Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Potential Role of Plastid DNA as a Biomarker and Biosensor Using Real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction

Plastids are plant specific semiautonomous organelles, which differentiate to perform many cardinal functions including photosynthesis, energy generation, development, stress perception and response, storage, flowering, and fruit ripening. Additionally, plastids are of immense nutritional value to humans, underscoring the need to develop reliable assays to determine the plastid content of plant based products. Studies have shown that the number of plastids present in various plant organs is regulated by both internal and external factors, however determination of plastid number is time consuming and requires sophisticated instruments. Interestingly, studies have shown that the plastome number, small circular DNA molecules present in the plastids is also regulated by both internal and external stimuli and therefore can be potentially used to estimate the plastid content in a plant organ. This study hypothesizes that plastome copy number, determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in different plant samples can be used as a plant biomarker and biosensor. Samples of cotton seed (CS), leaf (CL) and lint (Clt) and seeds of rice (RS), soybean (SS), maize (MS) and sesame (SeS) were obtained over a period of two years, their plastome copy number was determined by the Ct values obtained using real-time qPCR assays using chloroplast tRNA specific primers. Regression analysis was performed to ensure reliability of the real-time qPCR data. Subsequent, data analysis revealed that the mean log plastome copy number showed a statistically significant difference for the plant species including seeds of cotton, soybean, maize, and sesame suggesting that the log plastome copy number is plant species specific and therefore can be used as a biomarker. Furthermore, evidence in support of the use plastids as biosensors was obtained by calculating the range of log plastome copy number, where range represents the difference between lowest and highest log copy number values. A low range value indicated that the log copy values do not deviate from the mean copy number value, suggesting that the samples have encountered consistent and similar internal and external factors during growth and post-harvest storage and processing, Whereas, high range values indicated large deviations from mean copy value suggesting that the samples have encountered changing internal and external conditions. These conclusions are supported by observation of low range for all the seed samples including CR (0.31), CS (0.58), RP (0.05), SeS (0.31), seeds have a protective coat to withstand variations in environmental conditions. Whereas, observation of high range values for CL (4.11), Clt (3.63), and RS (3.09) could be explained by different developmental stage of CL samples, different post-harvest conditions for Clt samples and broken RS samples. In conclusion, the study present preliminary data in support of use of plastome copy number as a plant biomarker and biosensor.
Computational Studies on Isospecific Polymerization of 1-Hexene Catalyzed by Cationic Rare Earth Metal Alkyl Complex Bearing a C3iPr-trisox Ligand

1-Hexene polymerization catalyzed by dicationic rare earth metal alkyl species [Ln(iPr-trisox)(CH2SiMe3)]2+ (Ln = Sc and Y; trisox = trisoxazoline) has been computationally studied by using QM/MM approach. It has been found that the initiation of 1-hexene polymerization kinetically prefers 1,2-insertion (free energy barrier of 17.23 kcal/mol) to 2,1-insertion (free energy barrier of 20.05 kcal/mol). Such a preference of 1,2-insertion has been also found for chain propagation stage. The isotactic polymerization was computed to be more kinetically preferable in comparison with syndiotactic manner, and the dicationic system resulted in lower insertion free energy barrier and more stable insertion product in comparison with the monocationic system. The stereoselectivity was found to follow chain-end mechanism, and the isospecific insertion of 1-hexene is mainly controlled by kinetics. In addition, the current computational results, for the first time, indicate that the higher activity of Sc species toward 1-h.
BetaML: The Beta Machine Learning Toolkit, a self-contained repository of Machine Learning algorithms in Julia

A series of machine learning algorithms has been implemented and bundled together with several “utility” functions in a single package for the Julia programming language. Currently, algorithms are available in the areas of classification (perceptron, kernel perceptron, pegasos), neural networks (feed-forward), clustering (kmeans, kmenoids, gmm, missing values imputation) and decision trees/random forests. Development of these algorithms started following the theoretical notes of the MOOC class “Machine Learning with Python: from Linear Models to Deep Learning” from MITx/edX.
Disparities in Drug-Eluting Stent Utilization in Patients With Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: An Analysis of the National Inpatient Sample

