Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of selective kainate lesions on the release of glutamate and aspartate from chick retina

In order to contribute evidence leading to establishing the excitatory pathways in the vertebrate retina, we selectively lesioned chick retinas by intraocular injection of 6, 60, 120, and 200 nmol of kainate, which selectively damages OFF‐bipolars, amacrines, horizontals, and ON‐bipolars, and measured the K+‐stimulated, Ca++‐dependent release of L‐(3H)‐glutamate and L‐(3H)‐aspartate. We also measured (3H)‐GABA release as a marker for horizontal cells and a population of amacrines, as well as (14C)‐glycine release as a tracer of a different subpopulation of amacrines. All four amino acids were released from control retinas by a depolarizing K+ concentration in a Ca++‐dependent fashion. GABA and glycine, however, showed an additional Ca++‐independent component of release. Lesion induced by 6 nmol of kainate decreased by 50% the release of glutamate and by 20% that of aspartate; glycine release was reduced 40% while GABA release was unaffected. Injection of 60 nmol of kainate reduced glutamate release a further 20% and significantly decreased GABA (50%) and glycine (75%) release; aspartate release remained unmodified; 120 nmol of kainate caused a further 30% reduction in aspartate and GABA release. Neither compound was significantly released after treatment with 200 nmol of kainate. These results seem to suggest that while OFF‐bipolars could release glutamate as transmitter, aspartate is released from a different cell population which is less sensitive to kainate, probably ON‐bipolars.
Dark Matter in the Central Region of NGC 3256

We investigated the central mass distribution of the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 3256 at a distance of 35 Mpc by using CO(1-0) observations of the Atacama Large Millimeter and sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) and near-IR data of the Two Micron Sky Survey (2MASS). We found that there is a huge amount of invisible dynamical mass (4.48 × 1010 ) in the central region of the galaxy. The invisible mass is likely caused by some dark matter, which might have a cuspy dark matter profile. We note that this dark matter is difficult to explain with the conventional Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) model, which is only applicable at a low acceleration regime, whereas the acceleration at the central region of the galaxy is relatively strong. Therefore, this discovery might pose a challenge to the conventional MOND models.
Transient expression for engineering triterpenoid diversity in plants

The triterpenes are one of the largest and most structurally diverse classes of plant specialised metabolites, with important commercial, agronomical and medical potential. However the structural complexity and low abundance of these compounds in nature presents significant challenges for exploiting this diversity. In recent years, advances in our understanding of triterpene biosynthesis in various plant species have greatly facilitated the ability to produce these compounds in other hosts. Plant-based host systems hold great promise because they may provide substrates, cofactors and subcellular compartmentalisation mechanisms facilitating engineering production of complex triterpenoids. Agroinfiltration is a rapid and scalable process that enables transient expression of biosynthetic genes in amenable plants such as Nicotiana benthamiana. This technique holds great promise for selective production and modification of triterpenes, but studies in this area have been limited. In this PhD thesis, transient expression is used to produce and oxidise triterpenes in N. benthamiana. Triterpene yields are improved through expression of rate-limiting genes in the mevalonate pathway (Chapter 3). An enzymatic ‘toolkit’ is established from a collection of previously characterised triterpene biosynthetic genes, allowing production of milligram quantities of a diverse array of simple and oxidised triterpenes in N. benthamiana. Furthermore, combinatorial biosynthesis is utilised to engineer production of novel oxidised triterpenes in planta (Chapter 4). A set of oxidised derivatives of β-amyrin are purified and evaluated for antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activity in human cell lines, yielding insights into structural features underlying these activities in humans (Chapter 5). Finally, N. benthamiana is used for functional screening of cytochrome P450s implicated in the biosynthesis of agronomically important antifungal triterpene glycosides (avenacins) in oat, leading to identification of new P450s required for disease resistance (Chapter 6). This work highlights the utility of N. benthamiana as triterpene engineering platform and provides a basis for future studies exploring triterpene structure-activity relationships.
The Nexus between sustainable energy and ecological footprint: evidence from Algeria

