Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential Therapeutic Effects of New Ruthenium (III) Complex with Quercetin: Characterization, Structure, Gene Regulation, and Antitumor and Anti-Inflammatory Studies (RuIII/Q Novel Complex Is a Potent Immunoprotective Agent)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of the new [Ru(Q)(Cl)2(H2O)2] complex (RuIII/Q). A new vital complex containing quercetin flavonoid compound (Q) with ruthenium (III) ions was synthesized. The molar conductivity of the RuIII/Q complex was measured in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) with value 12 (Ω−1 mol−1 cm−1, indicating their non-electrolytic nature. Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic investigation of the RuIII/Q complex indicated that Q is coordinated as a bidentate with Ru metal ions through the oxygen of carbonyl C(4)=O group and oxygen of phenolic C(3)−O group based on the wavenumber shifts at 1654 and 1335 cm−1 respectively. The electronic (UV−Vis) spectra and the magnetic susceptibility value (1.85 B.M.) revealed that the Ru(III) complex has an octahedral geometry. The average diameter of the RuIII/Q nanoparticles was approximately 7–15 nm according to the transmission electron microscopy. The thermogravimetric study (TG/DTG) indicates that the RuIII/Q compound is quite stable until 300 °C. To assess biological activity, 60 male rats were allocated to six groups, namely control, DG (D-galactose), Q, RuIII/Q, DG plus Q, and DG plus RuIII/Q. Antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPx, and GRx), markers of lipid peroxidation (such as MDA), expression of genes (namely Nrf2, Cu-ZnSOD, CAT, GPx, cyto c, P53, Bax, BCl2, caspase-3, and caspase-9 in testicular tissue), glutamate, 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), GSH, HCY, amyloid beta, and GABA levels were evaluated in brain tissues. Cytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF-α, histological and ultrastructural studies were estimated in both the brain and testicular tissues, while the comet assay was performed in the brain tissue. RuIII/Q administration either alone or combined with DG reduced oxidative injury to normal levels and decreased apoptotic activities. Thus, RuIII/Q inhibited injury in both the testis and brain and reduced oxidative stress in male rats. The (RuIII/Q) complex has a potent ameliorative effect against aging neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, and antihepatic cancer activity induced by D-galactose (DG).
Integrated Risk Assessment for Robustness Evaluation and Resilience Optimisation of Power Systems after Cascading Failures

Power systems face failures, attacks and natural disasters on a daily basis, making robustness and resilience an important topic. In an electrical network, robustness is a network’s ability to withstand and fully operate under the effects of failures, while resilience is the ability to rapidly recover from such disruptive events and adapt its structure to mitigate the impact of similar events in the future. This paper presents an integrated framework for jointly assessing these concepts using two complementary algorithms. The robustness model, which is based on a cascading failure algorithm, quantifies the degradation of the power network due to a cascading event, incorporating the circuit breaker protection mechanisms of the power lines. The resilience model is posed as a mixed-integer optimisation problem and uses the previous disintegration state to determine both the optimal dispatch and topology at each restoration stage. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework, the IEEE 118-bus test network is used as a case study. Analyses of the impact of variations in both generation and load are provided for 10 simulation scenarios to illustrate different network operating conditions. The results indicate that a network’s recovery could be related to the overload capacity of the power lines. In other words, a power system with high overload capacity can withstand higher operational stresses, which is related to increased robustness and a faster recovery process.
New sphenodontian (Reptilia: Lepidosauria) from a novel Late Triassic paleobiota in western North America sheds light on the earliest radiation of herbivorous lepidosaurs

