Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of inhibitory effect of Saliva officinalic extracts and volatile oils on the life of Leishmania donovani parasite

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is considered one of the endemic diseases in Iraq, and due to the distinction of the anti-leishmaniasis treatments currently used by their many side effects in addition to their toxicity to the human body, as well as the length of treatment period, and the problems they cause to the digestive system, Salvia officinalis (Saga) was used as a natural preventive treatment against leishmaniasis. Because of its therapeutic properties for many health symptoms, including heart attacks, ulcers, and cancerous tumors, in addition to its antibacterial and antimicrobial nature, the current study aimed to know the inhibitory activity of plant extracts and the volatile oil of Salvia officinalis on the life of Leishmania donovani parasite, using the colorimetric test (MTT assay, to measure toxicity) promastigote parasitoid cells, six concentrations of the aqueous extract and plant emulsion of the mentioned plant were prepared (6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 200) g/mlµ, the concentrations of the volatile oil were (31.25 ,62.5, 125, 250, 500 1000) g/mlµ, The results indicated that under the influence of treatment with the three drug spectra of Salvia officinalis, there were noticeable differences in the inhibitory percentage for each drug spectrum.
Discrete sliding mode prediction control of uncertain switched systems

The robust stabilization problem for a class of uncertain discrete-time switched systems is presented. A predictive sliding mode control strategy is proposed, and a discrete-time reaching law is improved. By applying a predictive sliding surface and a reference trajectory, combining with the state feedback correction and rolling optimization method in the predictive control strategy, a predictive sliding mode controller is synthesized, which guarantees the asymptotic stability for the closed-loop systems. The designed control strategy has stronger robustness and chattering reduction property to conquer with the system uncertainties. In addition, a unique nonswitched sliding surface is designed. The reason is to avoid the repetitive jump of the trajectories of the state components of the closed-loop system between sliding surfaces because it might cause the possible instability. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed theory.
Integration of Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Reveal the Mechanism Underlying Accumulation of Flavonols in Albino Tea Leaves

Albino tea plants (Camellia sinensis) have been reported to possess highly inhibited metabolism of flavonoids compared to regular green tea leaves, which improves the quality of the tea made from these leaves. However, the mechanisms underlying the metabolism of catechins and flavonols in albino tea leaves have not been well elucidated. In this study, we analyzed a time series of leaf samples in the greening process from albino to green in a thermosensitive leaf-color tea mutant using metabolomics and transcriptomics. The total content of polyphenols dramatically decreased, while flavonols (such as rutin) were highly accumulated in albino leaves compared to in green leaves. After treatment with increasing environment temperature, total polyphenols and catechins were increased in albino mutant tea leaves; however, flavonols (especially ortho-dihydroxylated B-rings such as rutin) were decreased. Meanwhile, weighted gene co-expression network analysis of RNA-seq data suggested that the accumulation of flavonols was highly correlated with genes related to reactive oxygen species scavenging. Histochemical localization further demonstrated that this specific accumulation of flavonols might be related to their biological functions in stress tolerance. These findings suggest that the temperature-stimulated accumulation of total polyphenols and catechins in albino mutant tea leaves was highly induced by enhanced photosynthesis and accumulation of its products, while the initial accumulation and temperature inhibition of flavonols in albino mutant tea leaves were associated with metabolism related to oxidative stress. In conclusion, our results indicate that the biosynthesis of flavonoids could be driven by many different factors, including antioxidation and carbon skeleton storage, under favorable and unfavorable circumstances, respectively. This work provides new insights into the drivers of flavonoid biosynthesis in albino tea leaves, which will further help to increase tea quality by improving cultivation measures.
Graphene: A Path-Breaking Discovery for Energy Storage and Sustainability

