Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Size-Dependent Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of Silver Nanoparticles in Cochlear Cells In Vitro

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been proven to have potent antibacterial properties, offering an attractive alternative to antibiotics in the treatment of several infections such as otitis media. Concerns have been raised though regarding their toxicity. There are few data regarding the toxic effects of AgNPs in cochlear cells. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of AgNPs of four sizes as a function of their size on HEI-OC1 cochlear cells and on HaCaT keratinocytes. The cells were treated with different concentrations of AgNPs. We evaluated silver uptake by atomic absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cytotoxicity with the alamarBlue test, ROS production with 2′,7′-dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate, and genotoxicity with the comet assay. Silver intracellular concentration increased proportionally with the incubation time and the size of the NPs. Silver uptake was higher in HEI-OC1 cells compared to HaCaT. While after 4 h exposure, only the 50 nm NPs were observed in both cell lines and only the 5 nm NPs were observed in the HaCaT cells, after 24 h, nanoparticles of all sizes could be visualized in both cell lines. The cells showed signs of distress: vacuolizations, autophagosomes, signs of apoptosis, or cellular debris. AgNPs of all sizes reduced viability proportionally with the concentration, HEI-OC1 cells being more affected. The toxicity of AgNPs decreased with the nanoparticle size, and ROS production was dose and size dependent, mainly in the cochlear cells. Genotoxicity assessed by comet assay revealed a higher level of DNA lesions in HEI-OC1 cells after treatment with small-sized AgNPs. The perspective of using AgNPs in the treatment of otitis media, although very attractive, must be regarded with caution: cochlear cells proved to be more sensitive to the toxic effect of AgNPs compared to other cell lines. Potential treatments must be tailored specifically, choosing NPs with minimum toxicity towards auditory cells.
Influence of stormwater control measures on water quality at nested sites in a small suburban watershed

ABSTRACT Stormwater control measures (SCMs) are designed to mitigate the deleterious impacts of urban runoff on the water quality of receiving waters. To assess the cumulative effects of SCMs at the watershed scale, we monitored longitudinal changes in storm discharge and stream water chemistry at high temporal resolution in a suburban headwater stream in Charlotte, NC. SCMs significantly decreased or stabilized instream concentrations of reactive solutes (nitrate, soluble reactive phosphorus, and dissolved organic carbon) relative to the upstream control site. However, SCM outflows minimally influenced concentrations of less reactive solutes (major ions) which increased with urbanization. Additionally, instream concentration variability correlated with antecedent moisture conditions – representative of watershed storage availability – highlighting the role that SCM storage availability plays in the timing of solute delivery to the stream. Our results show that SCMs decrease instream concentrations of biogeochemically reactive solutes but the mitigation potential is temporally dynamic and influenced by antecedent conditions.
Enhanced removal of suspended colloidal particles from turbid water using a modified microbial flocculant

Microbial flocculant (MBF), as an efficient, environmental friendly and biodegradable flocculant, has been widely studied in water treatment. The cationic modification of MBF would improve its charge neutralization and extend its application. In this study, the effect of mAM:mDMDAAC, mMBF:m(AM + DMDAAC), reaction temperature and initiator dosage on the molecular weight of modified MBF were investigated. The optimal synthesis condition was obtained. Modified MBF performed well in the removal of suspended colloidal particles from water. It possessed the potential application in the surface water treatment.
Linezolid Study on Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli Through Disc Diffusion Method

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Linezolid on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli through disc diffusion method. Methods: Discs of Linezolid were used for the evaluation of antibacterial activity of the Linezolid. Antibacterial activity was investigated against gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram negative Escherichia coli. The disc content of Linezolid was composed of 30 µg. Results: The antimicrobial susceptibility test demonstrated that Linezolid was effective against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Two isolates of Staphylococcus aureus showed susceptibility (zones were found 26mm and 22mm), while one of the isolates of Escherichia coli showed susceptibility and the other showed resistance (zones were found 21mm and 18mm, respectively). Conclusion: It is concluded that Linezolid have better antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus aureus as well as on Escherichia coli so can be used in treatment of different infections.
Nitric Oxide and Oxidative Stress-Mediated Cardiovascular Functionality: From Molecular Mechanism to Cardiovascular Disease

