Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Molecularly Imprinted Polymer for Selective Extraction of Phenolic Acids from Human Urine

Studies for monitoring the bioavailability of dietary flavonoid compounds generate great interest. Among them, low-molecular-weight phenolic acids, secondary metabolites present in colonic catabolism and urinary excretion, have been proposed as biomarkers of polyphenol intake. Using 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid as a template, a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized for selective extraction of these hydroxylated metabolites from human urine samples and posterior analysis in an HPLC-DAD-MS system. Polymers were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, and binding experiments. MIP presents specific recognition ability for template and analogues molecules. This capacity of recognition and the pH dependence of the binding strength was also studied. The method was validated over a concentration range of 0.25–40 mg/L, r2 > 0.995. In the optimized conditions, the recovery value was 94% with RSD 1.2%. The Limit of Detection (LOD) and Limit of Quantification (LOQ) were 1.22 and 3.69 mg/L, respectively. In our knowledge, it is the first time that this methodology is applied to analyze urinary catabolites of the polyphenol compound and to provide a specific method and simple analysis alternative. The selective extraction of these metabolites improves the application and results obtained by other less sensitive analysis methods than the validation method. It also facilitates the development of new screening methods.
Predictors of transfer behaviours in adult university students

Adult students are critical to addressing the college completion crisis. Retention and completion for adults lags behind students who enter college directly from high school. However, higher education has largely been built around service to younger high school graduates, and institutions are slow to change. A shift in focus to accommodate the needs and interests of adult learners will require additional research regarding the enrollment patterns and behaviours of adult students. This study uses quantitative methods and the Beginning Postsecondary Students 12/14 dataset to consider the role of transfer in the experience of the adult learner, with specific attention to the characteristics, demographics and experiences of adult transfer students as well as the predictors of reverse and lateral transfer behaviour in adult student populations.
To till or not to till in a temperate ecosystem? Implications for climate change mitigation

The management of agricultural soils affect the composition and scale of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There is conflicting evidence on the effect of zero-tillage on carbon storage and GHG emissions. Here we assess the effects of zero-tillage over a range of time frames (1–15 years) on carbon storage and GHG release and their controls in the UK Net global warming potential was 30% lower under zero-tillage systems, due to lower carbon dioxide fluxes, with the greatest impacts after longer periods of zero-tillage management. Simultaneously, in zero-tillage systems, soil carbon stocks and the proportion of sequestered recalcitrant carbon increased while the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration decreased with time, compared to conventionally soils. We conclude that zero-tillage could play a crucial role in both reducing GHG emissions and at the same time increase soil carbon sequestration, therefore contributing to mitigate against climate change. Our findings are particularly important in the context of designing new policies (for example the Environmental Land Management Schemes in the UK) that ensure the sustainability of agricultural production in a changing climate.
Flatness-Based Discrete-Time Control of a Battery Emulator Driving a Constant Power Load

In this article, a new method for controlling battery emulators in the shape of bidirectional step-down converters driving constant power loads (CPL) is presented. The CPL introduces nonlinear behavior into the system and causes unstable system dynamics. This property and the discontinuity introduced by the switches make it challenging to develop a suitable control strategy. Usually, switching frequencies are assumed to be fast enough for the controller to neglect the fact that the switches are either ON or OFF. As the desired dynamics of the system approaches the switching frequency of the converter, the discontinuity of the switches can no longer be ignored and the controller has to generate a suitable piecewise constant control input. A novel approach for arriving at a piecewise constant control input is presented and compared to state-of-the-art approaches. The advantages of the new control method are demonstrated with simulations as well as measurements from a hardware-in-the-loop testbed.
Transformer-Based VCO for W-Band Automotive Radar Applications

