Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Natural products and drug discovery and development: A history of success and continuing promise for the future

For millennia, Nature, especially plants, has provided a source of medicines for the treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases. The isolation of plant-derived bioactive compounds, such as colchicine, morphine, and quinine in the early 1800 s, introduced a new era in medicine with the later development of pure commercial products, including morphine and the semi-synthetic drug, aspirin. The next milestone was the report by Fleming in 1929 of the serendipitous discovery of penicillin from Penicillium notatum, ushering in the 'Golden Age of Antibiotics' (1940 s-1970 s), and leading to the discovery of many other antibacterial antibiotics, including the cephalosporins, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, glycopeptides, lipopeptides and macrocyclic compounds, as well as antifungal and antiparisitic agents. Microbes also provided models for the development of the anticholesterolemic class of drugs (statins), and a broad range of antitumor antibiotics, while plants yielded novel anticancer drugs. The intensive investigation of the marine environment began in the 1970 s, leading to the isolation of a plethora of novel, bioactive chemotypes. The first marine-derived drug, Ziconotide, based on ω-conotoxin MVIIA from the venom of Conus magus, was approved in 2005 for the treatment of chronic pain. Since then, several marine-derived anticancer agents have been approved, and a number are in clinical trials. The largely untapped potential of terrestrial flora and the marine environment, the expanding study of microbial diversity, including extremophiles and symbiotic microbes, and the fast developing field of microbial genomics, hold immense promise for the discovery and development of novel drugs and drug leads. References: Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1830, 3670 – 3695, 2013; J. Nat. Prod. , 77, 703 – 723, 2014
Relationship of Social Interaction and Physical Self-Concept with Leisure Time Physical Activity among Iranian Students

Since physical activity level is a bridge between individuals’ psychological self-concept and the outside physical world, and self-concept can affect social Interactions, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the social Interaction and physical self-concept, and leisure-time physical activity level among males and female students in University of Tehran, Iran. A total of 380 male and female students participated in this descriptive-survey study. They were selected randomly. Data collection tools were three questionnaires including Physical self-descriptive questionnaire of March et al(1994) to measure physical self-concept, IPAQ questionnaire of Craig et al (2003) to assess physical activity level, and a researcher-made questionnaire to measure social Interactions. First, individuals who were supposed to participate in the current study were selected. Then, the questionnaires were distributed among them, and the collected data were analyzed in SPSS using Kendall Tau-c correlation coefficient. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between social Interaction and leisure-time activity among female and male students, and also between physical self-concept and leisure-time activity level. it was concluded that the relationship between social interaction and leisure-time activity was stronger among males compared to females, but the relationship between self-concept and leisure-time activity level was stronger among females, where as the relationship between leisure-time physical activity and social interaction was more among males, and the relationship between physical self-concept and leisure-time physical activity was the same both among females and males.
Exposure of Apis mellifera to Bee-Collected Pollen Containing Residues of Microencapsulated Methyl Parathion

Average mortality of adult honey bees, Apis mellifera L. , was from 29 to 72 times higher than normal the first 48 h after aged pollen containing microencapsulated methyl parathion (stored 13 ½ and 14 ½ months in the cells of wax combs) was introduced into small colonies. After one wk adult mortality was still 4 – 10 times higher than normal. After 4 wk, mortality was nearly normal again. Brood production of the exposed colonies was apparently only slightly affected. Chemical analysis of composite samples of the stored pollen showed that 26 ppm methyl parathion and 28 ppm degradation products from the polymer capsule were present. Wax and honey samples collected from these same combs at the same time contained only 0.03 and 0.05 ppm, respectively, of methyl parathion.
A Review of the Changes Protein pattern of wheat bread ( Triticum Aestivum ) in germination Stage Using Electrophoresis Techniques