The underlying pathology of most cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and stroke involves decreased cardiovascular contractility and anatomic alterations in cardiovascular structures. Nitric oxide (NO) regulates vascular tone and contractile function of myocardium and maintains blood vessel homeostasis. Interestingly, the effect of NO is like a double-edged sword in the body. Insufficient NO causes hypertension and atherosclerosis, while an overproduction of NO may foster inflammation and cause heart infarction and shock. In addition, growing evidences have shown that oxidative stress plays pivotal roles in the initiation and progression of CVDs. This chapter will discuss in detail the roles NO plays in the cardiovascular system under both physiological and pathological conditions. We will focus on: (1) the molecular mechanism of cardiovascular contraction, (2) NO/Ca2+-induced muscle relaxation, (3) NO-related structural change in blood vessels, and (4) redox balance in the cardiovascular system. The relationships between these molecular mechanisms and the characteristics of CVDs will be highlighted.
Bi(Sb)NCa3: Expansion of Perovskite Photovoltaics into All-Inorganic Anti-Perovskite Materials

Perovskite photovoltaics (PVs) have attracted intense interest largely because of their high power conversion efficiency and low cost. The chemical structures of perovskite materials can be generally described by the formula of ABX3, where cations occupy “A” and “B” sites and anions occupy “X” sites. Herein, we present a comprehensive theoretical study of two inorganic anti-perovskite materials, namely, BiNCa3 and SbNCa3, for perovskite PVs. Note that in anti-perovskites, anions occupy “A” and “B” sites, whereas cations occupy “X” sites. Specifically, for both materials, we investigate their thermodynamic stability, dynamic stability, optoelectronic properties and defect properties through ab initio calculations. Our computation suggests that both BiNCa3 and SbNCa3 possess direct band gaps of 0.65 and 1.14 eV, respectively. Notably, both materials are predicted to be thermodynamically stable, as demonstrated by their relatively large stable region based on the phase stability analysis. Dynamic and thermal.
Multiscale Study of the Relationship between Photoisomerization and Mechanical Behavior of Azo-Polymer Based on the Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Cross-linked liquid crystalline polymers (CLCPs) incorporated with photochromic azobenzene moieties can exhibit large and reversible deformations under the exposure of actinic lights. To practically utilize CLCPs in applications such as flexible photoresponsive actuators and soft robots, the user-defined diverse deformation modes have been demonstrated by controlling the liquid crystalline phases and polymer architectures. However, conventional all-atom molecular dynamics (AA MD) simulation is unsuitable for modeling complicated phases and conducting a parametric study of the photomechanical effect in terms of the polymer morphology due to its excessive computational cost. Therefore, a multiscale analysis framework based on coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CG MD) simulations is developed in this study. The mesoscale CLCP network model is constructed to satisfy the structural and thermodynamic properties of the full-atomistic reference. Also, the photoisomerization process is operated by integrating mult.
The impact of oil type and lactic acid bacteria on conjugated linoleic acid production

