Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial Indole-3-Carboxamido-Polyamine Conjugates Target Bacterial Membranes and Are Antibiotic Potentiators

Small molecules that can restore the action of legacy antibiotics toward drug-resistant bacteria represent an area of ongoing research interest. We have previously reported indole-3-glyoxylamido and indole-3-acetamido-polyamine conjugates that exhibit intrinsic activity toward bacterial and fungal species, and the ability to enhance the action of doxycycline toward the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa; however, these desirable activities were commonly associated with unfavorable cytotoxicity and/or red blood cell hemolytic properties. In this paper, we report the synthesis and biological investigation of a new class of α,ω-di(indole-3-carboxamido)polyamine derivatives, leading to the identification of several analogues that exhibit antimicrobial- and antibiotic-potentiating activities without detectable cytotoxic or hemolytic properties. 5-Bromo-substituted indole analogues 3 and 12–18 were generally more broad-spectrum in their activity than others in the set, with 13b (polyamine PA-3-6-3) being particularly notable for its anti-Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Cryptococcus neoformans activities (MIC ≤ 0.28 µM). The same analogue also restored the action of doxycycline toward P. aeruginosa with a 21-fold enhancement, while the corresponding 5-bromo-indole-3-carboxamide-PA3-7-3 analogue was able to enhance the action of both doxycycline and erythromycin toward P. aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, respectively. The analogue 13b was capable of disrupting the bacterial membrane of both S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and the outer membrane of P. aeruginosa, suggesting that membrane perturbation could be a mechanism of action of both intrinsic antimicrobial activities and antibiotic potentiation.
What type of domain knowledge is cited by articles with high interdisciplinary degree?

Interdisciplinary studies require integration of principles, theories and practices from multiple disciplines. What type of domain knowledge will be applied more in such researches? Since scientific paradigms differ in fields, this paper takes computer science (CS) as a case and investigates utilization patterns of CS knowledge in articles from PLOS One with high interdisciplinary degree (IDD) by citation content analysis. Since scholars usually organize and indicate used knowledge in methodology, we study articles which cite CS articles in this section. After extracting citation content from citing articles, we identify the cited knowledge and analyse the type of cited knowledge. Experimental results show that: In the PLOS One articles which cited the CS knowledge, algorithm is the most used knowledge type and the most used object is random forests. Our study can be applied to understand how articles with high IDD use the knowledge from other disciplines in the future.
A DCM-Based Non-Isolated Step-Down DC Transformer

DC transformers have emerged as essential devices for medium voltage DC (MVDC)-low voltage DC (LVDC) distribution systems. However, conventional step-down single-level converters have limits on the voltage level of the MVDC-LVDC distribution system. This paper proposes a non-isolated step-down (NISD) DC transformer based on discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). The proposed structure can withstand high voltage levels by sharing voltages between energy storage modules dividing voltage levels. The proposed NISD DC transformer determines operational modes based on energy storage modules and performs the voltage conversion process. The effectiveness of the proposed NISD DC transformer is verified based on a case study using a power system computer-aided design and electromagnetic transient simulation engine including DC (PSCAD/EMTDC™).
Syntactic Quality Measurement in Machine Translation with Interlinguas

The measurement of machine translation (MT) performances is an unsolved issue in NLP. This task can be done by a human but the time cost and the need for skilled workers to do it rise the necessity for automatic ways to measure the quality of a translation. In this work, we aim to develop a new methodology for measuring the quality of MT results from a syntactic point of view. The idea takes as a theoretical framework the work of Harris about the decomposition of sentences in elementary units called kernels. Our model parses Spanish sentences and UNL (Universal Networking Language) Graphs with a rule-based methodology and divides them into units of information. Comparing those units the model measures the quality of the translation. Our results show that decomposing the sentences in minimal syntactic units could improve the evaluation performances also without a lexical/semantic analysis.
Seasonal Study of the Kako River Discharge Dynamics into Harima Nada Using a Coupled Atmospheric–Marine Model

