Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INCIDENCE OF BACTERIA AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF SELECTED TYPES OF TEA

The purpose of this study was to determine in vitro antibacterial activity of selected teas (Assam: Indian black tea from Camellia sinensis, Pu-erh: darkpu-erh (shu) from Camellia sinensis, Sencha: Japanese green tea from Camellia sinensis) against five species of pathogenic microorganisms. In our study, we determined the total viable count (TVC), yeasts (Y) and Enterobacteriaceae counts (E). MALDI-TOF MS Biotyper was used for identification of colonies after cultivation. Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity was performed by disc diffusion method, well diffusion method and detection of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). For antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli CCM 2024, Yersinia enterocolitica CCM 5671, Klebsiella pneumonie CCM 2318, Staphylococus aureus CCM 2461 and Bacillus thurigiensis CCM19 were detected. The inhibition zones were measured in mm in disc diffusion method and well diffusion method. The MIC of the individual extracts was measured spectrophotometrically. The high number of total viable count was found in Pu-erh tea (2.1 log CFU.g) and lowest number was found in Assam tea (0.7 log CFU.g). The high number of Enterobacteriacea was found in Pu-erh tea (2.03 log CFU.g) and lowest in Assam tea (0 log CFU.g). The higher number of yeasts was found in Pu-erh tea (1.83 log CFU.g) and lowest in Assam tea (0.3 log CFU.g). Mass spectrometry revealed the presence of seven Gram positive bacteria Bacillus cereus, B. mycoides, B. pumilus, Enterococcus durans, Staphylococcus epidermis, S. hominis, S. warneri, four Gram negative bacteria Acinetobacter junii, Hafnia alvei, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Sphingomonas spp. and two yeast Candida glabrata, Cryptococcus albidus. The results show that certain tea extracts are particularly active against various pathogenic bacteria. Tea extracts (Sencha, Rooibos, Mate, Assam) were found to have the strongest antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus
Waste material flow analysis in the Łódź Metropolitan Area

The main sources of waste generation are: industry, municipal sector, and agriculture. Municipal waste is solid and liquid waste that arise in households, public utilities (trade, services, handicrafts) and municipal services (e.g. street cleaning and maintenance of green areas). The main aim of this paper are the analysis of the flow of municipal solid waste in Łodź Metropolitan Area, its composition, presentation of the process towards a more selective waste system, and the extraction of biodegradable waste from the MSW. The article is based on a report prepared within the Horizon 2020 project REPAiR “Resource Management in Peri-urban Areas: Going Beyond Urban Metabolism”.
Addressing Issues Surrounding Food Insecurity and Promote Environmentalism In Urban Settings Using Community Gardens

This capstone project reviews the effect community gardens have on the low-income, urban population. After reviewing the history of racism in America, disproportionalities of food insecurity, how poverty correlates to health, and various environmental impacts specific to urban communities, this project was an effort to expand on that research and provide a solution. Food deserts exist in many of today’s American cities, which lead to food insecurity and negative health outcomes. A community garden is a low-cost, effective way to obtain healthy food and simultaneously benefit the environment. This five-day unit of study takes place at an established community garden. It teaches middle school students about the benefits of gardening using STEM lessons activities. Students will design their own garden and be able to explain why a community garden is important to the success of their own neighborhood.
Associating Landscape Variables with Nesting Occupancy and Success of Songbirds Using Nest Boxes in Semi-urban Greenspaces

Habitat fragmentation and loss of biodiversity due to urbanization is happening at a rapid pace. Greenspaces within our cities can provide habitat for native species, and effective management of urban and semi-urban parks is an increasingly important way to support these species. I compared landscape metrics surrounding nest boxes used by five avian species in four semi-urban parks of central coastal California, USA, to determine which land cover elements best predicted nest box occupancy and success. Five species were included in this study – Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), Chestnutbacked Chickadee (Poecile rufescens), Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus), Violetgreen Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina), and Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana). Data on nest box occupancy and success from 96 nest boxes at four study sites were collected over five years. The landscape variables influencing box occupancy and success differed among the species, but tree cover was a high-ranked predictor for all species. The influence of human-made land cover and distance to water also differed among species but had less influence on box occupancy and success than tree cover. My research on landscape preferences among secondary cavity nesting birds in semi-urban greenspaces matched previous research conducted in natural environments, suggesting that these species have potential to nest in semi-urban environments given specific tree cover parameters. This information can be used to support avian biodiversity through appropriate land management practices at the study sites themselves and in other urban and semi-urban greenspaces.
Sample-Efficient Learning-Based Controller For Bipedal Walking In Robotic Systems