This work was conducted to investigate the effect of oil type and lactic acid bacteria on the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) production in MRS medium. The ability of eight strains of lactic acids bacteria; Lactobacillus acidophilus (P2, ATCC 20552), Lactobacillus brevis (P102), Lactobacillus casei (P9, DSMZ 20011), Lactobacillus plantarum (P1), Lactobacillus pentosus (P4), Lactobacillus rhamnosus (P5, TISTR 541), Bifidobacterium longum (BL) and Bifidobacterium lactis (P7, Bb-12) for the production of CLA in the MRS broth was investigated. Two vegetable oils (sun flower oil & linseed oil) and cod liver oil were used as substrates in MRS media. The oils were added to MRS in concentration of 10 mg/ml and incubated for three days at 37Â°C. The ability of lactic acid bacteria under the investigation as inhibitors were evaluated by the determination of the amount of conjugated linoleic acid at the end of the fermentation period. The results indicated that there were significant differences between the microorganisms in their ability to produce CLA. Furthermore, there were significant differences between oil types as substrate on the impact of CLA production. Bifidobacterium lactis showed the highest production of CLA (618.13 Âµg/ml) in MRS media fortified with cod liver oil. From the results, it can be concluded that there were positive impacts for both oils and lactic acid bacteria on the production of CLA. Therefore, the lactic acid bacteria grown in these oils can be utilized for probiotic production purposes and to produce other bioactive compounds.
INVESTIGATION ON THE FLOW PROPERTIES AND COMPRESIBILITIES OF DIFFERENT DIRECT TABLETING AGENTS BY USING PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE AS A MODEL DRUG

Bu calismanin amaci, model etken madde olarak Pridoksin HCl kullanarak farkli dogrudan tabletleme ajanlarinin (DTA) akis ozellikleri ve basilabilirlik uzerine etkisinin degerlendirilmesidir. DTA olarak Avicel PH 102®, Tablettose 100®, StarLac® ve Ludipress® kullanildi. DTA’larin, DTA ve etken maddenin ikili karisiminin ve DTA-etken madde ve magnezyum stearat karisiminin akis hizi, yigin acisi, kume ve sikistirilmis dansitesi incelendi. Toz karisimlarinin akis ozelliklerini belirlemek icin Carr Indeks, Hausner Indeks degerleri hesaplandi. Tabletler hidrolik el presi ile farkli basinclarda basildi. Basilabilirlik calismalarindan elde edilen veriler Heckel ve Kawakita esitliklerine uygulandi. StarLac® ve Ludipress® en dusuk yigin acisi, en yuksek akis hizi ile iyi akis ozellikleri gosterdi. Bu ajanlarin Hausner ve Carr indeks degerleri farmakope limitlerine gore iyi akis ozelligi araligindaydi. StarLac® ve Ludipress®ile hazirlanan toz karisimlarinin en dusuk Py degerini vermesi de bu formulasyonlarin basilabilirliginin uygun oldugunu gosterdi. Formulasyonda Tablettose® kullanildiginda yuksek basiclarda kapak atma ve laminasyon oldu. Ayni zamanda, Ludipress®ile hazirlanan formulasyonlarda artan etken madde miktarinin (%12-%36) akis ozellikleri ve basima etkisi de incelendi. %24 den fazla etken madde kullanimi hacim dususunun azalmasina sebep olurken, %18 etken madde ile optimum konsolidasyon ve basilabilirlik ozellikleri elde edildi
Analysis of Bio‐Oil Derived from Catalytic Pyrolysis of Pine Sawdust over Sodium Salts‐Supported γ‐Al2O3

Catalytic pyrolysis of pine sawdust with five sodium salts‐supported γ‐Al2O3 was performed in a fixed‐bed reactor at 500°C for liquid products. The liquid products were analyzed for its physics and chemical properties, such as product yield, oil phase proportion and yield, water content, chemical composition, elemental analysis, and calorific value. The results indicate that liquid yields decreased with the five catalysts compared with non‐catalytic pyrolysis, whereas phase separation (oil and aqueous phases) was observed. The oil phase water content drops sharply to around 10% compared to non‐catalytic bio‐oil (30%). The acid was not observed in the chemical composition of the oil phase product when the catalysts were present. The oxygen content of the oil phase products was significantly reduced. Of the five catalysts, Na2SiO3/γ‐Al2O3 catalyst showed better catalytic performance for its maximum oil phase product yield and oil quality. High heat value of the five oil phase products was all above 30.0 MJ/kg with this catalytic system. The new sodium ion species generated from the combination of sodium salts and γ‐Al2O3, which may be responsible to the improvement of bio‐oil quality. Furthermore, the excess sodium salts on the γ‐Al2O3 surface play an important role on the fast pyrolysis of pine sawdust. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13146, 2019
Thermodynamic properties of the Lennard-Jones FCC solid: perturbation theory parameterisation and Monte Carlo simulation

