Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The browning kinetics of the non-enzymatic browning reaction in L-ascorbic acid/basic amino acid systems

Non-enzymatic browning reactions include Maillard reaction, caramelization and ascorbic acid browning reaction. Their products can be divided into small molecule products, which are the important sources of food flavor (Adams & Kimpe, 2006), colorless intermediate products and the finally formed browning macromolucular products (Kim & Lee, 2008), i.e. the browning products, which confer the food colors. Lysine, arginine and histidine are the basic amino acids for the protein synthesis. They are widely present in the nature. On food industry, lysine is commonly used as the food fortifier and feed additive. L-ascorbic acid is an important nutrient for human beings and is also widely present in the nature. On food processing, L-ascorbic acid is widely used as food additive and as the anti-oxidant. Thus, to study the non-enzymatic browning reaction of L-ascorbic acid/basic amino acid system is of important significance for food industry.
Pleiotropic role of melatonin in brain mitochondria of obese mice

Obesity induced by a leptin deficiency causes extensive damage in brain due to a large increase in oxidative stress. Mitochondria have a central role in this neural damage. Leptin receptors have a wide expression in the brain and its absence is associated with reduced mitochondrial respiration by a decoupled electron transport chain and a significantly increased complex II activity which is major player in mitochondrial free radical generation. The consequences are an abrupt reduction in ATP production and a reduced activity of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, evidence of dysfunction of processes related to energy production, the reduction of which contributes to multiple brain pathologies. Melatonin, a major protector of mitochondria against free radicals with a significant influence on glucose metabolism, has been shown to counteract these conditions. In the present study the main respirasome expression was recovered by melatonin, with a reduction in complex II activity and the complex II dependent free radical generation. Additionally, melatonin normalized the TCA cycle. Reduction in ATP synthesis was caused by UCP2 activation. The uninterrupted sensation of starvation due to leptin deficiency involves impairments in glucose metabolism, which was reversed by melatonin via negatively acting on hexokinase II, a key regulator of glycolysis and major contributor to the Warburg effect. Hexokinase II reduction was accompanied by a significant Bcl-2 reduction, inducing a delicate readjustment of pro and anti-apoptotic proteins in the mitochondria to preserve cell survival, which was associated with a marked reduction of the Bax activator, Puma, observed in obese animals treated by melatonin.
Suckermouth Catfish (Pterygoplichthys pardalis) In Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi Province: The Heavy Metal Content of Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg) and Arsenic (As)

Suckermouth catfish (Pterygoplichthys pardalis) is a type of foreign fish (South America) which is prohibited from entering Indonesia because it can endanger ecosystems and the aquatic environment by its invasive nature. The existence of janitor fish threatens the sustainability of the endemic fish of Tempe Lake in Wajo Regency. Until now, there has been no study regarding the quality and food safety for the use of suckermouth catfish in the regency. This study aims to analyzed the heavy metal content of lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) of janitor fish in Wajo Regency. Samples of janitor fish were taken from three districts in Wajo Regency used a purpossive sampling technique. Analysis of Pb, Hg and As metals on meat, scales/skin, and bones/fins of suckermouth catfish, refers to SNI 2354.5: 2011, SNI 2354.6-2016 and SNI 01-4866-1998. The results show that suckermouth catfish from the three districts are not contains Pb but contains Hg and As which do not exceed the requirements for metal contamination content limits based on SNI 2729: 2013 concerning requirements for quality and safety of fresh fish
Postembryonic Development of the Skull of the Japanese Skink, Eumeces latiscutatus (Scincidae)

The postembryonic development and the sexual dimorphism of the skull of the Japanese skink, Eumeces latiscutatus, is described. In newborn hatchlings the fontanelle lies between the frontals and the parietal, and it still remains as a median suture in the parietal in young adults. Two degenerated elements, quadratojugal and tabular, appear in adults. The sexual dimorphism is not found in hatchlings and yearlings, and male hypermorphism becomes apparent as a male grows mature. As a male grows older, the dorsal temporal region becomes robust, the lateral margin of the squamosal swells out laterally, and the supratemporal fenestra comes to be closed by surrounding bones which unite tightly with each other. In female adults, however, such changes do not occur. The rise of the nuchal ridge in the parietal, the protrusion of the crest of the quadrate, the development of the basal tuber, and the fusion of some elments of the braincase occur later in females than in males. Males are larger in skull size than females.
Classification of Reynolds phytoplankton functional groups using individual traits and machine learning techniques

