Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physicochemical Characterization and Clinical Evaluation of Final Formulation of Shallomin Liposomal Gel on Cold Sore

Acyclovir is used locally or systemically to treat cold sore and totally have no side effect. However, this antiviral drug is not suitable for some people. The main aim of this study was to prepare and characterize shallomin liposomal hydrogel formulation and evaluation and comparison of dermal efficacy of this new formulation with acyclovir ointment on cold sores. Thin-Film Hydration was used to prepare liposome consisting of lecithin and cholesterol (molar ratio: 1:1). Morphology, size analysis, liposome encapsulation efficiency were determined. For preparation of hydrogel, Hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) was used. In vitro Skin permeation assay through abdominal region skin of male wistar rat was also determined. After preparing liposomal shallomin 1% in hydrogel a randomized controlled trial was performed on three groups (15 students in each groups) who showed cold sore within 24 hours. Liposomal shallomin gel, acyclovir and placebo was used every 6 hours for the first, second and third groups, respectively. The size of liposomal shallomin particles were 139±31.8 nm whereas polydispersity index values were 0.219 ± 0.01. The TEM images showed that the shape of particles was spherical and any aggregation or fusion were not seen. Furthermore the particle size diameter was < 150 nm. The encapsulation capacity with the liposomes was approximately calculated 82.7%. The cold sore and tingling was disappeared in liposomal shallomin gel treated group within 0-12 hours in 12 cases (80%) and within 12-24 hours in 2 cases. In the acyclovir treated group, skin was cleared from cold sore in 8 cases (53%) within 24-48 hours after using drug. Regarding the obtained results, the liposomal shallomin gel caused a significant improvement in the removing cold sores within 12 hours related to acyclovir (P=0.001). Because mucoidal properties of hydrogel can facilitate adhesion between the shallomin and skin membrane, which extend keeping of shallomin at the site of administration and enhancing drug permeation so, liposomal shallomin gel is more effective treatment than shallomin extract and acyclovir with fewer side effects for cold sores treatment.
Factors of the Development and Decline in New Industrial Era: A Case Study of 7-Eleven

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors of the development and decline of 7-Eleven in the new industrial era. This study examined the relations between marketing mix strategy (4Ps) and customer satisfaction significantly predicting the development and decline of 7-Eleven. A total of 108 respondents, 56 Malaysian and 52 Indonesian, were involved to collect the data by questionnaires. The regression results provided sufficient evidence that factors of 7-Eleven development are positively related to its marketing mix strategy and customer satisfaction or vice versa. This finding provides profound understanding about the relationship between the development and decline factors in new industrial era, its marketing mix strategy and customer satisfaction.
Pollinator effectiveness in the mixed-pollination system of a Neotropical Proteaceae, Oreocallis grandiflora

In pollination systems with a diverse community of floral visitors, qualitative and quantitative variations in pollination effectiveness can lead to a system in which higher effectiveness results from the synergetic contribution of multiple pollinators. By employing a series of field and laboratory experiments in the south Andes of Ecuador, we compared the effectiveness of hummingbirds and nocturnal mammals visiting Oreocallis grandiflora, an Andean member of the Proteaceae. Pollinator effectiveness was measured with a quantitative component that assessed visitation rates to inflorescences and number of contacted stigmas per visit, and with a qualitative component based on the number of deposited pollen grains in stigmas. Effectiveness estimates were complemented with controlled pollination experiments that contrasted fruit and viable seed set among flowers exposed to either diurnal or nocturnal pollination, self-pollinated flowers, and a control group with flowers exposed to naturally occurring pollination. Six species of hummingbirds and two species of nocturnal mammals visited the flowers of O. grandiflora. Hummingbirds outperformed nocturnal mammals in the quantitative components of pollination, while mammals were more effective than hummingbirds in the qualitative component. Pollination success was higher for the control group than for the other treatments, while hummingbirds and mammals performed similarly. Our findings suggest a case of functional complementarity in pollination: hummingbirds’ quantitative effectiveness complements nocturnal mammals’ qualitative effectiveness. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that pollination success in plants can be greater when flowers are visited by the whole diversity of pollinators.
A SYSTEM FOR FINE-GRAINED ZONE-BASED POSITIONING USING BLUETOOTH (FGZPUB)