Abstract Despite the considerable attention that has been spent studying the connections between energy and sustainable development, the most salient issues have only became conspicuous in the last few decades. Interest in these issues is now unavoidable with significant effort being devoted to achieving sustainable development goals. The present study attempts to highlight the role of sustainable energy in protecting the environment using the ecological footprint (EF) in Algeria. We use the unit root test, co-integration, Granger causality, and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and the results reveal a long-term equilibrium relationship between renewable energy consumption (REC), carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions (CE), primary energy intensity (PEI), and the ecological footprint. The regression relationship reveals a positive and significant relationship from REC, CE, and PEI to EF. It also demonstrates the existence of bidirectional causality between REC and EF at 1% level and four unidirectional causal relationships where two relationships start from CE to EF at 1% and two start from PEI to REC, CE at 1% (i.e., PEI affects both REC and CE). These results indicate that decision makers should enhance investment in renewable energy as well as control the exploitation of fossil energy, which leads to reducing emissions and preserving the environment.
Tracking what matters: A decision-variable account of human behavior in bandit tasks

Author(s): Agrawal, Vishwajeet; Shenoy, Pradeep | Abstract: We study human learning a decision-making in tasks with probabilistic rewards. Recent studies in a 2-armed bandit task find that a modification of classical Q-learning algorithms, with outcome-dependent learning rates, better explains behavior compared to constant learning rates. We propose a simple alternative: humans directly track the decision variable underlying choice in the task. Under this policy learning perspective, asymmetric learning can be reinterpreted as an increasing confidence in the preferred choice. We provide specific update rules for incorporating partial feedback (outcomes on chosen arms) and complete feedback (outcome on chosen a unchosen arms), and show that our model consistently outperforms previously proposed models on a range of datasets. Our model and update rules also add nuance to previous findings of perseverative behavior in bandit tasks; we show evidence of outcome-dependent choice perseveration, i.e., that humans persevere in their choices unless contradictory evidence is presented.
Electrophysiological Evaluation of the Modified Ashworth Scale in Assessment of Post Stroke Ankle Plantar Spasticity

Background: Spasticity is a common impairment following upper motor neuron lesions such as stroke. The appropriate measure of muscle spasticity, using validated tools to evaluate the outcome of therapies is important in clinical and research settings. Objective: To determine the concurrent criterion-related validity of the Modified Ashworth Scale in assessing post stroke Ankle flexor muscle spasticity based on its correlation with Modified Tardieu scale and the H-reflex tests. Methods: A total of 35 adult stroke participants underwent clinical and electrophysiological assessment of the ankle flexor muscle spasticity on the affected side. The primary outcome measures were: MMAS grade, R2−R1 of the MTS; and the H-reflex indices of H-max/M-max ratio. Results: Correlations tests revealed the correlation between the MMAS and MTS but did not reveal significant associations between the MMAS and the H-reflex tests. Conclusions: This study suggests that the MMAS may not be a valid tool to evaluate the ankle flexor muscle spasticity in these stroke participants. Key words: Stroke, spasticity, Modified Ashworth Scale, Tardieu Scale, H-reflex, criterion validity.
Enzymatic Degradation of Poly(butylenesuccinate)/ Thermoplastic Starch Blend

: The degradation of thermoplastic starch blend in the presence of commercial  -amylase and unpurified amylase of microbial origin was investigated. The blends consisting of thermoplastic starch and poly(butylene succinate) have potential use in packaging applications thus, it is essential to establish susceptibility to degradation. Molar mass loss, gravimetric weight loss, and molecular structure were evaluated. The changes in the surface were observed with scanning electron microscopy. It was confirmed that there was a significant difference in gravimetric weight loss between the blends degraded in two different solutions. Unpurified enzymes of microbial origin, produced by Rhizopus oryzae cultures decomposed analyzed materials more efficiently than purified commercial ones. Moreover, it was proved that in applied conditions, the molar mass of PBS fraction did not change
A Comparative Study of Different Chromatographic Techniques for Determination of Toxic Impurities of Some Commonly Used Anesthetics

