Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Richardia brasiliensis Collected in Southern-Benin: Phytochemical Screening, Antimicrobial Activity and Toxicity

Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the R. brasiliensis aerial part extracts collected in southern-Benin. Methodology: The phytochemical screening was performed by a differential precipitation staining method. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts were made using conventional method with water and ethanol as solvent. The obtained extracts were used to evaluate their antimicrobial activity on Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from skin infections and ten reference strains by the solid-medium diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were determined by the liquid macro-dilution method. The cytotoxic effect of the extracts was evaluated on Artemia salina larvae obtained by hatching. Results: The phytochemical screening showed a strong presence of tannins, flavonoids, terpenes, steroids and a medium presence of alkaloids, anthocyanins and mucilage’s. The extraction yields vary according to the solvent: water (15.5%) and ethanol (10.30%). The two extracts variously (p<0.001) inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from skin infections and four reference strains (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC29213, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC27853, Proteus mirabilis A24974, Escherichia coli ATCC25922). However, there is no difference (p > 0.05) in inhibition of strains growth between 24h and 48h. The largest diameter (21±0.75 mm) of inhibition with the reference strains was obtained with P. aeruginosa by action of the aqueous extract. Regarding Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from skin infections, the largest diameter of inhibition is about 19.25±2.75 mm obtained with strains isolated from ulcers. The average mics of 2.81 mg/ml and 2.08 mg/ml were obtained respectively for the aqueous and ethanolic extracts in the presence of the reference strains. The LC50 determination obtained using the regression line is 0.36 mg/ml for the aqueous extract and 1.16 mg/ml for the ethanolic extract. Conclusion: The aqueous extract is more effective because of its action spectrum. This extract can be used for the development of a soap or ointment to fight against skin infections.
New treatment approaches for Alzheimer’s disease: preclinical studies and clinical trials centered on antidiabetic drugs

ABSTRACT Introduction Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) represent two major chronic diseases that affect a large percentage of the population and share common pathogenetic mechanisms, including oxidative stress and inflammation. Considering their common mechanistic aspects, and given the current lack of effective therapies for AD, accumulating research has focused on the therapeutic potential of antidiabetic drugs in the treatment or prevention of AD. Areas covered This review examines the latest preclinical and clinical evidence on the potential of antidiabetic drugs as candidates for AD treatment. Numerous approved drugs for T2DM, including insulin, metformin, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA), and sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), are in the spotlight and may constitute novel approaches for AD treatment. Expert opinion Among other pharmacologic agents, GLP-1 RA and SGLT2i have so far exhibited promising results as novel treatment approaches for AD, while current research has centered on deciphering their action on the central nervous system (CNS). Further investigation is crucial to reveal the most effective pharmacological agents and their optimal combinations, maximize their beneficial effects on neurons, and find ways to increase their distribution to the CNS.
Single-phase power factor controller topologies for permanent magnet brushless DC motor drives

This study presents various configurations, control schemes and design of single-phase power factor controller (PFC) topologies for permanent magnet brushless DC motor (PMBLDCM) drives and provides a basis for selection of a suitable PFC topology for a specific application. Several AC-DC converter (buck, boost, buck-boost, C-uk, SEPIC, Zeta, push-pull, half bridge, full bridge) based PFC topologies are designed, modelled and applied to a 1.5-kW PMBLDCM drive for comparison of performance. Some of bidirectional bridge converter and unipolar inverter topologies are also evaluated to provide a comprehensive comparison of the PFC topologies for PMBLDCM drives. The proposed PFC converter topologies show conformity to international power quality standards with improved performance of PMBLDCM drive, such as reduction of AC mains current harmonics, near unity power factor and reduction of speed and torque ripples. A classified list of more than 200 research publications on the state of art of various PFC topologies and PMBLDCM drives is also given for a quick reference.
Concepts and Consequences of a Core Gut Microbiota for Animal Growth and Development.

