Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acid-Catalyzed Partial Hydrolysis of Carbohydrate Groups of the Potato Glycoalkaloid .alpha.-Chaconine in Alcoholic Solutions

As part of an effort to improve the safety of plant-derived foods, the role of the carbohydrate side chain has been explored in biological effects of potato glycoalkaloids such as α-chaconine. This steroid glycoalkaloid has a trisaccharide attached to the 3-hydroxy position of the steroidal aglycon solanidine. This study attempts to define the effect of structurally different alcohols on the partial hydrolysis of α-chaconine to β 1 -chaconine, β 2 -chaconine, γ-chaconine, and solanidine. Partial hydrolyses were carried out in 97.5% alcohol-0.25 N HCl at 60 °C. HPLC was used to measure the distribution of hydrolysis products as a function of time. The rate of hydrolysis of α-chaconine in the straight-chain alcohol solutions was as follows : methanol > ethanol = 1-butanol > propanol > pentanol » water. The longer the chain, the slower the rate of hydrolysis except for the anomalous result that the extent of hydrolysis in 1-butanol was equal to that in ethanol. However, hydrolysis in 2-butanol was slower than in 1-butanol. Surprisingly, hydrolysis in tert-butyl alcohol was slowest, proceeding more slowly than even in 1-pentanol. The formation of γ-chaconine was also greatly reduced in tert-butyl alcohol. Mechanistic rationalizations are offered to explain the observed trends in terms of the hydrophobic-hydrophilic nature of the glycoalkaloids and the solvation properties of the alcohols. The results should be generally useful for optimizing or minimizing the formation of specific hydrolysis products.
Massive MIMO enabled joint unicast transmission to IoT devices and mobile terminals

We investigate the viability of downlink (DL) unicast transmission from a base station (BS) with massive number of antennas jointly to support machine-centric communication among the internet-of-things (IoT) devices and human-centric communication among the mobile terminals. Specifically, we derive a new expression for the DL sum spectral efficiency (SE) for the IoT devices with maximum ratio precoding when channel estimates are acquired via the proposed distance-dependent grouping based hybrid pilot assignment strategy. We also derive a new DL sum SE expression for IoT devices based on non-orthogonal pilot assignment. We show that under statistical channel inversion based power control at the BS, the proposed strategy yields the highest sum SE and can serve the largest number of IoT devices when compared against orthogonal, non-orthogonal and distance-independent grouping based hybrid strategies. Furthermore, we also analyse the DL sum SE of mobile terminals in the presence of IoT devices when every mobile is given an orthogonal pilot and prove that the sum SE is independent of the pilot assignment strategy employed by the IoT devices. We also obtain the max–min rate for the IoT devices and prove that it is independent of the pilot assignment strategy used by the devices.
Diagnostic Value of High Resolution CT Imaging for COVID-19 in 24 Confirmed Cases

Background: Covid19 virus causes pandemic worldwide. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the clinical features and imaging characteristics on chest High-Resolution Computer Tomography (HRCT) of COVID-19. Methodology: This retrospective study was conducted in the special designated department for covid-19 isolation unit under Ningxia Medical University from 10 January to 15 February 2020. The medical history, clinical symptoms, and imaging characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 patients from a single center were retrospectively analyzed. All cases underwent a chest HRCT examination. Results: A total number of 24 patients were recruited for this study of which 18 cases had clinical symptoms of respiratory tract infection; 2 cases had symptoms other than respiratory tract and 4 cases had asymptomatic. There were 15 males and 9 females aged 17 to 74 years. The main chest HRCT manifestation was diffuse ground-glass opacity (GGO) in the peripheral zone of the lungs and under the pleura. Pulmonary interstitial changes, bronchial air signs, bronchial vascular bundle thickening, paving stone signs, and "white lung" changes appeared in some cases. A few cases have enlarged lymph nodes and a small amount of pleural effusion. Conclusion: The COVID-19 has specific characteristics on chest HRCT. [Bangladesh Journal of Infectious Diseases, April 2020;7(suppl_1):S3-S10]
Extrapulmonary Involvement in Sarcoidosis: A Case Report

Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic multisystem granulomatous disease that affects patients of all races and ethnic groups however predilection for women and African Americans is apparent. Extrapulmonary manifestations of sarcoidosis occur in up to 50% of cases. The most common sites of extrapulmonary involvement are the skin, eyes, liver, and reticuloendothelial system followed bt renal, cardiac, and neurological involvement. We present the case of a middle age man with exclusive extrapulmonary sarcoidosis affecting the renal, cardiac, hepatic, splenic and central nervous system. The patient sustained a second episode of venous thromboembolism which highlights a frequently seen complication of sarcoidosis. We discuss the proposed pathophysiology for the prothrombotic state seen in sarcoidosis and imaging modalities that can be utilized to assess extrapulmonary involvement in sarcoidosis. Lastly, sarcoidosis management is reviewed, highlighting that immunosuppressants and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors are being proposed to arrest disease progression and reduce glucocorticoid doses.
Sperm size and number variation in the red flour beetle

Abstract Disruptive selection between large, nutritive gametes and numerous, competing gametes may have driven the evolution and maintenance of anisogamy. Sperm competition can explain why there are so many tiny sperm because numerical competition between rival gametes drives males to maximize sperm number and this may be achieved by minimizing sperm size. Since males operate within a finite reproductive budget and ejaculate production is limited, we might predict that, when variation in sperm size exists, males must trade increases in sperm size against a decrease in sperm number. We use Tribolium castaneum as our model to investigate the existence of a sperm size–number trade-off. We sampled 14 different populations that have been isolated for different periods (up to 39 years) and find across this sample of 70 males that there is significant variation in both sperm length and ejaculate sperm number between males. Despite this significant variance, we find no evidence for any relationship between sperm size and number across males. There is some evidence for a trade-off when we analyse across 14 population means, but this relationship is not robust and disappears when a single outlier is omitted. We conclude that sperm size and ejaculate sperm number vary independently, but that differential allocation to gonadal tissue and/or ejaculation frequency would permit this independent variation.
Cry, the resistance locus of cowpea to cucumber mosaic virus strain Y

Most cowpea cultivars are resistant to infection by cucumber mosaic virus strain Y (CMV-Y) that causes a hypersensitive reaction followed by the development of necrotic local lesions. It has been anticipated that resistance to CMV-Y depends upon the existence of a resistance (R) gene in cowpea. To define the nature of the R gene, we screened 38 cowpea cultivars to isolate susceptible ones. The cultivar PI 189375 was identified as susceptible based on symptoms and the presence of progeny virions on noninoculated upper leaves. Protoplasts prepared from both 'PI 189375' and the resistant cultivar Kurodane-Sanjaku supported virus multiplication. This result suggested that there was no difference between the capacities for virus multiplication in both cultivars at a single-cell level, implying an expression of the specific R gene in intact 'Kurodane-Sanjaku' plants. F 1 and F 2 populations were then constructed by reciprocal crosses between 'Kurodane-Sanjaku' and 'PI 189375'. Reactions of F 1 and F 2 populations to CMV-Y inoculation demonstrated that the R gene was inherited as a single dominant gene. We designated this resistance locus as Cry (cowpea R gene to CMV-Y).
Comparison of Temperature Dependent Carrier Transport in FinFET and Gate-All-Around Nanowire FET

The temperature dependent carrier transport characteristics of n-type gate-all-around nanowire field effect transistors (GAA NW-FET) on bulk silicon are experimentally compared to bulk fin field effect transistors (FinFET) over a wide range of temperatures (25–125 °C). A similar temperature dependence of threshold voltage (VTH) and subthreshold swing (SS) is observed for both devices. However, effective mobility (μeff) shows significant differences of temperature dependence between GAA NW-FET and FinFET at a high gate effective field. At weak Ninv (= 5 × 1012 cm2/V∙s), both GAA NW-FET and FinFET are mainly limited by phonon scattering in μeff. On the other hand, at strong Ninv (= 1.5 × 1013 cm2/V∙s), GAA NW-FET shows 10 times higher dμeff/dT and 1.6 times smaller mobility degradation coefficient (α) than FinFET. GAA NW-FET is less limited by surface roughness scattering, but FinFET is relatively more limited by surface roughness scattering in carrier transport.
Protein and oil concentration of soybean seed cultured in vitro using nutrient solutions of differing glutamine concentration

