While such tools are not sufficient to fully check a system’s quality, tool support does help to reduce the number of defects found late in the development process and relieves developers and reviewers from performing repetitive and schematic checks manually. Existing analysis tools typically run in batch mode and analyze the entire system at once. Depending on the system’s size, this can easily take hours, even when integrated in a continuous build process. While this is no problem during release preparation or at quality gates, the single developer usually needs a shorter feedback cycle to benefit from analysis results and react to the defects found. As a solution to this problem, we propose incremental quality analysis, which allows updating known quality data of a system based on the changes applied to the system’s code files. As a developer typically changes only a couple of files at once, this allows processing the changes within seconds and providing the developer with immediate feedback on every change. This paper explains the technology behind incremental quality analysis, provides benchmarks that document the performance gain of several orders of magnitude, and presents promising results from the practical application of this approach.
GhCIPK6 Increases Salt Tolerance in Transgenic Upland Cotton by Involving in ROS Scavenging and MAPK Signaling Pathways

Background: Salt stress is one of the most damaging abiotic stresses in production of Upland cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum ). Upland cotton is defined as a medium salt-tolerant crop. Salinity hinders root development, shoots growth, and reduces the fiber quality. Results: Our previous study verified a GhCIPK6 gene response to salt stress in G. hirsutum . The homologs of GhCIPK6 were analyzed in A 2 ( G. arboreum ), D 5 ( G . raimondii ), and AD 1 ( G . hirsutum ) genomes. GhCIPK6 localized to the vacuole and cell membrane. The GhCBL1-GhCIPK6 and GhCBL8-GhCIPK6 complexes localized to the nucleus and cytomembrane. Overexpression of GhCIPK6 enhanced expression levels of co-expressed genes induced by salt stress, which scavenged ROS and involved in MAPK signaling pathways verified by RNA-seq analysis. Water absorption capacity and cell membrane stability of seeds from GhCIPK6 overexpressed lines was higher than that of wild-type seeds during imbibed germination stage. The seed germination rates and seedling field emergence percentages of GhCIPK6 overexpressed lines were higher than that of control line under salt stress. Moreover, overexpressing of GhCIPK6 in cotton increased lint percentage, and fiber length uniformity under salt stress. Conclusions: We verified the function of GhCIPK6 by transformation and RNA-seq analysis. GhCIPK6 overexpressed lines exhibited higher tolerance to abiotic stresses, which functioned by involving in ROS scavenging and MAPK pathways. Therefore, GhCIPK6 has the potential for cotton breeding to improve stress-tolerance.
Simulating Realistic Pedestrian Behaviors in the Context of Autonomous Vehicles in Shared Spaces

In this PhD thesis, we investigate how pedestrians will behave in a shared space with an autonomous vehicle, by modeling and simulating realistic pedestrians’ behavior. Our approach integrates agent-based social simulation with standard robotic tools. We proposed an agent-based model through extensions of the Social Force Model. We implemented this model as an open source tool to simulate the interactions between pedestrians and an autonomous vehicle in shared spaces. Simulation results, when compared with available data, show that combining an agent-based model and robotics is promising for handling real-world scenarios. The proposed model and simulator are used: 1) to simulate various shared space scenarios with heterogeneous and realistic pedestrians’ behaviors; 2) to provide a simulated environment to test autonomous vehicle navigation strategies; 3) to reproduce real-world scenes and predict pedestrians trajectories around the autonomous car in real time.