Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral glucose tolerance test with methanol extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. calyces and in silico alpha-amylase inhibition studies with selected calyce phytochemicals

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an endocrinological disorder characterized by increased blood glucose, which in turn leads to increased oxidative stress and development of other complicated disorders. The disorder is caused either by non-production of insulin by pancreatic  -cells or development of insulin resistance. In recent years, diabetes is increasing rapidly. Although high blood glucose (hyperglycemia) is controllable through anti-diabetic drugs and/or insulin injection, rural people in Bangladesh prefer plant-based traditional medicines dispensed by traditional medicinal practitioners. Methods and findings: The present study objective was to conduct oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in glucose-challenged mice with methanol extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces (MEHS); the calyces are widely used in Bangladesh for controlling hyperglycemia. At doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg per kg body weight, MEHS reduced blood glucose level by 55.8, 62.0 and 62.77%, respectively compared to control mice, which were untreated. Glibenclamide, by comparison, reduced blood glucose level by 61% at a dose of 10 mg per kg body weight. Furthermore, in silico molecular docking studies showed that a number of phytochemicals present in Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces have predicted low binding energies for human  -amylase (PDB number: 2QV4) with the potential for inhibiting hyperglycemia. Conclusions: (MEHS) reduced blood glucose by nearly 63% at a dose of 400 mg/kg, which was comparable to that of glibenclamide at a dose of 10 mg/kg. In silico studies further indicated that a number of phytochemicals of the calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa merits further evaluation towards new anti-diabetic drug discovery.
Effect of Feed Withdrawal and Progut on Broiler Performance, Carcasses Traits and Blood Parameters

This study evaluated the effect of feed withdrawal without/ with feed additive (Progut®) on broiler chickens’ performance, carcass traits and some blood parameters, in a factorial arrangement (4 feed restriction×2 levels of feed additive). Three hundred twenty-one-day-old broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were distributed into 8 treatments with four replicates. In the first week all chicks fed starter basal diet, however during the second week, broiler chicks were exposed to feed restriction by feed withdrawal time (0, 6, 9, 12 hours/day). Broiler chicks exposed to feed withdrawal had low body weight gain and feed consumption at 2 weeks of age. Feed withdrawal had no effect on final weight, body weight change, total feed intake, total feed conversion, economic efficiency, carcass traits and serum blood composition of 42-day-old-broiler chicks. Feed withdrawal and feed additive in broiler diets decreased total microflora counts and E coil and enhanced lacto Bacillus, amylase and chemo trypsin in broiler guts. Feed additive (Progut®) decreased total feed consumption, improved total feed conversion and increased economic efficiency of broilers. Feed additive increased the level of β globulin and decreased the level of α globulin in serum blood of broiler chicks. The obtained results suggested that feed withdrawal during the second week of age had not effect on broiler performance, carcass traits and serum blood characteristics and improved lacto Bacillus, amylase and chemo trypsin. Feed additive (Progut®) in broiler diets improved growth performance and decreased total bacteria counts, E coli and increased lacto bacillus counts in broiler guts.
A Multitask Learning Model for the Prediction of NOx Emissions in Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Processes

Selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) is a commercially available technology that can effectively reduce the nitrogen oxides ( ${\mathrm {NO}}_{x}$ ) emissions in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) processes. Real-time measurement of NOx emissions is important to improve the denitration efficiency of SNCR. However, there are commonly time delays to obtain the measurement results from the traditional continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS). In this study, a prediction model based on multitask learning (MTL) is proposed for real-time measurement of NOx emissions. First, time delays are analyzed by using the maximum average cross-correlation function (MACCF) method, and sequences are adjusted according to the time delays, thereby recovering the original data pattern. Second, input variables are selected using a maximal information coefficient (MIC) method to reduce redundant information. Then, an MTL model is constructed for the prediction of NOx emissions. By using the MTL mechanism to share information of related prediction tasks, the potential correlations of industrial time-series data are mined, therefore improving the generalization performance of the model. Also, a self-organizing radial basis function neural network is designed as the module of the MTL model to further improve the prediction accuracy of the model. A strategy for incrementally constructing the MTL model is developed to guarantee the computational efficiency of the model. Finally, the established model is tested using a benchmark dataset and the real industrial data from an MSWI plant. The experimental results show that the proposed MTL model outperforms other state-of-the-art models on computational efficiency and prediction accuracy, demonstrating the potentiality of the MTL model in real-time measurement of NOx emissions in MSWI processes.
IL-5 and GM-CSF, but Not IL-3, Promote the Proliferative Properties of Inflammatory-like and Lung Resident-like Eosinophils in the Blood of Asthma Patients

