Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is the Amastigote Form of Leishmania the Only Form Found in Humans Infected With Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Background Previous studies of Leishmania revealed that 2 forms of the parasite are present: the intracellular amastigote form found in the vertebrate host, and the promastigote form predominately found in the insect vector. Methods Samples were collected from the lesion area of the skin of 42 patients referred to the laboratory and microscopic slides were prepared. Results Out of 42 cases, only 1 (2.4%) showed the presence of the amastigote intracellularly alone but not in the extracellular area, and 2 (4.75%) showed the presence of the amastigote in the extracellular but not in the intracellular location. In 20 of 42 cases (48%), we observed the amastigote presence in the intracellular or extracellular area. Out of all 20 cases in which the amastigote was recovered, we were able to identify the amastigote in 17 cases (85%) in the intracellular and extracellular locations simultanously. Additionally, out of all 42 cases referred, the amastigote form alone, with no promastigote associated, was microscopically recovered in 10 cases (24%). Conclusion Contrary to previous studies, we found that in the human body Leishmania does not act as an obligatory intracellular parasite. Leishmania is an intracellular and extracellular parasite infecting the mononuclear phagocyte first. There, it remains in the form of amastigote and multiplies by binary fission. When released from the mononuclear phagocyte, after membrane rapture to the extracelluler fluid, the amastigote transforms into a promastigote-like form in a progressive sequence. At a later stage, this promastigote-like organism continues its development and transforms again to produce pseudofiber, leaving the lesion area with a permanent scar.
Cover crops and living mulches

Abstract Cover crops and living mulches bring many benefits to crop production. Interest in winter annual cover crops such as winter rye and hairy vetch for ground cover and soil erosion control has been increasing in the last 30 yr in some areas. The integration of cover crops into a cropping system by relay cropping, overseeding, interseeding, and double cropping may serve to provide and conserve nitrogen for grain crops, reduce soil erosion, reduce weed pressure, and increase soil organic matter content (Hartwig and Hoffman 1975). Hairy vetch has increased availability of nitrogen to succeeding crops, increased soil organic matter, improved soil structure and water infiltration, decreased water runoff, reduced surface soil temperature and water evaporation, improved weed control, and increased soil productivity (Frye et al. 1988). More recent research with perennial living mulches, such as crownvetch (Hartwig 1983), flatpea, birdsfoot trefoil, and white clover (Ammon et al. 1995), has added a new dimension to the use of ground covers that eliminates the need to reseed each year. Cropping systems with the use of ground covers have been worked out for vineyards, orchards, and common agronomic crops, such as corn, small grains, and forages. Legume cover crops have the potential for fixing nitrogen, a portion of which will be available for high-nitrogen–requiring crops such as corn. In areas where excess nitrogen is already a problem, the use of ground covers may provide a sink to tie up some of this excess nitrogen and hold it until the next growing season, when a crop that can make use of it might be planted (Hooda et al. 1998). Even legumes tend to use soil nitrogen rather than fixing their own, if it is available. It is these possibilities that provide the incentive for looking at the effect of various kinds of cover crops on soil erosion, nitrogen budgets, weed control, and other pest management and environmental problems. Nomenclature: Crownvetch, Coronilla varia L. ‘Penngift’; birdsfoot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus L. ; corn, Zea mays L. ; flatpea, Lathrus sylvestrus L. ; hairy vetch, Vicia villosa Roth; white clover, Trifolium repens L. ; winter rye, Secale cereale L.
Book Reviews

non-chordal tones in order to enhance the voice segregation. In short, the purpose of non-chordal tones may not be to add the spice of dissonance (without being too spicy); an equally plausible explanation may be that nonchordal tones are used to enhance the horizontal fusion of individual voices. The fact that even monophonic melodies make use of "'non-chordal" tones (such as passing tones) lends credence to the idea that part of their purpose is to enhance horizontal streaming rather than to add dissonance. The Wright/ Bregman theory of dissonance is nevertheless an important theory. and certainly worthy of experimental investigation.
Enhancing Security of Android Operating System Based Phones using Quantum Key Distribution