This work is concerned with a valid representation of the solid-phase equation of state (EOS), the validity of which is evaluated by comparing to Monte Carlo (MC) simulation results. The proposed EOS has been developed by employing an optimal division of the Lannard-Jones (LJ) potential and an effective temperature- and density-dependent diameter into the framework of the simplified perturbation theory. Then, with the aim of extending to the chain systems, the conventional chain contribution (i.e. TPT1) is added to the proposed model (i.e. the atomic LJ system). Finally, the solid-state EOS based on Helmholtz free energy will be introduced for low temperature and high density conditions. To verify the accuracy of the proposed model, its performance is compared with the results of MC simulation. The comparison between the obtained results from the proposed model and the MC simulations shows that the EOS can satisfactorily predict the properties of the solid LJ system, both for the atomic system and for the chains. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Associations Between Niacin Intake and Glaucoma in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Précis: This study examined the association between dietary niacin intake and glaucoma in the 2005-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Increased niacin intake was associated with lower odds of glaucoma overall and among women. Purpose: To examine the association between dietary niacin intake and glaucoma in the 2005-2008 NHANES. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included adult participants of the 2005-2008 NHANES. The exposure was dietary niacin intake, which was examined as a continuous and categorical variable. The outcome was glaucoma as defined by regraded disc images. Covariates included age, sex, race/ethnicity, education level, income, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol use, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, daily energy intake, vitamin B2 and B6 consumption, and macular degeneration. Adjusting for all covariates, logistic regression was performed to examine the association between niacin intake and glaucoma in the overall population and stratified by sex. Results: The weighted population included 5371 individuals (109,734,124 weighted), of whom 55 (1.0%) had glaucoma. Each 1 mg increase in niacin intake was associated with a 6% decreased odds of glaucoma odds [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.90, 0.98]. Among women, increased niacin intake was associated with decreased odds of glaucoma both with niacin as a continuous (aOR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.80, 0.99 per 1 mg increase in niacin intake) and binary variable (aOR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.14, 0.90 for higher vs lower niacin intake). Conclusions: In the 2005-2008 NHANES population, higher levels of niacin intake were associated with decreased odds of glaucoma overall and in women. Further studies are needed to examine the potential protective effects of niacin on glaucoma risk.
Microbial population dynamics in constructed wetlands: Review of recent advancements for wastewater treatment

Constructed wetlands are improvised man-made systems, designed for adopting the principle of natural wetlands for purifying wastewater – the elixir of life. They are used widely as a cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for treating greywater generated from different tertiary treatment sources. It provides an elaborate platform for research activities in an attempt to recycle earth’s natural resources. Among the several organic impurities removal mechanisms existing in constructed wetland systems, the earth’s active microbial population plays a vital role. This review deals with the recent advancements in constructed wetland systems from a microbiological perspective to (effect/ devise/ formulate) chemical and physical treatment for water impurities. It focuses on microbial diversity studies in constructed wetlands, influence of wetland media on microbial diversity and wetland performance, role of specific microbes in water reuse, removal of trace elements, some heavy metals and antibiotics in constructed wetlands. The impurities removal processes in constructed wetlands is achieved by combined interactive systems such as selected plant species, nature of substrate used for microbial diversity and several biogeochemical effected reaction cycles in wetland systems. Therefore, the correlation studies that have been conducted by earlier researchers in microbial diversity in wetlands are addressed herewith.
LEVELS OF ORGANOPHOSPHATE AND PYRETHROID RESIDUES IN SOME EGYPTIAN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AND THEIR DIETARY EXPOSURE

