Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EXTRACTION AND SUGAR COMPOSITION OF MUCILAGE IN URGINEA INDICA/DRIMIA INDICA (ROXB) KUNTH HYACINTHACEAE

Objective: Urginea indica (U. indica) Kunth. Hyacinthaceae has high mucilage content; the aim of the study is to isolate the mucilage and to analyze the sugar present in mucilage and its Physicochemical properties. Methods : The mucilage of U. indica extracted from the dried powder from bulbs of Urginea indica using Acetone Precipitation method. HPLC analysis has been made to see the presence of sugars in mucilage. The composition of polysaccharide analyzed based on the standard hydrolysis procedure using hydrochloric, sulfuric, and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) at elevated temperature. Results : The percentage yield of mucilage was found to be 4 %. The HPLC analysis revealed the presence of sugar such as Sucrose, Maltose, Fructose and Galactose in mucilage sample among which maltose was found to be higher with 21.84 µg/ml followed by Fructose (1.90 µg/ml), Galactose (2.09 µg/ml) and sucrose (0.82 µg/ml). Conclusion: The present investigation showed that U. indica mucilage has high pharmaceutical significance with the presence of high amount of maltose, which makes it an attractive source of carbohydrate. Keywords: Urginea indica, Mucilage, Sugar, Acetone Precipitation method, HPLC, Maltose
A perspective on the importance of oceanic fronts in promoting aggregation of visitors to seamounts

Recent evidence has demonstrated that not all seamounts are areas where productivity, biomass and biodiversity of marine life thrive. Therefore, understanding the drivers and mechanisms underlying seamount productivity is a major challenge in today's seamount research. Incorporating oceanographic data in future analyses has been suggested to be of paramount importance to unveil many of the seamount ecology paradigms. Persistent hydrographic features, such as oceanic fronts, have been recognized to enhance biological activity and to drive marine animal distributions and migration patterns. However, the importance of oceanic fronts in driving aggregations of visiting animals on seamounts has not been understood yet. Here, we analysed a data set of seamounts in the Pacific Ocean alongside satellite-derived maps of strong, persistent and frequently occurring oceanographic features, to evaluate if oceanic fronts promote aggregation of visitors on seamounts. Our analyses suggest that seamounts with a higher front frequency were more likely to aggregate tuna catch than average seamounts. However, it appears that fronts may be driving factors for aggregation only if present above a certain threshold. These results highlight the importance of environmental conditions in general, and oceanic fronts in particular, in promoting seamount productivity. We therefore argue that a thorough examination of the oceanographic conditions promoting seamount productivity at various temporal and spatial scales is warranted in future seamount research agendas.
Isolation of Breast Cancer Accumulation in Mammograms for Improving Radiologists Analysis

Breast cancer is one of the major causes of death among women around the world. An improvement in early diagnostic technique can help for better diagnosis of abnormalities. Mammography is the main investigation screening technique used for an early diagnosis of it. It display a small percentage of the information detected which is due to the minor difference in x-ray Attenuation between normal glandular tissues and malignant disease. This makes the detection of small malignancies difficult. This paper proposes group of pre and post processing technique with segmentation approach showing better results for medical image processing applications. 
Analysis of clear‐sky Antarctic snow albedo using observations and radiative transfer modeling

[1] A radiative transfer model for studying spectral and broadband snow surface albedo has been applied to radiation data (1998–2001) from different climate regimes in Antarctica. The model makes use of the doubling-adding method for radiative transfer, combined with the correlated k-distribution technique to account for atmospheric gas absorption. Snow layers are described by scattering phase functions for irregular hexagonal plate-shaped ice crystals. Multiple scattering is included, as well as the option to include soot in the snowpack, as well as clouds. Sensitivity experiments show that the model is capable of calculating spectral and broadband albedos as a function of solar zenith angle and effective snow grain radius re. The novel approach of applying the model to multiple-year field data of clear-sky albedo from five locations in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, reveals that seasonal clear-sky albedo variations (0.77–0.88) are dominantly caused by strong spatial and temporal variations in re. Summer season averages of re range from 22 μm on the Antarctic plateau to 64 μm on the ice shelf. Maximum monthly values of re are 40–150% higher. Other factors influencing clear-sky broadband albedo are the seasonal cycle in solar zenith angle (at most 0.02 difference in summer and spring/autumn albedo) and the spatial variation in optical thickness of the cloudless atmosphere (0.01 difference between ice shelves and plateau). The seasonal cycle in optical thickness of the atmosphere was found to be of minor importance (<0.005 between summer and spring/autumn).
An optimization algorithm of hierarchical circuits