This study developed a coupled atmospheric–marine model using the COAWST model system for the Harima Nada area between spring 2010 and winter 2011 to evaluate the seasonal influence of the Kako River’s discharge in the sea. The Kako River is one of the largest rivers in southwest Japan, contributing almost half of the freshwater discharged in the Harima Nada region in the Seto Inland Sea. Validation was conducted for the entire period, showing a good performance for the atmospheric and marine variables selected. Multiple experiments injecting an inert tracer in the Kako River estuary were performed to simulate the seasonal river water distribution from the estuary into the sea and to analyze the seasonal differences in concentration patterns and mean residence times in Harima Nada. Because the study area is shallow, the results were evaluated at the surface and 10 m depth layers and showed significant seasonal differences in tracer distribution, circulation patterns, and mean residence times for the region. On the other hand, differences seemed to not be significant during the same season at different depths. The obtained results also agreed with the area’s natural water circulation, showing that the Kako River waters tend to distribute towards the west coast of Harima Nada in the warmer seasons but shift towards the east in winter. The influence of the Kako River in the center of the study area is seasonal and strongly dependent on the direction of the horizontal velocities more than their magnitude. The mean residence times varied seasonally from approximately 30 days in spring to 12 days in fall. The magnitude of the horizontal velocity was found to be maximum during summer when circulation patterns at the surface and 10 m depth in the central part of Harima Nada also seem to promote the strongest horizontal and vertical mixes.
Occurrence, Source Apportionment, and Ecological Risk of Typical Pharmaceuticals in Surface Waters of Beijing, China

Various studies have shown that the heavy use of pharmaceuticals poses serious ecological risks, especially in metropolitan areas with intensive human activities. In this study, the spatial distribution, sources, and ecological risks of 29 pharmaceuticals in 82 surface waters collected from the North Canal Basin in Beijing were studied. The results showed that the pharmaceutical concentrations ranged from not detected to 193 ng/L, with ampicillin being undetected while ofloxacin had a 100% detection frequency, which indicates the widespread occurrence of pharmaceutical pollution in the North Canal Basin. In comparison with other freshwater study areas, concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the North Canal Basin were generally at moderate levels. It was found that pharmaceutical concentrations were always higher in rivers that directly received wastewater effluents. Source analysis was conducted using the positive matrix factorization model. Combining the spatial pollution patterns of pharmaceuticals, it has been found that wastewater effluents contributed the most to the loads of pharmaceuticals in the studied basin, while in suburban areas, a possible contribution of untreated wastewater was demonstrated. Risk assessment indicated that approximately 55% of the pharmaceuticals posed low-to-high ecological risks, and combining the results of risk analyses, it is advised that controlling WWTP effluent is probably the most cost-effective measure in treating pharmaceutical pollution.
Near-Field Engineering in RIS-Aided Links: Beamfocusing Analytical Performance Assessment

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) are typically utilized in the far-field as an effective means of creating virtual line-of-sight (LOS) links to mediate non-LOS propagation in wireless communications via beamforming. Owing to their large surface and the multitude of scatterers, the use of RISs can be extended in the near-field, to transform the incident beam into a focused beam that is able to address the challenges of high frequencies more efficiently than conventional beamforming. In this paper we explain from a physics’ standpoint how the RIS can engineer wavefronts to transform the incident beam into a focused beam targeted at the user, and we employ the angular spectrum representation approach to describe analytically the dynamics of beamfocusing. We derive analytical expressions that provide the necessary insight into the dependencies and trade-offs between crucial parameters, such as the incident beam’s footprint on the RIS, the intended focal distance of the reflected beam, and the link topology. To assess the beamfocusing efficiency we provide metrics that are crucial for future applications, including energy efficient communications, wireless power transfer, tracking and localization.
Optimization of Microwave-Assisted Extraction Process of Total Flavonoids from Salicornia bigelovii Torr. and Its Hepatoprotective Effect on Alcoholic Liver Injury Mice

The objective of this study was to determine the optimal extraction conditions for total flavonoids from S. bigelovii using microwave-assisted extraction and to analyze the protective effect of total flavonoids from S. bigelovii on alcoholic liver injury in mice. The optimization of the process conditions for the microwave-assisted extraction of total flavonoids from S. bigelovii was performed using response surface methodology, and an alcohol-induced acute liver injury model in mice was used to investigate the effects of different doses of total flavonoids (100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg) on the levels and activities of serum alanine aminotransferase kits (ALT), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase kits (AST), superoxide dismutase kits (SOD), glutathione peroxidase kits (GSH-Px), and malondialdehyde (MDA). We performed hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining analysis on pathological sections of mouse liver tissue, and qRT-PCR technology was used to detect the expression levels of the inflammatory factors IL-1 β, IL-6, and TNF-α. The results revealed that the optimal extraction process conditions for total flavonoids in S. bigelovii were a material-to-liquid ratio of 1:30 (g/mL), an ethanol concentration of 60%, an extraction temperature of 50 °C, an ultrasound power of 250 W, and a yield of 5.71 ± 0.28 mg/g. Previous studies have demonstrated that the flavonoids of S. bigelovii can significantly inhibit the levels of ALT and AST in the serum (p < 0.001), reduce MDA levels (p < 0.001), increase the activity of the antioxidant enzymes SOD and GSH-Px (p < 0.001), and inhibit the IL-1 β, IL-6, and TNF-α gene expression levels (p < 0.001) of inflammatory factors. The total flavonoids of S. bigelovii exert a protective effect against alcoholic liver injury by reducing the levels of inflammation, oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation caused by alcohol. The results of this study lay the foundation for the high-value utilization of S. bigelovii and provide new resources for the development of liver-protective drugs.
A Modified Discontinuous PWM Method for Three-Level Inverters With the Improved LCL Filter

