Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell architecture and flagella of hyperthermophilic Archaea

Earlier studies indicated that flagella might play a crucial role in motility, adhesion, and cell-cell contacts of Archaea. Thus, the ultrastructural and functional characterization of flagella and their anchoring in the cell are crucial for understanding the archaeal cell organization in general. To address this topic, Pyrococcus furiosus was chosen as a suitable model organism. However, in the course of this study, morphological changes of this strain, cultured continuously for several years, were demonstrated. These changes resulted in decreased growth and less adhesion of cells. Comparing this strain to another continuous culture and to the wild type strain, it was shown that culturing in the laboratory caused the adaption of cells to an adhesive phenotype. Nevertheless, cell envelope analyses succeeded in the identification of the glutamate dehydrogenase in membrane fractions of P. furiosus. Immuno-localization studies provided evidence that the enzyme is located on the cell surface and a correlation with adhesion was suggested. Besides the different P. furiosus strains, a newly isolated species, Methanocaldococcus sp. KIN24-T80 was analyzed. Results of characterization studies performed herein confirmed the affiliation of the strain to the genus Methanocaldococcus; the distinctiveness from any previously described species was proven by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Ergo, the isolate was described as novel species named Methanocaldococcus villosus referring to its heavy flagellation and its unique striated surface pattern in SEM preparations. Further following the scope of this study, a submembraneous layer below the cytoplasmic membrane was detected in M. villosus and P. furiosus. For both organisms, it was shown to be related to the anchoring of flagella. In the case of M. villosus, it was proven that the layer is associated with a (putative) chemoreceptor array. Moreover, it was demonstrated for P. furiosus, M. villosus, and five other members of the genus Methanocaldococcus that assembly of flagella is induced as a response to surface associated growth, which helps the cells not only to get in tight contact with the solid support but also with each other. Flagella were identified as structural prerequisite for biofilm formation and other components such as pili or surface proteins were shown to be necessary for a more solid adhesion. To sum up, analyses performed in this thesis extend the current knowledge on the cellular and flagellar ultrastructure of Archaea. Based on the data obtained, M. villosus is proposed as a model organism for studying the flagellation and adhesion of archaeal cells.
Regenerating Spent Zeolites with UV and UV/H2O2 To Enhance Removal of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS . vi LIST OF TABLES . ix LIST OF FIGURES . x 1. LITERATURE REVIEW . 1 1.1. Endocrine Disrupting Compounds . 1 1.1.1. Effects of EDCs . 1 1.1.2. Sources of EDCs . 3 1.1.3. EDCs Studied . 4 1.2. Ultraviolet (UV) Based Processes for Transforming EDCs. 5 1.2.1. Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation in Water Treatment (Disinfection) . 5 1.2.2. UV Photolysis for Chemical Treatment . 10 1.2. 3. UV Based Advanced Oxidation Process. 12 1.2. 4. Removal of EDC activity with UV AOP . 14 1.3. Zeolite Media Adsorption . 15 1.3.1. Characteristics of Zeolites. 16 1.3.2. Zeolites for Removal of Organic Contaminants in Water . 19 1.3.3. Potential for Zeolite Regeneration . 21 2. INTRODUCTION . 23 2.1. Problem Statement . 23 vii 2.2. Objectives . 24 3. MATERIAL AND METHODS OF INVESTIGATION . 25 3.1. Chemicals, Materials and Equipments . 25 3.2. Experimental Design . 27 3.2.1. Water Samples . 27 3.2.2. Adsorbent . 28 3.2. 3. Adsorption Equilibrium . 28 3.2. 4. Adsorption Kinetics . 30 3.2. 5. Zeolite Media Regeneration . 31 3.2. 6. UV Irradiation Procedure . 33 3.3. Adsorption and Regeneration in Estrogen Spiked Natural Waters . 34 3.4. Analytical Methods . 35 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS . 37 4.1. Kinetics of Adsorption . 38 4.2. Adsorption Equilibrium. 40 4.2.1. The Langmuir Isotherm . 41 4.2.2. The Freundlich Isotherm . 42 4.2. 3. Adsorption of the estrogens on the zeolite CBV-780 . 45 4.2. 4. Adsorption of the estrogens on the zeolite CBV-901 . 51 4.2. 5. CBV-780 versus CBV-901 . 55 4.3. Regenerative Ability of Zeolites . 58 4.4. Dose Response in Regeneration . 64 4.5. Adsorption in Natural Waters . 69 5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . 77
Understanding and optimization of the secondary drying step of a freeze-drying process: a case study