When designing hierarchical circuits, all subcircuits are generated regardless of their semantics. Therefore, the hierarchical circuit may well contain two identical (redundant) subcircuits A and B with the same input variables. Leaving out one of them (e.g. B) and connecting the output of A to the output of B will lead to a circuit with the same semantics and lower costs. In this work we present a folding algorithm with linear time complexity. In general, finding identical subcircuits in a circuit is NP-complete, but we optimize the circuits generated by our hierarchical design system with specific data structure. Since we can describe any boolean function with hierarchical circuits, we can optimize any boolean function with our methods to get a circuit without redundant subcircuits.
The Effectiveness of Education and Health Spending among Brazilian Municipalities

This paper uses a large dataset combining census, household survey and budgetary data for nearly 4.000 Brazilian municipalities to estimate the impact of government spending on education and health outcomes. We deal with the multi-dimensional nature of the population’s social status by estimating structural equation models with latent variables using a limited-information two-stage least square (2SLS) estimator. Robustness of the baseline regressions to heterogeneity in the data is assessed on the basis of quantile regressions. The main empirical findings are that government spending is a powerful determinant of education outcomes, but this is not the case for health, and that spending on non-education programmes are also at least as important. In addition, there appears to be scope for gains in economies of scale in the provision of education and health care services, at least for selected segments of the conditional distribution of social outcomes. Finally, there are cross-sectoral effects in service delivery: health (education) outcomes affect the population’s education (health) status. This Working Paper relates to the 2009 OECD Economic Survey of Brazil (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/brazil). L'efficacite des depenses d'education et de sante des administrations municipales bresiliennes Ce document utilise une grande base de donnees combinant des informations issues des enquetes realisees aupres des menages et des recensements, ainsi que les budgets de pres de 4.000 municipalites bresiliennes pour estimer l’effet des depenses des administrations publiques en matiere d’education et de sante. Le caractere multidimensionnel des indicateurs sociaux est pris en compte par un modele d’equation structurelle avec des variables latentes estime par le double moindre carre a information limite. Des regressions quantiles ont ete estimees pour evaluer la robustesse des resultats de base en tenant compte de l’heterogeneite des donnees. Les principaux resultats sont que les depenses des administrations publiques sont particulierement determinantes pour la performance de l’education mais pas de la sante et que les depenses des programmes hors education sont aussi importantes. En outre, les resultats en matiere de sante ont un impact sur les indicateurs d’education, et vice versa. Finalement, il apparait que des economies d’echelle pourraient etre exploitees pour la fourniture des services d’education et de sante au moins pour les collectivites situees sur certains segments de la distribution conditionnelle des resultats en matiere d’education et sante. Ce Document de travail se rapporte a l’Etude economique de l’OCDE du Bresil, 2009 (www.oecd.org/eco/etudes/bresil).
Elucidating Patterns in the Occurrence of Threatened Ground-Dwelling Marsupials Using Camera-Traps