The Reynolds Functional Groups (RFG) classification scheme is an informative and widely used method in ecological studies of freshwater phytoplankton. It clusters species with similar traits, as well as common environmental sensitivities and tolerances. However, researchers face the difficulty to classify species into RFG because it relies in expert opinion, taxonomical knowledge and environmental information, which are not always accessible. Thus, a step forward is to build general statistical models to classify species into RFG. Under the hypothesis that an organism's response to environmental conditions determines their functional traits, here represented by the RFG, we predict that morphology and classification into broad taxonomic groups will explain RFG independently from environmental information and expert knowledge. To evaluate the predictive ability of morphological traits (e.g. volume) and taxonomic affiliation (e.g. chroococcal Cyanobacteria) as discriminant variables of RFG, we compiled 1,300 species (264 waterbodies) and applied Random Forest (RF) and Classification and Regression Trees (CART). We divided the data to train the models and test their performance. RF successfully classified species into the 28 RFG (only c. 10% test error) with an average individual RFG success rate of 84.6 (range = 33%–100%). This is a relatively high percentage of success from an ecological point of view. It suggests that the selected variables are able to reconstruct the RFG and represent well environmental preferences, without including information about local environmental conditions as classifiers. Our results reinforce the functional basis of the RFG and support both morphological traits and taxonomic classification as good proxies of phytoplankton responses to environmental conditions. A dichotomous key based on the CART was constructed, and an R code to classify species into the RFG is freely available. This work may help users to classify species into the RFG, including those that were not previously listed in the Reynolds classification system.
BEDSIDE SCREENING OF BODY FLUIDS – COMPARISON OF CONVENIENT AND CONVENTIONAL METHODS

Background: Reagent strips are used for the rapid diagnosis of pyuria by detection of leukocyte esterase (LE) in the granulocytes. Standard laboratory analysis of body fluids demands expertise, equipment, long turnaround time and availability round-the-clock. Objective: This study intends to evaluate the usefulness of strip in detecting bacterial infection in body fluids other than blood and urine. Methods: The results of strips and standard investigations were compared for 117 fluid samples comprising pleural, ascitic, cerebrospinal, synovial, pericardial fluids, semen, sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage and bronchial wash. Results: The association of LE with total leukocyte count (TLC) and absolute neutrophil count (ANC), sensitivity, negative predictive value (NPV) and diagnostic accuracy (DA) were better as the cut-off value was increased to 250 and 500/μL. The specificity also increased with increasing ANC. The association of LE with nitrite (P = 0.009), neutrophil predominance (P = 0.001), reduced automated glucose level (P = 0.002), glucose estimated by strip with that of autoanalyzer (P = 0.025) were significant. LE was positive in all the samples with bacterial growth in culture. No association was found between LE and occult blood (P = 0.309), protein levels (P = 0.888). Majority of semen samples with round cells, were LE positive, irrespective of the round cell count. Sensitivity and NPV of LE towards combined TLC, reduced glucose and elevated protein were 100% and DA was 66.7%. False positivity and negativity rates were 43.5% and 0% respectively. Conclusion: Reagent strip is useful to screen bacterial infection in body fluids.
Characterizations of montmorillonite using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

Montmorillonite plays an important role in mineral research, pharmaceutical research and treatment of polluted wastewater. The purpose of this study is to detect different porosity, thickness, calcined products of montmorillonite and to distinguish different types of montmorillonite by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy combining with other conventional analytical methods. In addition, optical parameters such as absorption coefficient, phase difference and refractive index can significantly characterize different porosity, thickness and calcination temperature. Therefore, it is of great significance to use terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for nondestructive testing of montmorillonite.
Assessment of a Food-Warming Cabinet for Heat and Humidity Decontamination of N95 Respirators

During the COVID19 pandemic, various investigations have been conducted to determine if personal protective equipment (PPE), and specifically N95 masks, can be decontaminated for reuse when unused equipment is not available. One method under investigation that may be particularly adaptable in lower resource communities is the use of heat and humidity for the de-activation of SARS-CoV-2. Food-warming cabinets (also known as holding cabinets) may reach applicable temperatures and thus the purpose of this study was to characterize the temperatures achieved in a typical food-warming cabinets that has been adapted for the de-activation of N95 masks. This paper provides a general description of how a food-warming cabinet operates and describes aspects that are important for heat de-activation including characterizing cyclical heating and temperature variations within the cabinet. The described experimental procedure could be used as a guide to characterize similar food-warming cabinets.
Bayesian inference in quantile functions