Abstract The objective of this study was to build an understanding and optimize the secondary drying step of a freeze-drying process using a drug formulation from Fresenius Kabi (FK1) as a case study. For this purpose, a design of experiments (DoE) was developed to study the influence of drying temperature, drying time, vial position, and chamber pressure on moisture content and glass transition temperature of FK1. The results obtained herein showed that the influence of drying temperature on moisture content and glass transition temperature was strong at short drying time, implying that increasing drying temperature could lead to a significant decrease in the required drying time to achieve a designed moisture content and glass transition temperature. Variation in chamber pressure from 0.05-0.40 mbar showed insignificant influence on moisture content and glass transition temperature. Small variations in moisture content and glass transition temperature with respect to vial position were also observed, where edge vials had higher moisture content and, consequently, lower glass transition temperature than center vials. Further, the results from the DoE were utilized to construct a process design space (PDS) for the secondary drying step of FK1. Experimental verification of the PDS demonstrated an excellent agreement between the PDS-defined and experimentally-determined moisture content and glass transition temperature values. Thus, the PDS facilitated process optimization of FK1 and could serve as an important tool during scale-up and transfer of the process.
Rapid Prototyping of Reusable 3D-Printed N95 Equivalent Respirators at the George Washington University

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused an acute reduction in world supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) due to increased demand. To combat the impending shortage of equipment including N95 masks, the George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) developed a 3D printed reusable N95 comparable respirator that can be used with multiple filtration units. We evaluated several candidate prototype respirator models, 3D printer filaments, and filtration units detailed here. Our most recent working model was based on a respirator found on an open source maker website and was developed with PLA (printer filament), a removable cap, a removable filtration unit consisting of two layers of MERV 16 sandwiched between MERV 13, and removable elastic bands to secure the mask. Our candidate mask passed our own suction test protocol to evaluate leakage and passed a qualitative Bitrix N95 fit test at employee health at GWUH. Further efforts are directed at improving the current model for seal against face, comfort, and sizing. The 3D model is available upon request and in the supplement of this paper. We welcome collaboration with other institutions and suggest other facilities consider mask fit for their own population when exploring this concept.
Remote sensing and GIS technologies in land reclamation and landscape planning processes on post-mining areas in the Polish and world literature

All stages of mining activities, starting with the exploration phase up to the end of the extraction works lead to significant natural landscape alteration and formation of new, anthropogenic surface features. In order to mitigate the effects caused by mining, both in Poland and in the world, a number of legal regulations have been developed, which oblige mainly the mining entrepreneurs to restore use values of degraded or devastated lands. This process called reclamation is a long-term, complex operation and covers large areas. Therefore, the academic society publishes more and more papers concerning monitoring reclamation status, as well as supporting landscape planning processes using different technologies and measurement methods. It should be emphasized that scientific publications are not only limited to the mentioned subject fields. The main purpose of this paper is to exemplify issues connected with reclamation process, which have been investigated by means of remote sensing and GIS technologies. As a part of this publication 25 scientific papers written by Polish and foreign academics have been studied. The results of a conducted analysis provide a comprehensive summary in terms of quantity and quality concerning scientific materials published so far on the subject of reclamation process, remote sensing and GIS technologies.
UNCOVERING THE MECHANISM OF CHROMATIN ASSOCIATION OF THE PAF1 TRANSCRIPTION ELONGATION COMPLEX

