Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and residual activity of Lecanicillium kalimantanense and Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) against corn earworm Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under field conditions.

Helicoverpa armigera is one of two most important pests attacking corn in Indonesia, Virus HearNPV and Lecanicillium kalimantanense are insect pathogens that can be used for pest management. This research sought to test the efficacy of HearNPV and L. kalimantanense applied singly or mixed against H. armigera under field conditions. This study was conducted from January to April 2017, with the field phase using randomized block design consisting of three treatments and control, with four replicates, in the IPB Cikabayan experimental garden. Laboratory studies were conducted in the Insect Pathology laboratory, Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB). The treatments consisted of viral suspension of HearNPV, conidial suspension of L. kalimantanense, mixture of viral and conidial suspension. The corn silk were sprayed using a hand sprayer with entomopathogen suspension after artificial infestation of young larvae at 45 days after planting. Cob damage and larval population were observed and the pathogen was reisolated from corn and soil. All treatments effectively lowered the larval population. Cob damage were reduced by 50% following treatment by fungal suspension whereas cob damage after treatment with viral and mixture of (viral + conidial suspension) were 17.5 % and 22.5 % respectively. No viable conidia could be isolated from corn silk, whereas 13 CFU (colony forming units) was obtained from soil. Polyhedra of HearNPV could be detected from both corn silk and soil 15 days post treatment. Additive effects on mixed applications did not occur in viruses, when compared to the HearNPV application, mixed application was not recommended because it decreased HearNPV virus activity.
Phenolic peptides as antioxidant and anti-proliferative agents

We report an efﬁcient synthesis of phenolic peptides starting from 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and L -conﬁgured amino acid esters (glycine, phenylalanine, valine, serine, tryptophan, and cystine) using different coupling reagents. The combination of a phenolic scaffold with an amino acid residue might modulate the bioavailability and the therapeutic properties of title derivatives. Moreover, the incorporation of a catechol group, with inherent redox activity, can contribute to alter the redox status of the cancer cells, and therefore, provide anti-proliferative properties. Their activities as antioxidants (i
Toward Aerial Physical Locomotion: The Contact-Fly-Contact Problem

In this letter, we consider the problem of letting an aerial robot exploiting its contact with the environment in order to enhance its motion possibilities, in a way reminiscent of legged robots exploiting contact forces for locomotion purposes. As a representative and initial case study, we consider a quadrotor equipped with a 1-degree of freedom (DOF) arm able to hook at some pivot points, and needing to perform a maneuver from an initial hooked configuration to a final hooked configuration while passing though a free-flight phase between the two anchor points. To this end, we propose a dynamical modeling able to capture the various phases (hooked, free-flying) together with an optimization framework for generating optimal motion plans compatible with actuation constraints. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the approach and the promising potential in terms of more advanced maneuvers.
NEURON SURVIVAL, AXON GROWTH AND THE TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR SRY-BOX CONTAINING GENE 11 (SOX11)

Developmental survival, axon growth and differentiation of sensory neurons are mediated through the actions of specific sets of transcriptional signaling complexes (Anderson, 1999). A newly recognized family of transcription factors that appear to have important roles in sensory neuron biology is the Sox family of high-mobility group (HMG) domain proteins. In a screen of transcriptional activity in transgenic animals that overexpress either NGF or GDNF in the skin (NGF-OE and GDNF-OE mice), the transcription factor Sox11 was significantly increased in developing neurons of the trigeminal ganglia. This increase suggests Sox11 expression is trophic factor sensitive and that it may contribute to the transcriptional control of genes involved in the increased survival and axonal projections that has been documented in these transgenic animals (Albers et al., 1994; Zwick et al., 2002). Sox11 was also increased in neurons of adult dorsal root ganglia (DRG) following sciatic nerve cut. The rise in Sox11 in response to enhanced trophic factor level and axotomy has led us to hypothesize that Sox11 is an essential transcriptional regulator in both embryonic and adult systems that is trophic factor responsive. To further investigate the role of Sox11 and begin to identify transcriptional targets, the level of Sox11 was assayed in the Neuro2A stem cell line (Klebe and Ruddle, 1969), primary dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and in vivo after nerve injury. Upon retinoic acid (RA)- induced differentiation of Neuro-2A cells and upon culturing DRG neurons, Sox11 mRNA increased, suggesting Sox11 was important for expression of genes involved in Neuro2A and primary DRG differentiation and survival. To test this, the level of Sox11 expression was knocked down in Neuro2A cells and cultured DRG neurons by transfection of siRNAs against Sox11. Knockdown of Sox11 in these cells caused cell death and inhibited axon growth. RNAi knockdown of Sox11 in vivo after a saphenous nerve crush injury also inhibited axon regeneration. These data suggest that the developmentally regulated transcription factor Sox11 is induced in adult neurons after injury to promote neurite growth and axon regeneration and inhibit apoptosis by regulating genes associated with each of these distinct biological pathways.
A Focal load balancer based algorithm for task assignment in cloud environment