Abstract The role of quantile functions in modeling various forms of statistical data is well established. Generally classical procedures like method of moments, L-moments, percentiles etc are employed in estimating the parameters of the model. In the present work an attempt is made to infer parameters in the Bayesian framework with special emphasis to distributions in which the quantile functions do not posses tractable distribution functions. The procedure is illustrated for some distributions and real life data.
Isolation of chlorophylls and carotenoids from freshwater algae using different extraction methods

Usually marine algae are an excellent source of pigments for different commercial sectors. Freshwater macroalgae can be exploited as a good source of biologically active compounds provided an appropriate extraction method is developed. The efficiency of four methods, like microwave‐assisted (MAE), ultrasound‐assisted extraction (UAE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with ethanol as a co‐solvent, as well as conventional Soxhlet extraction were studied in the same conditions (time, solvent and temperature) for the recovery of chlorophylls and carotenoids from three freshwater green algae species: Cladophora glomerata, Cladophora rivularis and Ulva flexuosa. UV‐Vis spectrophotometry was used to determine chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total carotenoid content in obtained extracts. The results of this study showed that the advantages of novel extraction techniques (MAE and UAE) include higher yield and, in consequence, lower costs compared to traditional solvent extraction techniques. These methods were much more efficient in freshwater green algae pigment recovery than the classic Soxhlet extraction as well as SFE.
Current Management Progress and Future Direction of Schistosomiasis: A Review

Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever; is a tropical diseases due to the parasite Schistosoma trematode worms. It comes second only to malaria as its impact on the society. Around 230 million people are at highly risk in the world. Combines with others such as diarrhea, chronic pain, anaemia, undernutrition, the disease is also a major risk factor for HIV infection in which caused by female urogenital schistosomiasis. The shistosomiasis parasites modulate the immune response of the host once the egg deposition has started. Until now, the most effective antischistosome drug is praziquantel (PZQ). In this review, we discuss some aspects about new antischistosome drug as well as vaccine development.
Effective population size of an offshore population of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, from the São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago, Brazil

The Sao Pedro and Sao Paulo Archipelago (SPSPA) (00°56’N, 29°22’W) lies approximately 1010km northeast off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte State in Brazilian waters. Recently, through photo-identification and group size analysis, around 20-30 individual bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, from SPSPA were recognized as a resident, and potentially genetically isolated, population. The effective population size (Ne), not the census number (Nc), as well the sex ratio, are of primary concern from an evolutionary and conservation management perspectives. The estimate of Ne reflects the number of individuals responsible for the maintenance of genetic diversity of a species or population as well its evolutionary potential. For this reason, we present here the first Ne and sex ratio estimates for the bottlenose dolphin population from SPSPA. Sex was molecularly determined for 19 biopsy samples collected from bottlenose dolphins from SPSPA between January and February 2005. The Ne was estimated by direct counting of reproductive adults sexed by DNA analysis. The resulting Ne was 12 individuals and the sex ratio was 1.11 male to 1 female, however, it was not significantly different from the expected 1:1 ratio (χ2 test, α= 0.05; df = 1). The effective population size based on the genetic diversity of 19 sequences of the mtDNA control region resulted in a female effective population size of 223 individuals, and the total long-term effective size of ~470 individuals. We believe that the estimated Ne for the SPSPA population is a critical value, because it is significantly lower than the mean minimum viable population (MVP) suggested for vertebrates (around 5000 breeding age adults). This small Ne is of great concern and should be taken into account in future management plans to ensure the conservation and protection of this small population at SPSPA.
What can visual caregivers expect with patients treated for SARS-CoV-2? An analysis of ongoing clinical trials and ocular side effects

Within the COVID-19 pandemic context, the WHO has proposed a list of medicines to treat patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). An analysis of their ocular side effects was performed. Only chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were found to have an ocular impact in the medium and long-term. Detailed search strategies were performed in EMBASE, MEDLINE, SCOPUS and WOS Core Collection. Additionally, the worldwide ongoing clinical trials including chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine were evaluated, and their proposals of drug administration and exclusion criteria analyzed. In general, high maximum cumulative doses of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are being used for a short period in 135 currently underway clinical trials (to 21st April 2020). Typically, the doses were 2 to 5 times greater than the AAO recommendation (adjusted to weight) to avoid toxic retinopathy, the most undesirable ocular side effect. Maximum cumulative doses up to 12,000 mg for chloroquine and 18,000 mg for hydroxychloroquine were found. In prophylaxis clinical trials, 72,000 mg and 22,500 mg were the maximum cumulative doses for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine respectively. Only 48% of the clinical trials considered retinal impairment as an exclusion criterion, and just one referred to an ophthalmic examination previous to study inclusion. How chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine treatment affect patients with a previous retinal condition is still poorly understood. A comprehensive ophthalmological examination 6 months after treatment is recommended in this subgroup. This review provides an overview of this topic and sheds light on the challenges visual caregivers may face regarding these repurposed drugs.
Machine learning models for predicting the dielectric constants of oxides based on high-throughput first-principles calculations