Paf1C co-localizes with Pol II and influences gene expression by regulating transcription initiation, elongation and termination. Some crucial functions of Paf1C include promoting co-transcriptional histone modifications and recruiting termination factors. The mechanism of chromatin recruitment of Paf1C was obscure. We identified the importance of a conserved region within the Rtf1 subunit of Paf1C, termed the ORF association region (OAR), in chromatin-tethering of Paf1C. I found that the interaction of Paf1C with the transcription elongation factor Spt5 was mediated by the Rtf1 OAR and the Spt5 C-terminal region (CTR). Binding assays established the direct nature of the Rtf1-Spt5 interaction and the sufficiency of the Rtf1 OAR and the Spt5 CTR for this interaction. ChIP assays demonstrated the ability of the OAR to mimic the chromatin association pattern of Paf1C, independent of Paf1C but dependent on the Spt5 CTR and the Bur1 kinase. This suggests that the targeting of the OAR tethers Paf1C to chromatin. Collectively, these results provide a molecular mechanism for coupling Paf1C with the transcription machinery. Additionally, I found that substitution of OAR residues predicted to be important for the human Rtf1 OAR-Spt5 CTR interaction in the OAR-CTR co-crystal impaired the chromatin association of Paf1C supporting the relevance of the co-crystal interactions. Furthermore, I showed that strains that are doubly mutated in the OAR and the Cdc73 C-domain exhibited cumulative reduction in Paf1C chromatin occupancy. Consistently, I showed that cells lacking both the OAR and the C-domain lose Paf1C-mediated histone modifications. This indicates that the Rtf1 OAR and the Cdc73 C-domain facilitate dual-attachment of Paf1C to chromatin. My work has also provided better understanding of the function of the histone modification domain (HMD) of Rtf1. I found that overexpression of the HMD was essential for it to promote histone modifications. Additionally, I showed that the HMD is sufficient for the H2B K123 Ub, the mark upstream of the H3 K4 and H3 K79 methylation events, but the rest of Paf1C is required for the HMD to stimulate H3 K4 Me3 modification. Cumulatively, my findings provide additional insight into the regulation of histone modifications by the Rtf1 HMD.
Learning the Malay Traditional Musical Instruments by using Augmented Reality Application

: This study proposed the implementation of Augmented Reality (AR) technology to promote the learning experience about Malay traditional musical instruments. The application uses a book as a marker to help the user visualizes the traditional musical instruments, learn the history behind it and how the instruments sounds. As a starting point, a library research has been conducted in order to understand the current state of the art. ADDIE Model has been used and the design and development phases has also been discussed. This AR application is expected to be a tool for promoting the Malay traditional musical instruments for the new young generation.
Polyamines as regulators of ionic transport in plants.

Polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine are present in all living cells and are unique low molecular weight metabolites, which carry multiple positive charges at physiological conditions. Recent studies confirmed the notion that increased polyamine synthesis as a response to environmental clues is beneficiary for a plant stress resistance. Yet molecular targets for polyamine action in plant cells remain elusive. On the other hand, in animal cells endogenous polyamines affect a large variety of cationic channels, thus controlling their physiological functions. Similar studies in plant systems revealed that polyamines affect certain K and nonselective cationic channels in plasma membrane and tonoplast, as well as the plasma membrane H-ATPase. This review summarizes the modes of polyamine actions on these ionic transporters and discussed their possible implications in a plant response to abiotic stresses, with a special emphasis to drought, salt stress, and K starvation.
Self-Management Status in Patients with Diabetes and Disease Control Indicators in Lamerd City, Iran