Blood eosinophils can be described as inflammatory-like (iEOS-like) and lung-resident-like (rEOS-like) eosinophils. This study is based on the hypothesis that eosinophilopoetins such as interleukin (IL)-3 and IL-5 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) alter the proliferative properties of eosinophil subtypes and may be associated with the expression of their receptors on eosinophils. We investigated 8 individuals with severe nonallergic eosinophilic asthma (SNEA), 17 nonsevere allergic asthma (AA), and 11 healthy subjects (HS). For AA patients, a bronchial allergen challenge with Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus was performed. Eosinophils were isolated from peripheral blood using high-density centrifugation and magnetic separation methods. The subtyping of eosinophils was based on magnetic bead-conjugated antibodies against L-selectin. Preactivation by eosinophilopoetins was performed by incubating eosinophil subtypes with IL-3, IL-5, and GM-CSF, and individual combined cell cultures were prepared with airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells. ASM cell proliferation was assessed using an Alamar blue assay. The gene expression of eosinophilopoetin receptors was analyzed with a qPCR. IL-5 and GM-CSF significantly enhanced the proliferative properties of iEOS-like and rEOS-like cells on ASM cells in both SNEA and AA groups compared with eosinophils not activated by cytokines (p < 0.05). Moreover, rEOS-like cells demonstrated a higher gene expression of the IL-3 and IL-5 receptors compared with iEOS-like cells in the SNEA and AA groups (p < 0.05). In conclusion: IL-5 and GM-CSF promote the proliferative properties of iEOS-like and rEOS-like eosinophils; however, the effect of only IL-5 may be related to the expression of its receptors in asthma patients.
An empirical relationship between interplanetary conditions and Dst

An algorithm is presented for predicting the ground-based Dst index solely from a knowledge of the velocity and density of the solar wind and the north-south solar magnetospheric component of the interplanetary magnetic field. The three key elements of this model are an adjustment for solar wind dynamic pressure, an injection rate linearly proportional to the dawn-to-dusk component of the interplanetary electric field which is zero for electric fields below 0.5 mV m−1, and an exponential decay rate of the ring current with an e folding time of 7.7 hours. The algorithm is used to predict the Dst signature of seven geomagnetic storm intervals in 1967 and 1968. In addition to being quite successful, considering the simplicity of the model, the algorithm pinpoints the causes of various types of storm behavior. A main phase is initiated whenever the dawn-to-dusk solar magnetospheric component of the interplanetary electric field becomes large and positive. It is preceded by an initial phase of increased Dst if the solar wind dynamic pressure increases suddenly prior to the main phase. The recovery phase is initiated when the injection rate governed by the interplanetary electric field drops below the ring current decay rate associated with the ring current strength built up during the main phase. Variable recovery rates are generally due to additional injection during the recovery phase. This one algorithm accounts for magnetospheric behavior at quiet and at disturbed times and seems capable of predicting the behavior of Dst during even the largest of storms.
Insight into the Molecular Signature of Skeletal Muscle Characterizing Lifelong Football Players

Background: Aging and sedentary behavior are independent risk factors for non-communicable diseases. An active lifestyle and structured physical activity are positively associated with a healthier quality of life in the elderly. Here, we explored the proteomic/metabolomic muscular signature induced by lifelong football training associated with successful aging. Methods: The study was performed on nine lifelong football players (67.3 ± 2.8 yrs) and nine aged-matched untrained subjects. We performed a proteomic/metabolomic approach on V. lateralis muscle biopsies; the obtained data were analyzed by means of different bioinformatic tools. Results: Our results indicated that lifelong football training is able to enhance the muscles’ oxidative capacity in the elderly by promoting fatty acids as preferential energetic substrates and hence determining a healthier body composition and metabolic profile; furthermore, we showed that the total polyamine content is higher in lifelong football players’ muscle, enforcing the involvement of polyamines in muscle growth and hypertrophy. Conclusions: Lifelong football training, as a structured physical activity, significantly influences the expression of the proteins and metabolites involved in oxidative metabolism and muscle hypertrophy associated with successful aging.
Automatic phytoplankton image smoothing through integrated dual image histogram specification and enhanced background removal method

ABSTRACT Diatom is a dominant phytoplankton and commonly found in oceans or waterways. The captured phytoplankton microscopic images suffer from low contrast and surrounding debris. These images are not appropriated for identification. Integrated dual image contrast adaptive histogram specification with enhanced background removal (DIHS-BR) is proposed to address these issues by automatically removes the background of the phytoplankton image and improves the image quality while cropping phytoplankton cell. DIHS-BR will automatically remove the background and noises. DIHS-BR consists of two major steps, namely, contrast adaptive histogram specification and background removal by means of edge mask cropping. Results demonstrated that DIHS-BR filtered out the image background and left only the required phytoplankton cell image. Noises are minimized, while the contrast and colour of phytoplankton cells are improved. The average edge-based contrast measure (EBCM) of 83.065 demonstrates the best contrast improvement of the proposed methods compared with the other state-of-the-art methods.
The stellar content of NGC 346: A plethora of O stars in the SMC