Animal microbiomes are occasionally considered as an extension of host anatomy, physiology, and even their genomic architecture. Their compositions encompass variable and constant portions when examined across multiple hosts. The latter, termed the core microbiome, is viewed as more accommodated to its host environment and suggested to benefit host fitness. Nevertheless, discrepancies in its definitions, characteristics, and importance to its hosts exist across studies. We survey studies that characterize the core microbiome, detail its current definitions and available methods to identify it, and emphasize the crucial need to upgrade and standardize the methodologies among studies. We highlight ruminants as a case study and discuss the link between the core microbiome and host physiology and genetics, as well as potential factors that shape it. We conclude with main directives of action to better understand the host-core microbiome axis and acquire the necessary insights into its controlled modulation. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, Volume 10 is February 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews. org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Analysis of the Association between Galectin-3 Concentration in Tears and the Severity of Dry Eye Disease: A Case-Control Study

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the severity of dry eye disease (DED) and galectin-3 concentration (gal-3) and its cleavage (gal-3C) in tear fluid. Twenty-eight DED patients and 14 controls were recruited at Keio University Hospital. The lissamine green conjunctival staining (LG) score, fluorescein corneal staining (FL) score, tear film break-up time (TBUT), Schirmer’s test, and ocular symptoms questionnaire score (dry eye questionnaire score, DEQS) were evaluated. Furthermore, the correlation between these parameters and the concentrations of gal-3 in tears (ng/µg) and the detection rate of gal-3C (%) were analyzed. Gal-3 concentration in tears was positively correlated with the LG score (R = 0.60, p < 0.01), FL score (R = 0.49, p < 0.01), and DEQS (R = 0.45, p < 0.01), and negatively correlated with the TBUT score (R = −0.40, p < 0.01) and Schirmer’s I value (R = −0.36, p < 0.01). The detection rate of gal-3C in tears was significantly associated with the severity of DED, especially with the LG (p < 0.01) and FL (p < 0.01) scores. Therefore, the concentration of gal-3 and the detection rate of gal-3C in tears had a significant relationship with the severity of ocular surface barrier disruption.
Genetic Control of MAP3K1 in Eye Development and Sex Differentiation

The MAP3K1 is responsible for transmitting signals to activate specific MAP2K-MAPK cascades. Following the initial biochemical characterization, genetic mouse models have taken center stage to elucidate how MAP3K1 regulates biological functions. To that end, mice were generated with the ablation of the entire Map3k1 gene, the kinase domain coding sequences, or ubiquitin ligase domain mutations. Analyses of the mutants identify diverse roles that MAP3K1 plays in embryonic survival, maturation of T/B cells, and development of sensory organs, including eye and ear. Specifically in eye development, Map3k1 loss-of-function was found to be autosomal recessive for congenital eye abnormalities, but became autosomal dominant in combination with Jnk and RhoA mutations. Additionally, Map3k1 mutation increased eye defects with an exposure to environmental agents such as dioxin. Data from eye developmental models reveal the nexus role of MAP3K1 in integrating genetic and environmental signals to control developmental activities. Here, we focus the discussions on recent advances in understanding the signaling mechanisms of MAP3K1 in eye development in mice and in sex differentiation from human genomics findings. The research works featured here lead to a deeper understanding of the in vivo signaling network, the mechanisms of gene–environment interactions, and the relevance of this multifaceted protein kinase in disease etiology and pathogenesis.
Intracranial Flow Velocity Quantification Using Non-Contrast Four-Dimensional Flow MRI: A Prospective Comparative Study with Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound

Four-dimensional (4D) flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows three-dimensional velocity encoding to measure blood flow in a single scan, regardless of the intracranial artery direction. We compared blood flow velocity quantification by non-contrast 4D flow MRI and by transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD), the most widely used modality for measuring velocity. Twenty-two patients underwent both TCD and non-contrast 4D flow MRI. The mean time interval between TCD and non-contrast 4D flow MRI was 0.7 days. Subsegmental velocities were measured bilaterally in the middle cerebral and basilar arteries using TCD and non-contrast 4D flow MRI. Intracranial velocity measurements using TCD and non-contrast 4D flow MRI demonstrated a strong correlation in the bilateral M1, especially at the proximal segment (right r = 0.74, left r = 0.78; all p < 0.001). Mean velocities acquired with 4D flow MRI were approximately 8 to 10% lower than those acquired with TCD according to the location of M1. Intracranial arterial flow measurements estimated using non-contrast 4D flow MRI and TCD showed strong correlation. 4D flow MRI enables simultaneous assessment of vascular morphology and quantitative hemodynamic measurement, providing three-dimensional blood flow visualization. 4D flow MRI is a clinically useful sequence with a promising role in cerebrovascular disease.
Comparison of Performance of Digital Hemoglobinometer over Automated Hematology Analyzer for Hemoglobin Estimation and Its user-friendliness among the Pregnant Women in Selected District Hospitals of Madhya Pradesh

