Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimates of Intrinsic Growth Rates and Basic Reproduction Number (R0) for the First Historical Zika Outbreak in Salta, Argentina

Scopes and Objectives: After entering South America in May 2015 through northeast Brazil, the Zika virus spread to Argentina between April and June 2016 and reached Salta province the following year. We analyzed some aspects of the first historical outbreak of Zika that occurred in Salta, Argentina, in the year 2017. We obtained elementary estimates, such as the intrinsic growth rate of the cases accumulated in the first weeks of the outbreak, using expressions that relate it to the basic reproduction number thereof. Study design: Retrospective-descriptive studies and relational analysis. *Corresponding author: E-mail: jcrmodeling@gmail.com; Rosales et al.; AJPAS, 8(4): 48-60, 2020; Article no.AJPAS. 60315 Place and Duration of Study: Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Faculty of Engineering. National University of Salta, Argentina, from September 2019 to June 2020. Methodology: Descriptive and relational analysis. Estimates of parameters and Simulation tests were also carried out in order to qualitatively describe the first Zika historical outbreak in Salta. Results: Our study revealed that the Zika virus in the province of Salta mainly affects the localities of the departments of Orán, General San Mart́ın, and Rivadavia, with infection forces α2017 ≈ 0.42 week−1 (SD 0.05) and α2017 ≈ 0.32 week−1 (SD 0.02) with the refined exponential model. On the other hand, we obtained estimates of the basic reproduction number R0 ≈ 1.105 95%CI[1.104− 1.106] and R0 ≈ 1.111 95%CI[1.110− 1.112]. Conclusion: Both the values of the estimates of the infection forces and R0 would seem to indicate that the first outbreak of Zika in Salta was of relatively low intensity and of short duration, coinciding with patterns generally present emerging diseases. We found practically no differences with the estimates provided by the two expressions of basic reproduction number used. Although the estimates slightly exceed the threshold value R0 = 1, with respect to other estimates, we consider them quite reasonable for the first historical outbreak occurred in Salta, since it was short-lived and of little intensity.
Investigation of the Spray Development Process of Gasoline-Biodiesel Blended Fuel Sprays in a Constant Volume Chamber

This study investigated gasoline–biodiesel blended fuel (GB) subjected to a fuel spray development process on macroscopic and microscopic scales. The four tested fuels were neat gasoline and gasoline containing biodiesel (5%, 20%, and 40% by volume) at three different ratios. The initial spray near the nozzle revealed that the spray penetration and spray tip velocity both decreased with decreasing biodiesel blending ratio. In addition, the different spray tip velocities at the start of spraying result in different atomization regimes between the fuels. The GB fuels with a low biodiesel blending ratio were disadvantaged in terms of spray atomization due to their lower spray penetration and tip velocity. The macroscopic spray penetration changes were similar to those observed in the microscopic spray. The fuel with the lower biodiesel blending ratio had a larger spray cone angle, indicating increased radial spray dispersion.
Tayangan Video Animasi “Si Nopal” Untuk Mendukung Interaksi Sosial Siswa Sekolah Dasar

Social interaction is a dynamic social relationship that involves relationships between individuals, between groups, and between individuals and groups. The purpose of this research is to analyse an animated film "Si Nopal" in supporting social interaction of the elementary students. The type and design of the study used in this study is descriptive research. The data collection methods are documentation and interviews. Qualitative data analysis used in this study consisted of three activity processes, namely data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. Based on the results and discussion it can be seen that the Nopal's animated video can support students' social interactions. The social interactions in the Nopal animated video include the communication process, social contact, and associative processes. Students who are given the animated video show "Si Nopal" have the motivation to imitate the aspects of social interaction in the video shown.
Intervención psicológica utilizando el modelo de coaching motivacional “La Jirafa de Cantón” en el caso de una guitarrista aficionada