The stellar content of NGC 346, the largest and brightest H II region in the SMC, was investigated using the results of CCD UBV photometry and spectroscopy. Spectra of 42 blue stars were classified, showing that 33 are of the O type, of which 11 are of type O6.5 or earlier, which is as many early-type O stars known in the rest of the SMC. The results identify 25-30 NGC 346 stars more massive than 25 solar masses, and six stars more massive than 40 solar masses, indicating that the upper-mass cutoff to the IMF is not lower in the SMC than in the Galaxy or the LMC. The presence of evolved 15 solar-mass stars in the NGC 346 indicates that some massive stars formed 15 million yr ago. The results of spatial distribution suggest that star formation began at the southwest side of the association and has spread to where the central cluster lies now, providing an example of sequential star formation in the SMC. 69 refs.
ON THE RECURSIVE FITTING OF SUBSET AUTOREGRESSIONS

In fitting a vector autoregressive process which may include lags up to and including lag K, we may wish to search for the subset vector autoregressive process of size k (where k is the number of lags with non-zero coefficient matrices, k= 1, 2, K) which has the minimum generalized residual variance. This paper provides a recursive procedure, which is initialized by evaluating all‘forwardand’‘backward’ autoregressions in which k= 1. The recursion then allows one to develop successively all subsets of size k= 2, k= 3 up to k=K. The optimum subset vector autoregression is found by employing the proposed recursive procedures in conjunction with model selection criteria. This approach is used on simulated data to assess its performance and to re-examine the annual trappings of the Canadian lynx investigated by Tong (1977).
Application-driven creation of building metadata models with semantic sufficiency

Semantic metadata models such as Brick, RealEstateCore, Project Haystack, and BOT promise to simplify and lower the cost of developing software for smart buildings, enabling the widespread deployment of energy efficiency applications. However, creating these models remains a challenge. Despite recent advances in creating models from existing digital representations like point labels and architectural models, there is still no feedback mechanism to ensure that the human input to these methods results in a model that can actually support the desired software. In this paper, we introduce the notion of semantic sufficiency, a practical principle for semantic metadata model creation that asserts that a model is "finished" when it contains the metadata necessary to support a given set of applications. To support semantic sufficiency, we design a standard representation for capturing application metadata requirements and a templating system for generating common metadata model components with limited user input. We then construct an iterative model creation workflow that integrates metadata requirements to direct the model creation effort, and present several novel optimizations that increase the model utility while minimizing the effort by a human operator. These new abstractions for model creation and validation lower model development costs and ensure the utility of the resulting model, thus facilitating the adoption of intelligent building applications.
Degradation of Cellulose and Hemicellulose by Ruminal Microorganisms

As major structural components of plant cell walls, cellulose and hemicellulose are degraded and fermented by anaerobic microbes in the rumen to produce volatile fatty acids, the main nutrient source for the host. Cellulose degradation is carried out primarily by specialist bacteria, with additional contributions from protists and fungi, via a variety of mechanisms. Hemicelluloses are hydrolyzed by cellulolytic bacteria and by generalist, non-cellulolytic microbes, largely via extracellular enzymes. Cellulose hydrolysis follows first-order kinetics and its rate is limited by available substrate surface area. Nevertheless, its rate is at least an order of magnitude more rapid than in anaerobic digesters, due to near-obligatory adherence of microbial cells to the cellulose surface, and a lack of downstream inhibitory effects; in the host animal, fiber degradation rate is also enhanced by the unique process of rumination. Cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic microbes exhibit intense competition and amensalism, but they also display mutualistic interactions with microbes at other trophic levels. Collectively, the fiber-degrading community of the rumen displays functional redundancy, partial niche overlap, and convergence of catabolic pathways that all contribute to stability of the ruminal fermentation. The superior hydrolytic and fermentative capabilities of ruminal fiber degraders make them promising candidates for several fermentation technologies.
Comparative studies of non-iterative estimators based on ihara and kano's method in exploratory factor analysis

In a factor analysis model, the asymptotic variance of the non-iterative estimator of Ihara and Kano (1986) is first provided, and five kinds of estimators, based on Ihara and Kano's method are constructed by using the asymptotic result. These estimators and that based on the maximum likelihoodare compared both theoretically and experimentally. In conclusion, the arithmetic mean of some Ihara and Kano estimators is recommended as a uniqueness estimator at least for small and medium sample sizes.
In-line reference measurement for surface second harmonic generation spectroscopy