A new trend rising in IT environs is the Mobile cloud computing with colossal prerequisites of infrastructure along with resources. In cloud computing environment, load balancing a vital aspect. Cloud load balancing way toward disseminating workloads across numerous computing resources. Proficient load balancing plan guarantees effective resource usage by the supply of resources to cloud user's on-demand premise and it might even help organizing clients by applying fitting planning criteria the current paper discusses and implements the concept of load balancers, which are the lifeblood of any cloud computing network. In this paper, a new load balancing system is presented Focal Load Balancer (F-LB), which has been developed to reduce the traffic in the Cloud, whilst assuring a smooth flow of data in the cloud network. The proposed algorithm takes advantage of the dynamic load balancing characteristics over static balancing, and avoids the damage that a static load balancer causes if it fails. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm operates efficiently and effectively, and it provides a significantly improved performance over existing algorithms. Comparisons with the krill-LB and agent-based algorithms show that the new system provides a reduction in average wait time, a significant increase in throughput, and a dramatic reduction in CPU time consumption.
Impacts of climate driven range changes on the genetics and morphology of butterflies

This thesis studied the genetic responses of butterflies to climate induced distribution shifts in terms of patterns of genetic diversity at expanding and contracting range margins, the relative importance of genes versus environment on adaptations to dispersal and local adaptation to temperature during range expansion. Loss of genetic diversity during range expansion in Pararge aegeria was confirmed using neutral genetic markers (AFLPs). High reductions of genetic diversity were discovered at the range margin relative to the distribution core. Range margin populations exhibit a nearly 50% reduction in neutral genetic diversity, and lower genetic divergence between sites. The contracting southern range margin of the butterfly Erebia aethiops has not suffered a reduction in genetic diversity relative to the distribution core. As genetic diversity remains relatively high population extinction is unlikely to be exacerbated by inbreeding or reduced fitness from low genetic diversity during range contraction. Contrary to results from laboratory reared butterflies, wild male P. aegeria do not have significant differences in flight morphology between core and margin sites. This suggests developmental influences suppress the expression of genetic adaptations to dispersal. Wild butterflies also represent a smaller range of phenotypes possibly indicating balancing selection on morphological traits. Little to no evidence for local adaptation to temperature is apparent at the expanding range margin of P. aegeria. Neither was there evidence for reduced fitness due to lower genetic diversity, as F2 butterflies from core sites had poorer survival rates than the less genetically diverse margin sites. This study found that neutral genetic diversity is unlikely to affect species during distribution shifts as even high losses during distribution expansion do not appear to affect survival rates. Also adaptation to dispersal and temperature may be limited during range expansion both by environmental constraints and limited selection pressure respectively.
OH/IR stars versus YSOs in infrared photometric surveys

Abstract AGB stars play a major role in the chemical evolution of the galaxies. It thus is important to establish reliable photometric selection criteria to count them, especially AGB stars at the last stages of AGB evolution like OH/IR stars. Here, we have identified about 1500 OH/IR stars and 500 YSOs with methanol masers, in all major mid– and far–infrared surveys (IRAS, MSX, AKARI, WISE, GLIMPSE, and Hi–Gal). We show that AGB stars with high mass-loss rates cannot be disentagled from YSOs with only mid–infrared photometry; far–infrared photometry is essential. In the region observed by GLIMPSE, we show that the proportion of AGB stars has been severely underestimated in previous works: about 70% of “intrinsically” red objects in GLIMPSE are AGB stars rather than YSOs.
Yield performance and nutritional analysis of Pleurotus citrinopileatus on different agrowastes and vegetable wastes.

