Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Associated Access for Bioprospecting Purposes: The case of UFRJ and the Association of the Oriximiná Quilombola Communities - ARQMO

Although the discussion about prior informed consent and sharing of the benefits has gained projection in Brazil in 1992, with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the ECO-92, only 10 years later the first legislation was published to dispose on the protection, the access to the traditional knowledge associate (CTA) and the sharing of benefits (MP 2186-16 of 2001). Fifteen years later the first authorization to CTA access for bio prospecting in Brazil was emitted, being this one for the present work. Thus, the aim of this article is to discuss, through a case study, involving
Phytochemical and Nutritional Profile Composition in Fruits of Different Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) Cultivars Grown in Romania

Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.), a valuable fruit crop, is cultivated in small areas in Romania, mostly in the west, where the moderate continental climate has a slight Mediterranean influence. This work aims to investigate the bioactive characteristics (total polyphenols, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity), individual polyphenolic composition, phytochemical and nutritional HRMS screening profiles, sugar and mineral composition of six sweet chestnut cultivars, namely ‘Marsol’, ‘Maraval’, ‘Bournette’, ‘Précoce Migoule’ and ‘Marissard’ grown at Fruit Growing Research—Extension Station (SCDP) Vâlcea, in Northern Oltenia, Romania. Fruit samples were collected in two consecutive years, in order to study the impact of genetic variability between cultivars and the influence of the different climatic conditions corresponding to different cultivation years. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) allow the discrimination between the sweet chestnut fruits harvested in different years and different sweet chestnut cultivars. Analytical investigations revealed that sweet chestnut cultivars grown in Romania show similar bioactive, phytochemical and nutritional composition to cultivars grown in the large European chestnut-producing countries, indicating the high adaptation potential of the chestnut in the temperate continental zone with small Mediterranean influences characteristic of the southwestern area of Romania.
Refolding of Lysozyme in Glycerol as Studied by Fast Scanning Calorimetry

The folding of lysozyme in glycerol was monitored by the fast scanning calorimetry technique. Application of a temperature–time profile with an isothermal segment for refolding allowed assessment of the state of the non-equilibrium protein ensemble and gave information on the kinetics of folding. We found that the non-equilibrium protein ensemble mainly contains a mixture of unfolded and folded protein forms and partially folded intermediates, and enthalpic barriers control the kinetics of the process. Lysozyme folding in glycerol follows the same or similar triangular mechanism described in the literature for folding in water. The unfolding enthalpy of the intermediate must be no lower than 70% of the folded form, while the activation barrier for the unfolding of the intermediate (ca. 140 kJ/mol) is about 100 kJ/mol lower than that of the folded form (ca. 240–260 kJ/mol).
One Year after the Flood: Prevalence and Correlates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Residents in Fort McMurray

Background: The 2020 Fort McMurray (FMM) and area flood caused more than $228 million in insured damage, affected over 1200 structures, and more than 13,000 people were evacuated. Objective: This study sought to determine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms and the risk predictors among the population of FMM one year after the 2020 flooding. Methods: An online quantitative cross-sectional survey was distributed to residents of FMM via REDCap between 24 April to 2 June 2021 to collect sociodemographic, clinical, and flood-related information. The PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-C) was used to assess likely PTSD among respondents. Results: 186 of 249 respondents completed all essential self-assessment questionnaires in the analysis, yielding a response rate of 74.7%. The prevalence of likely PTSD was 39.6% (65). Respondents with a history of depression were more likely to develop PTSD symptoms (OR = 5.71; 95% CI: 1.68–19.36). Similarly, responders with limited and no family support after the disaster were more prone to report PTSD symptoms ((OR = 2.87; 95% CI: 1.02–8.05) and (OR = 2.87; 95% CI: 1.06–7.74), respectively). Conclusions: Our research indicated that history of depression and the need for mental health counseling significantly increased the risk of developing PTSD symptoms following flooding; family support is protective. Further studies are needed to explore the relations between the need to receive counseling and presenting with likely PTSD symptoms.
Co‐seismic landslides in the Sikkim Himalaya during the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake: Lesson learned from the past and inference for the future