Surface second harmonic generation (s-SHG) spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate layers or adsorbates on surfaces with high sensitivity. For this nonlinear technique, sophisticated reference methods are needed to properly treat the measured raw data. We present an easy-to-implement reference measurement method for s-SHG spectroscopy for surface layers or adsorbates. It directly allows for extracting reference-corrected s-SHG spectra from raw data. SHG from thin slabs of BK7 and MgO in the spectral range from 450 to 900 nm (fundamental beam) is used to obtain the reference spectrum. The method includes the experimental determination of the dispersive properties of the optical setup over the relevant spectral range. The accuracy of the presented procedure is demonstrated by applying the method to the study of a thin molecular film of 1, 1′-Bi-2-naphthol (Binol) supported on a BK7 substrate.
Signifying Little

The Cult of Statistical Significance. How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives. By Stephen T. Ziliak and Deirdre N. McCloskey. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2008. 348 pp. $75, £48.95. ISBN 9780472070077. Paper, $24.95, £16.50. ISBN 9780472050079. Economics, Cognition, and Society. Through their consideration of a wide range of fields (including their home discipline of economics, psychology, epidemiology, and biomedical science), the authors argue that statistical significance is far too often mistakenly applied--to the detriment of science and society.
NEW MEASUREMENTS OF HELIUM IN H II GALAXIES.

The determination of the pregalactic helium mass-fraction is addressed. Previous attempts to empirically determine Yp from a constant parameter dY/dZ are critically discussed, and new results based on extensive spectroscopy of emission-line galaxies by Terlevich and Melnick (1981) are examined. It is concluded from these new results that helium may correlate better with nitrogen than with oxygen. If Y is plotted against N/H, a single relationship holds for all objects, all the relationships extrapolating back to Yp = 0.237 + or - 0.005. It is suggested that the large value of dY/dZ in blue compact galaxies and the (Y, N/H) relation are due to local contamination by winds from Wolf-Rayet stars.
Monitoring Heart Rate Variability Based on Self-powered ECG Sensor Tag

This paper proposes a batteryless sensing and computational device to collect and process electrocardiography (ECG) signals for monitoring heart rate variability (HRV). The proposed system comprises of a passive UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, an extreme low power microcontroller, a low-power ECG circuit, and a radio frequency (RF) energy harvester. The microcontroller and ECG circuits consume less power of only ~30 µA and ~3 mA, respectively. Therefore, the proposed RF harvester operating at frequency band of 902 - 928 MHz can sufficiently collect available energy from the RFID reader to supply power to the system within a maximum distance of ~2 m. To extract R-peak of the ECG signal, a robust algorithm that consumes less time processing is also developed. The information of R-peaks is stored into an Electronic Product Code (EPC) Class 1st Generation 1st compliant ID of the tag and read by the reader. This reader is functioned to collected the R-peak data with sampling rate of 100ms; therefore, the user application can monitor fully range of HRV. The performance of the proposed system shows that this study can provide a good solution in paving the way to new classes of healthcare applications.
Entropy Bounds and Isoperimetry

Introduction and notations Poincare-type inequalities Entropy and Orlicz spaces $\mathbf{LS}_q$ and Hardy-type inequalities on the line Probability measures satisfying $\mathbf{LS}_q$-inequalities on the real line Exponential integrability and perturbation of measures $\mathbf{LS}_q$-inequalities for Gibbs measures with super Gaussian tails $\mathbf{LS}_q$-inequalities and Markov semigroups Isoperimetry The localization argument Infinitesimal version Proof of Theorem 9.2 Euclidean distance (proof of Theorem 9.1) Uniformly convex bodies From isoperimetry to $\mathbf{LS}_q$-inequalities Isoperimetric functional inequalities Bibliography.
Utilization of Papain Extracted from Chaya and Papaya Stalks as Halal Beef Tenderiser

Papain is a proteolytic enzyme extracted from plant latex. The protease has widely used in the meat industry and culinary work for a pre-tenderization step prior to further meat processing. The objective of this research was to evaluate the bioactivity of papain extracted from Chaya and papaya. The different levels of papain, casein substrate, temperature, and pH were set up in vitro conditions. Then, the fresh papain was used to digest raw beef and the beef was dried under solar process. The sun-dried beef was further analyzed of yield, moisture content, water activity, and tensile force. It was found that proteolytic activity from both plants was accelerated by a high level of papain or casein up to 2.0 (w/v). The best optimal proteolytic activity was recorded at 60oC and pH5. Later, the tenderized beef at pH6.5 was dried by a solar dryer, where an inside tunnel temperature was approximately 40oC, 40% relative humidity, and 187 Btu/ft2. hr solar radiation. The sun-dried beef had a 75% yield, a 32% moisture content, and 0.90 Aw. Despite the fact that the drying temperature and pH of beef were not optimal as given from the previous results, the tensile force and the work of tension of papain-treated beef both moist and dried states were lower than the non-treated beef.