Pleurotus citrinopileatus was cultivated on paddy straw, brassica straw, pea pod shell, cauliflower leaves and radish leaves separately and on various combinations of paddy straw and aforementioned wastes. The mushroom failed to grow on pea pod shell, cauliflower leaves and radish leaves when it was cultivated separately on these vegetable wastes. However, it grew very well on paddy straw in combination with other substrates. Total yield and biological efficiency of the mushroom was found to be lower on paddy straw than paddy straw and other wastes combinations. 70% paddy straw and 30% other wastes combination supported maximum biological efficiency of mushroom followed by 80% paddy straw and 20% other wastes combination. The mushroom cultivated on paddy straw mixed with other lignocellulosic wastes i.e. brassica straw, pea pod shell, cauliflower leaves and radish leaves contained better nutrient content than the mushroom cultivated on paddy straw alone. The protein content, total sugar and nonreducing sugar content was found to be higher in the mushrooms grown on paddy straw and other agrowastes combination than on paddy straw alone. Similarly, six essential amino acids i.e. leucine, isoleucine, valine, threonine, methionine and phenylalanine content was higher in the mushrooms cultivated on paddy straw and other agrowastes combination than on paddy straw alone.
Dynamically Reconfigurable SIR Filter Using Rectenna and Active Booster

A novel dynamically reconfigurable bandpass filter (BPF) employing stepped-impedance resonators (SIRs) that can operate as either a single-band or a dual-band filter is demonstrated. The reconfigurable BPF uses four positive-intrinsic-negative (p-i-n) diodes as switching elements. With the four p-i-n diodes in the “OFF” state, the filter behaves as a low-loss (0.85 dB) single-band BPF with a passband around 2.45 GHz. The reconfigurable SIR filter can operate as a dual-band BPF with two center frequencies at 1.6 and 2.45 GHz. The diodes are dynamically set to the “ON” state in the presence of a 1.6-GHz RF signal that is received by an RF triggered power management unit (PMU), integrated on the back side of the microstrip filter in a dual-layer architecture. The RF triggered PMU consists of a planar inverted-F antenna, a high-efficiency voltage doubler rectifier (47% at −13 dBm) and an active dc-to-dc power booster. The rectified output voltage is used as the enabling voltage for the dc-to-dc power booster. This, in turn, provides the required dc power for the diodes biasing. The filter switches from single-band to dual-band when a wireless input RF signal (> −13 dBm) is received by the RF triggered PMU antenna.
The role of homologous cell-cell contacts in insulin secretion

Dans ce travail, nous avons etudie comment est-ce que les contacts cellules-cellules influencent la secretion d'insuline des cellules β-pancreatiques. Cette etude nous a permis de mettre en evidence le double role des contacts intercellulaires dans la regulation de la secretion d'insuline puisque les cellules privees de contacts entre elles presentent une secretion basale trop elevee ainsi qu'une secretion stimulee trop faible en comparaison des cellules en contact les unes avec les autres. Nous montrons que les contacts physiques intercellulaires permettent de maintenir un niveau de calcium cytosolique stable, ce qui est indispensable pour une secretion basale adequate et que, plus specifiquement, l'engagement des molecules d'adhesion E-cadherine entre cellules adjacentes permet d'optimiser la secretion d'insuline suite a une stimulation au glucose. Finalement, nous montrons que les cellules isolees restent capables de repondre au glucose une fois que leur secretion basale a ete normalisee.
Distribution of Interleukin-1 Genetic Polymorphisms in Central-Western Region Individuals of Venezuela