We present here a case study psychological intervention; using a methodological triangulation, that combines qualitative and quantitative analysis. The subject was a 20-year-old student girl who wants to resume efficiently playing the guitar by investing the necessary time, combining it appropriately with her other activities. The motivational coaching model “Canton’s Giraffe” (using a protocol specially designed for this model), and the Ryff Psychological Wellbeing questionnaires and the Rosenberg Self-esteem questionnaire are used as a basis for psychological intervention, as well as qualitative analysis to evaluate the process and the completion of the intervention. The results show an improvement in the scores of self-esteem, with some improvements in some dimensions of psychological well-being, but not in others, which even had some deterioration (probably due to a difficult family situation) and a significant improvement in motivation in relation to the objective raised. These results are in line with the efficacy of other similar studies.
Expression of odontogenic markers in stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth treated with perivitelline fluid from horseshoe crab

Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) makes an ideal source for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cell-based regenerative therapies due to their ability to differentiate into wide range of cells lineages. Teeth regeneration requires regulated odontogenesis that will generate dentin. Previous studies have shown the potential of perivitelline fluid (PVF) to act as a supplement material in enhancing proliferation of cells and promoting the generation of certain organs due to its high primitive protein content. This study analysed the expression of odontogenesis markers in SHED treated with PVF (0.019 mg/mL) on day 1, 3, and 7. The expression of dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), dentin matrix acidic phosphoprotein 1 (DMP-1), osteopontin (OPN) and runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) were analysed at the transcript level in two groups of SHED which are PVF treated group (0.019 mg/ml) and without PVF. All four genes expressed at higher level in treatment group as compared to control on all tested days. Significant difference in gene expression between the control and treated groups were found on all tested days except for RUNX2 gene whereby its expression was not significantly different at day 7. Thus, it is suggested that PVF has the potential to enhance odontogenesis in SHED.
The Sociohistorical Evolution of the Language of Culturally-Based Pedagogy and its Impact on Teacher Education

The purpose of this literature review was to examine how language is used to describe and advance culturally-based pedagogy to critically reflect on the language employed in teacher education research. Our intent was to understand the terminology that has moved conversations of equity, diversity, and cultural ways of knowing to the center of urban education research and practice. Findings indicate the discourse of culturally-based pedagogy relies upon: (1) the exploration of the construct of culture, (2) the knowledge of the socio-historical context of specific terminology, and (3) a perspective that discourse is generative and dynamic.
Molecular and biochemical analyses of avocado (Persea americana) reveal differences in the oil accumulation pattern between the mesocarp and seed during the fruit developmental period

Background: The avocado (Persea americana) mesocarp and seed contain high-value oil with broad industrial applications. The oil contents in these two tissues vary considerably at maturity. Additionally, the molecular mechanism underlying the tissue-specific oil accumulation in the developing avocado mesocarp and seed remains unclear, which has hampered the exploration of the utility of avocado for oil production.Results: To clarify the mechanisms mediating the differences in oil contents and fatty acid compositions, the transcriptomes and oil bodies were compared between the oil-storing tissues during the fruit developmental period. The results revealed the increasing and fluctuating trends in the oil accumulation in the developing avocado mesocarp and seed, respectively. Additionally, striking differences in the lipid droplets between the mature mesocarp and seed were revealed in confocal microscopy images. Subsequently, the gene transcription profiles of the developing mesocarp and seed were characterized via a comprehensive transcriptome analysis involving second-generation sequencing and single-molecule real-time sequencing techniques. The tissue-specific transcription of lipid-related genes contributing to fatty acid synthesis, triacylglycerol assembly, and triacylglycerol storage was examined, with most of the lipid-related genes expressed at higher levels in the developing mesocarp than in the developing seed. A weighted gene co-expression network analysis uncovered 291 transcription factors that were commonly or uniquely correlated with the oil contents in the avocado mesocarp and seed. Moreover, 11 trans-acting and 79 cis-acting long non-coding RNAs were identified as common or unique to the developing avocado mesocarp and seed. These long non-coding RNAs may regulate the expression of 43 lipid-related genes. Finally, a network of genes associated with oil accumulation in the developing avocado mesocarp and seed was established.Conclusions: The results of this study further elucidate the tissue-specific oil biosynthesis and related regulatory network in the avocado mesocarp and seed. Furthermore, tissue-specific lipid-related genes, putative transcription factors, and putativelong non-coding RNAs affecting oil accumulation were identified. Our data may also be useful for characterizing tissue-specific oil accumulation at the transcriptomic level, thereby identifying candidate genes for improving the oil production of related plant species.
Multi-Scale Feature Pyramids for Weakly Supervised Thoracic Disease Localization

