Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Classification of forearm EMG signals for 10 motions using optimum feature-channel combinations

Abstract Electromyography (EMG) is the study of electrical activity in the muscles. We classify EMG signals from surface electrodes (channels) using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). We evaluate classification performance of 10 different hand motions using several feature-channel combinations with wrapper method. Highest classification accuracy of 98.7% is achieved with each feature-channel combination. Compared to previous studies, we achieve the highest accuracy for 10 classes with lower number of feature-channel combination. We reduce ANN complexity without compromising the classification accuracy for deployment in low-end hardware with limited computational power along with improving the design of a low-cost hardware for EMG signal acquisition.
IFT54 directly interacts with kinesin‐II and IFT dynein to regulate anterograde intraflagellar transport

The intraflagellar transport (IFT) machinery consists of the anterograde motor kinesin‐II, the retrograde motor IFT dynein, and the IFT‐A and ‐B complexes. However, the interaction among IFT motors and IFT complexes during IFT remains elusive. Here, we show that the IFT‐B protein IFT54 interacts with both kinesin‐II and IFT dynein and regulates anterograde IFT. Deletion of residues 342–356 of Chlamydomonas IFT54 resulted in diminished anterograde traffic of IFT and accumulation of IFT motors and complexes in the proximal region of cilia. IFT54 directly interacted with kinesin‐II and this interaction was strengthened for the IFT54Δ342–356 mutant in vitro and in vivo. The deletion of residues 261–275 of IFT54 reduced ciliary entry and anterograde traffic of IFT dynein with accumulation of IFT complexes near the ciliary tip. IFT54 directly interacted with IFT dynein subunit D1bLIC, and deletion of residues 261–275 reduced this interaction. The interactions between IFT54 and the IFT motors were also observed in mammalian cells. Our data indicate a central role for IFT54 in binding the IFT motors during anterograde IFT.
Climate change in the Cameroonian press: An analysis of its representations

Climate change is a global environmental issue and its outcome will affect societies around the world. In recent years, we have seen a growing literature on media coverage of climate change, but, to date, no study has assessed the situation in Cameroon, although it is considered to be one of the world’s most affected and vulnerable regions. This study attempted to address this deficit by analysing how climate change is represented in the Cameroonian media. A similarity analysis was performed on three newspapers published in 2013–2016. Results showed that climate coverage focused on politics and international involvement. It seems disconnected from local realities, potentially opening up a spatial and social psychological distance. The relationship between the representation of climate change and that of poverty is an area for further exploration.
Bing-Neel syndrome: A case reports

Introduction Bing-Neel syndrome (BNS) is a rare complication of of Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) identified by involvement of central nervous system (CNS) lymphoplasmacytic cells. Case report We present a patient who was diagnosed with Bing-Neel syndrome four years after the diagnosis of Waldenström macroglobulinemia. Management & outcome The patient was admitted with neurological symptoms. There were lesions associated with WM involvement on brain imaging. The diagnosis was made by brain biopsy. High dose methotrexate treatment was given. Discussion CNS infiltrating agents such as fludarabine, methotrexate and cytarabine are often used in BNS treatment. Ibrutinib, which is a new bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has recently started to be used in BNS treatment, as it has been shown to be effective and penetrate the CNS.
Inhomogeneous broadening of infrared and Raman spectral bands of amorphous and polycrystalline thin films

Infrared and Raman spectroscopy are used to examine effects of solid structure on vibrational line shapes in thin solid films of CO2 and N2O prepared by vapor deposition. A new method is described for forming films consisting of weakly‐interacting microcrystals by deposition of the solute in an argon matrix followed by complete evaporation of the argon. The infrared absorption bands of these films exhibit inhomogeneous spectral broadening in the range between the transverse and longitudinal frequencies of the bulk crystal. The origin of this broadening is shown to be the dependence of vibrational frequencies on size and shape of the microcrystals due to long‐range dipole interactions. In contrast, the spectra of polycrystalline films formed by direct vapor deposition are the same as for single crystals because the long‐range dipole interactions effectively couple vibrational motions across the grain boundaries. An analysis shows that inhomogenously broadened spectra are obtained whenever the separation be.
Phylogenomic Discordance in the Eared Seals is best explained by Incomplete Lineage Sorting following Explosive Radiation in the Southern Hemisphere.