The cytokines belonging to the family of interleukin-1 (IL-1) are encoded by three different genes: IL-1A, IL-1B, and IL-1RN, which encode for IL-1α, IL-1β and the endogenous receptor antagonist for IL-1 (IL-1Ra), respectively. IL-1α and IL-1β operate as pro-inflammatory cytokines, while the IL-1Ra as anti-inflammatory. It has been reported several biallelic polymorphisms in the genes of IL-1B, including IL-1B511(C/T) and IL-1B+3954(C/T), while IL-1RN presents in intron 2 a penta-allelic VNTR polymorphism. The functionally relevant polymorphisms of these genes have been correlated with a wide range of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, as well as cancer. In order to determine the distribution of these polymorphisms in the Central-Western region of Venezuela, 100 unrelated apparently healthy individuals were studied. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood, and proceded to the characterization of polymorphisms IL-1B-511 and IL-1B +3954 by PCR-RFLP and VNTR IL-1RN by PCR. Allelic and genotypic frequencies were determined awith the program Arlequin v. 2.0. There was a predominance of T allele (52%) and the C allele (82%) for IL-1B-511 and IL-1B +3954, respectively. While for IL-1RN the more frequent genotypes were 1/1 (47%) and 1/2 (41%). We compare the results with the population frequencies found in other countries, highlighting differences with significant populations of different ethnic origin. These results could provide a valuable reference for future studies of association with cancer and inflammatory diseases in Venezuela.
Outcomes of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Spinal Cord Surgery: A Systematic Review

Introduction: High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound is a non-invasive technique therefore, there is no need for surgery or ultrasound-guided puncture and no risk of bleeding. It can completely destroy lesions in the body, with no harm to ultrasound-penetrated tissues or normal areas lying outside the target. This review aiming at highlighting the use of HIFU in spinal cord surgery. Methods: The electronic search resulted in ten potentially relevant studies that reported to assess Outcomes of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in different surgical procedures. Eight studies were excluded because of that they were not a consistent outcome. Results: All the included studies were prospective studies except only one was a retrospective study which was done among 73 patients aged between 17-80 years with benign thyroid nodules. The treatment was done using an imaging transducer and a HIFU transducer. The outcome of HIFU was varying among different surgical and spinal cord procedures. Five of the included studies were measuring the survival rate, it was ranged between 38.5% and 89%. Conclusions: The HIFU is a promising non-invasive technology that can enhance neurological surgery with faster recovery and less post-operative complications.
A Study of Correlation between the Backward Tandem Walk Test with Balance and Functional Mobility in Elderly Population

Background: Balance is an integral component to most activities of daily living. Increased age is associated with a decline in the speed of information transmission and changes in the mode of information processing in the brain, which lead to balance and postural disorders. Ischemic, degenerative and traumatic lesions of the cerebral trunk, the white matter, the frontal lobes, the gray matter and the cerebellum could induce Backward Disequilibrium (BD) in elderly subjects. This study is set out to assess the backward disequilibrium as a tool of testing. There is no component assessing for BD in frequent assessing the balance test. So, purpose of the present study is to find out the association between Backward Tandem walk test (BTWT) and Time up and Go test (TUG). Methodology: This was a Cross-sectional study which was conducted from February 2017 to February 2018 with a convenient sample size of 50 normal healthy community dwelling elderly (both males and female). The subjects were tested on Time up and Go Test (TUG) and Backward Tandem walk test (BTWT) in randomized order. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 21.00 software and statistical test used was Pearson’s correlation coefficient test (r) to find the correlation of BTWT with TUG and significance was set at p<0.05 during the study. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 71.62 ± 5.39 years. All the descriptive data was found to be non significant at baseline. The findings of the statistical analysis revealed that there is a strong correlation between the BTWT and TUG test. Conclusion: Backward falls are neglected area in elderly population. In the present study BTWT is being used to asses BD and has been found to be moderately correlating with mobility measures i.e. TUG, so it can be added as a testing tool which is further can be used in future to assess BD
COMPARISON BETWEEN WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE-TO-HEIGHT RATIO AND BODY MASS INDEX TO PREDICT ADIPOSITY IN SCH OOL AGED CHILDREN FROM 5 TO 15 YEARS