Background: Diabetes is a global epidemic with serious complication and there is a clear need for paying special attention to self-management as the cornerstone to optimal control of the disease. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the self-management status and its correlation to disease control indicators in people with diabetes. Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, 220 patients were selected from the list of the referred patients available in Lamerd public health network from December 2014 to June 2015. In the first step, data about demographic information and disease control were collected from the patients’ records. In the second step, the self-management status of each patient was assessed by the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire developed by Schmitt et al. To analyze the data, independent sample t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. Results: The mean age of the male and female participants was 56.43 ± 13.50 and 56.46 ± 10.49 years old, respectively. The mean duration of the disease was 6.67 ± 4.72 years for men and 7.07 ± 5.30 years for women. Twenty-one (25.9%) men and 60 (43.7%) women had a history of smoking. The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient showed that there was an inverse and statistically significant relationship between diabetes self-management status and weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, glucose tolerance test (GTT), LDL, and cholesterol. The results of the t-test did not show significant differences between the level of HbA1C (HbA1C7) and self-management scores of the patients (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Patients with better self-management status were in a better disease control condition with respect to weight, BMI, waist circumference, GTT, LDL, and cholesterol levels. Special attention to the control and management of LDL, cholesterol, HbA1C, BMI, and blood pressure levels is recommended in planning for these patients.
Investigation of the exercise and sports life stage scale using latent rank theory

: The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of the exercise and sports life stage (ESL-stage) scale. The participants were 20,000 Japanese (9,956 men, 10,044 women, 18-79 years old) who responded to the “public opinion survey for sports participation” published by the Japan Sports Agency (2019b). The scale items related to each element of “do”, “watch” and “support” in ESL (exercise and sports life) were selected from the questionnaire (Japan Sports Agency, 2019b) by fish-bone diagram analysis. Categorical factor analysis (independent cluster rotation) with a 4-factor model based on the results of parallel analysis showed that the ESL structure was made up of “ES (exercise and sports) orientation”, “health and physical fitness”, “motivation to watch ES” and “richness of daily life”. In addition, categorical factor analysis with a unifactor model confirmed sufficient unidimensionality, and the latent rank theory (LRT) was applied. The number of the latent rank (LR) was examined using goodness-of-fit indices, information criteria, and segmented regression analysis (SRA). As a result, an ESL-stage scale with a 6-rank model was constructed. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients for the LRs of ESL-stage between “ES participation frequency” and “ES-related money costs” were ρ = . 55 and . 51 (both p <.01), respectively. These results suggested that the criteria-related validity of the ESL-stage scale was sufficient. The ESL-stage LRs with an “ES participate frequency” of more than 1 and 3 days/week were LR4 “enriching everyday life through ES” and LR6 “performing social activities through ES”, respectively. An ESL-stage profile chart was created to encourage understanding of the stages and processes characteristic of the ESL-stage. In addition, an environment was established for objectively discriminating the ESL-stage LRs using a concurrent calibration method. Since the ESL-stage scale was standardized using LRT, cross-sectional comparison and longitudinal comparison of ESL-stage are possible. It is expected that use of the ESL-stage scale will enrich individual ESL and contribute to the realization of a life-long sports society and extension of healthy life expectancy.
GABAB Receptors Inhibit Dendrodendritic Transmission in the Rat Olfactory Bulb

In the mammalian olfactory bulb, mitral cell dendrites release glutamate onto the dendritic spines of granule cells, which in turn release GABA back onto mitral dendrites. This local synaptic circuit forms the basis for reciprocal dendrodendritic inhibition mediated by ionotropic GABAA receptors in mitral cells. Surprisingly little is known about neurotransmitter modulation of dendrodendritic signaling in the olfactory bulb. In this study, we examine whether metabotropic GABAB receptors modulate dendrodendritic signaling between mitral and granule cells. We find that the selective GABAB agonist baclofen reduces mitral cell recurrent inhibition mediated by dendrodendritic synapses. GABABreceptor activation causes only a weak inhibition of field EPSCs in the external plexiform layer and only slightly reduces glutamate-mediated mitral cell self-excitation. Although GABAB receptors depress mitral cell glutamate release only weakly, baclofen causes a marked reduction in the amplitude of granule-cell-evoked, GABAA-mediated IPSCs in mitral cells. In addition to reducing the amplitude of granule-cell-evoked IPSCs, baclofen causes a change from paired-pulse depression to paired-pulse facilitation, suggesting that GABAB receptors modulate GABA release from granule cells. To explore the mechanism of action of GABAB receptors further, we show that baclofen inhibits high-voltage-activated calcium currents in granule cells. Together, these findings suggest that GABAB receptors modulate dendrodendritic inhibition primarily by inhibiting granule cell calcium channels and reducing the release of GABA. Furthermore, we show that endogenous GABA regulates the strength of dendrodendritic inhibition via the activation of GABAB autoreceptors.
Unsupervised facial expression detection using genetic algorithm