Sikkim, a north‐eastern state of India, has a very specific and unique place in the tourism map of India. Every year, lakhs of people visit the state. To accommodate such floating population in the area, some big towered home stays/hotels have been constructed. However, the area is under the threat of many natural disasters such as earthquake, landslide, land subsidence, cloudburst, etc. In the year 2021, within a span of 8 months (April–November), the Sikkim state hosted four light to moderate earthquakes (Mw 4.1–Mw 5.1). Out of these, the strongest earthquake (Mw 5.1) occurred on 5 April 2021, which was well experienced in the parts of Indian states (i.e., Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar) and across International borders, viz Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. Fortunately, this earthquake did not cause any major damage in the region. However, in the last two decades, one moderate (Mw 5.3) and one strong earthquake (Mw 6.9) has occurred in the Sikkim region on 14 Feb 2006 and 18 September 2011, respectively. Both of these earthquakes caused well enough damage to the residential as well as commercial buildings. Apart from infrastructural degeneracy, the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake (Mw 6.9) also caused generation of co‐seismic landslides within ~100 km epicentral distance from the earthquake. After a decade, from the 2011 earthquake, Gangtok city and other parts of the state have been rebuilt and reconstructed again, but most of the newly constructed and old refurbished buildings are established in the steep slope areas without considering the geotechnical properties of the underlying soil. These structures could be vulnerable during moderate to strong earthquakes. Therefore, the present study unfurled a question “Did we learn any lesson from the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake? ”. Furthermore, the study calls for earthquake hazard adaptation measures in the tectonically sensitive Himalayan region in order to safeguard the lives and vital infrastructure.
Design of a novel human computer interface to support HCD application

The importance of Human-Centered Design (HCD) drives research toward the development of new UIs (User Interfaces) in order to predict human interaction with products at the early design stages. Virtual Reality (VR) allows carrying out usability tests on virtual prototypes to investigate users’ cognitive and affective response. Application problems regard with the reproduction of synaesthesia qualities in order to make the information processing similar to the one obtained by real sensory stimulation. While visualization technologies seem to be mature enough to overcome the above mentioned limitation, tactile devices are still far from properly simulating materials properties. In this context, the present work aims at structuring and applying a systematic approach to conceive, define and develop a novel VR-based technology, called I-perTouch. The goal is to stimulate the skin mechanoreceptors to generate a meaningful tactile sensation about materials softness, friction and roughness. The system can be also integrated with imaging and sound technologies to create a multi-sensorial product experience. The preliminary architecture results from the analysis of human tactile perception and the benchmark of available simulation devices and techniques. This paper contributes to discuss current issues of existing VR-based technologies in supporting HCD applications and to address technical developments toward the creation of a reliable system for texture perception. © 2010 ASME
Domesticated LTR-Retrotransposon gag-Related Gene (Gagr) as a Member of the Stress Response Network in Drosophila

The most important sources of new components of genomes are transposable elements, which can occupy more than half of the nucleotide sequence of the genome in higher eukaryotes. Among the mobile components of a genome, a special place is occupied by retroelements, which are similar to retroviruses in terms of their mechanisms of integration into a host genome. The process of positive selection of certain sequences of transposable elements and retroviruses in a host genome is commonly called molecular domestication. There are many examples of evolutionary adaptations of gag (retroviral capsid) sequences as new regulatory sequences of different genes in mammals, where domesticated gag genes take part in placenta functioning and embryogenesis, regulation of apoptosis, hematopoiesis, and metabolism. The only gag-related gene has been found in the Drosophila genome—Gagr. According to the large-scale transcriptomic and proteomic analysis data, the Gagr gene in D. melanogaster is a component of the protein complex involved in the stress response. In this work, we consider the evolutionary processes that led to the formation of a new function of the domesticated gag gene and its adaptation to participation in the stress response. We discuss the possible functional role of the Gagr as part of the complex with its partners in Drosophila, and the pathway of evolution of proteins of the complex in eukaryotes to determine the benefit of the domesticated retroelement gag gene.
Image restoration algorithm based on multiscale weighted Schatten p-norm minimization