The most crucial stage in plant growth process is seed germination. Germination wheat is the most important part of the wheat grain containing a great amount of protein whose existence creates better performance in the plant. The present study intended to investigate the changes in the proteomic pattern of Azar 2 bread wheat cultivars at the stage of wheat germination using Electrophoresis Technique in the laboratory. To this end, the proteins were extracted from the seeds on the first, third and fifth days of germination stage successively. Moreover, to estimate the protein concentration, Bradford Method was used. Besides, the extracted proteins were separated using Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) Method. After the Polyacrylamide Gel was stained using Coomassie (Kumasi) Brilliant Blue (CBB) R-250 staining and destained using Epson Expression Scanners, made by Pharmacia Scan Company, the results were accordingly analyzed by Image Master 6.0 Software. Based on the results obtained from comparing proteins’ expressions on the aforementioned three days of germination stage, it was remarked that 143 protein spots were recognized to be capable of reproducibility. Amongst the protein samples extracted from the days 1 and 3(1 and 2 phases) at germination stage, 30 protein spots showed statistically significant changes while there was a statistically significant change observed in33 samples extracted from days 1 and 5 (1 and 3 phases) and in 25 samples extracted from days 3 and 5 (2 and 3 phases) at germination stage. As a consequence, each of the protein spots with an observed significant expression change was eventually identified using their Molecular weight and Isoelectronic points through searching the related articles in Uniprot website.
A rapid, reliable bioassay for pathogenicity of Colletotrichum magna on cucurbits and its use in screening for nonpathogenic mutants

A rapid, reliable bioassay for large-scale screening of pathogenicity of Colletotrichum magna, a causal agent of anthracnose in cucurbits, was developed. This method involved exposing whole seedlings and cuttings (plants with excised root systems) to conidial suspensions in scintillation vials. The results corresponded well to disease responses observed by the standard leaf inoculation procedures. This continuous dip method allowed for a rapid disease response in cuttings; mortality occurred within 48-72 hr after inoculation (.)
ECOTOXICOLOGICAL METHODS FOR MONITORING THE EFFECTS OF MICROPOLLUTANTS IN WATERS C.2-Developments in site investigation and monitoring

Three different aquatic testorganisms: Daphnia magna (water flea), Lemna minor (common duckweed) and Heterocypris incongruens were applied to measure the effect of three emerging pollutants. A pharmaceutical (Na-diclofenac), a pesticide (metazachlor) and a psychoactive compound (nicotine) were tested in different concentrations. Innovative toxicology endpoints were used to reach higher sensitivity. In case of D. magna the heartbeat rate was determined, in case of L. minor the total chlorophyll content and in case of H. incongruens the average velocity and the total distance of the movement. Results show, that these innovative toxicity endpoints are more sensitive, than the commonly applied endpoints. The moving behaviour and heart rate of crustaceans were the most sensitive endpoints, with clear effects observed even at the μg/L level of some pollutants (diclofenac, β-estradiol, nicotine, triclosane) revealing the sublethal stresses caused by exposure to these emerging pollutants.
Notes on Peruvian Palms

Three new species of Peruvian palms are described: Wettinia longipetala A. Gentry, Chamaedorea megaphylla A. Gentry, and Chamaedorea smithii A. Gentry. In addition, the genus Dictyocaryum is reported from Peru for the first time, and new combinations are proposed for Geonoma trigona (Ruiz & Pavon) A. Gentry, Chamaedorea poeppigiana (Mart.) A. Gentry, and Chamaedorea latisecta (H. Moore) A. Gentry.
Area:III-V Compound Semiconductor and Concentrator and Space PV Technologies IMPROVEMENT OF EFFICIENCY FOR 4-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL UNDER REAL SUNLIGHT

