Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin in food of animal origin and staphylococcal food poisoning risk assessment from farm to table

Abstract Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterium, commonly found in the nostrils, on the skin and on the hair of warm-blooded animals, including humans. It can produce a wide variety of virulence factors, including staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs). In literature, 24 different SEs and many variants have been identified; among these, only five (the so-called classic enterotoxins) have been well-defined. Due to their emetic activity, SEs are frequently responsible for staphylococcal food poisoning, when consumers ingest contaminated food. SEs are proteins with a high tolerance of denaturing and can maintain their activity, even when the vegetative form of the bacteria is inactivated during food processing. The enterotoxin encoding genes are found in a variety of different genetic elements and, as a result, enterotoxin production varies widely between different populations of S. aureus. SEs production is modulated by multiple, and often overlapping, regulatory pathways, which are influenced by environmental factors. Furthermore, complex food matrices possess many characteristics (storage temperature, pH, sugar or salt concentration, presence of competitive microorganisms, etc.) that have a high impact on S. aureus behaviour. The multiple factors influencing S. aureus growth in food matrices and the production of SE complicates risk assessment procedures. In this review, we focus on enterotoxin production by S. aureus in food of animal origin, its regulation and detection and on the most recent developments in predictive microbiology and risk assessment models. Highlights Staphylococcus aureus produces several virulence factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of several serious human diseases: among these staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) have emetic activity, and are responsible for staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP). SEs are proteins that maintain their activity even though the vegetative form of the bacteria is inactivated during food processing. Enterotoxin encoding genes are found in a variety of genetic elements and enterotoxin production varies and is regulated by multiple regulatory pathways, which are influenced by environmental factors.
Multiple mountain‐hopping colonization of sky‐islands on the two sides of Tropical Africa during the Pleistocene: The afroalpine Festuca grasses

The afroalpine sky‐islands present one of the most interesting models to study discrete biogeographic patterns in a terrestrial island system. Here, we performed range‐wide sampling of the afroalpine clade of fine‐leaved Festuca grasses and address a set of hypotheses on its origin and dispersal. We focus on the widespread species F. abyssinica and explore the role of the eastern and western African sky‐islands.
Studies on the third-phase formation in DHDECMP/dodecane/HNO3

Abstract The third-phase formation in the DHDECMP-dodecane-HNO3 system during the actinides extraction was investigated based on the densities of the phases formed and the acid uptake by the DHDECMP phase. The effects of various parameters like nature of acids, diluents, temperature of extraction, acid molarity, and concentration of DHDECMP on the Third-phase formation were studied. The third-phase formation was also explained on the basis of results of small-angle neutron scattering studies (SANS).
Highly birefringent fiber design based on polymer photonic crystal fiber with ultralow confinement loss for sensing application

A highly birefringent polymer photonic crystal fiber (PCF) for polarization maintaining is investigated in this work. A triangular structure of circular air holes included in polytherimide polymer (PEI) with a defected core for high birefringence is modeled. The properties of this structure are simulated with a full vector finite element method (FVFEM) using PML (Perfect Matched Layer) as boundary condition. The optimized design ensures a very high birefringence of 4.9 10−2 at a wavelength of 1550nm. Furthermore, we have achieved an extremely low confinement loss around 10−6dB/km and negative chromatic dispersion of 180ps/(nm.km) along the y polarization at the operating wavelength. Owing to the excellent polarization maintaining properties, the proposed fiber design could be easily suitable for optical sensor applications. The proposed structure could also enhance the dispersion compensating devices in high bite rate transmission network.
Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility Execution Effects on Purchase Intention with the Moderating Role of Customer Awareness

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in management domains is a well-known concept that links corporate interests and environmental/community values. CSR is considered a strategic policy that offers environmental and social competitive advantages. Organizations consider that CSR-based goodwill provides a tactical competitive edge and sustainable growth. The goal of this paper is to show how CSR programs affect consumers’ purchasing intention in the context of Pakistan. In addition, the effect of customer awareness has been studied as a moderator between CSR and purchasing intention. To this end, the study has conducted a survey and gathered Pakistani customers’ responses, and structural equation modeling has been used to evaluate the results. The study concludes that CSR activities favorably affect customer purchasing intentions directly as well as indirectly through improving brand image and trust, and customer awareness of CSR activities plays a moderating role. The implications and future research directions are discussed.
High FGF23 Levels Failed to Predict Cardiac Hypertrophy in Animal Models of Hyperphosphatemia and Chronic Renal Failure