The Android-based devices are gaining popularity now a day. With the widespread use of smartphones both in private and work-related areas, securing these devices has become of paramount importance. These devices are prone to various security issues of malicious attacks and performance problems. Owners use their smartphones to perform tasks ranging from everyday communication with friends and family to the management of banking accounts and accessing sensitive work-related data. These factors, combined with limitations in administrative device control through owners and securitycritical applications, make Android-based smartphones a very attractive target for attackers and malware authors of any kind and motivation. Applications keep and manage diverse intrinsic data as well as sensitive private information such as address books. Smartphones enable swift and easy data exchange via 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi. Thus, personal information stored on smartphones is prone to leakage. Up until recently, the Android Operating System’s security model has succeeded in preventing any significant attacks by malware. This can be attributed to a lack of attack vectors which could be used for self-spreading infections and low sophistication of malicious applications. The research provides a distinctive solution to the security threats being found in the Android operating system. This paper presents a data security and quality enhancement method based on amalgamating quantum attributes into the Android operating system that could effectively solve the issue raised. The paper provides a proposed architecture of Quantum Key distribution being embedded within the Android OS to improve efficiency. However, QKD is a new technology. The research unleashes the possible ways in which quantum could be effectively embedded in smartphones to resolve certain data security problems. Quantum key distribution implements the Android to guard and use in the case of a run-time kernel compromise. That is, even with a fully compromised kernel, an attacker cannot read key material stored in Quantum key.
MaoBFT: A Single Leader BFT Transaction System

—Among Byzantine fault-tolerant protocols, one of the most expensive operations is master re-election. While in the real world, leader re-election could be unnecessary. For example, if the leader is a well-known company such as Google or Visa, it would hardly fail and even it fails it usually comes back online very soon. Another scenario is a system with strict ﬁnancial regulations, a ﬁxed leader is needed to detect malicious transactions. Inthispaper, we present MaoBFT, a ﬁxed leader BFT Trans-action system that runs on top of async network. We sacriﬁce liveness when the leader fails to achieve higher throughput. Also, using an optimized reliable broadcast algorithm, we reduce the communication complexity to O ( N ) . Finally, we present a blockchain-based synchronization mechanism that greatly reduces tail latency in async network. It allows slow nodes to catch up with peers by actively pulling missing data rather than purely relying on async network’s "eventual delivery" guarantee.
Comparing a visual and verbal semanticmemory test on the effects of gender, age and education as assessed in a cognitively healthy sample A pilot study in the development of the international neuropsychological test profile—a tablet-based cognitive assessment

Background Due to the increase of dementia diagnoses and individuals interested in monitoring their cognitive status, practical new neuropsychological tests are needed. Tablet-based tests offer a good alternative to traditional paper–pencil tests, as they can be completed remotely and independently. This study assessed two semantic memory tests (verbal and visual memory), in the scope of the creation of a new tablet-based battery—the International Neurocognitive Profil (INCP)—on the influences of demographic variables. Methods In all, 46 cognitively healthy participants who recruited at the memory clinic of the Medical University of Vienna were included in this study. They were asked to complete two tests of semantic memory and implicit learning: Capital Knowledge (CK) using verbal input and Flag Knowledge (FK) using visual input. Performance on the two tests was analysed according to influences of gender and age using two analyses of variance. Post hoc comparisons between age and gender groups were performed. In addition, correlational analyses were computed to assess strengths of association with age, gender and education. Results FKand CK-based measures were found to be influenced by demographic variables with semantic memory measures being significantly influenced by gender and education while incidental memory measures were influenced by age. Performances differed
Virtual Bodybuilding

Like any other technology, virtual reality is embedded in a cultural history which lends a world view to its entire enterprise. I will argue that this world view is (not unexpectedly) mate-gendered, patriarchal and Christian. In the first part of this paper I will examine the cultural context of virtual reality, before discussing some of the issues that might arise as virtual reality embeds itself into Western culture. I would like to suggest that virtual reality is culturally specific to the GraecoRoman tradition, and is quite different to a virtual reality that might arise in a nonWestern culture, if such a thing is possible.
THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ESSENTIAL OILS OF VACCINIUM ARCTOSTAPHYLOS L.

Objective: The growing resistance of different bacteria to antibiotic chemical drugs have become the global issue. This investigation is the first study of the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of flowering aerial parts of Vaccinium arctostaphylos. The current research was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial effects of essential oils and hydroalcoholic extract extracted from aerial parts of Vaccinium arctostaphylos, native species. Methods: The chemical composition of the essential oils extracted by hydrodistillation from the flowering aerial parts of Vaccinium arctostaphylos L. was assessed by the GC and GC/MS analysis. Twentynine different compounds, constituting 86.61% of the oil, were recorded, among which the major compounds were α-Pinene (15.5%), Linalool (11.7%), Sandaracopimaradiene (5.9%) and Safranal (8.8%). The invitro antibacterial activity of the extracted essential oil was evaluated against some Gram positive and negative bacteria. Results: According to the obtained results from the current research, the essential oil of Vaccinium arctostaphylos showed the antibacterial activities against most of the bacteria tested, including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis and Streptococcus pneumonia, contrasted to Staphylococcus aureus. In contrast to the essential oil, the hydroalcoholic extract of Vaccinium arctostaphylos did not display the antibacterial effects against the mentioned microorganisms.
Molecular mechanisms of premature ageing in a worm model of human Werner syndrome