Simple Summary Being able to effectively monitor the continued plight of highly vulnerable animals against management efforts over time is critical for their conservation. In south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, we used a camera trapping array to collect baseline information about patterns of occurrence of three threatened native ground-dwelling marsupials of conservation interest: the long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta), long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) and southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus). Over a four-year period, detections of the two bandicoots were more erratic and less predictable than that of the potoroo, resulting in higher uncertainty about occupancy estimates and adequacy of sampling effort. The detection probability of each bandicoot species and that of the potoroo differed variously with structural complexity of vegetation. Detection probability of the southern brown bandicoot was highest where ground cover was most dense and shrub cover most open. The reverse pattern was found for the long-nosed bandicoot. Finally, the detection probability of the long-nosed potoroo was highest where ground and shrub cover was densest. Future camera trapping monitoring efforts need to take better account of these nuances and be flexible to including additional sampling for at least the two bandicoots. In short, when it comes to monitoring approach, one size doesn’t fit all. Abstract Establishing trends in endangered fauna against management efforts is a key but often challenging enterprise. Camera-traps offer a new and literal window into monitoring many different mammalian species. Getting it right demands seeking baseline information about how often target species interact with these devices, prior to setting a long-term monitoring strategy. We used a camera-trap array to collect detection data on three species of threatened ground-dwelling marsupials in south-eastern mainland Australia. Over a four-year period, occupancy estimates for two species of bandicoot (southern brown bandicoot Isoodon obesulus and long-nosed bandicoot Perameles nasuta) and a single species of rat-kangaroo (long-nosed potoroo Potorous tridatylus) were generated. These estimates were variously robust depending on visitation history, but nevertheless indicated persistence of these rare and otherwise under threat species. Detection probability for each species differed between study areas, type of management and with complexity of ground and shrub vegetation cover. The relationship between detection and vegetation structure dictated that survey effort was only robust where conditions were optimal for a given species. Outside of that further survey effort would be required to have confidence in survey outcome. In the future this would demand a different sampling strategy, be that through lengthening survey time or adding additional camera units at sites.
Cognitive Performance Following Ingestion of Glucose–Fructose Sweeteners That Impart Different Postprandial Glycaemic Responses: A Randomised Control Trial

We aimed to investigate the isolated effect of glycaemia on cognitive test performance by using beverages sweetened with two different glucose–fructose disaccharides, sucrose and isomaltulose. In a randomised crossover design, 70 healthy adults received a low-glycaemic-index (GI) isomaltulose and sucralose beverage (GI 32) and a high-GI sucrose beverage (GI 65) on two occasions that were separated by two weeks. Following beverage ingestion, declarative memory and immediate word recall were examined at 30, 80 and 130 min. At 140 min, executive function was tested. To confirm that the glycaemic response of the test beverages matched published GI estimates, a subsample (n = 12) of the cognitive testing population (n = 70) underwent glycaemic response testing on different test days. A significantly lower value of mean (95% CI) blood glucose concentration incremental area under the curve (iAUC) was found for isomaltulose, in comparison to the blood glucose concentration iAUC value for sucrose, the difference corresponding to −44 mmol/L∙min (−70, −18), p = 0.003. The mean (95% CI) difference in numbers of correct answers or words recalled between beverages at 30, 80 and 130 min were 0.1 (−0.2, 0.5), −0.3 (−0.8, 0.2) and 0.0 (−0.5, 0.5) for declarative memory, and −0.5 (−1.4, 0.3), 0.4 (−0.4, 1.3) and −0.4 (−1.1, 0.4) for immediate free word recall. At 140 min, the mean difference in the trail-making test between beverages was −0.3 sec (−6.9, 6.3). None of these differences were statistically or clinically significant. In summary, cognitive performance was unaffected by different glycaemic responses to beverages during the postprandial period of 140 min.
Delft University of Technology A Front-End ASIC With High-Voltage Transmit Switching and Receive Digitization for 3-D Forward-Looking Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging

This paper presents an areaand power-efficient ASIC for 3D forward-looking intravascular ultrasound imaging. The ASIC is intended to be mounted at the tip of a catheter, and has a circular active area with a diameter of 1.5 mm on top of which a 2D array of piezo-electric transducer elements is integrated. It requires only 4 micro-coaxial cables to interface 64 receive (RX) and 16 transmit (TX) elements with an imaging system. To do so, it routes high-voltage (HV) pulses generated by the system to selected TX elements using compact HV switch circuits, digitizes the resulting echo signal received by a selected RX element locally, and employs an energy-efficient loadmodulation datalink to return the digitized echo signal to the system in a robust manner. A multi-functional command line provides the required sampling clock, configuration data and supply voltage for the HV switches. The ASIC has been realized in a 0.18 μm HV CMOS technology and consumes only 9.1 mW. Electrical measurements show 28 V HV switching and RX digitization with a 16 MHz bandwidth and 53 dB dynamic range. Acoustical measurements demonstrate successful pulse transmission and reception. Finally, a 3D ultrasound image of a 3-needle phantom is generated to demonstrate the imaging capability.
A New Antibacterial Agent-Releasing Polydimethylsiloxane Coating for Polymethyl Methacrylate Dental Restorations

Chlorhexidine (CHX) has been incorporated into the composition of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) dental restorations to enhance their antimicrobial performance. However, the controlled delivery of CHX remains a challenge. Although previous findings with pure silica or polymer coatings demonstrated the resistance to bacterial adhesion, they did not provide antibacterial activity beyond the coated surface. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are widely used in biomedical science as a transfer medium in drug delivery systems. Here, the MSNs are used to encapsulate CHX, and the combination is added to PDMS. A thin coating film is formed on the PMMA, using oxygen plasma and thermal treatment. The liquid chromatography analysis shows that the coating film has high encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity, with a slow and stable release rate of CHX. The cytotoxicity tests also show that the coating does not affect the proinflammatory cytokines, cellular mitotic activity, or apoptotic cell death. The ability of the coating to release CHX indicates that the coating may even be effective against bacteria that are not directly in contact with the surface. This antibacterial protective film is expected to be a novel method to inhibit bacterial activity distal to the coated surfaces of PMMA restorations.
Multi-Tissue Transcriptomes Yield Information on High-Altitude Adaptation and Sex-Determination in Scutiger cf. sikimmensis

The Himalayas are one of earth’s hotspots of biodiversity. Among its many cryptic and undiscovered organisms, including vertebrates, this complex high-mountain ecosystem is expected to harbour many species with adaptations to life in high altitudes. However, modern evolutionary genomic studies in Himalayan vertebrates are still at the beginning. Moreover, in organisms, like most amphibians with relatively high DNA content, whole genome sequencing remains bioinformatically challenging and no complete nuclear genomes are available for Himalayan amphibians. Here, we present the first well-annotated multi-tissue transcriptome of a Greater Himalayan species, the lazy toad Scutiger cf. sikimmensis (Anura: Megophryidae). Applying Illumina NextSeq 500 RNAseq to six tissues, we obtained 41.32 Gb of sequences, assembled to ~111,000 unigenes, translating into 54362 known genes as annotated in seven functional databases. We tested 19 genes, known to play roles in anuran and reptile adaptation to high elevations, and potentially detected diversifying selection for two (TGS1, SENP5) in Scutiger. Of a list of 37 genes, we also identify 27 candidate genes for sex determination or sexual development, all of which providing the first such data for this non-model megophryid species. These transcriptomes will serve as a valuable resource for further studies on amphibian evolution in the Greater Himalaya as a biodiversity hotspot.
Multitask Air-Quality Prediction Based on LSTM-Autoencoder Model

