Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metagenomic Insights Reveal the Microbial Diversity and Associated Algal-Polysaccharide-Degrading Enzymes on the Surface of Red Algae among Remote Regions

Macroalgae and macroalgae-associated bacteria together constitute the most efficient metabolic cycling system in the ocean. Their interactions, especially the responses of macroalgae-associated bacteria communities to algae in different geographical locations, are mostly unknown. In this study, metagenomics was used to analyze the microbial diversity and associated algal-polysaccharide-degrading enzymes on the surface of red algae among three remote regions. There were significant differences in the macroalgae-associated bacteria community composition and diversity among the different regions. At the phylum level, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria had a significantly high relative abundance among the regions. From the perspective of species diversity, samples from China had the highest macroalgae-associated bacteria diversity, followed by those from Antarctica and Indonesia. In addition, in the functional prediction of the bacterial community, genes associated with amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, metabolism of cofactors and vitamins, and membrane transport had a high relative abundance. Canonical correspondence analysis and redundancy analysis of environmental factors showed that, without considering algae species and composition, pH and temperature were the main environmental factors affecting bacterial community structure. Furthermore, there were significant differences in algal-polysaccharide-degrading enzymes among the regions. Samples from China and Antarctica had high abundances of algal-polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, while those from Indonesia had extremely low abundances. The environmental differences between these three regions may impose a strong geographic differentiation regarding the biodiversity of algal microbiomes and their expressed enzyme genes. This work expands our knowledge of algal microbial ecology, and contributes to an in-depth study of their metabolic characteristics, ecological functions, and applications.
Using Machine Learning Methods to Study Colorectal Cancer Tumor Micro-Environment and Its Biomarkers

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, and the identification of biomarkers can improve early detection and personalized treatment. In this study, RNA-seq data and gene chip data from TCGA and GEO were used to explore potential biomarkers for CRC. The SMOTE method was used to address class imbalance, and four feature selection algorithms (MCFS, Borota, mRMR, and LightGBM) were used to select genes from the gene expression matrix. Four machine learning algorithms (SVM, XGBoost, RF, and kNN) were then employed to obtain the optimal number of genes for model construction. Through interpretable machine learning (IML), co-predictive networks were generated to identify rules and uncover underlying relationships among the selected genes. Survival analysis revealed that INHBA, FNBP1, PDE9A, HIST1H2BG, and CADM3 were significantly correlated with prognosis in CRC patients. In addition, the CIBERSORT algorithm was used to investigate the proportion of immune cells in CRC tissues, and gene mutation rates for the five selected biomarkers were explored. The biomarkers identified in this study have significant implications for the development of personalized therapies and could ultimately lead to improved clinical outcomes for CRC patients.
Earliest Fossil Record of Burseraceae from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Central India and Its Biogeographic Implications

Premise of research. Burseraceae is represented by a large number of fossils from the Cenozoic sedimentary succession and has a disjunct distribution today in the southern part of North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. However, the family has a poor fossil record in deep time, making hypotheses concerning its origin and dispersal difficult to evaluate. Here, we report the occurrence of reproductive organs (fruit and flower) attributable to modern Burseraceae from the probable latest Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) to earliest Danian (early Paleocene) sediments of the Mandla Lobe of the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Madhya Pradesh, Central India. Methodology. X-ray micro–computed tomography was used to observe three-dimensional structures. The reconstruction software takes the 2D projection images acquired by the X-ray detector and generates a 3D image represented by gray values distributed in a volumetric space. The present fruit and flower fossils are identified through morphological comparison with another fossil and extant Burseraceae. Pivotal results. The fossil pyrene corresponds in morphology with that of Burseraceae (particularly some genera of Protieae and Bursereae), while the fossil flower, with the pentamerous organization of sepals and petals and ovary and 10 stamens arranged in two whorls around a prominent intrastaminal nectary disk, is particularly similar to Protium. The fossil fruit is here described as a new species of the fossil genus Bursericarpum Reid et Chandler as Bursericarpum indicum Kumar, Manchester et Khan sp. nov. and the fossil flower as Debursera indica Kumar, Manchester, Judd et Khan sp. nov. Conclusions. The present discoveries represent the oldest reliable fossil records of Burseraceae supporting its Gondwanan origin. These fossils also provide important information for tracing possible migration pathways of Burseraceae from India to Europe after the docking of the Indian subcontinent with Eurasia during the early Eocene (55±10 Ma), supporting an “out-of-India” dispersal hypothesis. Based on earlier and present records we suggest that the family might have reached Europe from India and then colonized North America (during the Eocene) in areas where it is now regionally extinct.
Hydrogel-Forming Microneedles with Applications in Oral Diseases Management