The global energy situation requires the efficient use of resources and the development of new materials and processes for meeting current energy demand. Traditional materials have been explored to large extent for use in energy saving and storage devices. Graphene, being a path-breaking discovery of the present era, has become one of the most-researched materials due to its fascinating properties, such as high tensile strength, half-integer quantum Hall effect and excellent electrical/thermal conductivity. This paper presents an in-depth review on the exploration of deploying diverse derivatives and morphologies of graphene in various energy-saving and environmentally friendly applications. Use of graphene in lubricants has resulted in improvements to anti-wear characteristics and reduced frictional losses. This comprehensive survey facilitates the researchers in selecting the appropriate graphene derivative(s) and their compatibility with various materials to fabricate high-performance composites for usage in solar cells, fuel cells, supercapacitor applications, rechargeable batteries and automotive sectors.
Cosmological Consequences of Gravitation: Structure Formation and Gravitational Waves

This thesis contains work on four topics which fit into two broad areas of research: the quest to understand structure formation and through it the properties of the dark matter, and the search for primordial gravitational radiation. The first project details the effect of an accretion shock on the colors of satellites in galaxy clusters. A new model of ram pressure stripping including an accretion shock with variable radius is developed and implemented in the Galform semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. A comparison of this model with previous models and with observations indicates that current data is unable to discriminate between models, though future observations will be able to place stronger constraints on the role of ram pressure stripping in and around clusters. Next, an analysis of the angular momentum evolution of dark matter particles in high-resolution N-body simulations of dark matter halos is presented. We find that individual particle angular momentum is not conserved, and also that the angular momentum of radial shells varies over the age of the Universe by up to factors of a few. These results have serious implications for the validity of current analytical models that assume angular momentum conservation. Two methods for detecting the primordial gravitational wave (GW) background are then presented. Such a background, if detected, could greatly impact our understanding of the early universe. The first proposed method uses the apparent angular velocities of astrophysical objects induced by GWs, which may be detectable with upcoming astrometric missions such as the GAIA satellite. This work improves upon previous order-of-magnitude estimates, and presents a full calculation of the expected signal from a stochastic background of GWs. The second method uses bipolar spherical harmonics decomposition, a formalism to characterize departures from statistical isotropy and Gaussianity, to quantify the expected lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and 21 cm radiation by GWs. The lensing of the CMB by GWs is found to not be detectable, but that of future 21 cm surveys could give a very high quality measurement of the primordial GW background.
FSANet: Feature-and-Spatial-Aligned Network for Tiny Object Detection in Remote Sensing Images

Recently, many studies have successfully exploited convolutional neural networks to improve the performance of object detection in remote sensing images. However, detecting tiny objects is still challenging for two main neglected problems: i) The features of tiny objects are insufficient and prone to aliasing during the multiresolution aggregation process; ii) Tiny objects are position-sensitive, resulting in poor localization capabilities. In this article, we propose a feature-and-spatial aligned network (FSANet) to alleviate these issues. FSANet is an anchor-free detector that utilizes the alignment mechanism and progressive optimization strategy to obtain more discriminative features and accurate localization results. Concretely, we first present a feature-aware alignment module ( ${\rm FA}^{{2}}\text{M}$ ) to align features with different resolutions during fusion. By learning transformation offsets, ${\rm FA}^{{2}}\text{M}$ reencodes pixel-spatial information between feature maps of adjacent levels and adaptively adjusts the regular feature interpolation. Additionally, a spatial-aware guidance head (SAGH) is introduced to iteratively optimize network predictions in a coarse-to-fine fashion. SAGH first predicts the object shape at each spatial location on feature maps. For more precise predictions, it then captures geometry-aware convolutional features accordingly to update the coarse localization estimations. Extensive experiments are conducted on three tiny object detection datasets, i.e., AI-TOD, GF1-LRSD, and TinyPerson, demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach.
Response discontinuities in the solution of the incremental Mori-Tanaka scheme for elasto-plastic composites