Bipedal locomotion in robotic systems remains a generally unsolved challenge. With only a few exceptions like the Boston Dynamics’ robot Atlas or Digit from Agility Robotics, no humanoid robot is able to dynamically traverse its environment on two legs guaranteeing to keep balance on rough terrain and recover from perturbations. The reason is likely to be the complexity of the walking motion requiring processing high dimensional sensory input and producing synchronized motor commands for multiple joints at high control rates. Deep Reinforcement Learning (deep RL) was successfully applied to replicate dynamic bipedal locomotion in physics-based simulations on different level of complexities, starting from outputting target angles for PD position controllers in each joint (Peng et al., 2018a) to controlling 284 muscle activations of a full-body musculoskeletal model (Lee et al., 2019). Despite these promising results, deep RL is only slowly finding its way into the robotics community. As one of the main reasons for that, we see the low sample efficiency of this algorithmic approach. The aim of this work is therefore to improve the sample efficiency of deep RL in the specific case of training bipedal walking in simulation. We follow the imitation learning approach of DeepMimic (Peng et al., 2018a) and use the Proximal Policy Optimization algorithm (Schulman et al., 2017) to achieve stable and visually human-like forward walking in 3D. We further develop a new metric for measuring the sample efficiency of an algorithm in the considered context and show that changing the action space and incorporating the knowledge about the symmetry of the walking gait increase the sample efficiency by up to 53%. The combination of our best approaches reduced the required number of samples to achieve stable walking by 78% corresponding to a resulting wall-clock time of approximately two hours.
Development, Physical and Sensory Evaluation of Chapathi (Indian Flatbread) Produced by Utilizing Legumes, Nutri-Cereals and Wheat Flour

In this study, the development and physicochemical of MMFM (minor millet flour mix) and sensory qualities of MMFM chapathis (unleavened Indian flatbread) were evaluated at different proportions. Flour mixes were developed blending of minor millet flour and Nutri-cereals flours with wheat flour in different rations V1(75:25:0) (Millets: Other grains: Wheat flour), V2(60:25:15) V3 (50:25:25) V4(45:25:30), V5(30:25:45) V6(0: 75: 25) V7(100) and V8 (100 without gums) respectively and 100% wheat flour used as control. The functional properties of flours mixes were tested and results revealed that swelling capacity, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, gelatinization Original Research Article Mounika et al.; CJAST, 39(18): 68-76, 2020; Article no.CJAST. 56479 69 temperature, water retention capacity and bulk density were increased with an increase in the incorporation of other flours with wheat flour. Further, the color values of millet-based chapathis showed significant changes when the level of millet flour substitution was increased. The L* and b* values decreased while a* value increased. Regarding sensory properties, control wheat chapathis had better acceptability than the composite chapathis. Sensory evaluation revealed that overall acceptability for millet and nutricereals flour-based chapathis was awarded the highest score for V6 followed by V5, V4, and V3 as compared to control Chapathi. All chapathis were coinciding the range of ‘like moderately’ to ‘like very much’ for control chapathis while ‘like slightly’ to like moderately’ for experimental chapathis. Based on the generated results, novel chapathis could be formulated by substituting wheat with more than 50% flour.
GENERIC ALLOCATION OF THE TAWNY-CROWNED HONEYEATER