The three-level inverter with improved LCL filter is employed in photovoltaic system to improve the power quality and suppress the leakage current. Nevertheless, this type of topology has the challenge of neutral point (NP) voltage balance, common mode (CM) resonance current suppression, and switching loss reduction. Furthermore, when a conventional discontinuous pulsewidth modulation (DPWM) method is adopted, the coupled relationship between these three control objectives becomes more complex. Due to the mutually coupled problems, the existing DPWM methods cannot achieve all control objectives at the same time. To address these issues, a modified DPWM method with NP voltage balance and CM resonance current suppression is proposed in this article. First, the conventional 60° clamping period of DPWM1 is divided into three intervals, which reduces the NP voltage ripple and the complexity of NP voltage balance control by shorting the clamping period. Then, an NP voltage limit is set to determine the control priority of NP voltage balancing and CM resonance current suppression. Finally, the clamping states and three-phase switching states are adjusted by an offset voltage according to the control priority, which can realize NP voltage balance and CM resonance current suppression simultaneously with reduced switching losses. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation and experimental results.
A Proposal of Naturalistic Software Development Method

Naturalistic programming purports to include natural language elements in programming languages to increase software expressiveness. Even though natural language is inherently ambiguous, it is richer and thus more expressive than any artificial language. Currently, the Naturalistic Programming Paradigm (NPP) is supported by its conceptual model and three general-purpose naturalistic programming languages that can generate executable binary code. Nevertheless, to date, no research efforts have been concentrated on applying the NPP within a software development process. To address this gap, in this article, we propose a naturalistic software development method to test the advantages of the NPP. The method focuses on the analysis and design stages of the software development process and seeks to contribute to closing the gap between the problem and the solution domains. We also present an example of an implementation using Cal-4700, a naturalistic programming language, showing the differences in expressiveness of programming with a traditional programming language, like Python.
First measurements with a new β-electron detector for spectral shape studies

The shape of the electron spectrum emitted in β decay carries a wealth of information about nuclear structure and fundamental physics. In spite of that, few dedicated measurements have been made of β-spectrum shapes. In this work we present a newly developed detector for β electrons based on a telescope concept. A thick plastic scintillator is employed in coincidence with a thin silicon detector. The first measurements employing this detector have been carried out with mono-energetic electrons from the high-energy resolution electron-beam spectrometer at Bordeaux. Here we report on the good reproduction of the experimental spectra of mono-energetic electrons using Monte Carlo simulations. This is a crucial step for future experiments, where a detailed Monte Carlo characterization of the detector is needed to determine the shape of the β-electron spectra by deconvolution of the measured spectra with the response function of the detector. A chamber to contain two telescope assemblies has been designed for future β-decay experiments at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility in Jyväskylä, aimed at improving our understanding of reactor antineutrino spectra.
Characteristics and Outcomes of Stem Cell Transplant Patients during the COVID-19 Era: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to identify the outcomes of stem cell transplant (SCT) patients during the COVID-19 era. Pooled event rates (PER) were calculated, and meta-regression was performed. A random effects model was utilized. In total, 36 eligible studies were included out of 290. The PER of COVID-19-related deaths and COVID-19-related hospital admissions were 21.1% and 55.2%, respectively. The PER of the use of hydroxychloroquine was 53.27%, of the receipt of immunosuppression it was 39.4%, and of the use of antivirals, antibiotics, and steroids it was 71.61%, 37.94%, and 18.46%, respectively. The PER of the time elapsed until COVID-19 infection after SCT of more than 6 months was 85.3%. The PER of fever, respiratory symptoms, and gastrointestinal symptoms were 70.9, 76.1, and 19.3%, respectively. The PER of acute and chronic GvHD were 40.2% and 60.9%, respectively. SCT patients are at a higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection and mortality. The use of dexamethasone improves the survival of hospitalized SCT patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 requiring supplemental oxygen or ventilation. The SCT patient group is a heterogeneous group with varying characteristics. The quality of reporting on these patients when infected with COVID-19 is not uniform and further prospective or registry studies are needed to better guide clinical care in this unique setting.
The DART Project: a major new investigation into what lies beneath our soils