Systems of location have had a growing trend of becoming one of the most important applications used in computing. This paper presents a mobile application, which shows the location of a user and demonstrates how location can be accurately identified. We have used Bluetooth technology with helpful of algorithms for fine-grained zone-based positioning using multiple Bluetooth sensors and implementing of positioning system using JavaME.
Sustainable Communication: Cross-Cultural Management of Higher Education Staff in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

This study investigates the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of the University Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) personnel to determine the elements of uncertainty avoidance among the staff. As such, the study examines the respondents’ expectations of rules, changes, and creativity in uncertainty avoidance. This study also investigates the differences between respondents’ behaviour in High Uncertainty Avoidance (HUA) or Low Uncertainty Avoidance (LUA) and the extent to which these differences affect communication. Furthermore, this study employed mixed (qualitative and quantitative) methods as a research design, with ethnography as a research approach. The study data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 20) and thematic analysis for an in-depth exploration of the respondents. The result of the study showed that, regardless of ethnicity, common HUA values were shared in the observation of rules and regulations, which reflected the consensual agreement on the importance of observing rules. Concerning changes and adaptation, all the three ethnic groups indicated LUA, with only a small number indicating HUA in this matter. The Malay personnel indicated an especially high LUA, as the future was believed to be too intricate, ambiguous, unpredictable, and hostile for efficient planning. Regarding workplace creativity, all three ethnic groups indicated LUA, with only a small number indicating HUA in this matter. Nevertheless, it is made aware in this study that the results are not representative of the three ethnic populations in Malaysia.
Quantitative Determination of Glycine, Alanine, Aspartic Acid, Glutamic Acid, Phenylalanine, and Tryptophan by Raman Spectroscopy

ABSTRACT The development of a new quantitative method for amino acids using Raman spectroscopy is reported. Raman spectra of glycine, alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, and tryptophan were measured. The band ratio between the Raman intensity of the amino acid and that of acetonitrile as an external standard was calculated to remove the influence of factors such as laser power intensity and instrumental effects. The calibration curves were obtained by plotting the band ratios against the concentrations of the amino acids. The curves were linear with coefficient correlations of over 0.99 for all amino acids. The Raman spectra of known concentration samples were measured to confirm the reproducibility of this method. The relative errors were small, indicating that the concentrations of amino acids can be determined using Raman spectroscopy. The limits of detection and quantitation were determined as thrice and 10 times the standard deviation of the background signal to be 0.007 and 0.02 mol L−1, respectively. Raman spectra of aspartic acid at 0.02 mol L−1 were measured several times and the uncertainty was 7%.
Research progress on risk factors and predictive scores of sepsis patients developing into acute respiratory distress syndrome

[摘要] 脓毒症是急性呼吸窘迫综合征(ARDS)最常见的危险因素,脓毒症并发ARDS患者预后较差,目前对ARDS 的治疗策略仍为器官功能支持治疗。 脓毒症的治疗需要早期识别急性肺损伤(ALI),并以预测和预防ARDS为重点。 由于脓毒症相关ARDS的特殊性,需要进一步分析脓毒症并发ARDS的危险因素并建立预测评分模型。 脓毒症患者发 生ARDS的危险因素包括基础疾病、疾病严重程度、临床特点、治疗的影响及生物标志物等。 早期急性肺损伤评分 (EALI)、肺损伤预测评分(LIPS)及其衍生评分对评估脓毒症患者发生ARDS的风险有一定意义,但目前尚无针对脓毒症 患者的预测评分研究。 该文就脓毒症患者及肺部感染患者发生ARDS的危险因素、ALI/ARDS预测评分、LIPS衍生评分 的研究进展进行综述,以期为后续研究提供参考。 [关键词] 脓毒症;急性呼吸窘迫综合征;危险因素;预测评分;诊断 [中图分类号] R563.8 [文献标志码] A [文章编号] 0577-7402(2020)12-1309-06 [DOI] 10.11855/j.issn. 0577-7402.2020. 12.17
Effect of ion exchange substrate on grass root development and cohesion of sandy soil