A total of 230 samples of four most public consumed fruits and vegetables, were collected from two wholesale Egyptian markets during 2015. The collected samples were subjected to analysis for 51 pesticide residues of organophosphates (OP’s) and pyrethroids (PY’s) groups. The standard method (QuEChERS) was followed to the analysis of samples applying LC-MS/MS determination. The obtained data showed that, 17.4% of samples had no detectable residues. Whereas, 82.6% had detectable pesticide residues of which 18.3% contaminated with levels above the MRL's and 64.3% (148 samples) had residues below the permissible limits. The highest contamination percentages were observed in grape followed by pepper, apple and tomato with percentages of 90%, 88.3%, 81.7% and 71.7% respectively of which 18%, 23.33%, 23.3% and 8.3% exceeded the permissible MRL's. The most frequent (OP’s) and (PY’s) are chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, lambda cyhalothrin and diazinon. Risk assessment was evaluated via calculation of chronic and cumulative exposure for total of 17 residues of (OP’s) and (PY’s). The results indicated that no chronic health risk associated with consumption of studied commodities. The cumulative exposure values of (OP’s) pesticides was below 1 (0.059 for adults) in fruit samples and (0.108 for adults) in vegetable samples. Also, cumulative exposure values of (PY’s) pesticides were below 1 (0.012 for adults) in fruit samples and (0.017 for adults) in vegetable samples, indicateing no hazard to consumers due to presence of OP’s and PY’s residues in Egyptian fruits and vegetables.
A Deep Learning Approach for Prediction of IVF Implantation Outcome from Day 3 and Day 5 Time-Lapse Human Embryo Image Sequences

Various protocols have been developed to improve the success rate of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Earlier protocols were based on embryonic cell quality on embryos’ third day. Newer protocols rely on the blastocyst quality (day-5 embryo). Artificial intelligence (AI) systems for automatic human embryo quality assessment seem to be the natural trend towards improving IVF’s outcome. AI systems can potentially reveal hidden relationships between embryos’ various attributes. To this date, most AI systems assess single blastocyst images. This paper proposes a novel approach that predicts the embryo implantation outcome from their time-lapse images. This approach consists of two models. One model evaluates each embryo based on its day-3 attributes, while the second model assesses the same embryo’s day-5 image sequence. A Data Length Schedular (DLS) algorithm is developed addressing variations in blastocyst stage sequences’ lengths. With an accuracy of 76.9%, the proposed system beats state of the art by 6%.
Les fermentations dans le rumen et leur optimisation

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Les fermentations dans le rumen et leur optimisation J.-P. Jouany
Off-Line Signature Verification using Novel Feature Extraction Techniques and Trajectory Recovery

Feature extraction is an important process in automatic off-line signature verification systems. In this process, only the information that helps to identify the authenticity of questioned signatures is extracted and retained. Amongst the numerous feature extraction techniques investigated by researchers, grid segmentation schemes have been employed more favourably due to their encouraging results. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on improving the performance of Support Vector Machines (SVMs) based off-line signature verification systems using novel feature extraction techniques. The research began with an in-depth investigation and comparative performance analysis of the Modified Direction Feature (MDF), a structural feature extraction technique. Since the MDF is known for its relatively high accuracies in the cursive character recognition problem, it has been suggested that the performance of the MDF would be as encouraging in verifying Western (English) signatures due to the “cursive appearance” of the signatures. The other features employed for comparative studies were the two grid-based features proposed by Francesco Camastra and Wakabayashi et al. (Gradient feature). The former feature captures the information about the distribution of the foreground pixels in each grid cell whilst the latter utilises the directional information available. The comparisons of these state-of-the-art techniques set the foundation for the development of the novel feature extraction techniques proposed. In total, three novel local features and four global features were proposed and investigated. The local features include Gaussian Grid, Curvature Map, Variance and the local features are New Ratio, Energy, Trajectory Length, Moment. Amongst the local features proposed, the Gaussian Grid feature significantly outperformed all the state-of-the-art features mentioned above. Nevertheless, the combination of another particularly small-dimensional local feature, the Variance feature, with the global features also outperformed the MDF and the Camastra features, and closely approximates the performance of the Gradient feature. The total dimension of this feature set was only 33 compared to 120 of the MDF. This finding emphasizes the capability of small-dimensional global features.