Enhanced knowledge of archaeological residues is important for the long-term curation and understanding of a diminishing heritage. There are certain geologies and soils which can complicate the collection and interpretation of heritage remote sensing data. In some of these 'difficult' areas traditional detection techniques have been unresponsive. DART will develop a deeper understanding of the contrast factors and detection dynamics within 'difficult' areas. This will allow the identification of appropriate sensors and conditions for feature detection. the successful detection of features in 'difficult' areas will provide a more complete understanding of the heritage resource which will impact on research, management and development control.
Taxonomic sufficiency versus need for information — comments based on Austrian experience in biological water quality monitoring

The role ofbiological water quality monitoring as an imponant tool for water management has a long tradition in many industrialized countries. Although a large variety of methods is applied, two main approaches to water quality monitoring using macroinvenebrates have emerged: the low-cost "rapid assessment approach" based on family or higher taxonomic levels and the more accurate, traditional, saprobic methods based on species-level identification (HILSENHOFF 1982, DE PAuw & VANHOOREN 1983, RosENBERG et al. 1986, LENAT & BARBOUR 1994). In Austria, biological water quality assessment has followed the saprobic system since the 1960s. Recently, these methods have been refined. Based on the AusTRIAN STANDARDS M 6232 E (1997) and a revised list of saprobic indicator organisms (MooG 1995), a recently published guideline (BMLF 1999) directs the assessment of saprobic water quality. The proposed EU Framework Directive on Water Policy requires member states to monitor the quality of rivers using biological methods, although each country can use its own, well-known method. Nevenheless, the different methods must be comparable, especially in terms of defining the boundary between good and fair quality. Thus, two widely used methods, BMWP/ASPT (ARMITAGE et al. 1983) and the saprobic system (AusTRIAN STANDARDS M 6232 E 1997), are compared using a large data set from Austrian sampling si tes.
Does postcranial palaeoneurology provide insight into pterosaur behaviour and lifestyle? New data from the azhdarchoid Vectidraco and the ornithocheirids Coloborhynchus and Anhanguera

The postcranial palaeoneurology of fossil reptiles is understudied, and those studies that exist focus predominantly on crocodyliforms and dinosaurs. The intervertebral foramina of the spine house nerves that exit to innervate surrounding tissues and the extremities. In the heavily fused (and typically distorted or poorly preserved) pterosaurian sacrum, intervertebral foramina can be difficult to observe and are rarely identified. The Early Cretaceous azhdarchoid Vectidraco from the Isle of Wight, UK, exhibits large, paired foramina on each sacral vertebra, originally identified as pneumatic foramina. Micro‐computed tomography imaging reveals these communicate with the neural canal and are intervertebral foramina for sacral nerves. The sacral vertebrae of Vectidraco are fused, and intervertebral foramina occur dorsolaterally on the centra. We identified these structures in other pterosaur sacra, including those of the ornithocheiroids Anhanguera and Coloborhynchus. The sizes of the sacral and notarial neural canals are compared and considered within interpretations of palaeoecology and locomotion, following previous studies. The relatively large sacral neural canal of Vectidraco implies a sacral enlargement for innervation of the legs and lumbosacral plexus. When compared with Anhanguera, this supports indications that azhdarchoids were more hindlimb‐proficient than ornithocheiroids. Neural canal size in the Coloborhynchus notarium suggests that ornithocheirids spent less time on the ground, their brachial enlargement and small sacral region indicating enhanced innervation of the wings and poor innervation of the sacrum and legs. This is the first study focusing on pterosaur postcranial palaeoneurology; more studies on other taxa are needed to reveal patterns across Pterosauria as a whole.
Development of a knowledge economy model based on the application of digital technologies in the republic of Kazakhstan

Object: the purpose of the study is to develop a model of the knowledge economy based on the use of digital technologies in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Research methods — questioning, survey, extrapolation, comparison.Methods: the study was carried out in three stages. At the initial stage, primary data were collected, 6 questionnaires were developed, 147 people were interviewed.Findings: the purpose of the study is to develop a model of the knowledge economy based on the use of digital technologies in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Research methods — questioning, survey, extrapolation, comparison. The main results of the study: the existing models of the development of the knowledge economy were studied, the main indicators of the knowledge economy in Kazakhstan and abroad were considered, it was revealed due to which measures taken foreign countries are leading in terms of knowledge economy indicators, forecast calculations of the main indicators of the knowledge economy were given, a model for the development of the knowledge economy was developed using digital technologies, which will increase the country's competitiveness and move to a new level of development and will contribute to the entry of the Republic of Kazakhstan into the top 30 most developed countries in the world.Conclusions: without knowledge, the development of a post-industrial society is impossible. In this regard, a new knowledge-based economy stands out. The developed countries of the world have moved to a new development model — to the knowledge economy. To increase the competitiveness of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is also necessary to move to a new stage of development — the knowledge economy. According to a number of indicators, the Republic of Kazakhstan lags behind other countries.