The superiority of drug-eluting stents (DES) compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) is well-established, but data regarding DES use in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) as a function of race is limited. Our goal was to examine stent utilization patterns and disparities based on race, sex, and insurance status in patients with STEMI undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. The National Inpatient Sample database was used to retrospectively compare DES vs BMS use in patients admitted with STEMI from 2009 to 2018. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the independent predictors of DES use. DES utilization increased significantly from 62.8% in 2009 to 94.0% in 2018. However, African Americans were less likely to receive a DES (odds ratio [OR] .82, 95% confidence interval [CI] .77–.87) compared with Caucasians. Women were more likely to undergo DES implantation (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.05–1.10). Patients insured by Medicaid (OR .84, 95% CI .80–.89) and those classified as Self-pay (OR .63, 95% CI .61–.66) were less likely to undergo DES implantation compared to those with private insurance (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.29–1.38). Disparities based on race and insurance status continue to persist despite a significant increase in DES utilization in STEMI patients across the identified subgroups.
Effects of extrinsic cues on customer attitude and satisfaction towards private labels

The retail sector in India is expected to grow almost twice from $672 billion in 2016 to US$1.1 trillion by the year 2020. One of the major factors that are driving this growth is changing lifestyle of the consumers. Not only it is growing rapidly but the growth has been uniform and slowly moving towards an organised sector. The purpose of this paper is to know whether extrinsic cues like perceived store image, perceived private label quality, perceived private label price has any effect on customer attitude and satisfaction with regard to private label. The data was collected from 209 respondents through a self-administered questionnaire. The statistical measures were conducted through regression to analyse the data. Results show that perceived private label store image and perceived store price unlike perceived private label quality positively affect attitude and satisfaction of customers towards private label.
Pulmonary fate of (/sup 3/H)bleomycin A2 in mice

The pulmonary fate of radiolabeled bleomycin (S-methyl-/sup 3/H)bleomycin A2 ((/sup 3/H)BLM A2) was studied in mice after intratracheal (i.t.) or s.c. injection. The loss of radioactivity from the lungs followed apparent first-order kinetics during the first 3 hr after i.t. drug instillation with a half-time of removal of 32 min. In addition, the initial pulmonary removal was linear with instilled doses ranging from 0.02 to 2.2 mg/kg. Radioactivity was detected in liver, kidneys, spleen and serum 1 hr after i.t. administration. Approximately 1% of the i.t. administered dose was detected in the lungs after 24 hr, indicating that the rate of removal of radioactivity slowed between 3 and 24 hr after i.t. drug instillation. Eighty percent of the radioactivity found in the lungs 1 hr after i.t. instillation was unmetabolized (/sup 3/H)BLM A2, but by 24 hr less than 25% was unmetabolized drug and almost 40% was the nonfibrogenic metabolite, desamidobleomycin A2. After s.c. administration of 10 mg/kg of (/sup 3/H)BLM A2, peak pulmonary levels were observed between 45 and 60 min and were less than 1% of the injected dose. Pulmonary levels comparable to those seen with a single fibrogenic i.t. dose (2.2 mg/kg) could not be obtained aftermore » a s.c. injection even with a toxic dose of the drug (100 mg/kg). In addition, twice weekly s.c. injections of unlabeled BLM A2 (10 mg/kg) for 5 weeks did not alter the amount of radioactivity seen in the lungs after a s.c. injection of (/sup 3/H)BLM A2. Thus, the pulmonary fibrosis seen with i.t. BLM administration may reflect the high initial content of unmetabolized drug achieved in the lungs. « less
A Modified Control Method for Grid Connected Multiple Rooftop Solar Power Plants