Oil and protein are the most valuable components of soybean seed. Evidence indicates that growth and composition of soybean seed are controlled by supplies of carbon and nitrogen provided by the maternal plant to the seed, but it is difficult experimentally to control and quantify the precise amount of carbon and nitrogen provided to the seed by the whole plant. To examine whether oil and protein concentrations are affected by the supply of nitrogen to the seed, immature soybean seeds (Glycine max cv. Williams 82) were grown in vitro in nutrient solutions containing 20, 40, 60 or 80 mM of glutamine. The seeds were incubated in Erlenmeyer flasks for 8 days at 25°C. The rate of dry matter accumulation changed from 7.2 to 8.3 mg seed -1 day -1 as the glutamine concentration increased from 20 to 80 mM but the differences were not significant (P > 0.05). Seed protein concentration increased as glutamine concentration increased from 294 mg g -1 at 20 mM glutamine to as high as 445 mg g -1 at 80 mM glutamine. Typical in vivo protein concentration of mature soybean seeds is about 400 mg g -1 . Oil and protein concentrations were negatively correlated (r 2 = 0.44), which indicates that oil and protein synthesis are interrelated. Protein synthesis was favoured over oil synthesis when nitrogen became more abundant. The seeds used in this study clearly demonstrated a capacity to respond to nitrogen availability with changes in seed protein concentration.
Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846): A New Threat to Fish Biodiversity in Ordu Province (Middle Black Sea Region)

Istilaci balik turleri hem yerel balik turleri hem de akuatik habitatlar icin onemli bir tehdit olusturmaktadir. Yapilan arazi calismalari sirasinda Ordu ilinde ilk kez Ulugol’de istilaci bir balik turu olan Pseudorasbora parva’ya rastlanmistir. Arazi calismalarinda farkli boy gruplarina ait 41 adet P. parva bireyleri yakalanmistir. Turkiye ic sularinda yayilis alanini devamli olarak artiran bu istilaci turun total boy (TB), catal boy (CB), standart boy (SB) ve agirliklari (W) kayit altina alinmistir. P. parva bireylerinin ortalama TB, CB, SB and W degerleri sirasiyla 7,24±1,2 cm (3,8-9,4 cm), 6,52±1.1 cm (3,4-8,4 cm), 5,73±0,9 cm (3,0-7,1 cm) ve 3,24±1,4 g (0,4415-6,8632 g) olarak belirlenmistir. P. parva turu Ordu'da (Orta Karadeniz Bolgesi) icin ilk kayit olarak rapor edilmistir. Ulugol’de P. parva bireylerinin sayilarinin artmasi Ordu balik biyocesitliligi icin cok buyuk bir tehdit olusturmaktadir.
The Immunogenicity And Protective Efficacy Of Dna Vaccine Coding For Na1 Gene Of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5n1 Subtype

Control of avian influenza infection depends mainly on biosafety measures and vaccination, DNA vaccination is a novel method to generate antigen-specific antibody and cell-mediated immunity. In the current study, a DNA vaccine for a full-length N1 gene was developed in a trial to decrease the severity of the avian influenza virus spread and shedding. THE full-length N1 gene was cloned in entry clone pENTER SD/TOPO, followed by homologous recombination with the destination mammalian expression vector (PDEST 40). The PDEST 40-N1 was used in the immunization of SPF chickens. Potency was evaluated through the survival rate that reaches 65%, which was far less than the commercially available inactivated vaccine. Meanwhile, the shedding of the virus from dead birds was 0.46 Log 10 EID50. At the same time, the most surprising result was the shedding level of the vaccinated live birds that were zero sheddings;on the other hand, the inactivated vaccine could not reduce the shedding level which remains very high (3.2 Log 10 EID50 ). IFN-γ transcript level in the DNA vaccinated group was detected by the 3rd-day post-vaccination and remained upregulated till the 28th post-vaccination. After the challenge, the level of IFN-γ was much higher until 14 days post-challenge. The inactivated vaccine could not stimulate any detectable level post-vaccination. These data suggested the ability of DNA vaccine coding for N1 gene of avian influenza to combat the virus shedding from live birds and could be used in combination with DNA vaccine coding for H5 to produce maximum protection with zero sheddings.
Thermal Imaging of Beach-Nesting Bird Habitat with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Considerations for Reducing Disturbance and Enhanced Image Accuracy