With the development of the data-driven modeling techniques, using the neural network to simulate the transport process of atmospheric pollutants and constructing <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\textrm {PM}}_{2.5}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> time-series prediction model have become a hot topic. The existing data-driven approaches often ignore the dynamical relationships among multiple sites in urban areas, which results in nonideal prediction accuracy. In response to this problem, this article proposes a long short-term memory (LSTM) autoencoder multitask learning model to predict <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\textrm {PM}}_{2.5}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> time series in multiple locations city wide. The model could implicitly and automatically excavate the intrinsic relevance among the pollutants in different stations. And the meteorological information from the monitoring stations is fully utilized, which is beneficial for the performance of the proposed model. Specifically, multilayer LSTM networks can simulate the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban air pollution particles. And using the stacked autoencoder to encode the key evolution pattern of urban meteorological systems could provide important auxiliary information for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\textrm {PM}}_{2.5}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> time-series prediction. In addition, multitask learning could automatically discover the dynamical relationship between multiple key pollution time series and solve the problem of insufficient use of multisite information in the modeling process of the traditional data-driven methods. The simulation results of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\textrm {PM}}_{2.5}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> prediction in Beijing indicate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Baicalein attenuates OVA-induced allergic airway inflammation through the inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway

Asthma is a type of chronic lung inflammation with restrictions in effective therapy. NF-κB pathway activation has been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Baicalein, one of the major active flavonoids found in Scutellaria baicalensis, exhibits potent anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting NF-κB activity. Herein, we report that Baicalein significantly reduces OVA-induced airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), airway inflammation, serum IgE levels, mucus production, and collagen deposition around the airway. Additionally, western blot analysis and immunofluorescence assay showed that Baicalein attenuates the activation of NF-κB, which was mainly reflected by IκBα phosphorylation and degradation, p65 nuclear translocation and downstream iNOS expression. Furthermore, in human epithelial cells, Baicalein blocked TNF-α-induced NF-κB activation. Our study provides evidence that Baicalein administration alleviates the pathological changes in asthma through inactivating the NF-κB/iNOS pathway. Baicalein might be a promising potential therapy agent for patients with allergic asthma in the future.
Ultrafast thermally induced magnetic switching in synthetic ferrimagnets

Synthetic ferrimagnets are composite magnetic structures formed from two or more anti-ferromagnetically coupled magnetic sublattices with different magnetic moments. Here, we report on atomistic spin simulations of the laser-induced magnetization dynamics on such synthetic ferrimagnets and demonstrate that the application of ultrashort laser pulses leads to sub-picosecond magnetization dynamics and all-optical switching in a similar manner as in ferrimagnetic alloys. Moreover, we present the essential material properties for successful laser-induced switching, demonstrating the feasibility of using a synthetic ferrimagnet as a high density magnetic storage element without the need of a write field.
STABILITY ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL PD CONTROL APPLIED TO FLEXIBLE SYSTEMS

The work shows that the sampling in a digital PD controller of a flexible system may cause instability, while the continuous PD control system is stable. A procedure is introduced to defme the stability regions analytically in the gain space. A closed form stability criterion is derived for a system consists of a single rigid mode and one flexible mode. The procedure is applied successfully also for the case of single rigid mode considering the computation time in addition to sampling period. A comparison with the literature shows that this procedure is straightforward, gives more accurate result and even corrects some stability regions published in the literature. A computer program is constructed using MA TLAB to determine the stability region for a system that consists of a single rigid mode and arbitrary number of flexible modes. This simulates many practical systems such as flexible robot arms, disk-drive servos and antenna systems. The results show that the stability regions can be approximated by a right triangle in the gain space. Analytical expressions are derived to defme such triangles.
Revision of the Alpheus websteri Kingsley, 1880 species complex (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae), with revalidation of A. arenensis (Chace, 1937)

The Alpheus websteri Kingsley, 1880 species complex is revised. Alpheus websteri s. str. is redefined and restricted to the western Atlantic, ranging from the type locality in the Florida Keys to northeastern Brazil. The eastern Pacific A. arenensis (Chace, 1937), formerly a synonym of A. websteri, and the eastern Atlantic A. fagei Crosnier and Forest, 1966, are shown to be distinct from A. websteri morphologically, genetically and also by color pattern. Morphology, genetics and color patterns all suggest that A. websteri and A. arenensis are transisthmian sister species, with A. fagei being their closest relative. Complete synonymy, color photographs and GenBank barcodes (COI) are provided for all three species.