The phylogeny and systematics of fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae) have long been studied with diverse data types, including an increasing amount of molecular data. However, only a few phylogenetic relationships have reached acceptance because of strong gene-tree species tree discordance. Divergence times estimates in the group also vary largely between studies. These uncertainties impeded the understanding of the biogeographical history of the group, such as when and how trans-equatorial dispersal and subsequent speciation events occurred. Here we used high-coverage genome-wide sequencing for 14 of the 15 species of Otariidae to elucidate the phylogeny of the family and its bearing on the taxonomy and biogeographical history. Despite extreme topological discordance among gene trees, we found a fully supported species tree that agrees with the few well-accepted relationships and establishes monophyly of the genus Arctocephalus. Our data support a relatively recent trans-hemispheric dispersal at the base of a southern clade, which rapidly diversified into six major lineages between 3 to 2.5 Ma. Otaria diverged first, followed by Phocarctos and then four major lineages within Arctocephalus. However, we found Zalophus to be non-monophyletic, with California (Z. californianus) and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) grouping closer than the Galapagos sea lion (Z. wollebaeki) with evidence for introgression between the two genera. Overall, the high degree of genealogical discordance was best explained by incomplete lineage sorting resulting from quasi-simultaneous speciation within the southern clade with introgresssion playing a subordinate role in explaining the incongruence among and within prior phylogenetic studies of the family.
A Study of Multi-Task and Region-Wise Deep Learning for Food Ingredient Recognition

Food recognition has captured numerous research attention for its importance for health-related applications. The existing approaches mostly focus on the categorization of food according to dish names, while ignoring the underlying ingredient composition. In reality, two dishes with the same name do not necessarily share the exact list of ingredients. Therefore, the dishes under the same food category are not mandatorily equal in nutrition content. Nevertheless, due to limited datasets available with ingredient labels, the problem of ingredient recognition is often overlooked. Furthermore, as the number of ingredients is expected to be much less than the number of food categories, ingredient recognition is more tractable in the real-world scenario. This paper provides an insightful analysis of three compelling issues in ingredient recognition. These issues involve recognition in either image-level or region level, pooling in either single or multiple image scales, learning in either single or multi-task manner. The analysis is conducted on a large food dataset, Vireo Food-251, contributed by this paper. The dataset is composed of 169,673 images with 251 popular Chinese food and 406 ingredients. The dataset includes adequate challenges in scale and complexity to reveal the limit of the current approaches in ingredient recognition.
Origin and Nature of Refractory Organic Compounds Produced During Anaerobic Treatment of Easily Biodegradable Substrate

Anaerobic processes used for wastewater treatment produce soluble residual microbial products (SMPR) which are both easily degradable and difficult to biodegrade. Reducing these residual organic matters requires the knowledge of their origin and nature. Anaerobic batch cultivations of readily degradable substrate (14C-glucose) were performed and 14C flows in soluble and insoluble liquid fractions and in gaseous fractions were investigated. Results of experiments indicated that the soluble residual microbial products represented 1.0 ± 0.1 % of the initial carbon concentration for a ratio of the initial substrate concentration to the initial biomass concentration (S0/X0 as COD/VSS) of between 0.1 and 1.6. Biodegradability level of anaerobic SMPR was estimated in aerobic cultivation with activated sludge. Biodegradability tests showed that half of the anaerobic SMPR were biodegradable and that the anaerobic SMP produced during lysis and degradation of microorganisms was completely oxidized in 14CO2.
A Comprehensive Framework for Uncovering Non-Linearity and Chaos in Financial Markets: Empirical Evidence for Four Major Stock Market Indices

The presence of chaos in the financial markets has been the subject of a great number of studies, but the results have been contradictory and inconclusive. This research tests for the existence of nonlinear patterns and chaotic nature in four major stock market indices: namely Dow Jones Industrial Average, Ibex 35, Nasdaq-100 and Nikkei 225. To this end, a comprehensive framework has been adopted encompassing a wide range of techniques and the most suitable methods for the analysis of noisy time series. By using daily closing values from January 1992 to July 2013, this study employs twelve techniques and tools of which five are specific to detecting chaos. The findings show no clear evidence of chaos, suggesting that the behavior of financial markets is nonlinear and stochastic.
Ablation of Pyrophosphate Regulators Promotes Periodontal Regeneration