This article proposes an enhanced control strategy for a microgrid consisting of multiple rooftop solar photovoltaic sources. These sources are of different power ratings and intermittent in nature. The microgrid is flexible to function either in islanded mode or in grid connected mode. It affects power management and hampers the power quality in microgrid. The proposed control scheme enhances the power quality of the microgrid by providing reactive power compensation to local loads. Thus, it reduces the burden on utility grid. The proposed control technique establishes a priority-based policy for reactive and active power compensation under local demand variance. A smooth and automated transition of microgrid between islanded and grid connected modes is achieved. This seamless transition of the system between two modes avoids the transient in the system. In islanded mode, the proposed control scheme ensures improved voltage regulation under dynamic load demand. It also ensures a minimum burden on the voltage source. Also, the proposed control scheme maintains the power factor of the system near to unity. The system performance is validated experimentally under a number of various operating conditions such as dynamic load variation, grid condition, automated transition, intermittent power generation in real time simulator.
A Scalable Many-Stage CMOS OTA for Closed-Loop Applications

In this work, a new scalable CMOS OTA design that systematically enables cascading many identical OTA stages is proposed. This scalable design of the many-stage OTA ensures stability, when configurated in closed loop, by means of a new scalable frequency compensation technique. The presented design realizes a CMOS OTA with scalable-gain that increases in 25 dB increments per stage, achieving a total gain from 50 dB to 150 dB for a 2-stage to a 6-stage OTA, respectively. Stability of the many-stage OTA is ensured by re-positioning the poles and zeros of all gain stages in a systematic scalable pattern whenever a new gain-stage is added. The presented design was based on a TSMC 65 nm CMOS process.
A Series Arrangement of Economizer – Evaporator Flat Solar Collectors as an Enhancement for Solar Steam Generator

Two flat solar collectors were designed and connected in series in order to achieve a moderately high outlet temperature. This high temperature is to be considered as the inlet temperature to a concentrated collector which is able of generating superheated steam. The first collector plays a role as a preheater; hence, it is called an economizer and the other plays a role as a temperature riser, thus it is called an evaporator. The economizer is a closed steel tank equipped with internal baffles distributed equally to ensure perfect circulation of water inside the tank. However, the evaporator consists of an array of vertical pipes connected to two horizontal manifolds (risers and headers) and bonded to a steel sheet. Both collectors are coated black with a granulated carbon layer and exposed to sun through two glass layers. Two water flow rates were applied at the evaporator 100 L/hr and 200 L/hr. The result shows that a maximum outlet temperature of 73°C and a maximum efficiency of 82% at the beginning of the experiment and 55% by the end of experiment were achieved when the flow rate was 100 L/hr. In addition, the result shows that both collectors reached a situation where there was no useful gain in heat even, though the solar radiation beam still hits with considerable high intensity. This situation occurs when the heat losses increase. Both heat gain and heat lost were calculated and plotted for both collectors and at the two flow rates. In addition, an average value of solar radiation beam during the experiment was plotted.
Oxidative Free Radicals and Other Species: Selective Messengers with a Reactive Capacity for Unselective Tissue Damage

Oxygen and nitrogen free radicals (RONS) form an exceptionally reactive molecular assembly within eukaryote cells. This perspective article gives a combined overview of different facets of research covering molecular reactivity, resultant tissue damage and final tissue outcomes as they relate to major disease. There is an emphasis on cardiovascular disease, as the damage processes are best liked to the pathology. The overriding importance of inflammation in driving damage across all tissues is highlighted. Brief coverage is also provided of measurement approaches, respectively for antioxidant status, using potentiometry, and voltammetry for selected target species. Whilst damage due to RONS is a common focus, the fundamental importance of RONS to biological signalling is also covered here as an indispensable basis for life. The article thus provides a global overview of this topic for anyone wishing to understand the current status across multiple fronts.
Sex-specific DNA methylation changes in Alzheimer’s disease pathology