Knowledge of temperature variation within and across beach-nesting bird habitat, and how such variation may affect the nesting success and survival of these species, is currently lacking. This type of data is furthermore needed to refine predictions of population changes due to climate change, identify important breeding habitat, and guide habitat restoration efforts. Thermal imagery collected with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provides a potential approach to fill current knowledge gaps and accomplish these goals. Our research outlines a novel methodology for collecting and implementing active thermal ground control points (GCPs) and assess the accuracy of the resulting imagery using an off-the-shelf commercial fixed-wing UAV that allows for the reconstruction of thermal landscapes at high spatial, temporal, and radiometric resolutions. Additionally, we observed and documented the behavioral responses of beach-nesting birds to UAV flights and modifications made to flight plans or the physical appearance of the UAV to minimize disturbance. We found strong evidence that flying on cloudless days and using sky-blue camouflage greatly reduced disturbance to nesting birds. The incorporation of the novel active thermal GCPs into the processing workflow increased image spatial accuracy an average of 12 m horizontally (mean root mean square error of checkpoints in imagery with and without GCPs was 0.59 m and 23.75 m, respectively). The final thermal indices generated had a ground sampling distance of 25.10 cm and a thermal accuracy of less than 1 °C. This practical approach to collecting highly accurate thermal data for beach-nesting bird habitat while avoiding disturbance is a crucial step towards the continued monitoring and modeling of beach-nesting birds and their habitat.
Studies on seed pelleting as an aid to legume seed inoculation. 3. Survival of rhizobium applied to seed sown into hot, dry soil.

Seed of four legume species with various forms of lime pelleting and inoculation was sown into hot, dry soil at Katherine, Northern Territory, where it lay dormant for 7-9 weeks before germination commenced. Seedling nodulation was used as the index of inoculant survival. Where the seed was sown at a shallow depth, Rhizobium survival was poorer than on seed sown more deeply; this was attributed to the higher temperatures near the soil surface. Rhizobia survived best in those treatments in which peat inoculant was incorporated within the pellet. Rhizobium meliloti applied to Medicago sativa seed showed a high degree of tolerance of the conditions and seedling nodulation exceeded 90 per cent in several instances. Nodulation of Trifolium pratense and T. rueppellianum never exceeded 50 per cent and little nodulation occurred with Lotus pedunculatus. It is concluded that lime-pelleted Medicago seed with peat inoculant incorporated within the pellet can be sown into hot, dry soil with a strong expectation that the inoculant will survive and the seedlings nodulate.
A Single-Inductor Multiple-Output Buck/Boost DC–DC Converter With Duty-Cycle and Control-Current Predictor

A single-inductor multiple-output (SIMO) buck/boost dc–dc converter with average-current control is presented in this article. With the proposed duty-cycle and control-current predictor, fast and robust reference tracking of inductor current is achieved. The conventional charge-balance method is modified together with an auto-tuning-divider-based duty generator to release the cross-regulation to the last channel. Moreover, an anti-right-half-plane zero method is also proposed to suppress cross-regulation during large loading transient when the SIMO dc–dc converter operating in the boost mode. The proposed SIMO buck/boost dc–dc converter has four output channels which are adaptive to both boost and buck operations and is implemented in a standard 0.35-μm CMOS process. Measurement results show that the proposed dc–dc converter achieves a peak efficiency of more than 89% at a total output power of about 0.5 W, load transient's response time of less than 40 μs, cross-regulation within 0.05 V/A when a 300-mA loading transient is applied to a boost channel.
Strategic Philosophy and Competitive Advantage: Conceptual Understanding and Application in Public Sector Organisations