Abstract The effect of small additions of ion exchange substrate (nutrient carrier) on root development and accompanying ground cohesion (characterized by its penetration resistance) was studied. During two pot experiments Dactylis glomerata L. was grown on sand and its mixture with 1 and 2% (v/v) of ion exchange substrate, respectively. The number and total length of roots were measured during the first test. Penetration resistance was measured with a pentrologger, following the second experiment. After six weeks of growth, number and length of roots in sand mixture with 1 and 2% substrate was greater than in sand-only medium by 211-287 and 273-323%, respectively. At the same time, penetration resistance in series with substrate additions was significantly higher than in control medium at depth of 2.5-7(8) cm, whereas after 12 week of growth, penetration resistance in series with 1 and 2% substrate additions was significantly greater than in control sand at the whole analyzed depth. The highest resistance values in media with substrate additions 2-2.5 times greater than those in sand alone – were observed at depth of 3.5-4.0 cm. Higher resistance of sand-substrate mixtures results from more intensive development of root systems, forming a mesh which binds sand particles. Such media would be less susceptible to erosion.
Short-, medium-, and long-chain fatty acid profiles and signaling is responsive to dietary phytase and lactic acid treatment of cereals along the gastrointestinal tract of growing pigs.

Dietary and microbially derived fatty acids (FA) play important roles in gut mucosal inflammatory signaling, barrier function and oxidative stress response. Nevertheless, little information is available about gastrointestinal FA profiles and receptor distribution in pigs, especially for long-chain FA (LCFA). Therefore, the present pilot study aimed to 1) investigate the gastrointestinal FA profiles; 2) link the luminal FA profiles to the mucosal expression of genes related to FA sensing and signaling; and 3) assess potential dietary effects on gut and systemic lipid metabolism in pigs. Gut, liver and serum samples were obtained from barrows (13.1 ± 2.3 kg) fed diets containing either phytase (500 phytase units/kg diet) or cereals treated with 2.5% lactic acid (LA) (n = 8/diet) for 18 days. Results showed gut regional and diet-related differences in luminal FA profiles and mucosal receptor expression, whereas diet little affected hepatic expression levels and serum lipids. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) increased from stomach, jejunum and ileum to the cecum (P < 0.05), whereas LCFA were higher in stomach, cecum and colon than in jejunum and ileum (P < 0.05). LA-treated cereals enhanced cecal acetate and butyrate, whereas phytase and LA treated cereals decreased the LCFA by 35.9 and 14.4%, respectively (P < 0.05). Gut regional differences suggested stronger signaling via FFAR1 expression in the ileum, and via FFAR2, FFAR4 and HCAR1 expression in cecum and colon (P < 0.05). Expression of AMPK, FASN, PPARG, SREBP1 and SREBP2 was higher in the cecum and colon compared to the small intestine (P < 0.05), with stronger sensing via FASN and SREBP2. Phytase decreased expression of FFAR2 and FFAR4, whereas it increased that of FFAR3 and MCT1 in the cecum (P < 0.05). LA-treated cereals raised cecal expression of FFAR3 and HCAR1 (P < 0.05). Pearson's correlations (|r| > 0.35; P < 0.05) supported that FA receptor- and nuclear transcription factor-dependent pathways were involved in the mucosal regulation of gut incretin expression but differed across gut regions. In conclusion, results support regional differences in SCFA, lactate and LCFA sensing and absorption capacities in the small and large intestines of pigs. Effects of phytase and the LA-treated cereals on intestinal FA levels and signaling can be explained by differences in nutrient flows (e.g. phosphorus and carbohydrate fractions). This overview provides a solid basis for future intestinal FA sensing in pigs.
Multi-Source Transfer Learning Via Multi-Kernel Support Vector Machine Plus for B-Mode Ultrasound-Based Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Liver Cancers