The genus Glyciphila Swainson 1837 was proposed for the Tawny-crowned Honeyeater G. melanops. Subsequent authors have at various times placed as many as six other species in this genus. These fall into several natural groups which, other than being small slender honeyeaters with thin, slightly curved bills, have little else to suggest that they form a natural assemblage. Mees (1961) considered Glyciphila to be an artificial grouping and Salomonsen (1967) allocated all the species to other genera, disbanding Glyciphila altogether. Among Salomonsen's changes was the combination of four species of Glyciphila (melanops, White-fronted Honeyeater albifrons, Barred Honeyeater undulata of New Caledonia and White-bellied Honeyeater notabilis of New Hebrides) and two species of Meliornis G.R. Gray 1840 (New Holland Honeyeater novaehollandiae and Whitecheeked Honeyeater nigra) with the Crescent Honeyeater Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera, with this new arrangement taking the oldest name, Phylidonyris Lesson 1831.
Measuring DoT/DoH Blocking Using OONI Probe: a Preliminary Study

—We designed DNSCheck, an active network exper-iment to detect the blocking of DoT/DoH services. We implemented DNSCheck into OONI Probe, the network-interference measurement tool we develop since 2012. We compiled a list of popular DoT/DoH services and ran DNSCheck measurements with help from volunteer OONI Probe users. We present pre-liminary results from measurements in Kazakhstan (AS48716), Iran (AS197207), and China (AS45090). We tested 123 DoT/DoH services, corresponding to 461 TCP/QUIC endpoints. We found endpoints to fail or succeed consistently. In AS197207 (Iran), 50% of the DoT endpoints seem blocked. Otherwise, we found that more than 80% of the tested endpoints were always reachable. The most frequently blocked services are Cloudﬂare’s and Google’s. In most cases, attempting to reach blocked endpoints failed with a timeout. We observed timeouts connecting, during, and after the TLS handshake. TLS blocking depends on either the SNI or the destination endpoint.
ESTIMATING MARKET VALUE OF APARTMENTS USING THE k-NEAREST NEIGHBORS ALGORITHM

Marko Dragojević 1 Nikola Stančić 2 UDK: 332,622 DOI: 10.14415/konferencijaGFS2019.098 Summary: The market value of apartments is, as the name itself suggests, defined by the sellers and the buyers through supply and demand – elements that collectively make up the market. Observing a large number of factors affecting the price of real estate is not an easy job. Price formation depends on both the characteristics of the apartment and the buyer’s value-system. The basic question that a rational customer asks himself is "why would I pay a larger sum of money for the same or practically same thing than what someone else paid for it just recently? ". This fact leads to the conclusion that it is necessary to know the characteristics and prices of the real estates traded in the near past and in the close surrounding. A comparative way of customer’s thinking is the basic principle for defining one such model. This is a necessary but not sufficient condition. Models based on the machine learning algorithms (among them k-Nearest Neighbors algorithm) require having a larger amount of data, so that the made conclusions can be reliable, accurate, and precise.
Rauwolfia vomitoria induce alteración del hipocampo

Rauwolfia vomitoria Afzel. is an antipsychotic plant used by several African communities in the management of psychiatric conditions with good outcomes. Concerns about its dosages on brain activity lead to this investigation of its action on the hippocampal microstructure. Twenty-four adult male Wistar rats of average weight 200 g, were assigned into four groups (n = 6): control; 200, 300 and 400 mg/kg body weight of RV root bark extract, respectively. The administration was once daily, and orally for seven days. Daily observation of the animals was done till on day eight when they were sacrificed after deep anaesthesia. Each brain was processed for histology and immunohistochemical studies. Receipt: 07/10/2020 Acceptance: 30/10/2020 doi: 10.32457/ijmss.v7i2. 562 2 Moses B. Ekong, Ubong U. Ekpene, Agnes A. Nwakanma & Christopher C. Mbadugha Animals in the 200, 300 and 400 mg/kg RV groups appeared generally dull and drowsy, and barely fed. Their hippocampal histology showed neuronal atrophy and karyorrhexis, with no difference in cell count, although the pyramidal cell numbers decreased in the 300 and 400 mg/kg RV groups. Neuron-specific enolase decreased in the 400 mg/kg RV group, while neurofilament decreased in all test groups. Glial fibrillary acidic protein expression and density increased in the 200 and 300 mg/kg RV groups, but not the 400 mg/kg RV group, all compared with the control group. The given doses of RV root bark extract in adult Wistar rats showed sedative activities with hippocampal histopathological changes, which may not be reversible, thereby leading to the hippocampal functional deficit.
Early dynamics of circulating tumor DNA predict chemotherapy responses for patients with esophageal cancer