Controlled drug delivery in the oral cavity poses challenges such as bacterial contamination, saliva dilution, and inactivation by salivary enzymes upon ingestion. Microneedles offer a location-specific, minimally invasive, and retentive approach. Hydrogel-forming microneedles (HFMs) have emerged for dental diagnostics and therapeutics. HFMs penetrate the stratum corneum, undergo swelling upon contact, secure attachment, and enable sustained transdermal or transmucosal drug delivery. Commonly employed polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone are crosslinked with tartaric acid or its derivatives while incorporating therapeutic agents. Microneedle patches provide suture-free and painless drug delivery to keratinized or non-keratinized mucosa, facilitating site-specific treatment and patient compliance. This review comprehensively discusses HFMs’ applications in dentistry such as local anesthesia, oral ulcer management, periodontal treatment, etc., encompassing animal experiments, clinical trials, and their fundamental impact and limitations, for example, restricted drug carrying capacity and, until now, a low number of dental clinical trial reports. The review explores the advantages and future perspectives of HFMs for oral drug delivery.
Ultra-Low Inductance PMSM Drive Using a DC Current Sensor

This article presents a single shunt current sensing drive method for ultralow inductance permanent magnet synchronous motors that can reliably reconstruct phase currents even at very low speeds. Single current shunt inverters using dc current measurement entail the problem of having dead zones where the phase currents cannot be reconstructed. Voltage injection at the switching frequency can be a solution to avoid this, but at the expense of the newly introduced current ripple. That current ripple is exacerbated in ultralow inductance motors and can cause drive failure, especially at low speeds. To rule out voltage injection, this article presents a drive scheme that combines sequential two-phase excitation with a dc current averaging method using an RC low-pass filter. This permits three-phase current reconstruction from the average of dc current measurements per half-switching period, regardless of the active vector duration. Experimental demonstrations in this article show that the proposed driving method allows reliable current reconstruction at both startup and low speed without a significant current ripple. The current reconstruction and dynamic control performance are demonstrated with both steady-state and transient experiments.
Diagramas de Feynman: O poder de uma imagem

Resumo O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar uma breve introdução aos diagramas de Feynman para a QED. Iniciaremos com uma sucinta descrição histórica de como esta técnica diagramática poderosa foi desenvolvida por Feynman. A seguir, introduziremos os elementos básicos i.e. propagadores e vértices, que compõem os diagramas. Discutiremos o significado físico associado aos diagramas e listaremos as regras de Feynman essenciais para cálculos em nível de perturbação mais baixa. Analisaremos três processos fundamentais da QED: o (i) espalhamento Bhabha, (ii) Compton e a (iii) aniquilação do par elétron-pósitron. Por fim, discutiremos como a série perturbativa em ordem mais alta é gerada graficamente para o caso específico do espalhamento Moller.
Bounds on distances for spanning trees of graphs.

In graph theory, there are several techniques known in literature for constructing spanning trees. Some of these techniques yield spanning trees with many leaves. We will use these constructed spanning trees to bound several distance parameters. The cardinality of the vertex set of graph G is called the order , n(G) or n. The cardinality of the edge set of graph G is called the size, m(G) or m. The minimum degree of G, δ(G) or δ, is the minimum degree among the degrees of the vertices of G. A spanning tree T of a graph G is a subgraph that is a tree which includes all the vertices of G. The distance d(u, v) between two vertices u and v is the length of a shortest u − v path of G. The eccentricity , ec (v), of a vertex v ∈ V (G) is the maximum distance from it to any other vertex in G. The diameter , diam(G) or d, is the maximum eccentricity amongst all vertices of G. The radius , rad(G), is the minimum eccentricity among all vertices of G. The average distance of a graph G, μ (G), is the expected distance between a randomly chosen pair of distinct vertices. We investigate how each constructed spanning tree can be used to bound diameter, radius or average distance in terms of order, size and minimum degree. The techniques to be considered include the radius-preserving spanning trees by Erdős et al, the Ding et al technique, and the Dankelmann and Entringer technique. Finally, we use the Kleitman and West dead leaves technique to construct spanning trees with many leaves for various values of the minimum degree δ ≥ k (for k = 3, 4 and k > 4) and order n. We then use the leaf number to bound diameter.
Active implant for optoacoustic natural sound enhancement