All organizations deal with strategy, but organizations operate under different conditions, affecting their understanding of how to do strategy. The study aims at providing an argument on how managers in public sector institutions apply the practice of strategic philosophy in their quest for effective practice of strategic management. Strategy is vital for a competitiveness, effective and efficient public service delivery and for successful leadership. Strategic philosophy refers to a set of beliefs, personal views or rules concerning the nature of organizational strategy. Managers apply these beliefs, values and rules to help make strategic decisions that provide direction, cohesion, mission and motivation to pursue organization’s strategic goals. The bureaucratic nature of public sector causes it to function according to unique set of principles, norms and rules. These rules and principles are influenced by the political nature of the institutions with little autonomy and /or discretion to decide on priorities, set own goals and deal with challenges and problems in order to exploit any emerging opportunities. This article used systematic literature review to identify studies that discussed the concepts of strategic philosophy and competitive advantage. Two focus groups discussions were also held with managers from public sector and civil society organizations. Since previous studies have been treating these concepts separately, articles dealing with each aspect of the study were reviewed and analysed to establish if any relationship exists between the two concepts. The study found out that the position occupied by a manager in the organization, skills and experience determine how he/she conceptualises the whole process of strategic planning. Senior managers believe that their role involves crafting the mission, vision, values, strategic goals and providing direction of the enterprise. They also determine the strategies that are likely to create superior performance.
Single-Sided Deafness-Outcomes of Three Interventions for Profound Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE A comparison of three interventions for profound unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. STUDY DESIGN Prospective, crossover randomized clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS Fifteen participants with profound unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. INTERVENTIONS Three potential technical interventions were compared: Bone Conduction Device on softband, Contralateral Routing of Signal (CROS), and Remote Microphone . Each intervention was randomly trialed for a period of 3 weeks, separated by a 1 week washout period. OUTCOME MEASURES Speech in noise recognition test performed under four conditions (lateral noise poorer ear, lateral noise better ear, speech poorer ear, speech better ear). Standardized questionnaires (Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit, Bern Benefit in Single Sided Deafness Questionnaire, and Speech, Spatial, and Other Qualities 12) were used to evaluate amplification benefit at baseline and following each intervention. RESULTS The use of remote microphone provided the best results in the speech recognition in noise test. A benefit in some signal-to-noise ratios was presented of the CROS over bone conduction device on softband in the Speech Poor Ear condition. On questionnaires of benefit, participants did not rate a particular intervention as significantly better than any other. Following the study, CROS was the intervention preferred by the 8 of 15 participants (53%). The majority of participants (80%) chose to continue with an intervention rather than no treatment. CONCLUSION The use of all interventions resulted in increased performance in speech recognition in noise and rated higher on subjective benefits in comparison with baseline. People with SSD are a heterogeneous population when considering perceived difficulties. Future research should focus on segmenting the population of SSD depending on factors such as etiology, high frequency loss in the better ear, and age of acquired loss for the poorer ear. This stratification may possibly increase the benefit for the patient in terms of more individual-based clinical routines.
Using plant spectral response curves in detecting plant stress

Understanding the way in which electromagnetic radiation interacts with vegetation is extremely important when studying the possibility of using new remote sensing technologies for monitoring forests and crops. Remote sensing methods enable an early detection of changes occurring within plants, simplifying the locating of affected areas and determining the severity of the changes. The optical properties of leaves (reflection and absorption coefficients) in selected segments of leaves in different ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum may be useful in detecting any deficiencies or surplus of selected substances which are essential for plant growth and development. Changes in the spectral response curves of damaged leaves can be cause both by changes in the leaf structure (Chandrasekharan 2005; Jacquemoud & Ustin 2008) and biochemical changes within the plant (Chandrasekharan 2005). A series of experiments was conducted at the Military University of Technology in Warsaw using a terrestrial hyperspectral system. Spectral reflection coefficients acquired from imagery in the 420–1100 nm range have enabled the establishing of how various growing conditions affect vegetation and their spectral response curves.