Purpose: We investigated whether early circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) changes, measured using digital PCR (dPCR), can predict later chemotherapy responses in esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC). Design: We compared the dynamics of ctDNA and tumor volumes during chemotherapy in 42 ESCC. The accuracy of predictions of later chemotherapy responses were evaluated by the ratio of the variant allele frequency (VAF) of ctDNA (post-/pre-ctDNA) and the total tumor volume (post-/pre-volume) before and after an initial chemotherapy cycle using a receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis. Total positive and negative objective responses (ORs) were defined as either >50% or [≤]50% reductions, respectively, in the total tumor volume at the end of first-line chemotherapy. Results: Mutation screening of 43 tumors from 42 patients revealed 96 mutations. The pretreatment dPCR-ctDNA data were informative in 38 patients, using 70 selected mutations (1-3 per patient). The areas under the curve (AUCs) for the post-/pre-volume and post-/pre-ctDNA levels used in predicting the total OR were 0.85 and 0.88, respectively. The optimal cutoff value of post-/pre-ctDNA was 0.13. In 90% (18/20) of patients with a post-/pre-volume [≥]50%, the total OR could be predicted by the post-/pre-ctDNA with high accuracy; the AUC by post-/pre-ctDNA was higher than that by post-/pre-volume (0.85 vs 0.76, respectively). Patients with low post-/pre-ctDNA (n = 18) had a significantly better overall survival rate than those with high post-/pre-ctDNA (n = 20; P = 0.03). Conclusions: Early ctDNA changes after an initial cycle of chemotherapy predict later responses to treatment with high accuracy in ESCC patients.
Heterogeneity of neutral phosphate buffer extractable soil organic matter

Abstract To examine whether neutral phosphate buffer (NPB) extractable soil organic matter (SOM) is a homogeneous compound, we isolated NPB-extractable SOM using preparative size exclusion chromatography (PSEC) and analyzed them with high performance liquid chromatography using two different separation modes: size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC). Fractions isolated using PSEC had different retention times in both SEC and HIC. Their apparent molecular weights based on SEC retention time and a protein standard ranged from 2,100 to 34,000 Da. These fractions also had a different adsorption ratio to a HIC column, which implies a difference in the hydrophobicity of the components between fractions. The magnitude of these differences varied among the four soil types investigated (Haplic Andosol, Low-humic Andosol, Cambisol and Gleysol). These results suggest that NPB-extractable SOM, rather than being uniform, is an assembly of compounds with diverse constituents and molecular weight distributions.
THE ROTATION AND CHROMOSPHERIC ACTIVITY OF THE SOLAR-TYPE STARS IN THE OPEN CLUSTER M67

We report the results of a program to measure rotation periods and chromospheric activity in solar-type members of the approximately solar-age and solar-metallicity open cluster, M67. We utilize Kepler/K2 data from Campaign 5 along with contemporaneous spectroscopic observations of the Ca ii H and K resonance lines as obtained with the 3.5-m WIYN telescope on Kitt Peak in conjunction with its Hydra multi-object spectrograph. We find for the solar-type stars in our sample that are classified as single members and that also exhibit rotational modulation of their light curves a mean rotation period of 23.0 days with a standard deviation for the sample of 2.7 days. With few exceptions, we do not detect solar-like rotation periods of 26 days or longer in the K2 data. Among the binaries with a solar-type primary in our sample, we find a faster mean rotation period of 15.4 ± 8.5 days. A general decline in chromospheric activity with increasing rotation period is present though with considerable scatter among the single members with rotation periods greater than about 19 days. The single solar-type M67 stars exhibit a correlation of activity with Rossby number that is opposite to that seen in the inhomogeneous (in age and metallicity) sample of field stars from the Mt. Wilson HK Survey. This unconventional behavior was theoretically predicted for stars characterized by Rossby number (the ratio of rotation period to convective turnover time) exceeding that of the Sun. Such stars are expected to have antisolar differential rotation, but with an increased angular velocity contrast between rapidly rotating poles and a slow equator. We also find that single solar-type members warmer than the Sun tend to have enhanced chromospheric emission than would otherwise be predicted by empirical relations for chromospheric decay combined with rotational evolution models. Finally, we estimate stellar ages based on gyrochronology relations and age-activity correlations, respectively, determining a mean chromospheric age of 4.5 ± 1.9 Gyr and a mean gyroage of 4.2 ± 1.0 Gyr. We discuss these methods for stellar age determination particularly in the context of their applicability for identifying stars in the field with ages similar to that of the Sun.
Factory‐scale proving trials using combined mixtures of three by‐product wastes (including incinerated sewage sludge ash) in clay building bricks