2,6-Dimethylaniline (DMA) and o-toluidine (TOL) are considered as toxic impurities and carcinogenic metabolites as well as hydrolytic products upon degradation process for lidocaine (LD) and prilocaine (PR), respectively. The presence of such impurities above the permutable limits can adversely affect health and cause severe complications. Three different separation techniques, namely, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), and thin-layer chromatography (TLC), were applied for the selective determination of the toxic compounds DMA and TOL and their intact drugs, LD and PR, respectively. The proposed HPLC method was carried out on Inertsil ODS 3 column (50 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm), utilizing a green mobile phase consisting of ethanol and 34 mM disodium hydrogen phosphate (20:80, v/v; pH = 6 adjusted using o-phosphoric acid). The flow rate was 1 mL min−1 with UV detection at 220 nm. The CZE separation was performed using 50 mM monobasic sodium phosphate (pH = 2.5), and voltage programming started with 22 kV for the first 6.7 min down to 18 kV from 6.9 min till 10 min. The suggested TLC method was achieved on TLC plates pre-coated with silica gel 60 F245 using a developing solvent containing toluene—chloroform—ethanol—triethylamine (5:5:1:0.1, by volume). These methods were validated with respect to linearity range, accuracy, precision, limit of detection, limit of quantification and robustness and were successfully applied for the determination of the two drugs in pure form and in pharmaceutical dosage form. A comparative study was held between the three chromatographic methods to evaluate the selectivity of the separation and the sensitivity, accuracy, and precision of the quantification.
Assessing Low-level Cognitive Processes of Word Recognition

A fundamental skill required for vocabulary development is word recognition ability. According to Perfetti (1985), word recognition ability relies on low-level cognitive processing skill to be automatic and efficient in order for cognitive resources to be allocated to high-level processes such as inferencing and schemata activation needed for reading comprehension. The low-level processes include orthographic knowledge, semantic knowledge, and phonological awareness. These low-level processes must be efficient, fluent, and automatic in second language readers in order for them to achieve the ultimate goal of reading comprehension. This article briefly describes the concept of word recognition, its relation to vocabulary, and three tests that were designed to measure the three components of word recognition (orthographic, semantic, and phonological knowledge) in a longitudinal study that investigated the effects of word recognition training on reading comprehension.
Production of pure ion beams by laser ionization and a fast release RFQ

The Isotope Separation and Acceleration (ISAC) facility at TRIUMF uses different targets and ion sources combination to produce a variety of radioactive ion beams (RLB) for the experimental program. The production of exotic isotopes has brought new beam production challenges. The one addressed in this thesis relates to the elimination of isobar contaminants in the beam. To address this issue, a new type of ion source combining the use of a radio frequency quadrapole (RFQ) and laser ionization has been developed. The RFQ operated at RF amplitudes up to 200 Vpp for a frequency range between 500 kHz and 3 MHz should allow for all ISAC available laser ionized RLB s to be produced using the proposed ion source. Extensive offline testing of the radio frequency quadrapole laser ion source (RFQ LIS) has shown that the quasi-totality of the unwanted surface ionized contaminants can be repelled back, leaving only a pure laser ionized ion beam to the experiment. In order to develop a working prototype, trajectory simulation for a square-wave driven RFQ were performed. A study of the phase space dynamics and the equations of motion using a matrix method allowed for the acceptance and space charge limit of the RFQ to be simulated. The latter was found to be 90.5 nA for an RFQ operating at 1 MHz with a parameter qu = 0.59. This should assure the source good operation online as extracted beam intensities are expected to be less than a few tens of nA. To allow for offline development of this ion source, a new ion source test stand was built. It can be operated with beam energies as high as 35 keV and features a spherical electrostatic deflector and a quadrapole mass spectrometer (QMS) to resolve produced ion beam masses. The quasi-simultaneous acquisition of masses up to 300 amu as well as the dual detection system enabling the measurement of a single ion to a few hundreds of nA add to the practicality of this system over conventional mass separator magnets.
Innovation, croissance et ouverture : quels enseignements pour le Maroc ?