Abstract. Herbivory is a common ecological function among extant lepidosaurs, but little is known about the origin of this feeding strategy within Lepidosauria. Here we describe a sphenodontian (Lepidosauria) from the Late Triassic of western North America, Trullidens purgatorii n. gen. n. sp. , that reveals new aspects of the earliest radiation of herbivorous lepidosaurs. This taxon is represented by an isolated lower jaw with robust structure bearing transversely widened dentition and extensive wear facets, suggesting a masticatory apparatus specialized for herbivory. An unusual ‘incisor-like’ tooth is present at the anterior end of the jaw; a unique feature among lepidosaurs, this tooth is convergent with the incisors of extant rodents and lagomorphs. Phylogenetic analyses support the placement of this taxon within opisthodontian sphenodontians, a group sharing derived cranio-dental morphologies specialized for herbivory. The new taxon was recovered in a recently discovered and unnamed series of Upper Triassic strata in southeastern Colorado, USA, exposed in Canyons incised by the Purgatoire River and its tributaries. These strata comprise a dominantly red-bed sequence of conglomerates, sandstones, and siltstones deposited in a fluvio-lacustrine setting, preserving a Late Triassic biota of invertebrate and vertebrate ichnofossils, plant macrofossils, bony fish, temnospondyl amphibians, and reptiles. We use aetosaur osteoderms as biostratigraphic links to the nearby Chinle Formation of Arizona, USA, establishing a middle Norian age for these strata. The presence of an opisthodontian from western equatorial Pangaea in the Norian Stage reveals a near-global radiation of this clade across the Pangaean supercontinent during the Late Triassic.
Ultra‐low power TIA with variable bandwidth in 0.13 μm CMOS for short‐range optical interconnects

Funding information Nazarbayev University (NU) Faculty-Development Competitive Research Grant, Grant/Award Number: 021220FD0451; NU Collaborative Research Grant, Grant/Award Number: 021220CRP0422; Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Grant/Award Number: AP08856931 Abstract An ultra-low power and variable bandwidth transimpedance amplifier (TIA) for shortrange optical interconnects is presented here. The TIA is implemented in a 0.13μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. To reduce the power consumption, the TIA is designed using a regulated cascade topology with capacitor degeneration for frequency enhancement and also operates in the weak inversion mode. With a supply voltage of the range 0.7–0.92 V, a reduced power consumption of 2.9–4.6 mW and a variable bandwidth of the range 3–4.9 GHz are achieved. Clear eye diagrams are obtained at 2.5–6.135 Gbps and a BER of less than 10−12 with input power of −4.3 to −3 dBm at 2.5–6.135 Gbps, respectively. Also, the TIA achieved a transimpedance gain of 51.2–52.4 dBΩ. The small-sized chip occupied an area of 0.28 × 0.42 mm2 with pads and 0.1 × 0.1 mm2 without pads.
A twice boost nine‐level switched‐capacitor multilevel (2B‐9L‐SCMLI) inverter with self‐voltage balancing capability

The research on the multilevel inverter structures has been focused on reducing the number of voltage sources and the components while obtaining voltage boosting in the output voltage. A lesser number of components would ensure lesser cost while higher boosting ability increases its application potential. Based on these features, the paper presents a new topology for switched‐capacitor multi‐level inverter (SCMLI), which can produce an output voltage waveform of nine levels with a voltage boosting of twice the input voltage employing a single dc voltage source, three capacitors, and 11 power switches. The operation of switches, capacitors with a self‐charge balancing modulation scheme, and a voltage source for producing nine‐level boosted output voltage make this topology useful, and it is capable of supplying different types of load with efficiency above 97%. The simulation results and the hardware results are provided to verify the satisfactory operation of the proposed topology.
VLSI Implementation of a Cost-Efficient Loeffler DCT Algorithm with Recursive CORDIC for DCT-Based Encoder