A transformer-based voltage-controlled oscillator for a W-band frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) automotive radar application is presented. The design challenges imposed by the millimeter-wave frequency operation were faced through a circuit and layout co-design approach, supported by extensive electromagnetic simulations and accurate analysis of both the start-up condition and the tank quality factor. The oscillator was implemented in a 28-nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (SOI) complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. It provided a 37 GHz oscillation frequency with a variation of around 4 GHz, thus achieving a tuning range of 11%. Moreover, a 77 GHz output signal was also delivered, which was extracted as a second harmonic from the input-pair common-mode node. The circuit exhibited low phase noises, whose average performances were −97 dBc/Hz and −121 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz and 10 MHz offset frequencies, respectively. It delivered a 77-GHz output power of −10.5 dBm and dissipated 26 mW with a 1 V power supply. The silicon area occupation was 300 × 135 µm.
Performance Analysis of Nonlinear Self-Interference Cancellation With Timing Error in Full-Duplex Systems

In this letter, with consideration of the approximation error due to the order of the nonlinear canceller is smaller than that of the nonlinearity model, the performance of the nonlinear self-interference (SI) cancellation is analyzed under imperfect time synchronization. First, the system model of the nonlinear SI cancellation is characterized in the presence of the timing error (TE) between the received SI and the reconstructed one. Next, the closed-form expressions of the residual SI power and the SI cancellation ratio (SICR) are derived for two cases that the order of the nonlinear canceller is smaller than or equal to that of the nonlinear model, which can be used to evaluate the performance degradation of the nonlinear SI cancellation caused by TE. Finally, simulation results reveal that the performance of the nonlinear SI cancellation is sensitive to TE when the nonlinear order of the canceller is sufficient, where the existence of the signal-of-interest (SoI) is also considered.
Prebreakdown phenomena in dielectric liquids

The aim of this paper is to make a synthesis of a number of characteristic features of prebreakdown phenomena in liquids, e.g. those events which precede arc development. The subject is restricted to short term processes in the bulk, more specifically of hydrocarbons. First, the basic physical properties involved in the prebreakdown mechanisms are considered, with special emphasis on the influence of pressure and temperature on the physical and electronic properties of liquids and their vapor. Following this, the advantages of using a point-plane electrode geometry to study separately cathodic and anodic prebreakdown stages are demonstrated. To begin with, there is injection of carriers which consequently produces avalanches in the liquid followed by bubble generation. These mechanisms are now well characterized. Eventually, discharge channels are developed, streamers or leaders. The initiation and the propagation of these channels depend on many experimental conditions which are discussed. Characterization and understanding of these phenomena are in progress. Finally, prebreakdown phenomena in uniform fields are considered, either at short (/spl mu/m) gaps or at large gaps, in the presence of large protrusions or free moving particles. >
Intercomparison of IBBCEAS, NitroMAC and FTIR for HONO, NO2 and HCHO measurements during the reaction of NO2 with H2O vapor in the atmospheric simulation chamber of CESAM

Abstract. We report on applications of ultraviolet light emitted diode based incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (UV-LED-IBBCEAS) technique for optical monitoring of HONO, NO2 and CH2O in a simulation chamber. Performance intercomparison of the UV-LED-IBBCEAS with a wet chemistry-based NitroMAC sensor and a FTIR spectrometer has been carried out on real time simultaneous measurement of HONO, NO2 and CH2O concentrations during the reaction of NO2 with H2O vapor in the CESAM atmospheric simulation chamber. 1-σ (SNR = 1) detection limits of 200 pptv for NO2, 100 pptv for HONO and 5 ppbv for CH2O over 120 s were found for the UV-LED-IBBCEAS measurement. On the contrary to many set-ups where cavities are installed outside the simulation chamber, we describe here an original in-situ permanent installation. The intercomparison results demonstrate that IBBCEAS is a very well suitable technique for in situ simultaneous measurements of multiple chemically reactive species with high sensitivity and high precision even if the absorption bands of these species are overlapped. It offers excellent capacity to non-invasive optical monitoring of chemical reaction without any perturbation. For the application to simulation chamber, it has the advantage to provide a spatially integrated measurement across the reactor and hence to avoid point sampling related artefact.
Comparison of Length and Weight Characteristics of O. niloticus and O. aureus from Garmat Ali River, Iraq