This paper reports the results of a series of factory trials which has been recently completed involving Staffordshire University, a major United Kingdom water company and a commercial brick manufacturer, which demonstrate the practical possibilities of incorporating three by-product wastes, waterworks sludge, incinerated sewage sludge ash and carpet yarn, into the commercial brick-manufacturing process as a sustainable alternative to their current disposal route of landfill. An initial laboratory development programme primarily involving waterworks sludge or water treatment residue (WTR) confirmed the technical feasibility of its use in brick-making as an alternative disposal route. However, owing to the very high water content of this waste when freshly produced, ranging between 85 and 70% depending on individual sources, its introduction into the commercial brick-making processes was identified as likely to present practical difficulties. Consequently, to overcome this problem the reported work describes a successful way in which the handling of WTR was improved by pre-mixing it with the two other by-products that jointly possess water-absorbing properties and the ability of improving the unfired strength of the experimental products. This investigation then progressed from the laboratory to full-scale brickworks trials encompassing the manufacture of >300000 experimental bricks. This work programme also included emission monitoring during the firing process, together with full physical testing of the experimental products for direct comparison with the standard commercial products manufactured at the collaborating brick factory.
Effect of surface modification on uptake rates of isobutane in MFI crystals: An infrared Microscopy study

Many recent investigations have confirmed the presence of surface barriers in a variety of zeolites. These surface barriers can have a significant effect on the overall rates of mass transfer and have the potential to significantly reduce the effectiveness of zeolites in industrial applications. In this study, the strength of the surface barrier was manipulated in a well-defined way and correlated with the rate of isobutane uptake. Silicalite-1 crystals were synthesized and were surface treated with trimethyl-, triethyl- and tripropylchlorosilanes. It was hypothesized that with the increasing size of the alkyl group the pore windows would be increasingly blocked, thereby effectively decreasing the pore size and increasing the surface barriers. The rates of adsorption and desorption of isobutane in untreated and treated samples were monitored by infrared microscopy. For differential pressure steps, adsorption and desorption responses were mirror images of one another. For large pressure steps, the rate of .
Marsquake Locations and 1‐D Seismic Models for Mars From InSight Data

We present inversions for the structure of Mars using the first Martian seismic record collected by the InSight lander. We identified and used arrival times of direct, multiples, and depth phases of body waves, for 17 marsquakes to constrain the quake locations and the one‐dimensional average interior structure of Mars. We found the marsquake hypocenters to be shallower than 40 km depth, most of them being located in the Cerberus Fossae graben system, which could be a source of marsquakes. Our results show a significant velocity jump between the upper and the lower part of the crust, interpreted as the transition between intrusive and extrusive rocks. The lower crust makes up a significant fraction of the crust, with seismic velocities compatible with those of mafic to ultramafic rocks. Additional constraints on the crustal thickness from previous seismic analyses, combined with modeling relying on gravity and topography measurements, yield constraints on the present‐day thermochemical state of Mars and on its long‐term history. Our most constrained inversion results indicate a present‐day surface heat flux of 22 ± 1 mW/m2, a relatively hot mantle (potential temperature: 1740 ± 90 K) and a thick lithosphere (540 ± 120 km), associated with a lithospheric thermal gradient of 1.9 ± 0.3 K/km. These results are compatible with recent seismic studies using a reduced data set and different inversion approaches, confirming that Mars' potential mantle temperature was initially relatively cold (1780 ± 50 K) compared to that of its present‐day state, and that its crust contains 10–12 times more heat‐producing elements than the primitive mantle.