Investigating the biological basis of ageing is both fascinating and medically relevant, as we strive to understand both how organisms age, and how our knowledge might be put to good use in an increasingly long-lived human population. Despite the complexity of ageing biology, it is very striking that longevity, in a wide variety of organisms, can be modified by manipulating single genes. In this thesis, I investigate phenotypes associated with mutations in C. elegans homologues of human WRN, the gene mutated in the progeroid Werner syndrome (WS). Mutant phenotypes in the worm recapitulate aspects of the pathophysiology observed in WS patients, including premature ageing, genomic instability, and sensitivity to DNA damaging agents. wrn-1 overexpression, on the other hand, appears to enhance longevity, suggesting that wrn-1 acts as a bona fide antigerontogene. The combination of wrn-1 mutations with mutation in the worm p53 homologue, cep-1, unexpectedly triggers a novel and very striking enhanced lifespan and healthspan phenotype, termed synthetic super-viability
Effects of habitat fragmentation on foraging behaviour of tits and related species: does niche space vary in relation to size and degree of isolation of forest fragments?

We studied the winter foraging niches of tits and related species in deciduous forest fragments varying in size between 1 and 30 ha (plus one forest of 200 ha) in order to investigate the influence of forest fragmentation on foraging niches. Very few correlations between niche structure (foraging niche, width and overlap) and forest size or isolation turned out to be significant. This implies that either the species that disappear in small fragments are those that suffer most from competition (making the effect unmeasurable), or that competition is relatively unimportant for niche structure. In any case we find no evidence that foraging niches are strongly affected by the changes (in habitat and/or community structure) associated with fragmentation.
The Influence of Social Breeding Groups on Effective Population Size in Black-tailed Prairie Dogs

Abstract Effective population sizes reported in the literature typically range from a small fraction of the adult population to about half the number of breeding adults. Theoretically, however, social structuring of genetic diversity could produce effective sizes as great as or even greater than population size. A colony of the highly social black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) was studied in the field for 16 years, and data were gathered for estimation of effective population sizes from pedigrees, demography, and allozyme alleles. Social breeding groups (“coteries”) within the colony exhibited high correlations of genes among individuals, and different coteries exhibited substantial genetic differentiation. Genetic diversity thus occurred within individuals, within coteries, and among coteries, and shifted among these levels of organization over time. “Instantaneous” estimates of effective size from short-term (annual) changes in genetic correlations were calculated from pedigree information but were not useful because they produced a wide diversity of estimates, due in part to the lack of demographic and genetic equilibrium in the colony. “Asymptotic” measures of effective population size that assumed eventual genetic equilibrium yielded relatively consistent estimates of effective sizes. For 10 years of empirical results from prairie dogs, effective population sizes from pedigrees (harmonic mean = 79.4), demographic model based on breeding groups (asymptote = 88.5), and allozyme data (harmonic mean = 88.9) were similar, and all were somewhat higher than the number of adults in the population (harmonic mean = 74.1). The colony of prairie dogs, therefore, exhibited a lower rate of loss of genetic diversity than expected, due to the genetic substructure created by the presence of social breeding groups.
Trichloroethylene in the Environment: Public Health Concerns

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) prepares toxi-cological profiles for hazardous substances found at waste sites and elsewhere in the environment. In 1997 the agency updated its toxicological profile for trichloroethylene and included new and expanded information on the health effects associated with exposures to trichloroethylene. Several endpoints of concern are described in the profile. However, in this paper only results from studies reporting developmental and carcinogenic effects from trichloroethylene exposures in human and experimental animal studies are summarized and evaluated. Based on its assessment of the available studies and limitations in the reported findings, ATSDR has determined there is limited but suggestive evidence that developmental effects may be a concern for some persons exposed to TCE in drinking water. Moreover, developmental effects may be the most sensitive of all non-cancer health effects associated with trichloroethylene exposures. Significant questions remain about the likely mode(s) of action for TCE-induced carcinogenesis in humans and the basis for differences in pharmacokinetics handling of TCE across animal strains and sex. However, on the basis of animal data and the suggestive, yet inconclusive, human data available, ATSDR has determined that cancer should be an effect of concern for people exposed to TCE in the environment. ATSDR agrees that the available literature supports the premise that TCE is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” as defined by the U.S. National Toxicology Program.
Minimal Solvers for 3D Scan Alignment With Pairs of Intersecting Lines