Multi-junction solar cell is a promising technology to get a higher efficiency under concentrated sunlight. We have reported 42.0% efficiency of direct wafer bonded InGaP/GaAs/InGaAsP/InGaAs solar cell [1]. In this study, we measured the efficiency of 4-junction solar cell under real sunlight at summer and winter, and analyzed the I-V characteristics using estimated photocurrent of each subcell from EQE. I-V performances of 4-junction solar cell under real concentrated sunlight without a lens and with a fullglass lens were investigated in summer and winter in Chiba Japan as shown in Fig. 1. A step-like I-V curve at summer was observed, which showed 27.7% efficiency at 1-sun condition. With increasing the concentrated sunlight, I-V curve became almost flat, which showed 38.3% at 38-suns. On the other hand, in winter, I-V curve without a step was observed, which showed 28.5% at 1-sun. With increasing the concentrated sunlight, I-V curve also became almost flat, which showed 40.3% at 64-suns.These concentrated efficiencies were estimated by using a concentrated number N which was defined by dividing Jsc with a lens by Jsc without a lens. We have analyzed the reason why 4-junction cell in summer exhibited a step-like I-V curve and showed lower efficiency compared to that of winter. It was found that these performances were due to the current mismatching for photocurrents of each subcell, as shown in Fig . 2, which was caused by the difference of the real sunlight spectrum between summer and winter. On the base of these results, then, we designed the optimum thickness of each subcell by the simulation using the software of PV-cell (STR-Group) in order to improve these current mismatching. The optimum thickness of GaAs base layer was estimated to be 1000nm as shown in Fig 3. Those of other materials such as InGaP, InGaAsP and InGaAs were also estimated to be 400nm, 1750nm and 3000nm. We found that the new optimum design could give another 2% advantage for an efficiency of 4-junction solar cell.
Optimality of continuous cover vs. clear-cut regimes in managing forest resources

Optimization models on continuous cover forestry are complicated and typically incompatible with rotation models. This dichotomy is theoretically unsatisfactory and makes the choice between clearcuts and continuous cover forestry vague. We present a theoretically sound and empirically detailed generalized setup with an optimal clear-cut regime (or even-aged management) and optimal continuous cover regime (or uneven-aged management) as special cases. It includes a size-structured growth model, variable and fixed harvesting costs, and allows for the completely flexible optimization of harvest timing in both regimes. Flexible harvest timing becomes essential when optimizing the transition from clear-cut regimes toward continuous cover forestry. The model is applied to Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst. ) and solved as a dynamic mixed-integer problem. Low or moderate site productivity, an interest rate above 2%, and a high artificial regeneration cost support the optimality of continuous cover forestry. In.
Carnivores in burned and adjacent unburned areas in a Mediterranean ecosystem

Abstract Wildfire is a major disturbance factor that affects wildlife both directly and indirectly. To better understand its influence, carnivore mammals were monitored using scent stations, inside and outside a burned area of a typical Mediterranean ecosystem of Northern Hellas, in the second and third summers post-fire. The main Carnivora species in the study area were red fox (Vulpes vulpes), stone marten (Martes foina), and free-ranging dogs and cats. Carnivore visitation rate was found higher in the intensely burned area. Unburned and intensely burned areas differ by the absence of stone marten from the burned areas and the high visitation rate of fox in the intensely burned area. At a micro-scale level, no relation was found between carnivore visits and fire influence on vegetation of the moderately burned area. Wildlife managers would be advised to monitor fox populations after forest fires as their increased abundance may influence other species.
Does Economic Success Reduce Corruption? Evidence from Egypt