B-mode ultrasound (BUS) imaging is a routine tool for diagnosis of liver cancers, while contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) provides additional information to BUS on the local tissue vascularization and perfusion to promote diagnostic accuracy. In this work, we propose to improve the BUS-based computer aided diagnosis for liver cancers by transferring knowledge from the multi-view CEUS images, including the arterial phase, portal venous phase, and delayed phase, respectively. To make full use of the shared labels of paired of BUS and CEUS images to guide knowledge transfer, support vector machine plus (SVM+), a specifically designed transfer learning (TL) classifier for paired data with shared labels, is adopted for this supervised TL. A nonparallel hyperplane based SVM+ (NHSVM+) is first proposed to improve the TL performance by transferring the per-class knowledge from source domain to the corresponding target domain. Moreover, to handle the issue of multi-source TL, a multi-kernel learning based NHSVM+ (MKL-NHSVM+) algorithm is further developed to effectively transfer multi-source knowledge from multi-view CEUS images. The experimental results indicate that the proposed MKL-NHSVM+ outperforms all the compared algorithms for diagnosis of liver cancers, whose mean classification accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity are 88.18 ± 3.16 %, 86.98 ± 4.77 %, and 89.42±3.77%, respectively.
Emulative, coherent, and causal dynamics between large-scale brain networks are neurobiomarkers of Accelerated Cognitive Ageing in epilepsy

Accelerated cognitive ageing (ACA) is an ageing co-morbidity in epilepsy that is diagnosed through the observation of an evident IQ decline of more than 1 standard deviation (15 points) around the age of 50 years old. To understand the mechanism of action of this pathology, we assessed brain dynamics with the use of resting-state fMRI data. In this paper, we present novel and promising methods to extract brain dynamics between large-scale resting-state networks: the emulative power, wavelet coherence, and granger causality between the networks were extracted in two resting-state sessions of 24 participants (10 ACA, 14 controls). We also calculated the widely used static functional connectivity to compare the methods. To find the best biomarkers of ACA, and have a better understanding of this epilepsy co-morbidity we compared the aforementioned between-network neurodynamics using classifiers and known machine learning algorithms; and assessed their performance. Results show that features based on the evolutionary game theory on networks approach, the emulative powers, are the best descriptors of the co-morbidity, using dynamics associated with the default mode and dorsal attention networks. With these dynamic markers, linear discriminant analysis could identify ACA patients at 82.9% accuracy. Using wavelet coherence features with decision-tree algorithm, and static functional connectivity features with support vector machine, ACA could be identified at 77.1% and 77.9% accuracy respectively. Granger causality fell short of being a relevant biomarker with best classifiers having an average accuracy of 67.9%. Combining the features based on the game theory, wavelet coherence, Granger-causality, and static functional connectivity- approaches increased the classification performance up to 90.0% average accuracy using support vector machine with a peak accuracy of 95.8%. The dynamics of the networks that lead to the best classifier performances are known to be challenged in elderly. Since our groups were age-matched, the results are in line with the idea of ACA patients having an accelerated cognitive decline. This classification pipeline is promising and could help to diagnose other neuropsychiatric disorders, and contribute to the field of psychoradiology.
Learning-Based Distributed Resilient Fault-Tolerant Control Method for Heterogeneous MASs Under Unknown Leader Dynamic

In this article, we consider the distributed fault-tolerant resilient consensus problem for heterogeneous multiagent systems (MASs) under both physical failures and network denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Different from the existing consensus results, the dynamic model of the leader is unknown for all followers in this article. To learn this unknown dynamic model under the influence of DoS attacks, a distributed resilient learning algorithm is proposed by using the idea of data-driven. Based on the learned dynamic model of the leader, a distributed resilient estimator is designed for each agent to estimate the states of the leader. Then, a new adaptive fault-tolerant resilient controller is designed to resist the effect of physical failures and network DoS attacks. Moreover, it is shown that the consensus can be achieved with the proposed learning-based fault-tolerant resilient control method. Finally, a simulation example is provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
NETWORKED2-Subfamily Proteins Regulate the Cortical Actin Cytoskeleton of Growing Pollen Tubes and Polarised Pollen Tube Growth.