Automatic localization of thoracic diseases has a wide range of applications which can assist radiologists for more efficient and better diagnosis. However, it is still a challenging task to locate the diseases accurately since strong location annotation may not be available and different thoracic diseases may vary in size greatly. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-scale feature pyramids model for weakly supervised disease localization on chest X-ray images. Our model leverages the multi-scale feature maps to learn location representation of lesions by fusing heatmaps generated from all these feature maps. Instead of linear combination of heatmaps, we reconFigure multi-scale feature maps with an Feature Pyramids Network (fpn) structure first. The FPN we conducted is a nonlinear combination of feature hierarchy, adding highly-nonlinear patterns in feature maps, enriching the representation space of heatmaps. Experiments on the ChestXray14 dataset show that the proposed method can significantly improve the 10-calization performance of small-sized diseases (nodules and masses) with competitive localization performance of large-sized diseases (cardiomegaly and pneumonia). Averagely, our method is superior to the state-of-the-art weakly supervised localization algorithms on the dataset, ChestXray14.
Movement ecology of a mobile predatory fish reveals limited habitat linkages within a temperate estuarine seascape

Large predatory fishes, capable of traveling great distances, can facilitate energy flow linkages among spatially separated habitat patches via extended foraging behaviors over expansive areas. Here, we tested this concept by tracking the movement of a large mobile estuarine fish, red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Specifically, we addressed the following two questions: (i) What are the spatial and temporal patterns of red drum movement (rates of dispersal) and activity space? (ii) Does red drum movement facilitate linkages among estuarine marsh complexes? Dispersal from the release location was greatest during the first 2 weeks at liberty before declining to less than 0.5 km·week–1 for the remainder of the study. Activity space initially increased rapidly before reaching an asymptote at 2.5 km2 2 weeks postrelease. Connectivity indices calculated among marsh complexes corroborated these observations, suggesting high residency and limited seascape-scale linkages via red drum movement behaviors. These data highlight potential within-estuary spatial structure for mobile fishes and could inform subsequent efforts to track energy flows in coastal food webs, predict the footprint of local habitat restoration benefits, and enhance the design of survey regimes to quantify overall population demography.
Novel Insights in Structure and Mechanism of Escherichia coli Transketolase

Thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) dependent enzymes fulfill a number of indispensable functions in metabolism. Further, they are well-researched work-horses of biotechnology. Thus, deepening of our mechanistic and structural knowledge of these is imperative in improving biotechnological approaches, gain fundamental insight in enzymological principles and possibly develop antibiotics. In this work we present fundamental insights in multiple mechanistic aspects of ThDP-dependent enzymes using the Escherichia coli transketolase as model system. Studies on the control of cofactor dynamics and their impact on catalysis provided a model by which intrinsic cofactor movement facilitates bond strain reducing the energy barrier for C-C bond cleavage. Further, a core tenet of ThDP-facilitated catalysis was challenged by generating a non-aromatic, electrophilic keto-intermediate in a transferase by mutagenesis of a single, intermediate-stabilizing residue. The role of conserved features of transketolases in controlling cofactor properties was gauged. The mode of action of the naturally occurring antibiotic 2’-methoxy thiamine diphosphate was investigated and a model based on enzyme-selective disturbance of the cofactor activation, supported by ultra-high resolution crystallographic data and NMR data, was derived.
Relaxation Digital-to-Analog Converter with Foreground Digital Self-Calibration