Prediction models of both the electronic and ionic contributions to the static dielectric constants have been constructed using data from density functional perturbation theory calculations of approximately 1200 metal oxides via supervised machine learning. We developed two types of random forest regression models for oxides with the ground-state crystal structures: one model requires only compositional information and the other model also uses structural information. Although the training data included various atomic frameworks, the prediction models performed well even when only compositional information was used as feature descriptors. In prediction of the electronic contributions to the dielectric constants, the accuracies of the regression models with and without structural information were comparable, while the structural descriptors more clearly improved the prediction accuracy for the ionic contributions. We also analyzed the feature importance for prediction of the dielectric constants. The mean atomic mass and mass density were determined to be significant features in prediction of the electronic contributions without and with structural information, respectively. The standard deviation of the principal quantum number and mean neighbor distance variation were found to be important for the respective prediction models of the ionic contributions. The correlations between the dielectric constants and these features are discussed, along with the underlying physical mechanisms.
Recent challenges in Routing and Inventory Routing: E‐commerce and last‐mile delivery

In the e‐commerce era, vendors have to satisfy a large number of on‐line orders, mainly from private customers, with low weight and volume, reduced delivery time, and overlap of customers' time windows. Production is made available all day long. New strategies and new technologies are emerging for deliveries. The processing time of the orders is reduced. These new features generate interesting challenges in formulating and solving Routing and Inventory Routing problems. After discussing these features and the corresponding challenges, we recall the relevant literature in Routing and Inventory Routing and provide future research directions, mainly related to routing problems with release dates, routing problems with crowdshipping, and inventory routing problems in the e‐commerce era.
Rapid Droplet Coalescence Produced by Thunder

This article considers a simple model to numerically study whether thunderclaps can produce droplet coalescence in natural clouds due to the relative velocities they induce between different-sized droplets. This mechanism is evaluated for a cloud that has both a relatively small liquid content and a narrow droplet size distribution. The cloud is idealized as a static environment, consisting only of water droplets and air, in which no changes occur except those produced by thunderclaps. All other coalescence mechanisms, such as gravitational effects and air turbulence, are disregarded. The thunderclap models we use mimic the profile of an actual clap far from a lightning discharge. Their acoustic power spectrum is obtained analytically and found to peak in the infrasonic frequency range, in agreement with some experimental results. The velocities of the droplets during the passage of a clap are obtained from their equations of motion using drag coefficients that apply in the conditions imposed by the clap. The possibility that droplet growth may occur as a result of the claps is studied by integration of the discretized coalescence equation. For the case considered, the results show that a thunder event, consisting of several consecutive claps, can produce in a few seconds significant changes in the mean droplet diameters. Such times are orders of magnitude shorter than those required by other coalescence mechanisms to produce similar effects.
SARS-CoV-2 Inactivation Potential of Metal Organic Framework Induced Photocatalysis

As the world recovers from the lockdown imposed by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, returning to shared indoor spaces is considered a formidable risk. It is now clear that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is driven by respiratory microdroplets expelled by infected persons, which can become suspended in the air. Several layering technologies are being explored to mitigate indoor transmission in the hopes of re-opening business, schools and transportation systems. Here we coupled the water adsorptive and photocatalytic capacity of novel Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) to demonstrate the capture and inactivation of SARS-CoV-2. Discussion is given on the methods of analysis and the differences between the photocatalytic activity of several MOFs, and the difference between MOF induced photocatalysis and ultra violet photolysis of SARS-CoV-2. Our results are intended to provide support to industry looking for alternative methods secure indoor spaces.
Metrics for conservation success: Using the “Bird‐Friendliness Index” to evaluate grassland and aridland bird community resilience across the Northern Great Plains ecosystem

Evaluating conservation effectiveness is essential to protect at‐risk species and to maximize the limited resources available to land managers. Over 60% of North American grassland and aridlands have been lost since the 1800s. Birds in these habitats are among the most imperilled in North America, yet most remaining habitats are unprotected. Despite the need to measure impact, conservation efforts on private and working lands are rarely evaluated, due in part to limited availability of suitable methods.