Cichlid species invaded the Iraqi waters in the mid-2000s and are now dominant fish species. The present study was carried out to investigate the age and growth of two cichlid species, Oreochromis niloticus and O. aureus in Garmat Ali River, Iraq from October 2019 to September 2020. A total of 2707 specimens of O. niloticus ranging from 7.0 to 25.5 cm and 1664 of O. aureus varying from 7.0 to 26.3 cm were examined which were captured by various fishing gears. The length-frequency distributions revealed that fish lengths (13.0-18.0 cm) formed 64.1% of the total catch of O. niloticus and 67.2% of O. aureus. The length-weight relationships were W=0.012*L for O. niloticusand W=0.015*L 3.075 for O. aureus, and both species indicated positive allometric growth. The highest values of the relative condition factor were obtained during spring and the values decrease when length of two species increase. Seven age groups were determined for O. niloticus: 9.9, 12.9, 15.6, 17.9, 19.4, 20.4 and 22.2 cm, and for O. aureus: 9.3, 12.5, 15.2, 18.0, 19.4, 21.3 and 22.2 cm. The theoretical maximum length (L∞) was 29.2 cm for O. niloticus and 28.6 cmfor O. aureus. These results can assist in fisheries management and conservation of the fish species in Iraqi waters. Original Research Article Mohamed andSalman; AJFAR, 11(2): 39-51, 2021; Article no.AJFAR. 64846 40
CI-NN: A Model-Driven Deep Learning-Based Constructive Interference Precoding Scheme

Constructive interference (CI) precoding is a promising and efficient interference management scheme. However, the symbol-level operations required for CI precoding make this precoding scheme face a bottleneck of high computational complexity. To solve the above problem and make CI precoding applicable to high data rate transmission scenarios, in this letter, we propose a deep learning (DL)-based precoding design method driven by a CI communication model, and develop a CI neural network (CI-NN). By carefully designing a neural network with our customized loss function, the proposed scheme well meets the requirement of CI. Simultaneously, this scheme can realize user adaptive precoding according to the number of active users. The simulation results show that the proposed CI-NN can reduce time complexity effectively, while ensuring the performance of the communication model.
Insulin Growth Factor-1 as a Predictor for the Progression of Hepatic Disease in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Department of Biochemistry, National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institution, Cairo, Egypt Department of Tropical Medicine , Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Department of Molecular Biology , National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Kom, Egypt Theodor Bilharz Research Institute (TBRI), Ministry of Scientific Research and Higher Education Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology , Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt Department of Tropical Medicine , El Sahel teaching hospital, Cairo, Egypt Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Banha, Egypt Department of Tropical Medicine , Ahmed Maher Teaching Hospital, Cairo, Egypt Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology , Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Banha, Egypt
PR ] 4 M ay 2 02 1 PROBABILITY MEASURES ON GRAPH TRAJECTORIES

The aim of this note is to construct a probability measure on the space of trajectories in a continuous time Markov chain having a finite state diagram, or more generally which admits a global bound on its degree and rates. Our approach is elementary. Our main intention is to fill a gap in the literature and to give some additional details in the proof of [1, prop. 4.8].
RESTRICTIVE BEIJING MODEL? ANALYTICAL REVIEW

The essay argues that the influential Washington co sensus neoliberal economic philosophers assume that market and price mechanism s should be promoted to achieve economic development and calls for economic liberalization u ndermining the role of policy instruments. On the other hand, the Beijing model development polic y advocators pronounce economic liberalization in a closed politics. The success of the Beijing model posed profound challenge to the discipline of economics as the reform paths pur sued by Chinese policy makers embarked on centralization of politics and decentralization of economic affairs to sub national governments. The essay challenges the presuppositions of these a rguments. It maintains that ny development model cannot be universally applicable and realisti c development policy should emerge out of the economic, historical, social and cultural experienc es of a country while learning from the best practices of developed and emerging nations within t e framework of its own practical realities. Development should be local choice and development policy must be interpreted in the historical and social context of the society. It then contends a development policy is neither essentially evil nor good. Development policy is better seen as foll owing from recognitions of its deontological processes and teleological perspectives than dictat ing single universal path to prosperity .
The first complete mitochondrial genome of the Northern Pacific deep-sea goniasterid sea star Ceramaster japonicus (Sladen, 1889) determined using NGS-based shotgun sequencing