A reference-free, fully digital foreground self-calibration strategy intended to automatically tune the clock frequency of Relaxation Digital to Analog Converters (ReDACs), as demanded for linear operation, is presented in this paper. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by computer simulations on a 10-bit, 2MS/s ReDAC designed in 40nm CMOS and operated from a 600mV power supply voltage. After the proposed calibration, the ReDAC is shown to operate near the optimal clock frequency achieving 0.98 LSB maximum INL, 1.00 LSB maximum DNL and 9.06 ENOB.
Stilbenes: A potential preservative for sausage products

Peanut kernels contain potent bioactive components such as stilbenes. In this study, stilbenes were extracted from sliced peanut kernels using 60% ethanol, and their antioxidant and antibacterial properties were evaluated. For a practical application, the storage quality of sausage products was evaluated at ambient (25 °C) and low (4 °C) temperatures. Our results revealed that peanut stilbenes exhibit dose-dependent (25–250 μg/ml) 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity; however, at a concentration of 200 μg/ml, the radical scavenging activity was 79.77%, with a reducing power of 0.59, as measured at 700 nm absorbance. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity was 0.60 μmol Trolox/mg. The minimum inhibitory concentration of stilbenes against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhimurium were 62.5, 31.25, 62.5, and 125 μg/ml, respectively. Preservation of sausage products using stilbenes inhibited microorganism growth and lipid oxidation. Practical applications Results of the assessment of the storage quality of sausage products revealed that the total plate count, coliform level, and volatile basic nitrogen level increased after storage compared with the controls. However, the thiobarbituric acid value of stilbene extracted from peanut indicated a significant decrease in lipid oxidation. Thus, stilbenes are a potential preservative for sausage products because they are a good source of antioxidants.
Genotype- and provenance-related variation in the leaf surface secondary metabolites of silver birch

The cuticular wax layer on silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) leaves is rich in cyclic secondary metabolites that provide defense against various environmental factors. Micropropagated trees from the southern (60°N), central (62°N), and northern (66°N) latitudes of Finland were grown in a common garden setup and quantified for variation in leaf surface secondary metabolites and other leaf traits, and their association with genotype and provenance was studied. The 12 genotypes studied differed greatly in the quantity of surface secondary metabolites, both for individual flavonoid and triterpenoid aglycones and for the overall metabolite profile. Qualitative differences were observed for one triterpenoid that was present in a single genotype (R3). The variance explained by the provenance was low (between 1% and 36%) for most metabolites, but the profile showed clear separation by provenance. The contents of two alkyl coumarates, reported for the first time in silver birch leaf waxes, displayed differences a.
Blood Biomarkers in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus niloticus and African Catfish Clarias gariepinus to Evaluate Water Quality of the River Nile

In this work, we explore new sights of biomarker research and establish the use of blood parameters and erythron profile in wild fish. Water quality assessment along the Nile course concluded higher mean values of the detected physicochemical parameters in water collected from downstream sites. The mean values of nearly all the detected haematological parameters were significantly lower in the blood of Nile tilapia and African catfish collected from downstream (contaminated) compared to upstream sites. Lower cellular and nuclear areas and cellular and nuclear shape factor were recorded in the erythrocytes of fish collected from downstream compared to those caught from upstream sites. This was confirmed by higher immature ratios of red cells in the blood of fish sampled from downstream sites. Karyorrhectic and enucleated erythrocytes were recorded to be higher in the blood of fish collected from downstream sites. The levels of all the selected biochemical variables in the blood of both fish species were recorded to be significantly higher in downstream sites. The detected blood variables and erythrocyte malformations were proven to be suitable for bio-monitoring of aquatic pollution. The results revealed speciesspecific differences in sensitivities, suggesting that Nile tilapia may serve as a more sensitive test species compared to African catfish.
Optimization of mycelial growth and cultivation of fruiting body of Philippine wild strain of Ganoderma lucidum