This paper presents a low-cost and high-quality, hardware-oriented, two-dimensional discrete cosine transform (2-D DCT) signal analyzer for image and video encoders. In order to reduce memory requirement and improve image quality, a novel Loeffler DCT based on a coordinate rotation digital computer (CORDIC) technique is proposed. In addition, the proposed algorithm is realized by a recursive CORDIC architecture instead of an unfolded CORDIC architecture with approximated scale factors. In the proposed design, a fully pipelined architecture is developed to efficiently increase operating frequency and throughput, and scale factors are implemented by using four hardware-sharing machines for complexity reduction. Thus, the computational complexity can be decreased significantly with only 0.01 dB loss deviated from the optimal image quality of the Loeffler DCT. Experimental results show that the proposed 2-D DCT spectral analyzer not only achieved a superior average peak signal–noise ratio (PSNR) compared to the previous CORDIC-DCT algorithms but also designed cost-efficient architecture for very large scale integration (VLSI) implementation. The proposed design was realized using a UMC 0.18-μm CMOS process with a synthesized gate count of 8.04 k and core area of 75,100 μm2. Its operating frequency was 100 MHz and power consumption was 4.17 mW. Moreover, this work had at least a 64.1% gate count reduction and saved at least 22.5% in power consumption compared to previous designs.
From abstraction and indiscernibility to classification and types:

At the end of the 19th century, the Peano School elaborated its famous theory of “definitions by abstraction”. Two decades later, Hermann Weyl elaborated a generalization of the former, termed “creative definitions”, capable of covering various cases of ideal elements (Peano’s abstracta being among them). If the Peano School proposal eventually appeared to be based on the nowadays standard classificatory process of quotienting a set by an equivalence, Weyl’s proposal still lacks a set-theoretical, classificatory interpretation. In this paper, we define and investigate the notion of relational indiscernibility (upon which Weyl’s creative definitions are based) and show that a bridge from the concept of indiscernibility to the notion of type (sets closed by bi-orthogonal) may be built from the observation that individuals are indiscernible exactly when they belong to exactly the same types. In the last part, we investigate some philosophical consequences of those observations concerning the theory of abstraction.
Developmental milestones of toddlers at selected areas of Nedumkandam, Idukki district, Kerala

Introduction: Globally 200 million children do not reach their developmental potentials in their first five years. The early identification of developmental delay is very critical . This study was undertaken to assess the developmental milestones of toddlers at selected areas of Nedumkandam, Idukki district, Kerala. Method: The present study was an explorative study of 120 toddlers between the age group of 30-36 months from selected areas of Nedumkandam. Data were collected by using Modified ages and stages questionnaire. It is a series of questionnaires designed to screen the developmental performance of toddlers in the areas of communication, gross motor skill, fine motor skill, cognitive, and social development. The scale was answered ‘yes’ or ‘sometimes’ or ‘not yet’. The total score is 60 and score range of 41-60 as normal development, 31-40 as mild delay and 0-30 as delayed. Result: The result indicated that 76.7% of toddlers are having normal development up to the age, 20% are having mild delayed development and 3.3% are having delayed development. Regarding the aspects of development it has been noted that mean score of gross motor development is 11.1 , fine motor development is 10.9, cognitive development is 9.3 social development is 10.7 and communication is 9.1. There is no association of developmental milestones with selected demographic variables. Conclusion: The study was concluded that majority of the toddlers achieved the developmental milestones as per the age. The study also revealed that there was no association with selected demographic variables.
Chemical Composition Analysis, Indoor Diffusion Deposition Model and Pathogenic Mechanism of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

© 2021 The Author(s). This article has been published under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits noncommercial unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the following statement is provided. “This article has been published in Exploratory Research and Hypothesis in Medicine at https://doi.org/10.14218/ERHM.2020. 00072 and can also be viewed on the Journal’s website at https://www.xiahepublishing. com/journal/erhm ”.
A comparison of Gaussian processes and neural networks for computer model emulation and calibration

The Department of Energy relies on complex physics simulations for prediction in domains like cosmology, nuclear theory, and materials science. These simulations are often extremely computationally intensive, with some requiring days or weeks for a single simulation. In order to assure their accuracy, these models are calibrated against observational data in order to estimate inputs and systematic biases. Because of their great computational complexity, this process typically requires the construction of an emulator, a fast approximation to the simulation. In this paper, two emulator approaches are compared: Gaussian process regression and neural networks. Their emulation accuracy and calibration performance on three real problems of Department of Energy interest is considered. On these problems, the Gaussian process emulator tends to be more accurate with narrower, but still well‐calibrated uncertainty estimates. The neural network emulator is accurate, but tends to have large uncertainty on its predictions. As a result, calibration with the Gaussian process emulator produces more constrained posteriors that still perform well in prediction.
Progressive multi-scale attention network for compression artifact reduction