Corruption has been identified as an obstacle to economic development in poor countries. Recently, the international community has encouraged countries to combat corruption, often defined as the ‘abuse of public office for private gain’ by the World Bank. Some examples of attempted solutions include the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Anti-Bribery Convention and the United Nation’s Convention Against Corruption, which are two prominent examples of legally binding international agreements aiming to stem corruption. However, despite these efforts and intentions, eliminating corruption has proven difficult for most developing countries. Because of the prevalence of corruption, there is a robust body of literature that examines the causal effect of corruption on economic growth, although the consensus regarding the precise direction of this relationship isn’t settled. For example, Méon and Sekkat (2005) summarize the two hypotheses pertaining to corruption when they write that it can either ‘grease’ or ‘sand’ the wheels driving economic development. Indeed, some of the literature has found that corruption can encourage economic growth by helping firms avoid political constraints that impede business. Recently, Ayaydin and Hayaloglu (2014) suggests that corruption could increase economic growth since illegal practices and payments also known as ‘speed money’ could increase firm productivity. However, the predominant findings of the literature suggest that corruption is likely to reduce economic growth by slowing efficiency, hampering productivity, and distorting market conditions. Usually, these problems manifest themselves in the form of monetary bribes to government officials or institutional challenges that affect business operations.
Assessing transitions through socio-technical network analysis â€“ a methodological framework and a case study from the water sector

Classic accounts of transitions research have dominantly built on reconstructions of historical transition processes and in-depth case studies to identify and conceptualize socio-technical change. While such approaches have substantively improved our understanding of transitions, they often suffer from a methodological nationalism and lack of generalizability of the insights gained. To address this gap, we propose a novel methodology â€“ socio-technical network analysis (STNA) â€“ to map and measure socio-technical alignment processes across time and space. STNA provides a relational and dynamic perspective on how social and technical elements get reconfigured and aligned into â€œconfigurations that workâ€ , allowing for the identification of differentiated transition trajectories at and across spatial context. The methodâ€™s performance is illustrated by the empirical case of ongoing transition processes in the global water sector. Building on this illustration, we outline potential future avenues of research, sketching the contours of what we believe could become a very generative conceptual perspective and methodological approach for transitions research in the future.
Text Mining for Aspect Based Sentiment Analysis on Customer Review : A Case Study in the Hotel Industry

The development of the role of the OTA (Online Travel Agent) site has become one of the E-WOM (Electronic Word of Mouth) media in addition to its main function as a platform for ticket reservations to encourage stakeholders in the hotel industry to utilize E-WOM for business continuity. One of the guest houses in Malang realized the importance of E-WOM because 90 percent of the booking process originated from the OTA website. However, the process of processing customer reviews only focuses on physical reviews, namely Guest Reviews. Meanwhile, information from online sources can have a more significant impact on E-WOM. One of the techniques of text mining is sentiment analysis which can be used to process and group text reviews. Sentiment analysis can be done to determine the sentiment of opinions on customer reviews to determine customer satisfaction with guest house services that aim to produce a positive E-WOM. Sentiment analysis is carried out at the aspect level using aspects of location, room, food, price, and service. The text of the review used in Indonesian originates from the sites Agoda.com, Expedia, Pegi-Pegi, Booking.Com, TripAdvisor and has a timeline from 2012 to 2019. This research yields findings in the form of customer satisfaction analysis of the five aspects where food aspects have urgency to be addressed and corrected immediately. Evaluation of the classification results also proves the effectiveness of the SVM method from Naïve Bayes
AN APPLICATION OF RANDOM POLYNOMIALS TO WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