Context: There is a need for a simple screening method for the detection of anemia that can be used by public health workers in the field. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare two methods for hemoglobin estimation, i.e., automated hematology analyzer and Digital Hemoglobinometer, and to find out the sensitivity and specificity of Digital Hemoglobinometer for the estimation of hemoglobin. Subjects and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out for 6 months from April to September 2017 in a District Hospital of five High Priority Districts of Madhya Pradesh. Two hundred and sixty antenatal females per district were selected for the study. Results: The mean hemoglobin by autoanalyzer is 10.19, and that by Digital Hemoglobinometer device is 9.89. Overall, sensitivity of Digital Hemoglobinometer for hemoglobin estimation was calculated to be 89.4% and specificity was calculated to be 63.6%. Positive predictive value was found to be 82.6% and negative predictive value was 75.8% compared against AutoAnalyser (gold standard). Conclusions: As the Digital Hemoglobinometer device has high sensitivity and specificity and good diagnostic accuracy, it must be used at the community level in resource-poor setting for hemoglobin estimation. In primary health-care conditions, Digital Hemoglobinometer can significantly reduce misdiagnosis of anemia compared with clinical assessment alone.
16. Diabetes Care in the Hospital: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2022.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" includes the ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-SPPC), are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations, please refer to the Standards of Care Introduction (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-SINT). Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes. org/SOC.
Geographical Variation in Cost of Air Travel: Analysis of the Domestic Airline Fares Consumer Report

There is significant geographical variability in the cost of American domestic air travel. This variability may be attributable to a number of factors, including scale economies, the average length of trips, airport congestion, and other factors that vary by region. Also, in the post-deregulation environment the cost of air travel may depend on the level of competition in specific spatial markets. Data from Domestic Airline Fares Consumer Report are used to conduct descriptive and statistical analyses of the spatial variability of air travel cost. The ratio of average fare to distance (fare per mile) is used as a general measure of relative cost, which is observed to vary significantly across cities. Two regression analyses seek to identify the factors that drive this variation. The first takes weighted average fares in the 50 largest cities as its dependent variable, whereas the second takes average fares in more than 6,500 origin-destination pairs as its dependent variable. Results of both analyses indicate that fare per mile declines with the length of trip. They both also indicate a large and statistically significant competitive effect, whereby single-carrier market share has a positive effect on the fare. Regional variations are indicated in the results of the first regression, with higher fares in the Northeast and Midwest than in the West and South. The second set of regression results also indicates that, other things being equal, fares with origins or destinations in large cities tend to be higher.
Multiple Criteria Assessment of Pile-Columns Alternatives

The paper presents the process of selection the pile-columns installment alternative, which have to be the most appropriate and effective. The selection is based on a set of criteria: Mass, Cost of installment, Labor expenditures, Machinery expenditures, Earthwork amount and Installment tolerance. The criteria for evaluation are selected by taking into consideration the interests and goals of the client as well as factors that influence the efficiency of construction process. Their weights were determined by applying entropy method. The entropy is described as the casual value of the uncertainty which makes it more valuable in comparison with other factors. The solution of problem was made by applying Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method. The proposed technique could further be applied to substantiate the selection of effective alternative of structures, technologies, investments, etc.
Analysis of the Influence of Pesticides on the Soil in an Agricultural Area

The paper presents an analysis of the soil in an agricultural area, to determine the influence of pesticides on the soil where agricultural production is carried out. For the research of the soil quality, were analysed areas, for harvesting soil samples. On the samples collected were determined, the amount of nitrates and nitrites from the soil, were determination of heavy elements from soil composition, soil pH and it was observed of the impact of pollutants on the soil.
Crude oil multiphase flow tomography transducer and signal processing method

This thesis introduces the floating capacitance transducer for crude oi8l multi-phase flow and analyses the reconstruction algorithm. Analysis shows the structure of the floating array capacitance transducer can provide higher signal amplitude and more uniformity of sensitivity. The iterative schemes can reduce the distortion produced by the linear back projection image reconstruction algorithm.
Micro-gravity experiment of a space robotic arm using parabolic flight