Abstract. Image restoration is the process of restoring an image from a degraded version, which is usually blurred and noisy. We are motivated by the problem of restoring blurred and noisy images using multiscale weighted Schatten p-norm minimization, which not only gives a better approximation to the original low-rank hypothesis but also considers the importance of different rank components. Similar patches are vectorized and grouped to construct a noisy low-rank matrix. Weighted Schatten p-norm minimization values of all image patch groups are simultaneously penalized by a new regularization term, which can represent both the sparsity and self-similarity of the image structure accurately. In addition, by calculating the similarity of patches on different scales of the image, the restoration effect of the image is further improved. The experimental results show that our method is superior to some existing excellent algorithms in both numerical and visual effects.
Applying landscape approach in assessing effectiveness of mangrove conservation in Ca Mau Cape National Park, Vietnam

ABSTRACT The study aims to assess the effectiveness of mangrove conservation in Ca Mau Cape National Park (CMCNP) during 1973–2018 using remote sensing and landscape metrics. The maximum likelihood method was used to classify time-series Landsat images with overall accuracy ranging from 87.8% to 90.3% and Kappa from 0.83 to 0.88. Additionally, landscape structure which expresses the spatial pattern and the connections between landscape elements such as number, size, and shape were assessed using landscape metrics including Number of patches, Landscape Shape, Largest Patch, Cohesion, Core, Contiguity, and Contagion index. The results showed that mangroves increased by 1,078 ha (7%), and the landscape structure was simple in the first period (1973–1979). In the second period (1979–2003), mangroves decreased by 1,411 ha (9.2%) during 1989–1995, and then they increased by 4,564 ha (29.9%) from 1995 to 2003. The landscape structure was fragmented, disconnected, and had irregular shapes during the beginning but improved at the late phase. In the third period (2003–2018), mangroves increased by 1,596 ha (10.5%). In which, dense mangroves increased by 2,500 ha (16.4%). And sparse mangroves decreased by 904 ha (5.9%). The landscape structure was more homogenous and connected than the second period. Since CMCNP was established in 2003, mangroves have enlarged year by year. The landscape structure became more aggregated. These proved the effectiveness of mangrove conservation in both quality and quantity. Graphical abstract
Repeated measures in the study of growth and ultrasound carcass traits in cross heifers

The aim of this paper was to study the development of carcass traits obtained by ultrasound, weight, chest circumference and hip height by longitudinal data of two genetic groups of heifers. These data were analyzed by different structures of residual (co)variance consider homogeneity or heterogeneity of (co)variances to better represent the variability between and within individual observations over the time. The traits were obtained in 60 animals 1⁄2 Braunvieh x 1⁄4 Santa Gertrudes x 1⁄4 Nelore and 60 animals 1⁄2 Santa Gertrudes x 1⁄2 Nelore. The traits were evaluated at intervals of 28 days. The comparison was done with several models, based on the criterion SBC (Schwarz’s Bayesian Criterion) with the goal of identifying structures of residual (co) variance more appropriate to best represent the variation of the measures within individuals. Later, as the animals were measured at different ages, it was evaluated the most appropriate model to regress these traits as a function of age, using ordinary polynomials and verifying the need for different curves for each genetic group. The results indicated that it should consider different structures of residual (co)variance to better represent the variability between and within individual
Assessment and prediction of flood hazards using standardized precipitation index—A case study of eThekwini metropolitan area