Biomineralization is regulated by inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), a potent physiological inhibitor of hydroxyapatite crystal growth. Progressive ankylosis protein (ANK) and ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1) act to increase local extracellular levels of PPi, inhibiting mineralization. The periodontal complex includes 2 mineralized tissues, cementum and alveolar bone (AB), both essential for tooth attachment. Previous studies demonstrated that loss of function of ANK or ENPP1 (reducing PPi) resulted in increased cementum formation, suggesting PPi metabolism may be a target for periodontal regenerative therapies. To compare the effects of genetic ablation of Ank, Enpp1, and both factors concurrently on cementum and AB regeneration, mandibular fenestration defects were created in Ank knockout (Ank KO), Enpp1 mutant (Enpp1asj/asj), and double KO (dKO) mice. Genetic ablation of Ank, Enpp1, or both factors increased cementum regeneration compared to controls at postoperative days (PODs) 15 and 30 (Ank KO: 8-fold, 3-fold; Enpp1asj/asj: 7-fold, 3-fold; dKO: 11-fold, 4-fold, respectively) associated with increased fluorochrome labeling and expression of mineralized tissue markers, dentin matrix protein 1 (Dmp1/DMP1), osteopontin (Spp1/OPN), and bone sialoprotein (Ibsp/BSP). Furthermore, dKO mice featured increased cementum thickness compared to single KOs at POD15 and Ank KO at POD30. No differences were noted in AB volume between genotypes, but osteoblast/osteocyte markers were increased in all KOs, partially mineralized osteoid volume was increased in dKO versus controls at POD15 (3-fold), and mineral density was decreased in Enpp1asj/asj and dKOs at POD30 (6% and 9%, respectively). Increased numbers of osteoclasts were present in regenerated AB of all KOs versus controls. These preclinical studies suggest PPi modulation as a potential and novel approach for cementum regeneration, particularly targeting ENPP1 and/or ANK. Differences in cementum and AB regeneration in response to reduced PPi conditions highlight the need to consider tissue-specific responses in strategies targeting regeneration of the entire periodontal complex.
Community perspectives of barriers indigenous women face in accessing maternal health care services in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Objectives Bangladesh has achieved notable success in improving maternal health by increasing women’s access to good quality and low-cost maternal health care (MHC) services. However, the health system of Bangladesh has earned criticism for not ensuring equitable MHC access for all women, particularly for Indigenous women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Little is known about Indigenous communities’ perspectives on these inequalities in MHC service access in the CHT. Therefore, this study aimed to explore Indigenous communities’ perspectives on challenges and opportunities for improving MHC service access in the CHT. Design This qualitative descriptive study was conducted in two sub-districts of Khagrachhari between September 2017 and February 2018. Eight Indigenous key informants from three Indigenous communities (Chakma, Marma and Tripura) were recruited via snowballing and purposive techniques and participated in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Key informants comprised community leaders and health care providers. Data were analysed thematically using Nvivo12 software. Results Findings suggest that distance, poor availability of resources and infrastructure, lack of community engagement in the design of health interventions, Indigenous cultural beliefs, misconceptions about MHC services, and maltreatment from health care providers were the key barriers to accessing MHC services; all are interconnected. Indigenous women faced humiliation and maltreatment from MHC staff. Failure to provide a culturally-safe environment suggests a lack of cultural competency among health staff, including Indigenous staff. Conclusion Findings suggest that cultural competency training for all health care providers is needed to improve cultural appropriateness and accessibility of services. Refresher training and undisrupted supply of basic MHC services for front-line care providers will benefit the entire community and will likely be cost-effective for the government. Designing health programmes through extensive community consultation is essential.
Charting the unknown currents of cellular flows and forces

ABSTRACT One of the central questions in developmental biology concerns how cells become organized into tissues of the correct size, shape and polarity. This organization depends on the implementation of a cell's genetic information to give rise to specific and coordinated cell behaviors, including cell division and cell shape change. The execution of these cell behaviors requires the active generation of mechanical forces. However, understanding how force generation is controlled and, importantly, coordinated among many cells in a tissue was little explored until the early 2000s. Suzanne Eaton was one of the pioneers in this emerging field of developmental tissue mechanics. As we briefly review here, she connected the quantitative analysis of cell behaviors with genetic assays, and integrated physical modeling with measurements of mechanical forces to reveal fundamental insights into epithelial morphogenesis at cell- and tissue-level scales. Summary: This Spotlight article reviews how Suzanne Eaton, a pioneer in the field of developmental tissue mechanics, connected quantitative cell behavior with physical modeling to reveal fundamental insights into epithelial morphogenesis.
Effects of high and low frequency ultrasound on the production of volatile compounds in milk and milk products – a review

Abstract The effects of low and high frequency ultrasound on the production of volatile compounds along with their derivation and corresponding off-flavours in milk and milk products are discussed in this review. The review will simultaneously discuss possible mechanisms of applied ultrasound and their respective chemical and physical effects on milk components in relation to the production of volatile compounds. Ultrasound offers potential benefits in dairy applications over conventional heat treatment processes. Physical effects enhance the positive alteration of the physicochemical properties of milk proteins and fat. However, chemical effects propagated by free radical generation cause redox oxidations which in turn produce undesirable volatile compounds such as aldehydes, ketones, acids, esters, alcohols and sulphur, producing off-flavours. The extent of volatile compounds produced depends on ultrasonic processing conditions such as sonication time, temperature and frequency. Low frequency ultrasound limits free radical formation and results in few volatile compounds, while high ultrasonic frequency induces greater level of free radical formation. Furthermore, the compositional variations in terms of milk proteins and fat within the milk systems influence the production of volatile compounds. These factors could be controlled and optimized to reduce the production of undesirable volatiles, eliminate off-flavours, and promote the application of ultrasound technology in the dairy field.
Alcohol elimination chemistry of tetrakis(tert-butoxocopper)