Ganoderma lucidum is a white rot basidiomycete that grows on logs. Taking it as source of novel mycochemicals, the present study optimized growth conditions and fruiting body production of G. lucidum on different culture media, physical parameters like pH, aeration, illumination and temperature, spawn materials and rice straw–sawdust based substrate formulations. After 5 days of incubation, coconut water gelatin of pH 6.0 and in sealed and lighted conditions at room temperature (32 o C) yielded the most efficient mycelial growth. Among the grains evaluated, corn grit produced a luxuriant mycelial growth in the shortest period of 5 days. Substrates having 70% rice straw and 30% sawdust recorded the shortest incubation period of 17.33 days for fructification. Basidiospores were germinated efficiently in coconut water gelatin after 72 hours of incubation. The basidiospores have a typical type of germination wherein the sporoderm produced a single germ tube, elongated, septated into a hypa, and branched to become monokaryotic primary mycelia. Mycelial coat hardening, primordial initiation, antler-like formation and basidiocarp maturation and spore liberation were observed as the sequence of fruit body development.
A Physarum-Inspired Decision-Making Strategy for Multisource Task Searching of Mobile Robots

In the real world, there are many different kinds of sources, such as light, sound, and gas, distributed randomly over an area. Source search can be carried out by robotic system in applications. However, for a single robot, the multisource search has been receiving relatively little attention compared to single-source search. For multisource task searching, a single robot has a high travel cost and is easy to trap a source which has been located before. In order to overcome these shortages, two multisource search algorithms inspired by the foraging behavior of Physarum polycephalum are proposed in this paper. First, a Physarum-inspired Strategy (PS) is designed based on the gradient climbing characteristic of Physarum polycephalum during foraging. The PS is simple and effective to let a mobile robot traverse all sources. Then, an extension algorithm named Physarum-inspired Decision-making Strategy (PDS) is proposed based on PS. Therein the synthetical field gradient model is established by introducing decision-making factor to obtain more accurate gradient information estimation. The PDS also introduces an obstacle avoidance model. Various simulation results obtained in the multisource environments show that the performance of PDS is better than other algorithms.
Body condition and energy density of juvenile streaked prochilod Prochilodus lineatus (Valenciennes, 1837) in a Neotropical floodplain

Variacoes na densidade energetica (E D ) e no fator de condicao relativo (K n ) de juvenis de Prochilodus lineatus foram investigadas buscando identificar se estas duas variaveis respondem de forma semelhante aos fatores ambientais. Nossa hipotese e que o nivel fluviometrico, em diferentes subsistemas da planicie de inundacao do alto rio Parana, influencia positivamente o E D e K n de juvenis da especie. Temporalmente, os valores de E D e K n estiveram relacionados mais diretamente a dinâmica de pulsos de inundacao presente na planicie. Espacialmente, os menores valores de E D e K n foram verificados no ambiente mais diretamente afetado pela operacao das barragens, o subsistema Parana. Apesar da densidade de energia e do fator de condicao nao demonstrarem resultados semelhantes para juvenis em algumas das analises, a avaliacao de ambos os parâmetros forneceu uma ferramenta complementar e informacoes adicionais, que permitiu uma investigacao mais detalhada dos processos dinâmicos temporais e espaciais nesta varzea neotropical. Conclui-se que a variacao do nivel de agua, em diferentes subsistemas da planicie de inundacao do alto rio Parana, afeta consideravelmente a condicao corporea e energetica de P. lineatus. Nos sugerimos que impactos que modifiquem este efeito devem ser mitigados ou evitados para manter o estoque de peixes e promover a integridade do ecossistema.