We explore the possibility of using line intersection constraints for 3D scan registration. Typical 3D registration algorithms exploit point and plane correspondences, while line intersection constraints have not been used in the context of 3D scan registration before. Constraints from a match of pairs of intersecting lines in two 3D scans can be seen as two 3D line intersections, a plane correspondence, and a point correspondence. In this paper, we present minimal solvers that combine these different type of constraints: 1) three line intersections and one point match; 2) one line intersection and two point matches; 3) three line intersections and one plane match; 4) one line intersection and two plane matches; and 5) one line intersection, one point match, and one plane match. To use all the available solvers, we present a hybrid RANSAC loop. We propose a non-linear refinement technique using all the inliers obtained from the RANSAC. Vast experiments with simulated data and two real-data data-sets show that the use of these features and the combined solvers improve the accuracy. The code is available.
Distributed SQLite-Replicated SQLite Service powered by Raft

SQLite is one of the most popular database engines that have been installed on billions of devices[1]. Although SQLite is lightweight & consists of a rich set of features for portability and performance, it does not come with replication support out of the box. The motivation of this project is to build a reliable, distributed, relational datastore that leverages the Raft algorithm[2] to realize replication, consistency, and fault tolerance. In addition to the distributed constructs like Leader Election, Log replication we provide support for : Dynamic cluster membership change, Snapshot & Log Compaction, partial support for Non-Deterministic functions, multi raft group transaction support using 2 Phase Commit[4]. The final deliverable includes a distributed Raft server implementation based on open source project sofajraft[3], a REPL client for CLI interactions, a visualization layer implemented in Angular.js, a Spring Boot controller service to orchestrate client-server requests and a coordinator for 2 Phase commit orchestration. The components are deployed through Docker containers.
Changes of Serum Adiponectin and Glycated Albumin Levels in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Patients and Their Relationship with Insulin Resistance

Background: We aimed to investigate the changes of serum adiponectin and glycated albumin (GA) levels in gestational diabetes mellitus patients and their relationship with insulin resistance. Methods: Overall, 137 pregnant women were enrolled from Jinan City People's Hospital, Laiwu District, China from Jan 2015 to Jun 2018. Among them, 71 pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus were examined as diabetes group, and 66 normal pregnant women as normal pregnant women group. In addition, 58 normal non-pregnant women of childbearing age who were examined in our hospital during the same period were selected as a control group. The serum adiponectin and GA levels of the three groups were compared, and the relationship between serum adiponectin, GA levels and insulin resistance was analyzed. Results: The serum adiponectin level of pregnant women in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) group was significantly lower than that of normal pregnant women and control group (P=0.031, P=0.027). The serum GA level of pregnant women in GDM group was significantly higher than that of normal pregnant women and control group (P<0.001). Pearson correlation analysis showed that GA was positively correlated with Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), Fasting insulin (FINS) and Insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR) levels (P<0.001), while adiponectin was negatively correlated with FPG FINS and HOMA-IR levels (P<0.001). Conclusion: Abnormal levels of serum GA and adiponectin are closely related to insulin resistance in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus. Detection of serum GA and adiponectin levels can diagnose gestational diabetes mellitus quickly and effectively.
Arabic Morphological Tools for Text Mining

—Arabic Language has complex morphology; this led to unavailability to standard Arabic morphological analysis tools until now. In this paper, we present and evaluate existing common Arabic stemming / light stemming algorithms, we also implement and integrate Arabic morphological analysis tools into the leading open source machine learning and data mining tools, Weka and RapidMiner.
An assessment of the accuracy and reliability of hair identification of south-east Australian mammals

The aim of this experiment was to quantify the accuracy and reliability of identifying mammals from hair samples, using two highly skilled practitioners. Hair samples were collected from 37 mammal species occurring in south-eastern Australia. This material was divided into 252 samples, which were then used in a blind test to determine the accuracy of the technique. The taxa were then grouped into reliability categories based on the accuracy and consistency of the practitioner’s identifications. In all, 23 taxa, including 19 species, were regarded as being reliably identified from hair analysis. Identification of the remaining 18 species involved at least some level of error. Several factors influenced the accuracy of identifications in this study, principally (1) the need to identify samples to species level wherever possible, rather than not making an identification, and (2) the diverse range of species used (from across Victoria) and the lack of collection locality. Target species have been grouped into reliability categories, as a guide to aid evaluation of field-derived data. We emphasise the need for practitioners to gain considerable personal experience of the technique, the diagnostic characteristics used to identify hair of different species and intra-specific variation, in order to maximise the reliability of identification results.