Abstract Increased fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) levels are an independent predictor for adverse cardiac events suggesting a role as a link that drives cardiomyopathic changes in cardiorenal syndrome. The search for the underlying mechanism driving this interaction has led to the hypothesis that FGF23 causes pathogenic changes in the heart. Increased serum FGF23 has been independently shown to cause increased cardiac morbidity, mortality, and hypertrophy by signalling through FGF receptor 4. This mechanistic concept was based on preclinical studies demonstrating inhibition of FGF23 signaling through FGF4, which led to suppression of left ventricular hypertrophy and fibrosis in a 2-week rat 5/6 nephrectomy study and a 12-week (2%) high-phosphate diet mouse model in which FGF23 levels were markedly elevated. In this report, renal dysfunction was observed in the 5/6 nephrectomy model, and FGF23 levels were significantly elevated, whereas no changes in left ventricular hypertrophy were observed at 2 or 4 weeks postnephrectomy. Mice placed on a high-phosphate diet that did not cause significant renal dysfunction resulted in significantly elevated FGF23 but no changes in left ventricular hypertrophy. The in vivo studies reported here, which were performed to recapitulate the observations of FGF23 as a driver of cardiac hypertrophy, did not lend support to the FGF23-driven cardiac remodelling hypothesis.
Release of soil phosphorus during runoff as affected by ionic strength and temperature

Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) from two cultivated clay soil samples (Vertic Cambisols) was extracted under conditions simulating the variation in the properties of surface runoff water in the field. DRP was extracted at three temperatures (5, 15 and 25°C), and at different ionic strengths by using deionized water and CaCl2 solutions (0.00005-0.005 M) as extractants. The solution-to-soil ratio varied from 50 to 2000 1 kg 1 . Sorption to and desorption from the soils were studied at different temperatures and ionic strengths by determining quantity-intensity (Q/I) plots at the solution-to-soil ratio of 50 1kg 1 , and the results were fitted to a modified Langmuir equation: Q = Q maxl/( 1/K + I)-Qo where Qis P sorbed or desorbed, Qmax =maximum P sorption, I= P concentration in the equilibrium solution, K = sorption/desorption equilibrium constant, and Q 0 = instantly labile P. The desorption of DRP was depressed by increases in the CaCl2 concentration of the extractant and promoted by widening of the solution-to-soil ratio. At the solution-to-soil ratio of 50 1 kg ', the increase in the temperature from 5 to 25°C raised the DRP release to water from 12.6 to 20.7 mg kg* 1 in the Aurajoki soil and from 1.8 to 3.4 mg kg ' in the Jokioinen soil. In the Aurajoki soil, the constant Q 0 of the Langmuir equation responded to the changes of ionic strength and temperature in the same way as did DRP extracted at wide solution-to-soil ratios. However, the Prelease capacity of both soils was underestimated by the constant Q O.
Joint Task Offloading, Resource Allocation, and Security Assurance for Mobile Edge Computing-Enabled UAV-Assisted VANETs

In this paper, we propose a mobile edge computing (MEC)-enabled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) architecture, based on which a number of vehicles are served by UAVs equipped with computation resource. Each vehicle has to offload its computing tasks to the proper MEC server on the UAV due to the limited computation ability. To counter the problems above, we first model and analyze the transmission model and the security assurance model from the vehicle to the MEC server on UAV, and the task computation model of the local vehicle and the edge UAV. Then, the vehicle offloading problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem by jointly considering the task offloading, the resource allocation, and the security assurance. For tackling this hard problem, we decouple the multi-objective optimization problem as two subproblems and propose an efficient iterative algorithm to jointly make the MEC selection decision based on the criteria of load balancing and optimize the offloading ratio and the computation resource according to the Lagrangian dual decomposition. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate that our proposed scheme achieves significant performance superiority compared with other schemes in terms of the successful task processing ratio and the task processing delay.
Evaluation of the Ovarian Reserve in Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disorder where the disease activity itself and the medications used for its treatment, may have adverse effects on ovarian function. This study aimed to assess the ovarian reserve (OR) in SLE patients. Materials and methods: The anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) and the antral follicle count (AFC), two markers to evaluate the OR was assessed in 64 SLE patients and compared to normal individuals. Additionally, we assessed whether the disease per se or the pharmacological treatments affect the OR. Results: Patients with SLE displayed alterations in the OR regardless of the presence of alterations of the menstrual cycle. The AFC and AMH were significantly lower in SLE patients with and without menstrual alterations when compared to control individuals (p<0.0001). However, the AFC and AMH levels were significantly correlated (p=0.006) in the SLE patients with menstrual alterations. Except for hydroxychloroquine that was statistically higher in SLE patients with menstrual alterations (p=0.04), the cumulative dose for cyclophosphamide, corticosteroid, and methotrexate was similar in SLE patients regardless of the occurrence of menstrual alterations. Conclusion: The monitoring of AMH and AFC in SLE patients should be used to detect the rapid and irreversible decline of the OR to provide a possibility of pregnancy to the SLE patients.
Kisses, Handshakes, COVID-19 – Will the Pandemic Change Us Forever?