: Interpersonal communication can be done by understanding the clues of facial expressions. As its importance increase in behavior and clinical studies, so automatic detection of facial expressions is an open research area for the last few decades. Eﬀorts of expression detection by a human being are easy and effective but the machine needs some more understanding. This paper proposes a face expression clustering using a genetic algorithm. Image get convert into binary format for ﬁnding the related cluster selection in diﬀerent phases of genetic algorithm. Proposed work has utilized a modiﬁed teacher learning-based optimization algorithm where the population gets updated in each phase to get the best representative features. A real dataset of facial expression was used in this work. A comparison of the proposed model was done with existing models on diﬀerent evaluation parameters. It was obtained that the proposed work has improved precision, recall, the accuracy of facial expression identiﬁcation without any training.
TAXOCENOSIS DE MOLUSCOS Y CRUSTÁCEOS EN RAÍCES DE Rhizophora mangle (RHIZOPHORACEAE) EN LA BAHÍA DE CISPATÁ, CÓRDOBA, COLOMBIA

A pesar del conocimiento existente sobre la ecologia de los manglares en la bahia de Cispata, pocos estudios han sido enfocados en la asociacion de invertebrados en las raices del mangle rojo, por lo que entre diciembre 2010 y septiembre 2011, se caracterizo la taxocenosis de moluscos y crustaceos en raices de Rhizophora mangle en dos sectores de muestreo de la bahia de Cispata, Colombia. Para la recoleccion del material biologico se tomaron al azar tres raices de mangle homogeneas en cuanto al diametro. Los moluscos y crustaceos fueron obtenidos de la raiz raspando la superficie con un cuchillo, luego fueron separados y fijados en formalina al 10 % para su posterior identificacion hasta especie mediante claves taxonomicas especializadas. De los 12289 individuos recolectados en los cuatro muestreos, 10470 pertenecieron al phylum Mollusca (85,2 %) y los restantes 1819 al sub phylum Crustacea (14,8 %). De moluscos se identificaron 14 especies distribuidas en 11 familias y dos clases; Bivalvia y Gastropoda. De crustaceos se identificaron 24 especies distribuidas en 16 familias y cuatro ordenes; Sessillia, Decapoda, Isopoda y Amphipoda. En los dos sectores de muestreo Mytella charruana , Balanus eburneus y Crassostrea rhizophorae fueron las especies mas importantes en terminos de abundancia, no obstante se sabe que moluscos como M. charruana y B. eburneus presentan una gran capacidad de adaptacion y ajuste a las variaciones hidroclimaticas, lo que se reflejo en la dominancia de dichas especies en el sector con mayor influencia del rio Sinu. La presencia de los crustaceos Petrolisthes armatus y Aratus pisonii en el sector con mas cercania al mar Caribe, indica que son especies de bosques de manglar con gran movilidad y mecanismos de adaptacion fisiologicos.
A new numerical Bernoulli polynomial method for solving fractional optimal control problems with vector components

In this paper, a numerical method is developed and analyzed for solving a class of fractional optimal control problems (FOCPs) with vector state and control functions using polynomial approximation. The fractional derivative is considered in the Caputo sense. To implement the proposed numerical procedure, the Ritz spectral method with Bernoulli polynomials basis is applied. By applying the Bernoulli polynomials and using the numerical estimation of the unknown functions, the FOCP is reduced to solve a system of algebraic equations. By rigorous proofs, the convergence of the numerical method is derived for the given FOCP. Moreover, a new fractional operational matrix compatible with the proposed spectral method is formed to ease the complexity in the numerical computations. At last, several test problems are provided to show the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed scheme numerically.