We have recently characterised NET2A as a pollen-specific actin-binding protein which binds F-actin at the plasma membrane of growing pollen tubes. However, the role of NET2 proteins in pollen development and fertilisation have yet to be elucidated. To further characterise the role of Arabidopsis NET2 proteins in pollen development and fertilisation, we analysed the subcellular localisation of NET2A over the course of pollen grain development, and investigated the role of the NET2 family using net2 loss-of-function mutants. We observed NET2A to localise to the F-actin cytoskeleton in developing pollen grains as it underwent striking structural reorganisations at specific stages of development and during germination, and pollen tube growth. Furthermore, net2 loss-of-function mutants exhibited striking morphological defects in the early stages of pollen tube growth, arising from frequent alterations to pollen tube growth trajectory. We observed defects in the cortical actin cytoskeleton and actin-driven subcellular processes in net2 mutant pollen tubes. We demonstrate that NET2 proteins are essential for normal actin-driven pollen development highlighting an important role for the NET2 family members in regulating pollen tube growth during fertilisation.
Kirigami-Inspired Highly Stretchable, Conductive, and Hierarchical Ti3C2Tx MXene Films for Efficient Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Pressure Sensing.

Although Ti3C2Tx MXene sheets are highly conductive, it is still a challenge to design highly stretchable MXene electrodes for flexible electronic devices. Inspired by the high stretchability of kirigami patterns, we demonstrate a bottom-up methodology to design highly stretchable and conductive polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/Ti3C2Tx MXene films for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and pressure sensing applications by constructing wrinkled MXene patterns on a flexible PDMS substrate to create a hierarchical surface with primary and secondary surface wrinkles. The self-controlled microcracks created in the valley domains of the hierarchical film via a nonuniform deformation during prestretching/releasing cycles endow the hierarchical PDMS/MXene film with a high stretchability (100%), strain-invariant conductivity in a strain range of 0%-100%, and stable conductivities over an 1000-cycle fatigue measurement. The stretchable film exhibits a highly stable EMI shielding performance of ≈30 dB at a tensile strain of 50%, and its EMI shielding efficiency increases further to 103 dB by constructing a two-film structure. Furthermore, a highly stretchable and sensitive iontronic sensor array with integrated MXene-based electrodes and circuits is fabricated by a stencil printing process, exhibiting high sensitivity (66.3 nF kPa-1), excellent dynamic cycle stability over 1000 cycles under different frequencies, and sensitive pressure monitoring capability under a tensile strain of 50%.
Targeted antitumor comparison study between dopamine self-polymerization and traditional synthesis for nanoparticle surface modification in drug delivery

To improve the therapeutic efficacy of anticancer agents and extend their application, mussel-inspired chemical modifications have attracted considerable attention. Surface modification based on polydopamine (PDA) has been a facile and versatile method to immobilize biomolecules on substrates for targeted drug delivery. To better analyze pharmaceutical differences between PDA-based surface modification and traditional synthesis methods, we prepared two kinds of folate (FA)-targeted nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with paclitaxel (PTX). The resultant PTX-PDA-FA NPs and PTX-FA NPs represented PDA and synthesis strategies, respectively. PTX-PDA-FA NPs and PTX-FA NPs have been characterized. The particle size of PTX-PDA-FA NPs was smaller than that of PTX-FA NPs. The two kinds of NPs both exhibited long-rod morphology, good colloidal stability and sustained slow drug release. Cytotoxicity in vitro was evaluated, and antitumor efficacy was investigated against 4T1 tumor-bearing mice. The tumor targeting therapeutic index of PTX-PDA-FA NPs and PTX-FA NPs showed equivalent superior specificity compared to nontargeted groups, which indicated that FA successfully attached to the surface of NPs by the PDA method and that the antitumor effect was equivalent to that of FA-modified NPs prepared by the chemical synthesis method. These results further indicated that PDA, as a simple and effective chemical surface modification platform, could be developed and applied in targeted delivery systems.