Abstract The full mitogenome of an ethanol-preserved museum specimen of Ceramaster japonicus was determined using the NGS Illumina MiSeq platform. The specimen was collected from Tosa Bay, Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean (33.0781 N 134.0601 E), at 700 m depth in 2011. The mitogenome shows a typical metazoan genomic structure, with all of the 37 genes included in its 16,370 base-long mitogenome. We conducted phylogenetic analyses using a data set including 18 publicly available asteroids rooted against five ophiuroids as outgroups. The result confirms the position of C. japonicus in the order Valvatida. The complete mitogenome of C. japonicus reported here is the first reported for the family Goniasteridae Forbes, 1841.
Eye-tracking exploration of inhibitory control in post-traumatic stress disorder: an emotional antisaccade paradigm

ABSTRACT Background: Cognitive–behavioural studies among individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have highlighted attentional biases towards threats as a key factor in the maintenance of the disorder. Anxiety-related studies have hypothesized that attentional biases were due to attentional control difficulties in inhibition and flexibility of threatening information. Objective: Because it remains unclear how this theory could be applied to PTSD, this study aims to evaluate the inhibitory control and flexibility abilities of negative and threatening information in this population, using eye-tracking technology. Method: Fifteen adults with a history of physical assault and a current diagnosis of PTSD, and 15 healthy control participants, completed an original mixed antisaccade task. Results: We found enhanced overt attentional allocation towards every item of emotional information among PTSD participants, such as indexed by the latencies of the first saccade in prosaccade trials, followed by disengagement difficulties, such as indexed by increased reaction time to identify the target. Conclusion: Our results could represent empirical evidence of the general enhancement of attentional vigilance in people with PTSD in comparison with healthy controls, as well as specific inhibitory deficits. The results are interpreted through a fear-generalization hypothesis. HIGHLIGHTS The ability to detect a relevant information in our environment and disengage from it is an important process in our daily life. PTSD patients presented a general hyper vigilant behavior followed by disengagement difficulties. We did not highlight impairments in flexibility among PTSD participants.
A Highly Efficient One-for-All Nanodroplet for Ultrasound Imaging-Guided and Cavitation-Enhanced Photothermal Therapy

Background Photothermal therapy (PTT) has attracted considerable attention for cancer treatment as it is highly controllable and minimally invasive. Various multifunctional nanosystems have been fabricated in an “all-in-one” form to guide and enhance PTT by integrating imaging and therapeutic functions. However, the complex fabrication of nanosystems and their high cost limit its clinical translation. Materials and Methods Herein, a high efficient “one-for-all” nanodroplet with a simple composition but owning multiple capabilities was developed to achieve ultrasound (US) imaging-guided and cavitation-enhanced PTT. Perfluoropentane (PFP) nanodroplet with a polypyrrole (PPy) shell (PFP@PPy nanodroplet) was synthesized via ultrasonic emulsification and in situ oxidative polymerization. After characterization of the morphology, its photothermal effect, phase transition performance, as well as its capabilities of enhancing US imaging and acoustic cavitation were examined. Moreover, the antitumor efficacy of the combined therapy with PTT and acoustic cavitation via the PFP@PPy nanodroplets was studied both in vitro and in vivo. Results The nanodroplets exhibited good stability, high biocompatibility, broad optical absorption over the visible and near-infrared (NIR) range, excellent photothermal conversion with an efficiency of 60.1% and activatable liquid-gas phase transition performance. Upon NIR laser and US irradiation, the phase transition of PFP cores into microbubbles significantly enhanced US imaging and acoustic cavitation both in vitro and in vivo. More importantly, the acoustic cavitation enhanced significantly the antitumor efficacy of PTT as compared to PTT alone thanks to the cavitation-mediated cell destruction, which demonstrated a substantial increase in cell detachment, 81.1% cell death in vitro and 99.5% tumor inhibition in vivo. Conclusion The PFP@PPy nanodroplet as a “one-for-all” theranostic agent achieved highly efficient US imaging-guided and cavitation-enhanced cancer therapy, and has considerable potential to provide cancer theranostics in the future.
Plasma Small Extracellular Vesicle-Carried miRNA-501-5p Promotes Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Modulation-Mediated In-Stent Restenosis