The incremental Mori–Tanaka model of elasto-plastic composites is discussed, and the corresponding finite-step formulation is shown to lead to discontinuities in the overall response at the instant of elastic-to-plastic transition in the matrix. Specifically, two situations may be encountered: the incremental equations may have two solutions or no solution. In the former situation, switching between the two solutions is associated with a jump in the overall stress. Response discontinuities are studied in detail for a special case of proportional deviatoric loading. The discontinuities constitute an undesirable feature of the incremental Mori–Tanaka scheme that apparently has not been discussed in the literature so far. Remedies to the related problems are briefly discussed.
LC-HRMS-Based Profiling: Antibacterial and Lipase Inhibitory Activities of Some Medicinal Plants for the Remedy of Obesity

Globally, obesity is a serious health concern that causes numerous diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, etc. Medicinal plants have been used to aid in weight loss since ancient times. Thus, this research is focused on the exploration of pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity and secondary metabolite profiling of Bergenia ciliata, Mimosa pudica, and Phyllanthus emblica, selected based on an ethnobotanical survey. The lipase inhibition was investigated using 4-nitrophenyl butyrate (p-NPB) as a substrate. To uncover further therapeutic potentials of these medicinal plants, antimicrobial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extracts were also determined. The ethyl acetate plant extracts showed higher antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, and Shigella sonnei. The MIC of ethyl acetate extracts of medicinal plants considered in this study ranges from 1.56 to 6.25 mg/mL. The hexane fraction of Mimosa pudica and Phyllanthus emblica showed a higher lipase inhibitory activity as compared to others, with IC50 values of 0.49 ± 0.02 and 2.45 ± 0.003 mg/mL, respectively. In the case of Bergenia ciliata, the methanolic extract inhibited lipase more effectively than others, with an IC50 value of 1.55 ± 0.02 mg/mL (IC50 value of orlistat was 179.70 ± 3.60 µg/mL). A mass spectrometry analysis of various solvent/solvent partition fractions (extracts) revealed 29 major secondary metabolites. The research offers a multitude of evidence for using medicinal plants as antiobesity and antimicrobial agents.
Understanding Melanoma Talk on Twitter: The Lessons Learned and Missed Opportunities

Background: Melanoma is the third most common cause of cancer and the deadliest form of skin cancer among 17–39 year-olds in the United States. Melanoma is a critical public health issue with a substantial economic burden. Cases and associated burdens, however, could be prevented with a greater awareness of, and interventions related to, skin cancer and melanoma-related preventive behaviors. In fact, as social media use is close to ubiquitous, it represents a potential communication modality. However, more research is needed to understand the current state of melanoma-related information exchanged between Twitter users. This study aimed to understand the different types of users controlling the melanoma-related information diffusion and conversation themes on Twitter. Methods: Tweets (n = 692) were imported from Twitter between 1 and 31 May 2021 using the Twitter public API; and uploaded to NodeXL to conduct a social network analysis. Results: Health professionals and organizations with medical backgrounds were the main content producers, disseminators, and top influencers. However, information diffusion is slow and uneven among users. Additionally, conversations lacked a focus on preventive behaviors. Conclusion: Twitter is a potential platform for the targeted outreach of individuals in melanoma awareness campaigns. This study provides insights maximizing the effectiveness of Twitter as a communication modality. Our findings can help guide the development of customized content and interventions during melanoma awareness campaigns.
Cell-to-cell molecular transfer and environmental stress adaptation in Bacillus subtilis