Sex is an important factor that contributes to the clinical and biological heterogeneities in Alzheimers disease (AD), but the regulatory mechanisms underlying sex disparity in AD are still not well understood. DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that regulates gene transcription and is known to be involved in AD. We performed the first large-scale sex-specific meta-analysis of DNA methylation changes in AD, by re-analyzing four recent epigenome-wide association studies totaling more than 1000 postmortem prefrontal cortex brain samples using a uniform analytical pipeline. For each cohort we employed two complementary analytical strategies, a sex-stratified analysis that examined methylation-Braak stage associations in male and female samples separately, and a sex-by-Braak stage interaction analysis that compared the magnitude of these associations between different sexes. Our analysis uncovered 14 novel CpGs, mapped to genes such as TMEM39A and TNXB that are associated with AD in a sex-specific manner. TMEM39A is known to be involved in inflammation, dysregulated type I interferon responses, and other immune processes. TNXB encodes tenascin proteins, which are extracellular matrix glycoproteins demonstrated to modulate synaptic plasticity in the brain. Moreover, for many previously implicated AD genes, such as MBP and AZU1, our analysis provided the new insights that they were predominately driven by effects in only one sex. These sex-specific DNA methylation changes were enriched in divergent biological processes such as integrin activation in females and complement activation in males. Importantly, a number of drugs commonly prescribed for AD patients also targeted these genes with sex-specific DNA methylation changes. Our study implicated multiple new loci and biological processes that affected AD in a sex-specific manner and highlighted the importance of sex-specific treatment regimens for AD patients.
Complexity in economics and beyond: Review paper

Complexity and complexity economics are relatively new fields of science, both of which started at the beginning of the 1980s. As it had emerged, questions have been raised regarding complexity’s applicability on human-involved systems and its predictive powers. Economics has been in the spotlight in recent years within the framework of complexity, since economics is one of the most well-established fields in social sciences. Within this framework, the field is referred to as complexity economics. While in its early years, complexity economics research had distanced itself from the reductionist neoclassic tradition of economics that has been identified by its use of, and reliance on, descriptive equations. One of the salient feature of complexity economics is its somewhat unorthodox approach to economic systems, as in its emphasis on non-equilibria. However in recent years, the proponents have become more assertive that complexity economics needs to be more modest and symbiotically co-exist with well-established mainstream economics. Although we focus on economics under the prism of complexity, our underlying interest is in the investigation of how other disciplines, such as industrial engineering and operations research, may benefit from a similar complexity-oriented perspective. Keywords: Complexity, complexity economics, mainstream economics, equation-based economics, non-equilibrium
Edukasi Diabetes terhadap Penurunan Glukosa Darah pada Penderita Diabetes Mellitus Tipe 2

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh edukasi diabetes terhadap kadar glukosa darah pada pasien DM tipe 2. Desain penelitian yang digunakan adalah pre-eksperimental dengan one group pre-post-test design. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya penurunan kadar glukosa darah setelah dilakukan intervensi berupa edukasi diabetes dengan p-value = 0,000. Kadar gula darah rata-rata (mean) sebelum intervensi adalah sebesar 244,19 dan setelah intervensi sebesar 166,06. Simpulan, pemberian edukasi diabetes sebagai salah satu penatalaksanaan diabetes dapat mempengaruhi manajemen diri pasien DM tipe 2, salah satunya dengan monitoring gula darah. Keberhasilan pemberian edukasi dapat dipengaruhi oleh beberapa faktor, seperti faktor pasien, pendidik atau pemberi edukasi dan lamanya edukasi yang diberikan. Kata Kunci: Diabetes Mellitus Tipe 2, Edukasi, Glukosa Darah, Manajemen Diri
A Case Report of Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Getting the Diagnosis Sooner

Multiple sclerosis can often present with nonspecific symptoms leading to difficulty in establishing a diagnosis early in the disease process. Early diagnosis and treatment is of importance due to the associated decrease in disability for those that get treatment sooner. Here we present a case with a patient the presented with changes in vision and paresthesias. Her initial workup from the neurologist was negative and further workup was delayed until her symptoms worsened. After worsening symptoms, MRI revealed that multiple sclerosis was the cause of her symptoms.
Description and Evaluation of a Secondary Organic Aerosol and
New Particle Formation Scheme within TM5-MP v1.1