This paper summarizes the results of an EU project called ACTION: ACTive Implant for Optoacoustic Natural sound enhancement. The project is based on a recent discovery that relatively low levels of pulsed infrared laser light are capable of triggering activity in hair cells of the partially hearing (hearing impaired) cochlea and vestibule. The aim here is the development of a self-contained, smart, highly miniaturized system to provide optoacoustic stimuli directly from an array of miniature light sources in the cochlea. Optoacoustic compound action potentials (oaCAP) are generated by the light source fully inserted into the unmodified cochlea. Previously, the same could only be achieved with external light sources connected to a fiber optic light guide. This feat is achieved by integrating custom made VCSEL arrays at a wavelength of about 1550 nm onto small flexible substrates. The laser light is collimated by a specially designed silicon-based ultra-thin lens (165 um thick) to get the energy density required for the generation of oaCAP signals. A dramatic miniaturization of the packaging technology is also required. A long term biocompatible and hermetic sapphire housing with a size of less than a 1 cubic millimeter and miniature Pt/PtIr feedthroughs is developed, using a low temperature laser assisted process for sealing. A biofouling thin film protection layer is developed to avoid fibrinogen and cell growth on the system.
PSR J1913+1102: a pulsar in a highly asymmetric and relativistic double neutron star system

Abstract PSR J1913+1102 is a double neutron star system (DNS) discovered in the Pulsar Arecibo L-band Feed Array survey. We have now very precisely measured the rate of advance of periastron for the system and the Einstein delay. From general relativity, this results in precise mass measurements: 1.65 ± 0.05 and 1.24 ± 0.05 M⊙ for the pulsar and neutron-star companion, respectively. This makes PSR J1913+1102 both the most massive double neutron star system known, and the most asymmetric in mass among compact DNS binaries. This asymmetry will allow for stringent limits on the effects of dipolar gravitational-wave radiation, predicted by alternative theories of gravity, as well as insight into heavy-element production from the eventual merger of this system and others like it. Further observations will also tighten constraints on formation and evolution models; this is crucial for understanding the DNS population, for which there are relatively few mass measurements.
A Design of Microstrip Lowpass Filter with Wide Rejection Band and Sharp Transition Band Utilizing Semi-Circle Resonators

In this paper, a microstrip lowpass filter with –3 dB cut-off frequency of 2.1 GHz consisting of three cascaded resonators with different semi-circle patches and four suppressors employing radial stubs has been proposed. To indicate the role of each employed microstrip transmission line in the structure of its resonance cell, the equations of the transfer function and transition zero of the resonator have been calculated, separately. The designed filter has been constructed and tested, and a good agreement between the results of simulation and measurement has been achieved. In the whole rejection region, a return loss better than +0.28 dB and a 19.656 GHz stopband bandwidth with high rejection level of 32 dB have been obtained. Moreover, a flat insertion loss close to zero in the passband and sharp cutoff slope (203.57 dB/GHz) can verify the desired frequency response. The proposed filter has a high figure of merit equal to 24241.69.
Feasibility of non-descent vaginal hysterectomy (NDVH) in women with scarred uterus-our experience

Aims and objectives: To assess feasibility and safety of NDVH in patients with scarred uterus undergoing hysterectomy for benign conditions. Methods: Prospective study conducted at department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at IOG, Chennai. Vaginal hysterectomy was attempted in women with benign conditions in absence of uterine prolapse with history of cesarean section. Information regarding age, parity, uterine size, co-morbid conditions, blood loss, duration of operation, intra-operative, post-operative complications, hospital stay were recorded. Results: All the 25 cases selected for NDVH successfully underwent NDVH. None had bladder injury. Commonest indication was leiomyoma. Mean duration of surgery was 60 ± 15 min. Mean blood loss was 150 ± 20 ml. Post-operative complications were minimal. Patient mobility, resumption of daily activities was fast with minimal need for pain relief. Hospital stay was 4-5 days. Conclusion: Vaginal hysterectomy is feasible, safe and cost effective with fewer complications.
Merging the MODIS and Landsat Terrestrial Latent Heat Flux Products Using the Multiresolution Tree Method

The accurate estimation of the terrestrial latent heat flux (LE) from satellite observations at high spatial and temporal scales plays an important role in the assessment of the water and heat exchange between the earth’s surface and the atmosphere. Although a variety of data fusion methods have been proposed to merge different LE products for more reliable estimates, most of them have ignored the spatiotemporal consistency of LE products across different resolutions. In this paper, we apply the multiresolution tree (MRT) method to improve the accuracy and reduce the inconsistency between the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LE (MOD16) product and the Landsat-based LE product at different resolutions. Eddy covariance (EC) ground measurements at five sites, MODIS and Landsat images from January 2005 to December 2005 in the north central USA, are used to evaluate the performance of the MRT method. The results show that the MRT method can improve the accuracy of the original LE products (MOD16 and Landsat), and it has the potential to significantly reduce the uncertainty and inconsistency of these products. The bias decreased by 38.3% on average, and the root-mean-square error (RMSE) decreased by approximately 49.2% after the MRT was applied at each scale. Further studies are still required to make the MRT method more universal on a variety of land cover types for long-time periods.
Information transport in quantum non-equilibrium steady-states