Flood is known to be the leading cause of natural disasters globally leaving disastrous and devastating damages in its wake. Flood risk and their time of occurrence is usually difficult to monitor and predict without appropriate tools for continuous monitoring. Extreme and frequent rainfall is one of the major causes of flood disasters. Assessment of flood hazards and its subsequent analysis using the standardized precipitation index (SPI) is very effective in the prediction of flood risk with the strength of the SPI being the use of rainfall as the only input variable. The SPI is found to be valuable in prediction of meteorological and hydrological floods such as flash floods, groundwater floods and dam burst. The knowledge of the occurrence of these flooding events can be very beneficial in preventing extensive damages to property, infrastructure, agriculture, and loss of life. The aim of this study is to assess flood hazard in eThekwini metropolitan area by examining the trend of flood events from 1985 to 2016 by the use of the SPI and its potential to predict flood risk in the study area. The results show that SPI properly explains the development of the conditions leading up to the occurrence of floods events in the analyzed period. Thus, is indispensable in the assessment of flood risk leading to an accurate prediction. The knowledge of the pattern and trends obtained from the SPI analysis is valuable to decision‐makers for efficient flood risk management plans in the promotion of preventive actions for mitigating the impacts of floods.
An Integrated High-Sensitivity VCSEL-Based Spin-Exchange Relaxation-Free Magnetometer With Optical Rotation Detection

In the integrated design of spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) magnetometers, vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is a promising candidate as a light source. However, VCSEL often has high frequency and amplitude noise, thereby hindering the development of high-sensitivity SERF magnetometers. In the previous VCSEL-based SERF magnetometer with optical absorption detection, a laser control loop in magnetometer electronic system is used to address this issue, but it is a challenging task to design the loop due to the strong resonance absorption. In this paper, we propose a different approach by using optical rotation detection instead of the absorption detection to develop an integrated high-sensitivity VCSEL-based SERF magnetometer. It can be implemented easily, just by switching the circularly polarized light to the elliptically polarized light in magnetometer optical system. The elliptically polarized light used in here is not only to implement a single-beam configuration as in the previous fiber-coupled SERF magnetometer with a stable distributed feedback laser, but more importantly to accomplish the optical rotation detection and hence to strongly suppress the VCSEL noise. Thus the challenging electronic control problem can be avoided, and meanwhile a simplified optical arrangement is maintained. The difficulty of the integration of VCSEL-based SERF magnetometer can then be significantly reduced. Eventually, an integrated VCSEL-based SERF magnetometer is implemented and achieves a sensitivity of approximately 35 fT/Hz1/2. Using the integrated magnetometer, magnetocardiography signals are recorded.
oce: an R package for Oceanographic Analysis

Oceanographic field experiments often employ a suite of instrument types, each reporting data in a different format. Many of these formats are complex and difficult to decode. Manufacturers usually provide software for accessing data produced by their instruments, but it is usually proprietary and closed-source, making it difficult for researchers to analyse their data in novel ways or to combine data from multiple instruments. The oce package (Kelley, Richards, & Layton, 2021) addresses such issues in the R language1 with functions that handle dozens of data formats. It also has facilities for the specialized calculations and data displays that are particular to oceanography. Since oce is written in the R language (Ihaka & Gentleman, 1996; R Core Team, 2021), it forms a link to a vast array of general tools that oceanographers use in their work (Kelley, 2018).
Detecting Students’ Assessment Score Anomalies Using KNN Classification Algorithm