We study the changes in greeting behavior caused by the COVID-19 pandemic We find that after the use of handshakes and social kissing as forms of greeting decreased drastically, they became common again already a few months after the outbreak Nevertheless, a consistently large proportion of respondents (around 57%) plan to change their greeting behavior permanently, either because they simply became used to it or because they want to avoid the danger of contracting and transmitting infectious diseases As can be seen from the results of the first survey wave in April, 2020, the belief in conspiracy theories about COVID-19 did not influence the greeting behavior of individuals, but it proved to have a strong impact in the second survey wave in September, 2020
Design and Analysis of a Dual Airgap Radial Flux Permanent Magnet Vernier Machine with Yokeless Rotor

This paper presents a novel topology of dual airgap radial flux permanent magnet vernier machine (PMVM) in order to obtain a higher torque per magnet volume and similar average torque compared to a conventional PMVM machine. The proposed machine contains two stators and a sandwiched yokeless rotor. The yokeless rotor helps to reduce the magnet volume by providing an effective flux linkage in the stator windings. This effective flux linkage improved the average torque of the proposed machine. The competitiveness of the proposed vernier machine was validated using 2D finite element analysis under the same machine volume as that of conventional vernier machine. Moreover, cogging torque, torque ripples, torque density, losses, and efficiency performances also favored the proposed topology.
Polymer dots and derived hybrid nanomaterials: A review

Quantum dots are tiny (∼5 nm) nanoparticles with outstanding electronic, optical, luminescence, and semiconducting properties. Polymer dots are important and unique quantum dots. Polymer dots have been designed and used for advanced hybrid nanomaterials and applications. This review article deliberates scientific trials on design, fabrication, characteristics, and technical solicitations of polymer dot-based nanomaterials. Polymer dots are made from both conducting and non-conducting polymers with appropriate processing techniques. Polymer dots have facile surface modification tendencies. Functional polymer dots have an important use in hybrid/nanocomposite materials. Consequently, polymer dots have been combined with other quantum dots and nanoparticles to form advanced hybrid nanomaterials. Polymer dot-based nanomaterials have unique morphology, conductivity, electrochemical, luminescence, and sensing features. Subsequently, many applications are seen for polymer dot nanomaterials as solar cell, supercapacitor, electronics, probes, gas sensor, biosensor, bioimaging, and drug delivery.
Nisin anchored cellulose nanofibers for long term antimicrobial active food packaging

Increasing consumer demand for high performance bio-based materials in order to develop microbiologically safer foods has forced the food industry to revise their packaging strategies. One of the emerging fields within this industry is active packaging which prevents an excess of antimicrobials in food formulation and, meanwhile, inhibits or reduces bacterial growth. In this study, a green process of immobilizing a peptide on bio-based carboxylated cellulose nanofibers (CNF) using a coupling agent has been proposed. Validity of the grafting reaction between nanocellulose, the coupling agent and peptide was first analyzed by Quartz crystal microbalance-dissipation (QCM-D). Efficiency of the grafting reaction was characterized with Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis which suggest the grafting of nisin on CNF. Finally, the amount of grafted nisin was quantified on the surface of CNF by conductometric titration and nitrogen content analysis. The antimicrobial activity and release experiment demonstrated that the nisin grafted CNF displayed excellent antimicrobial activity against different Gram +ve bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) with significant 3.5 log reduction. The obtained results are promising and confirm the interest in such strategy.
Green Synthesis, Characterization and In-vitro Antioxidant Property of Silver Nanoparticles Using the Aqueous Leaf Extract of Justicia carnea

This study investigated the synthesis, characterization and in vitro antioxidant activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the aqueous leaf extract of Justicia carnea. The aqueous leaf extract of J. carnea was used as a potential reducing and capping agent. To identify the compounds responsible for the reduction of silver ions, the functional groups present in the plant extract were subjected to FTIR. The in vitro antioxidant activity of synthesized nanoparticles was evaluated in terms of ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP), DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,2`-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) free radicals scavenging assays. The surface plasmon resonance confirmed the formation of AgNPs with maximum absorbance at kmax = 446 nm. FTIR revealed the biological macromolecules of J. carnea leaf extract involved in the synthesis and stabilization of AgNPs. UV-Visible spectrophotometer showed absorbance peak in the range of 436-446 nm. The silver nanoparticles exhibited moderate antioxidant activities Original Research Article Salaudeen et al.; AJBGMB, 7(3): 20-30, 2021; Article no.AJBGMB. 67240 21 compared to standard antioxidants (ascorbic acid and BHT). These results confirmed this protocol as simple, eco-friendly, nontoxic and an alternative for conventional physical and chemical methods. It can be concluded that J. carnea leaf extract can be used effectively in the production of potential antioxidant AgNPs which could be useful in various bio-applications such as cosmetics, food and biomedical industry.
Heavy Metal Accumulations in Some Terrestrial Endemic and Non-endemic Plants in Mine Sites (Elazığ/Turkey)