Bacterial communities exposed to rapid changes in their habitat encoun-ter different forms of stress. Fluctuating conditions of the microenvi-ronment drive microorganisms to develop several stress responses to sustain growth and division, like altering gene expression and changing the cell’s physiology. It is commonly known that these protection sys-tems may give rise to differently adapted subpopulations and indirectly impact bacterial susceptibility to antimicrobials. This study focuses on the adaptation of a soil-dwelling bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, to sudden osmotic changes, including transient and sustained osmotic upshift. Here, we demonstrate that physiological changes caused by pre-exposure to osmotic stress facilitate B. subtilis ’ entry into a quiescent state, helping them survive when exposed to a lethal antibiotic concentration. We show that the adaptation to transient osmotic upshift with 0.6 M NaCl causes decreased metabolic rates and lowered antibiotic-mediated ROS production when cells were exposed to the aminoglycoside antibiotic kanamycin. Using a microfluidic platform combined with time-lapse microscopy, we followed the uptake of fluorescently-labelled kanamycin and examined the metabolic activity of differently preadapted populations at a single-cell level. The microfluidics data revealed that under the conditions tested, B. subtilis escapes from the bactericidal activity of kanamycin by entering into a non-growing dormant state. Combining single-cell studies and popula-tion-wide analysis of differently preadapted cultures, we demonstrate that kanamycin-tolerant B. subtilis cells are entrapped in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state.
Seeing through the shades of situated affectivity. Sunglasses as a socio-affective artifact

: Debates on situated affectivity have been mainly focused on tools that exert some positive influence on affective experience . Far less attention has been paid to artifacts that interact with the expression of affect, as well as to those that exert some negative influence. To shed light on that shady corner of our affective social lives, I describe the workings of an atypical socio-affective artifact, namely sunglasses. Drawing on insights from psychology and other social sciences, I construe sunglasses as a social shield that help us blocking spontaneous emotional expressions, as well as other social processes that heavily depend on the eye region: gaze direction detection, identity recognition, and the sense of intimacy driven by eye contact.
Regulation of Conidiogenesis in Aspergillus flavus

Aspergillus flavus is a representative fungal species in the Aspergillus section Flavi and has been used as a model system to gain insights into fungal development and toxin production. A. flavus has several adverse effects on humans, including the production of the most carcinogenic mycotoxin aflatoxins and causing aspergillosis in immune-compromised patients. In addition, A. flavus infection of crops results in economic losses due to yield loss and aflatoxin contamination. A. flavus is a saprophytic fungus that disperses in the ecosystem mainly by producing asexual spores (conidia), which also provide long-term survival in the harsh environmental conditions. Conidia are composed of the rodlet layer, cell wall, and melanin and are produced from an asexual specialized structure called the conidiophore. The production of conidiophores is tightly regulated by various regulators, including the central regulatory cascade composed of BrlA-AbaA-WetA, the fungi-specific velvet regulators, upstream regulators, and developmental repressors. In this review, we summarize the findings of a series of recent studies related to asexual development in A. flavus and provide insights for a better understanding of other fungal species in the section Flavi.
Audiological Risk Factors, Referral Rates and Dropouts: 9 Years of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening in North Sardinia

Background: Objectives of the present work were to analyze the prevalence of hearing loss in our population of screened newborns during the first 9 years of the universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) program at University Hospital Sassari (Italy) (AOU Sassari), to analyze the risk factors involved, and to analyze our effectiveness in terms of referral rates and dropout rates. Methods: Monocentric retrospective study whose target population included all the newborns born or referred to our hospital between 2011 and 2019. Results: From 2011 to 2019, a total of 11,688 babies were enrolled in our screening program. In total, 3.9‰ of wellborn babies and 3.58% of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) babies had some degree of hearing loss. The most frequently observed risk factors among non-NICU babies were family history of hearing loss (3.34%) and craniofacial anomalies (0.16%), among NICU babies were low birth weight (54.91%) and prematurity (24.33%). In the multivariate analysis, family history of hearing loss (p < 0.001), NICU (p < 0.001), craniofacial anomalies (p < 0.001), low birth weight (<1500 g) (p = 0.04) and HIV (p = 0.03) were confirmed as risk factors. Conclusions: Our data are largely consistent with the literature and most results were expected, one relevant exception being the possible role of NICU as a confounding factor and the limited number of risk factors confirmed in the multivariate analysis.
Core-hole induced charge-transfer in lanthanum and Coster-Kronig enhanced fluorescence at the 3d threshold of LaAlO3 studied by resonant inelastic scattering