The challenge of detecting and classifying anomalies in student’s assessment scores has been a key issue in analyzing student results, especially in institutions of higher learning. There is little research that applies machine learning to detect and classify anomalies in student assessment scores. In this study, we applied the K-Nearest Neighbour algorithm to improve the detection and classification of anomalies in student’s assessment scores. Two categories of students’ assessment dataset were considered: (a) CGPA-based dataset, which represents an anomaly where there were too many high CGPAs, and (b) course-based dataset which represents anomalies related to - (i) inconsistent CA vs Exam score, (ii) too many high scores, and (iii) borderline failure. Experimental result shows at least 95% accuracy in detection rate, precision, F1 score, and recall (sensitivity), especially in the disproportionate CA vs Exam Score anomaly and borderline anomaly.
Laparoscopic resection surgery for malignant transformation of extragonadal endometriosis by the “pincer” approach

Up to 1% of women with endometriosis develop endometriosis-associated neoplasms [1]. Most endometriosis-associated malignant tumors develop from the ovarian endometriomas, whereas those developing from extragonadal lesions are extremely rare, estimated at 0.2% [2]. Because they are uncommon, a treatment protocol for the malignant transformation of extragonadal endometriosis lesions has not been clearly defined. When the lesion is confined to the site of origin and R0 resection is achieved, the 5-year survival rate is between 82% and 100%; therefore, complete resection should be performed [3]. The patient in this video had previously undergone hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, left nephrectomy, and low-anterior resection of the rectum due to severe endometriosis. Ten years after the surgery, the patient had a 6 cm endometrioid adenocarcinoma developing from the residual endometriosis lesion at the left uterosacral ligament that involved the bladder, left ureter, and rectum. In this case, the tumor was attached to the pelvis due to infiltration of the left sacrospinous ligament. To completely remove the tumor, we used laterally extended endopelvic resection with abdominoperineal resection of the rectum. We used the laparoscopic-perineal-laparoscopic approach (pincer approach) because improved visualization of the left sacrospinous ligament increases the probability of achieving complete resection [4]. Pathological R0 resection was achieved without intraoperative or postoperative complications. Thus, for tumors that are firmly attached to the pelvic floor, the pincer approach can be useful for achieving R0 resection. The informed consent for use of this video was taken from the patient.
High-Resolution Phased-Subarray MIMO Radar With Grating Lobe Cancellation Technique

A collocated phased-subarray multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) radar system that reduces the number of MIMO channels to implement a large antenna array is proposed. Both the transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) arrays are divided into phased subarrays, which consist of several RF beamforming antenna elements. Each phased subarray is exploited as an MIMO channel. To estimate the angular information of targets, a hybrid beamforming technique that incorporates RF beamforming of the phased subarrays and digital beamforming of the MIMO virtual array is used. Antenna configurations of the phased-subarray MIMO radar and the corresponding virtual array are also presented. A space between the TX phased subarrays larger than one TX subarray aperture is introduced to facilitate the larger antenna aperture. Because this involves unwanted overall grating lobes, a grating lobe cancellation method is proposed using sum and difference RF subarray beams. This provides a higher angular resolution with the same number of antenna elements. The proposed phased-subarray MIMO radar concept with the corresponding grating lobe cancellation method is demonstrated by implementing a 60-GHz 16-element phased-subarray 2 ${\times }$ 2 MIMO frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar system.
VCSELs as highly sensitive stand-alone distance sensors

We report on a novel sensor concept based on a coupled resonator configuration and the employment of vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) sources. The back reflection of a sample surface next to the emission window of the laser source affects the internal resonator conditions of the VCSEL resulting in a change of the emitted wavelength and operating current, respectively, if the operating voltage is kept constant. The behavior of the VCSEL in this scenario was investigated for both the near and the far field which offers the potential for different types of measurement applications. First experimental results show a measurable and reproducible change of the operating current when moving the sample by as little as a few nm in vertical direction. This behavior was also verified with a simulation based on ANSYS Lumerical by creating distributed Bragg reflection (DBR) stacks with different layers and quantifying the influence of the movable third resonator surface on the emission wavelength. In the next steps, the new sensor system will be integrated into an inline production chain for additive optics manufacturing to supervise the manufacturing accuracy and realize a feedback loop for the correction of process imperfections.