Non-equilibrium steady-states are characterized by the existence of macroscopic heat currents flowing between two or more reservoirs. However, the existence of these currents also implies that information is constantly being transmitted from one reservoir to the other. In this letter we address the transport of information in the context of quantum non-equilibrium steady states. We first show how the ability of the excitations to transfer information can be quantified by the conditional mutual information (CMI), a more general measure of tripartite correlations. We then apply this to an exactly soluble model allowing for both ballistic and diffusive behavior. Our approach allows us to compute the CMI for arbitrary sizes and thus find the scaling rules connecting information transport and diffusivity. Finally, we discuss how this new perspective in the characterization of non-equilibrium systems may be applied to understand the issue of local equilibration in non-equilibrium states.
Effects of He–Ne laser and argon laser irradiation on growth, germination, and physico-biochemical characteristics of wheat seeds (Triticumaestivum L.)

Wheat seeds (Triticumaestivum L.) were exposed to two different types of lasers, a He–Ne laser (633 nm) and an argon laser (514.5 nm), to study their effects on growth, germination, and physiological and biochemical characteristics such as the amounts of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids. A significant increase in the growth characteristics was monitored and studied keeping in view the length as well as fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots. Similarly, plant pigment contents such as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids were significantly changed. These significant alterations led to an increase in growth and germination compared with unexposed (control) wheat seeds. The experimental results of this in vitro study clearly demonstrate that different lasers like He–Ne laser and argon laser at low power significantly enhance the growth and germination of wheat seeds (Triticumaestivum L.) by positively influencing its physiological and biochemical characteristics.
Lecturer responsiveness in online learning – availability, accessibility, and flexibility: a matter of kindness

ABSTRACT Kindness signifies a way of behaving towards other individuals. Kindness is a desirable and admired conduct of schoolteachers but is less expected in higher education. During the Covid-19 pandemic, on-campus learning shifted completely to online learning settings, requiring lecturers to adopt behaviours that may not have been part of their previous routine. Although lecturers’ kindness is linked to students’ satisfaction, perseverance, and outcomes, there is a dearth of research concerning the kindness of higher education lecturers teaching online. Thus, the current study uncovered how students perceived lecturers’ kindness in online learning. Sixty-five students responded to a survey containing both closed and open-ended questions. Content analysis showed that lecturers’ kindness in online learning is perceived as mostly different from kindness on-campus, necessitating consideration of students’ situational and technological difficulties. Moreover, kindness was perceived as responsive to students in three components: availability, accessibility, and flexibility. Conceptualising kindness in online learning settings can improve lecturers’ online teaching practices.
The Modified Soft Input Parity Check Transformation Algorithm for Reed Solomon Codes

In this paper, we propose a modification to the recently developed Parity check Transformation Algorithm (PTA) used in the decoding of Reed Solomon codes. This extension of the PTA is referred to as the Modified Parity check Transformation Algorithm (MPTA). The MPTA is developed with the aim of reducing the number of iterations run by the algorithm during the decoding process, and also to improve on the SER performance of the algorithm. Three version of the MPTA are developed in this paper to achieve this goal.
Alzheimer’s disease: a continuum with visual involvements

Introduction Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia affecting the central nervous system, and alteration of several visual structures has been reported. Structural retinal changes are usually accompanied by changes in visual function in this disease. The aim of this study was to analyse the differences in visual function at different stages of the pathology (family history group (FH+), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mild AD and moderate AD) in comparison with a control group of subjects with no cognitive decline and no family history of AD. Methods We included 53 controls, 13 subjects with FH+, 23 patients with MCI, 25 patients with mild AD and, 21 patients with moderate AD. All were ophthalmologically healthy. Visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity (CS), colour perception, visual integration, and fundus examination were performed. Results The analysis showed a statistically significant decrease in VA, CS and visual integration score between the MCI, mild AD and moderate AD groups compared to the control group. In the CS higher frequencies and in the colour perception test (total errors number), statistically significant differences were also observed in the MCI, mild AD and moderate AD groups with respect to the FH+ group and also between the control and AD groups. The FH+ group showed no statistically significant difference in visual functions compared to the control group. All the test correlated with the Mini Mental State Examination score and showed good predictive value when memory decline was present, with better values when AD was at a more advanced stage. Conclusion Alterations in visual function appear in subjects with MCI and evolve when AD is established, being stable in the initial stages of the disease (mild AD and moderate AD). Therefore, visual psychophysical tests are a useful, simple and complementary tool to neuropsychological tests to facilitate diagnosis in the preclinical and early stages of AD.