Soft x-ray emission near the 3d threshold of La is studied with synchrotron radiation. At excitation energies above the ${M}_{\mathrm{IV}}$ edge we observe Coster-Kronig enhanced fluorescence that refills the 3d hole via 5p and 4f electrons. We find a new delayed onset of the fluorescence as the 7.5-eV inelastic scattering evolves into 3d-4f emission about 8 eV above the absorption threshold, which we attribute to the energy required to produce a charge-transfer hole. The 16.3-eV Raman-scattering loss is due to a net transition of a 5p electron into a 4f orbit. The results are compared with our calculations.
Progressive Motion Coherence for Remote Sensing Image Matching

In this article, we present a feature-based remote sensing (RS) image matching method termed progressive motion coherence (PMC). We formulate the matching problem into a mathematical model and derive a closed-form solution. The objective function is only based on two novel coherence constraints, namely, efficient neighborhood element coherence and relative order-aware motion coherence, and hence, it is general enough and can be applied to RS image matching with different image types and degradations. The efficient neighborhood element coherence uses the Jaccard distance to measure the dissimilarity of two neighborhoods, which are lists composed of $k$ nearest neighbors of feature points. To prevent overpenalization on the outliers, we combine it with an exponential function, which is simple yet efficient. The relative order-aware motion coherence is an alternative to motion smoothness, which is based on the observation that the relative order of neighboring matches for inliers in a small region can be well preserved, while for outliers, the relative order changes greatly. The above two coherences are robust to large rotation changes and low ratio inliers. Extensive experiments on five RS image datasets compared with seven state of the arts demonstrate that our PMC is more efficient and robust than the competitors.
Hardy's Second Axiom is insufficiently general

Hardy (quant-ph/0101012) conjectures in his Axiom 2 that K=K(N), and that in classical probability K=N, while in quantum mechanics K=N^2. We offer an example in classical probability for which K=NV, V the number of independent complete variables; with N=V this classical example satisfies the purported quantal relation K=N^2.
Liver Fibrosis is Associated with Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background Recent studies have reported the predictive value of liver fibrosis indices for hematoma enlargement in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). However, little is known about the precise association between fibrosis and ICH prognosis. Thus, our study was designed to investigate the relevance of liver fibrosis, as evaluated by fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score and poor outcomes after ICH. Methods We used data from a prospective, multi-center and registry-based database. In this study, patients were stratified by the higher cut-off value of a FIB-4 score ≥2.67. The two groups of patients were then compared with regard to baseline characteristics, ICH severity and follow-up outcomes. We performed univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine the prognostic value of a FIB-4 score ≥2.67 for major disability or death. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were used to analyze the association between different FIB-4 scores and survival rate. Results Our present study included 839 patients from 13 hospitals in Beijing. Participants with FIB-4 scores ≥2.67 had a larger baseline hematoma volume and a higher score on the modified Rankin Scale at follow-up (all p values <0.05). In the logistic regression analysis, liver fibrosis defined by a FIB-4 score ≥2.67 was independently associated with poor clinical outcomes at discharge and at 1 year (at discharge: adjusted odds ratio [95% CI] = 1.894 [1.120–3.202], p = 0.0172; at 1 year: adjusted odds ratio [95% CI] = 1.694 [1.021–2.809], p = 0.0412). However, this association was not observed at 3 months. During the follow-up period, patients with a FIB-4 score ≥2.67 also had a significantly lower survival rate according to Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Conclusion Our study suggests that liver fibrosis defined by a FIB-4 score ≥2.67 is associated with poor clinical outcomes and lower survival rates in patients with mild to moderate ICH. These data provide reliable evidence for detecting fibrosis and managing related risk factors to improve prognosis after ICH.