The aim of our study is to determine the hyperaccumulatory properties by examining the heavy metal accumulation (Co, Ni, Fe) in endemic Anchusa leptophlla subsp. tomentosa, Alyssum pateri subsp. pateri, Glaucium acutidentatum and non endemic Erysimum uncinatifolium species collected from a copper mining area in Elazig Maden district. All species collected are hyperaccumulator according to their Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) values of Co element. According to NiBCF and FeBCF values, A. leptophlla and E. uncinatifolium species were found to be hyperacumulators. According to Transfer Factor (TF) value, it is determined that Co element can be transported upper organs in A. leptophlla, A. pateri species, whereas Ni and Fe elements in A. leptophlla, A. pateri, E. uncinatifolium species. Among the species examined, the CoEF values for A. leptophlla and NiEF values (EF>1) in all species are found to be higher than 1 according to the Enrichment Factor (EF). It can be said that the Ni accumulation capacities of all species are higher. In the study, soils samples taken from sampling area according to the Geo-accumulation index (Igeo) were found to be moderately contaminated in by Co and not so polluted by Fe.
Research on human-vehicle interaction based on natural language processing

With the rapid development of intelligent networked vehicles and driverless technology, the importance of the dialogue between human and vehicle artificial intelligence has also become prominent. In the case of the driver outputting speech and converting it into text, how to correctly distinguish the driver’s intention and make the correct response is the purpose of the research. Google released the first-generation BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) training model in 2018, bringing natural language processing methods to a new way of understanding. This article analyzes the current mainstream machine learning algorithms and applies them to natural language processing (NLP) to classify text data sets. The purpose is to study various machine learning models to achieve higher accuracy of text classification. Research results not only lay the foundation for improving vehicle driver interaction, but also serve as a reference for the natural language processing part of the future car networking and driverless technology.
Data-Driven Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning for Distribution System Decentralized Voltage Control With High Penetration of PVs

This paper proposes a novel model-free/data-driven centralized training and decentralized execution multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL) framework for distribution system voltage control with high penetration of PVs. The proposed MADRL can coordinate both the real and reactive power control of PVs with existing static var compensators and battery storage systems. Unlike the existing DRL-based voltage control methods, our proposed method does not rely on a system model during both the training and execution stages. This is achieved by developing a new interaction scheme between the surrogate modeling of the original system and the multi-agent soft actor critic (MASAC) MADRL algorithm. In particular, the sparse pseudo-Gaussian process with a few-shots of measurements is utilized to construct the surrogate model of the original environment, i.e., power flow model. This is a data-driven process and no model parameters are needed. Furthermore, the MASAC enabled MADRL allows to achieve better scalability by dividing the original system into different voltage control regions with the aid of real and reactive power sensitivities to voltage, where each region is treated as an agent. This also serves as the foundation for the centralized training and decentralized execution, thus significantly reducing the communication requirements as only local measurements are required for control. Comparative results with other alternatives on the IEEE 123-nodes and 342-nodes systems demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method.
Transverse Vibration Energy Harvesting of Double Elastic Steel

This study uses the piezoelectric technology to collect vibration energy from the fixed-fixed nonlinear elastic beams attached with the piezo-patch between the two ends. Both single elastic steel sheet (SESS) and double elastic steel sheet (DESS) systems are investigated and correlated. To simulate the power generation of the vibration energy harvester (VEH) of both the SESS and the DESS in different engineering elements, the simple harmonic external force generated by a shaker at the location of the piezo-patch is used as the source. With this, more vibration converted electric energy is derived from the transverse deformation and flapping from the DESS than the SESS beam. The equation of a nonlinear Euler–Bernoulli beam is coupled with the electric energy equation of the piezo-patch to simulate the SESS VEH system. The flapping force from the DESS VEH system can be considered the concentrated external load applied on the SESS beam model. The method of multiple scales (MOMS) is employed to analyze this nonlinear problem. The fixed points plots and the numerical results confirm this theory presented for the two beam systems, which can be used for evaluating similar engineering systems. Experiments are also performed in this study. The Taguchi method is used to analyze the optimum locations of the shaker and piezo-patch, as well as the confidence level of the factors. The method of nonlinear analysis presented in this study demonstrates its accuracy compared with the linear case. The transverse DESS VEH model proposed is proved to be feasible and more effective than the SESS system.