We conducted a micro-gravity flight experiment on a space robotic arm, which is a part of the Reconfigurable Brachiating space Robot (RBR) unit arm developed by the authors. We used a 4-d.o. f. arm and an end-effector in the experiment. The airplane (MU-300) generates the micro-gravity environment for approximately 20 s in parabolic flight operation. After the flight, we conducted the corresponding ground experiments, and obtained the data of the motor current, servo control characteristics and manipulation performances, which were compared with the flight experiment data. Then, we conducted the numerical analysis of the 4-d.o. f. RBR arm based on the experiment results. In the analysis, we investigated feasibility of simulation model and identified model parameters. In this paper, we report the results of the flight experiments and numerical analysis.
Creating a New Object of Government

Since the late 1990s, the European Union (EU) has embarked on an effort to make fully traceable and identifiable every genetically modified organism (GMO) that travels through its territory. New regulations force market operators to record the presence of genetically modified material in foods and feed, and to pass this information along in every transaction, thus creating a continuous paper trail for every bioengineered organism as it moves through the EU market. This new regulatory regime represents a momentous change in the nature of biotechnology governance in Europe, for it enunciates as its fundamental unit a novel bio-legal entity - the ‘transformation event’ meant to identify the particular instance of genetic modification from which each GMO has been developed. This paper describes the processes through which this new regulatory entity acquires a concrete and material meaning and thereby becomes a viable object of governance. Two parallel developments are described in detail: the creation of international rules for attributing to ‘transformation events’ unambiguous names - an instance of ‘bureaucratic nominalism’ - and the creation of detection methods and biometrological chains of custody capable of identifying the fragments of DNA that mark the specificity of each ‘event’. These two interventions involve the creation of infrastructures of referentiality capable of giving the ‘event’ a singular and unambiguous referent. By analysing how a new regulatory category like the ‘transformation event’ becomes an identifiable bio-legal object, I suggest that the governance of biotechnology should be understood as a series of acts of ‘demarcation’, through which the categories and entities enunciated in regulatory texts acquire a material foundation in bureaucratic practices and in the organisms these bureaucracies are expected to oversee.
Unified algebraic synthesis of generalised Fibonacci switched capacitor converters

A unified algebraic approach to the synthesis of generalised Fibonacci switched capacitor converters (SCC) has been developed. The proposed approach reduces the power losses by increasing the number of target voltages. It is shown that the binary and Fibonacci SCC are special cases of the proposed approach. Furthermore, the proposed generalised SCC is built around the same switch network as the binary and Fibonacci SCC. This feature is extremely beneficial, since it provides the option of switching between the different target voltages, thereby increasing the resolution of attainable conversion ratios. In the case of three flying capacitors, six new conversion ratios were introduced, in addition to the 13 that had already been realised. The theoretical results were verified experimentally.
Design Space Exploration of Approximation-Based Quadruple Modular Redundancy Circuits

In the last decade, Approximate Computing (AxC) has been studied as a possible alternative computing paradigm. It has been used to reduce the overhead cost of conventional fault tolerant schemes, such as the Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR). One of the most recent propositions is the concept of Quadruple Approximate Modular Redundancy (QAMR). QAMR reduces the overhead cost w.r. t. conventional TMR structures, while guaranteeing the same fault-tolerance capability. In this paper, we propose a new approximation technique to realize the QAMR and we perform a Design Space Exploration (DSE) to find QAMR Pareto-optimal implementations. Moreover, we provide the design of a new majority voter for the proposed architecture. Experimental results show that it is possible to find QAMR variants achieving area and/or delay gains compared to the TMR counterpart, for 85.4% and 97% of the examined circuits for FPGA and ASIC technologies respectively.
Evaluation of 5G channel coding technology: for the mMTC scenario

Channel coding technology can provide reliable data transmission for communication systems in complex environments and is a key technology in 5G communication systems. However, channel coding technology in 5G-mMTC scenario is still waiting to be explored. The purpose of this paper is to compare and study which decoding scheme of Polar code and LDPC code is more suitable for the mMTC scenario. The technical evaluation is done by using the BPSK modulation method in the AWGN channel with a code rate of 0.5 to evaluate the error correction performance of the candidate coding technology in the case of short and medium codes. LDPC codes use a minimum sum algorithm (MSA) and LLR belief propagation algorithm (LLR-BP) as decoding schemes, and their iterations are 20. Polar codes adopt Fast-SCL algorithm assisted by CRC as decoding schemes, and Its list sizes are set to 4 and 8. The comparative analysis shows that the Fast-SCL has good error correction performance and the lowest computational complexity among all the candidate schemes. In addition, we also verified that Fast-SCL has a similar error correction performance to CA-SCL.