Introduction: obesity is defined as a situation by which there is excess body fat leading to health impairment and waist circumference-to height ratio (WHtR) is a simple, easy, inexpensive, highly reproducible and accurate tool for prevention , control, and intervention against child hood obesity. Aim of the Work: comparison between Waist circumference-to- Height Ratio (WHtR) and Body Mass Index (BMI) for prediction of overweight and obesity in school children aged 5 - 15 years. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 1000 students who attended government schools conducted in the village “Qai” which is a rural area in Beni-Suef governorate. , during the first and the second school trimester between December 2017 and May 2018. Both sexes were included. Results: in the present study, 1000 students, consisted of 506 female(50.6%) and 494 male(49.4%) with mean age ± SD 9.58 ± 2.24 years (range 5.1 – 15 years) and the overall prevalence of overweight and obesity according to BMI percentile was 34.6%, The overall prevalence of overweight was 17.7% more in girls than boys (9.6 % girls and 8.1% boys) and that of obesity was 16.9% more in girls than boys (9.7 % girls and 7.2 % boys) and hyperlipidemia in obese children was 32% , 7.7% of them had combined Hyperlipidemia, 14.2 % had hypertriglyceridemia & 10.1% had Hypercholesterolemia . the WHtR & BMI were highly sensitive as an indicator of adiposity, but WHtR was highly sensitive than BMI as WHtR showed that (Area Under Curve (AUC) = 0.986, sensitivity =94.87%, & specificity = 93.64 %) according to the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for obese cases from normal with cut-off point > 0.47 for both sexes, and BMI showed that (AUC = 0.935, sensitivity = 85.13%, & specificity = 87.3%). Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity is considerably high in Egyptian children and was more in girls than in boys and hyperlipidemia in obese children was found in 32% of obese children and WHtR & BMI are highly accurate indicators of adiposity in Egyptian school children . Our findings suggest that the WHtR is useful index for school screening and is particularly useful and superior on BMI and not dependent on Age & sex and is easier to use. Recommendations: We believe that the WHtR should become a routine measurement in Egyptian school children to predict childhood adiposity to deal with it and further studies are required to validate cutoff values and the effectiveness of WHtR as anthropometric index to predict childhood adiposity.
Methanogenesis in a Thermophilic (58°C) Anaerobic Digestor: Methanothrix sp. as an Important Aceticlastic Methanogen

Aceticlastic methanogens and other microbial groups were enumerated in a 58°C laboratory-scale (3 liter) anaerobic digestor which was fed air-classified municipal refuse, a lignocellulosic waste (loading rate = 1.8 to 2.7 g of volatile solids per liter per day; retention time = 10 days). Two weeks after start-up, Methanosarcina sp. was present in high numbers (105 to 106 CFU/ml) and autofluorescent Methanosarcina-like clumps were abundant in sludge examined by using epifluorescence microscopy. After about 4 months of digestor operation, numbers of Methanosarcina sp. dropped 2 to 3 orders of magnitude and large numbers (most probable number = 106 to 107/ml) of a thermophilic aceticlastic methanogen morphologically resembing Methanothrix sp. were found. Methanothrix sp. had apparently displaced Methanosarcina sp. as the dominant aceticlastic methanogen in the digestor. During the period when Methanothrix sp. was apparently dominant, acetate concentrations varied between 0.3 and 1.5 μmol/ml during the daily feeding cycle, and acetate was the precursor of 63 to 66% of the methane produced during peak digestor methanogenesis. The apparent Km value obtained for methanogenesis from acetate, 0.3 μmol/ml, indicated that the aceticlastic methanogens were nearly saturated for substrate during most of the digestor cycle. CO2-reducing methanogens were capable of methanogenesis at rates more than 12 times greater than those usually found in the digestor. Added propionate (4.5 μmol/ml) was metabolized slowly by the digestor populations and slightly inhibited methanogenesis. Added n-butyrate, isobutyrate, or n-valerate (4.5 μmol/ml each) were broken down within 24 h. Isobutyrate was oxidized to acetate, a novel reaction possibly involving isomerization to n-butyrate. The rapid growth rate and versatile metabolism of Methanosarcina sp. make it a likely organism to be involved in start-up, whereas the low Km value of Methanothrix sp. for acetate may cause it to be favored in stable digestors operated with long retention times.