Abstract. We have implemented and evaluated a secondary organic aerosol scheme within the chemistry transport model TM5-MP in this work. In earlier versions of TM5-MP the secondary organic aerosol was emitted as Aitken sized particle mass emulating the condensation. In the current scheme we simulate the formation of SOA from oxidation of isoprene and monoterpenes by ozone and hydroxyl radicals which produce semi-volatile organic compounds and extremely low-volatility compounds. Subsequently, SVOC and ELVOC can condense on particles. Furthermore, we have introduced a new particle formation mechanism depending on the concentration of ELVOCs. For evaluation purposes, we have simulated the year 2010 with the old and new scheme, where we see an increase in simulated production of SOA from 39.9 Tg y−1 with the old scheme to 52.5 Tg y−1 with the new scheme. For more detailed analysis, the particle mass and number concentrations and their influence on the simulated aerosol optical depth are compared to observations. Phenomenologically, the new particle formation scheme implemented here is able to reproduce the occurrence of observed particle formation events. However, the concentrations of formed particles are clearly lower as is the subsequent growth to larger sizes. Compared to the old scheme, the new scheme is increasing the number concentrations across the observation stations while still underestimating the observations. The total aerosol mass concentrations in the US show a much better seasonal cycle and removal of a clear overestimation of concentrations. In Europe the mass concentrations are lowered leading to a larger underestimation of observations. Aerosol optical depth is generally slightly increased except in the northern high latitudes. This brings the simulated annual global mean AOD closer to observational estimate. However, as the increase is rather uniform, biases tend to be reduced only in regions where the model underestimates the AOD. Furthermore, the correlation against satellite retrievals and ground-based sun-photometer observations are improved. Although the process based approach to SOA formation causes reduction in model performance in some areas, overall the new scheme improves the simulated aerosol fields.
Carbon nanotube-based flexible metamaterials for THz sensing

The inherent limitations of metal-based metamaterials are the key factors limiting the rapid development of the field of flexible terahertz metamaterials. The advantages of carbon nanotube-based materials and devices in terms of weight, cost, and flexibility of free bending, make them of great use for flexible terahertz metamaterials and devices. Here, a flexible terahertz metamaterial sensor, based on a subwavelength periodic array structure of carbon nanotube thin films, is reported. The proposed flexible metamaterial can achieve the surface plasmon resonance to generate local field enhancement phenomenon, resulting in enhanced resonance transmission peaks. We observed that the resonant frequency and amplitude modulation can be continuously adjusted when the device is subjected to a small external strain. In addition, we found that the terahertz transmission spectrum changes significantly when analytes or dielectric layers, with different refractive indices, thicknesses, or carrying pore defects, are added on the surface of the carbon nanotubes film or below the polyimide substrate of the flexible metamaterials sensor in the bent state. Our results show that these materials and designed device strategies will aid in developing new terahertz functional devices, such as strain sensors, biochemical sensors, curved surface defect detectors, and wearable terahertz imagers.
Influence of Anions on Proton-Conducting Membranes Based on Neutralized Nafion 117, Triethylammonium Methanesulfonate, and Triethylammonium Perfluorobutanesulfonate. 2. Electrical Properties

The electrical properties of a Nafion proton exchange membrane change dramatically when neutralized and then doped with a proton-conducting ionic liquid (PCIL). Broadband electric spectroscopy elucidates the molecular relaxation and polarization phenomena of neutralized Nafion (nN117) doped with triethylammonium methanesulfonate (TMS) and triethylammonium perfluorobutanesulfonate (TPFBu) ionic liquids. These data, coupled with those of part 1 suggest proton conduction mechanisms for both the pure PCILs and in PCIL-doped nN117. At 130 °C, the PCILs have conductivities of σTMS = 1.4 × 10–2 S/cm and σTPFBu = 9 × 10–3 S/cm, while correspondingly doped nN117 have conductivities of σNTMS = 6.1 × 10–3 S/cm and σNTPFBu = 1.8 × 10–3 S/cm. The pure PCILs show three interfacial polarizations associated with proton transfer mechanisms above the melting point. PCIL-doped nN117 also has three interfacial polarizations that depend on the nanostructure characteristics of the PCIL sorbed within the nN117 polar domains. Be.