Abstract. The recent convolutional neural network based studies on the compression artifact reduction (CAR) task have made great progress. However, most of these CAR methods still have some inadequacies. They are limited on the network capability due to treating extracted features equally and generate unpleasant visual results due to using the pixel-wise loss (e.g., L1/L2 loss) in training. Therefore, to address these issues, we propose a progressive multi-scale attention network (PMANet) for image CAR task and further introduce a PMANet-based generative adversarial network (PMAGAN) for visual quality improvement. Specifically, the key idea and the basic component of the PMANet is a multi-scale attention dense block, which effectively incorporates the multi-scale information to the model with the attention mechanism and thus enhances the network’s representation ability. The PMANet can be further improved with the designed progressive restoration structure. In addition, PMAGAN takes the PMANet as the generator and brings a generative adversarial networks framework with the adversarial training strategy. Experiments show that PMANet performs better than the state-of-the-art CAR methods, and PMAGAN can further achieve better visual quality with more natural and sharper textures.
Influence of probiotic (Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, L. paracasei LPC37, and L. rhamnosus HN001) strains on starter cultures and secondary microflora in Swiss‐ and Dutch‐type cheeses

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of three probiotic strains on microbial quality of industrially produced Swiss- and Dutch-type cheeses. The levels of starter cultures were higher in Swiss-type cheeses containing L. paracasei LPC37 and L. rhamnosus HN001. Mesophilic citrate-fermenting bacteria were more abundant in cheeses containing L. acidophilus NCFM. The greatest reduction in Propionibacterium sp. counts was observed in cheeses produced with the addition of L. paracasei LPC37. All adjunct Lactobacillus sp. cultures stimulated changes in Enterococcus sp. counts and significantly influenced the counts of yeasts and molds in cheeses. Populations of coliform bacteria were lower in experimental cheeses than in control cheeses. The counts of butyric acid bacteria and anaerobic sulfite-reducing bacteria were reduced in experimental Swiss-type cheeses. Lactobacillus sp. used in the study are characterized by good viability and have no negative influence on starter cultures in cheese production. Practical applications Effect of three Lactobacillus sp. strains on technologically harmful microflora in cheeses. The protective (antibacterial) effect of bacteria depends on the type of cheese, temperature of ripening and storage, and the applied strain.
Geochemistry of the Cheremkhovo and Lower Prisayan Formations from the Jurassic Irkutsk Coal-Bearing Basin: Evidence for Provenance and Climate Change in Pliensbachian–Toarcian

The Cheremkhovo formation (Pliensbachian) is the primary coal-bearing formation of the Irkutsk basin, Eastern Siberia. Still, few geochemical studies of the Jurassic sediments of the Irkutsk coal-bearing basin have been conducted, and there are no data on the geochemistry of the coal-bearing formation itself. This study presents geochemical data for 68 samples from the Cheremkhovo formation and the overlying Lower Prisayan formation. The age of the former has been estimated by U-Pb dating of zircon from a tonstein (altered volcanic ash) layer as Pliensbachian, whereas the age of the latter is estimated as Pliensbachian–Toarcian according to regional stratigraphy. Major oxide and trace element concentrations were obtained using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Geochemical indicators showed diversity between the two studied formations. The indicators used show the change in climate conditions, from warm and humid in the Cheremkhovo formation, to hot and arid during the deposition of the lower Prisayan formation. The provenance of the Irkutsk coal-bearing basin was mainly influenced by the source composition, not recycling, and sediments were mainly derived from felsic to intermediate igneous rocks with a mixture of other rock types.
Influence of Marketing Strategies on the Performance of SMEs: Evidence from Abuja SMEs