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotypic modulation plays an important role in the occurrence and development of in-stent restenosis (ISR), the underlying mechanism of which remains a key issue needing to be urgently addressed. This study is designed to investigate the role of plasma small extracellular vesicles (sEV) in VSMC phenotypic modulation. sEV were isolated from the plasma of patients with ISR (ISR-sEV) or not (Ctl-sEV) 1 year after coronary stent implantation using differential ultracentrifugation. Plasma sEV in ISR patients are elevated markedly and decrease the expression of VSMC contractile markers α-SMA and calponin and increase VSMC proliferation. miRNA sequencing and qRT-PCR validation identified that miRNA-501-5p was the highest expressed miRNA in the plasma ISR-sEV compared with Ctl-sEV. Then, we found that sEV-carried miRNA-501-5p level was significantly higher in ISR patients, and the level of plasma sEV-carried miRNA-501-5p linearly correlated with the degree of restenosis (R2 = 0.62). Moreover, miRNA-501-5p inhibition significantly increased the expression of VSMC contractile markers α-SMA and calponin and suppressed VSMC proliferation and migration; in vivo inhibition of miRNA-501-5p could also blunt carotid artery balloon injury induced VSMC phenotypic modulation in rats. Mechanically, miRNA-501-5p promoted plasma sEV-induced VSMC proliferation by targeting Smad3. Notably, endothelial cells might be the major origins of miRNA-501-5p. Collectively, these findings showed that plasma sEV-carried miRNA-501-5p promotes VSMC phenotypic modulation-mediated ISR through targeting Smad3.
Entwicklung einer Methode zur zeit- und spektralaufgelösten Präzisionsdistanzmikroskopie auf Einzelmolekülebene

In der Fluoreszenzmikroskopie konnen punktformige fluoreszierende Lichtquellen, wie z.B. einzelne Fluorophore mit Nanometergenauigkeit lokalisiert werden, indem das erwartete Fluoreszenzbild (Punktabbildungsfunktion) gefittet wird. Wenn jedoch der Abstand zweier fluoreszierender Molekule kleiner ist als der durch das Rayleigh-Kriterium gegebene Abstand, versagt diese hohe Auflosung, weil sich die beiden Punktabbildungsfunktionen uberlagern und weil die Photonenstatistik bei einzelnen Farbstoffmolekulen aufgrund von Photozerstorung eingeschrankt ist. Hier wird eine Technik fur die ultrahochauflosende Kolokalisation zweier konventioneller Farbstoffmolekule mit Nanometergenauigkeit prasentiert. Die Technik basiert auf der kurzlich entwickelten spektral-aufgelosten Fluoreszenzlebensdauermikroskopie (SFLIM), die es ermoglicht, gleichzeitig Fluoreszenzintensitat, Fluoreszenzlebensdauer und das Emissionsmaximum aufzunehmen, indem zwei spektral separierte Detektoren verwendet werden. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden Parameter evaluiert und ein theoretischer Ansatz entwickelt, so dass jedes detektierte Photon verlasslich der entsprechenden Farbstoffsorte zugeordnet werden kann. Durch das Benutzen von DNA als ein rigides molekulares Lineal und Simulationen, um die entwickelten Analysemodelle und Fehlerabschatzungen zu uberprufen, konnte gezeigt werden, dass Abstande bis zu 10 nm ± 6 nm zwischen einzelnen Molekulen gemessen werden konnen.