The Bronsted basicity of (CuO t Bu) 4 was tested against a range of weak acids. With (Ph 2 P) 2 CH 2 , t BuOH is eliminated, with production of the cage molecule Cu 3 (Ph 2 PCHPPh 2 ) 3 , which was characterized by 1 H and 31 P NMR spectra. With Ph 2 PH, t BuOH is eliminated to precipitate (CuPPh 2 ) x , which can be dissolved with L=Ph 2 PH or PPh 3 to give [(Ph 2 PH)CuPPh 2 ] x and monomeric Ph 3 PCuPPh 2 . With Ph 2 P(CH 2 ) 2 PPh 2 , deprotonation of a CH 2 group is followed by P-C bond cleavage to give LCuPPh 2 , where L may be either Ph 2 PCH=CH 2 or excess phosphine chelate
The protective effect of esculetin against aluminium chloride‐induced reproductive toxicity in rats

One of the prominent health problems caused by Aluminium was the decrease in male fertility rates. In the study, the protective effect of Esculetin (ESC) against the reproductive toxicity induced by Aluminium chloride (AlCl3) was investigated. For this purpose, AlCl3 was administrated to Wistar Albino rats at a dose of 34 mg/kg and ESC was administrated at a dose of 50 mg/kg for 70 days. It was determined that AlCl3 treatment reduced sperm motility and concentration, increased dead/live rate and abnormal sperm rate. It decreased serum testosterone level, and co‐treatment of ESC significantly regulated these values. In the AlCl3‐treated group, MDA level increased and GSH level, GPx and CAT activities decreased compared with those of the control group. However, co‐treatment of ESC showed an amelioratory effect on the values except for CAT activity. It was observed that the expression level of NRF‐2 increased in the ESC and AlCl3 + ESC groups, and NF‐κB increased in the AlCl3 group with the control group. It was determined that Caspase‐3 expression decreased, and Bcl‐2 expression increased in AlCl3 + ESC group compared to AlCl3 group. It was also determined that AlCl3‐induced tissue injury was significantly prevented by ESC co‐treatment.
Association of XRCC1 and ERCC2 promoters’ methylation with chromatin condensation and sperm DNA fragmentation in idiopathic oligoasthenoteratozoospermic men

The aim of the study was to investigate whether the promoter methylation of XRCC1 and ERCC2 genes is associated with sperm DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation in idiopathic oligoasthenoteratozoospermic men. This study involved 77 infertile men with idiopathic oligoasthenoteratozoospermia and 51 normozoospermic controls. The methylight method, TUNEL assay and aniline blue staining were used for the evaluation of XRCC1 and ERCC2 genes’ methylation, SDF and sperm chromatin condensation, respectively. SDF (p = .004) and XRCC1 methylation (p = .0056) were found to be significantly higher in men with idiopathic OAT than in the controls, while mature spermatozoa frequency was higher in controls as compared to infertile men (p < .0001). No significant association was found between SDF and methylation of XRCC1 and ERCC2 genes (p = .9277 and p = .8257, respectively). However, compared to the cut‐off point obtained by receiver operating characteristic analysis, a significant association was found between SDF and XRCC1 methylation, positive and negative methylation groups, generated according to the cut‐off value for XRCC1. XRCC1 methylation was found to have a significant effect on chromatin condensation (p = .0017). No significant difference was detected among ERCC2 methylation, male infertility and SDF. In conclusion, XRCC1 methylation may have a role in sperm chromatin condensation and idiopathic OAT.
Update on Strategies of Probiotics for the Prevention and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer

Abstract In recent years, with the further research on probiotics, probiotics may become an indispensable part in the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the future. As one of the most common cancer, the incidence of CRC is still rising in developing countries. Nowadays, there are lacking in prevention methods with low side effect. Surgery and chemotherapy, as the main treatment of CRC, bring many complications and affect the quality of life of patients. Probiotics has provided new ideas to solve these problems. Probiotics have anti-inflammatory, immune-enhancing, tumor-suppressing and other beneficial effects. Probiotics may provide some safe and effective prevention strategies for CRC. In addition, probiotics can also reduce the complications of surgery and chemotherapy, and improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Target administration with probiotics or probiotics cooperated with TRAIL to treat CRC. This article aims to review the mechanisms of probiotics for the prevention and treatment of CRC, as well as specific ways to use probiotics, in order to provide more new strategies for the prevention and treatment of CRC in the future, and reduce the incidence of and improve the quality of life of patients.