Marketing strategy has been an operational focus and a method for achieving an all-inclusive business success. The aim of this scholarly work was to determine the influence of marketing strategies on the performance of SMEs in Abuja. Specifically, the objectives selected to achieve the aim of the study were to examine the influence of promotion marketing strategy on the business performance, assess the impact of price marketing strategy on the business performance of SMEs, determine the influence of place marketing strategy on business performance of SMEs, evaluate the effect of product marketing strategy on the business performance of SMEs in Abuja. Sample size of 339 was drawn from a population of 2825 which comprised of all the SMEs in Abuja registered by SMEDAN. Regression analysis was used and results presented in tables and figures. The findings obtained revealed that the most adopted marketing strategy was product strategy which contributed the most to the model. There was a positive relationship between the study variables,( promotion, pricing, place and product strategies), implying that the application of marketing strategies positively influenced SME performance in Abuja. The research concluded that the performance of SMEs in Abuja was positively influenced by marketing strategies. Recommendations were made which stated that SMEs should produce quality products, charge equitable price, position suitably, and promote extensively to the final consumers.
Effects of Season and House Microclimate on Fungal Flora in Air and Broiler Trachea

Fungi are present in abundance in poultry housing. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of season and microclimate parameters in poultry housing on fungal flora in the air and broiler trachea in commercial fattening conditions. The study was conducted in summer and winter. Study results indicated seasonal impact and association between fungal flora composition in housing air and broiler trachea. However, the total fungal count in housing air was significantly higher in summer and in broiler trachea in winter, both significantly correlated with indoor relative humidity and ammonia concentration. There was no significant correlation between outdoor and indoor air temperature, relative humidity and airflow rate, respectively. Study results suggested that environmental determination of fungi should be accompanied by their determination in broilers. In addition, seasonal impact on fungal contamination should be associated with microclimate conditions in the poultry house rather than the season itself. The fungi detected and the results obtained have implications not only for broiler health but also for the health of humans working in such environments.
TOAD-GAN: A Flexible Framework for Few-Shot Level Generation in Token-Based Games

This work presents <italic>T</italic>oken-based <italic>O</italic>ne-shot <italic>A</italic>rbitrary <italic>D</italic>imension <italic>G</italic>enerative <italic>A</italic>dversarial <italic>N</italic>etwork (<italic>TOAD-GAN</italic>), a novel procedural content generation algorithm that generates token-based video game levels from only one example. We show that the created levels can be of arbitrary size, and the patterns of the training levels are well captured. The method can be extended with user interaction during the generation process to achieve certain token layouts and interpretations of the same base level by different generators. Our method is further evaluated with an extensive ablation study and level similarity metrics on the <italic>Super Mario Bros. </italic> benchmark. Finally, we extend our method to mix the style of multiple input levels, turning it into a framework for few-shot level generation.
Locus Coeruleus Activation Patterns Differentially Modulate Odor Discrimination Learning and Odor Valence in Rats

ABSTRACT The locus coeruleus (LC) produces phasic and tonic firing patterns that are theorized to have distinct functional consequences. However, how different firing modes affect learning and valence encoding of sensory information are unknown. Here, we show bilateral optogenetic activation of rat LC neurons using 10-Hz phasic trains of either 300 ms or 10 s accelerated acquisition of a similar odor discrimination. Similar odor discrimination learning was impaired by noradrenergic blockade in the piriform cortex (PC). However, 10-Hz phasic light-mediated learning facilitation was prevented by a dopaminergic antagonist in the PC, or by ventral tegmental area (VTA) silencing with lidocaine, suggesting a LC–VTA–PC dopamine circuitry involvement. Ten-hertz tonic stimulation did not alter odor discrimination acquisition, and was ineffective in activating VTA DA neurons. For valence encoding, tonic stimulation at 25 Hz induced conditioned odor aversion, whereas 10-Hz phasic stimulations produced an odor preference. Both conditionings were prevented by noradrenergic blockade in the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Cholera Toxin B retro-labeling showed larger engagement of nucleus accumbens-projecting neurons in the BLA with 10-Hz phasic activation, and larger engagement of central amygdala projecting cells with 25-Hz tonic light. These outcomes argue that the LC activation patterns differentially influence both target networks and behavior.