Shepp and Vanderbei developed techniques for analyzing the complex zeros of a random polynomial with independent standard normal coeﬃcients. In this paper we will adapt their techniques and apply them to a problem posed by Schober and Gerstacker concerning the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)/EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) standard for mobile phones. The problem is to study the behavior of the complex roots of random polynomials with mean zero complex Gaussian coeﬃcients, where the variances are exponentially increasing or decreasing. While Schober and Gerstacker studied the case of independent coeﬃcients, we will look at what happens when they are assumed to be dependent. Applying a result of Hughes and Nikeghbali, we will ﬁrst show that, without any restrictions on the dependence of the coeﬃcients, the roots accumulate around a circle in the complex plane, uniformly in the angle, where the radius is determined by the coeﬃcient variances. This result matches that obtained in the independent case. By adding certain conditions to the covariance function of the coeﬃcients, we will then be able to use Shepp and Vanderbei’s techniques to obtain a more detailed analysis of this behavior.
The Role of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is metabolized to 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D) in the liver and subsequently to 1α, 25-dihydrovitamin D [1, 25-(OH)2D] or 24 R, 25- dihydroxyvitamin D [24, 25-(OH)2D] in the kidney when plasma calcium concentrations are lower or higher than normal (10 mg/ 100 mL). 1, 25-(OH)2D, which is known as an active form of vitamin D, is transported to the target organs, i.e., intestine, bone and others, to show the physiological activity. The most important role of 1, 25-(OH)2D is to keep the calcium homeostasis by accerelating the intestinal calcium absorption and bone remodeling. Recently, it has been clarified that the metabolite has the activity to differentiate myeloid leukemia cells to macrophages. The results suggested that 1, 25-(OH)2D and its modified compounds are available for the differentiation therapy for curing and preventing some kinds of cancer, i.e., myeloid leukemia, skin cancer, colon cancer and others. The metabolite has been also confirmed to be effective for curing the psoriasis.
Rigorous Theoretical Arguments for Suppression of the Lamb Shift

The main purpose is to elucidate the role of the hidden symmetry of the Dirac-Coulomb problem and to show algebraic possibilities for derivation of spectra. It is shown that the requirement of invariance of the Dirac Hamiltonian under some kind of Witten’s superalgebra picks out the Coulomb potential only. It follows that the traditional view on the Coulomb potential is to be changed in the context of N=2 supersymmetry. © 2013 Bull. Georg. Natl. Acad. Sci.
Bile salt hydroxylation as a mechanism for detoxification in SPGP knockout mice

In humans, mutations in the Sister of P-glycoprotein (spgp) gene involved in bile salt transport lead to progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 2 (PFIC2). Generation of the spgp'' mice demonstrated that the mice are not affected as severely as humans. Analysis of the biliary bile salt pool of the spgp'' mice indicated the presence of tetrahydroxylated bile salts. However, the transport rate of the hydrophilic bile salts was unaffected. Examination of tetrahydroxylated bile salts as a possible detoxification mechanism requires identification and characterization of the enzyme involved. Development of an HPLC bile salt separation method generated bile salt profiles of spgp''' and wild-type mice fed a normal or 0.5% cholic acid (CA) enriched diet. Analysis of the profiles suggested the 2-day change in diet had little effect on the already elevated levels of tetrahydroxylated bile salt levels in the spgp''' mice. However, wild-type mice produced increased levels of the tetrahydroxylated bile salt when fed the 0.5% CA diet. Three tetrahydroxylated bile salt species were present in the HPLC profiles. Expression analysis of the CYP3A family, the three major enzymes in bile salt synthesis, and f ive of the main nuclear receptors involved in the regulation of cholesterol and bile salt metabolism was performed using Northern Blot analysis and real-time PCR. When tetrahydroxylated bile salt levels were compared to the mRNA expression levels, there was little correlation to the candidate genes tested. Furthermore, the reduction in CYP7A1 and CYP8B1 expression levels under the 0.5% CA supplemented diet indicated substrates from these pathways are not involved in the synthesis of the tetrahydroxylated bile salts. Consequently, it is believed that bile salt tetrahydroxylation is either regulated at the protein level or is due to expression of a gene not tested. Table of
Two new species of scincid lizards of the genus Emoia from Santa Cruz and Duff Islands, Solomon Islands

DAWSON, C. E. 1977. Synopsis of syngnathine pipefishes usually referred to the genus Ichthyocampus Kaup, with description of new genera and species. Bull. Mar. Sci. 27:595-650. 1980. Notes on some Siboga Expedition pipefishes previously referred to the genus Syngnathus. Bijdr. Dierk. , Amsterdam 50:221-226. 1982a. The pipefishes (subfamilies Doryrhamphinae and Syngnathinae). Fishes of the Western North Atlantic, Sears Foundation for Marine Research Mem. 1:4-172.