Durant les années soixante, les études sur les sources de la croissance accordaient une attention particulière à un facteur résiduel qui regroupe la formation de la main-d’œuvre, la recherche et développement (R&D) et l’organisation du travail. Déjà Auskrust (1955) observait, pour la période 1900-1955 en Norvège, qu’une augmentation du capital matériel de 1 % aurait élevé le produit national de 0,2 %, une augmentation de 1 % de la quantité de travail aurait pour conséquence une augmentation correspondant à 0,7 % du produit national et une augmentation de 1 % du capital humain provoquerait des gains beaucoup plus importants de 1,8 %. Solow avait trouvé dans le cas américain une valeur proche (1,5 %). Depuis, les économistes ont essayé de prendre en considération la qualité du capital humain au même titre que la R&D et la technologie dans l’explication de la croissance. Dans le cas marocain, il faut reconnaître que très peu d’études ont été consacrées à ce sujet. Les raisons sont relativement évidentes et concernent tout particulièrement le manque de données statistiques fiables sur la R&D et le capital humain. Ce numéro thématique de Critique économique a pour objectif d’enrichir ce débat et de fournir quelques données statistiques sur la science et la technologie au Maroc en relation avec la croissance et l’ouverture. De manière plus précise, il s’agit de se poser les question suivantes : – Le Maroc est-il prêt à affronter la concurrence de plus en plus rude imposée par les pays d’Europe centrale et orientale (PECO) et les pays asiatiques ? – Le système éducatif marocain est-il adapté aux besoins de l’économie ? Cette question se pose de toute évidence pour tous les pays du monde. Mais le problème soulevé ici est de savoir si le système éducatif a les capacités et les moyens de proposer une main-d’œuvre qualifiée adaptée aux structures productives d’un pays jeune et dont la demande de cadres intermédiaires est immense. Jamal Bouoiyour
Analysis and Experimentation of a New Half-Bridge High-Frequency Resonant Inverter for DBD Type Ozonizer

ABSTRACT The peak voltage across the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) type ozonizer is a key factor for ozone synthesis, and it is hard to be kept stable in widely used high-frequency resonant inverters within the entire working range. The soft switching conditions of power switches in these resonant inverters cannot always be satisfied within the entire working range, too. To address the two questions, a new half-bridge high-frequency resonant inverter is proposed in the paper, and the expressions that accurately describe the behavior of the inverter are derived by analyzing different operating modes. The simulation and experimental results show that the peak voltage across DBD type ozonizer is kept stable, moreover, zero current switching of power switches is realized within the entire working range.
Adsorption of Pb(II) by a polyvinylidene fluoride membrane bearing chelating poly(amino phosphonic acid) and poly(amino carboxylic acid) groups

Pb(II) can cause a hazardous effect on ecosystem and public health due to its high biotoxicity. A polyvinylidene fluoride-type membrane bearing both poly(amino phosphonic acid) and poly(amino carboxylic acid) functional groups was fabricated for the purpose of Pb(II) removal from the aqueous solutions. The adsorption behaviors of the fabricated chelating membrane toward Pb(II) were studied by the series of static and continuous adsorption experiments. When the pH, adsorption equilibrium time, initial Pb(II) concentration, and temperature were 5.1, 300 min, 1.0 mmol g−1, and 298 K, respectively, Pb(II) uptake of the membrane was 1.1 mmol g−1. The presence of coexisting metal ions and complexing reagents decreased the Pb(II) uptake. The adsorption kinetic and isotherm adsorption followed pseudo-second-order equation and Langmuir model, respectively; this adsorption process showed a spontaneous and exothermic feature. The bed depth service time and Thomas models were suitable for describing obtained breakthrough curves.
Enhanced Melanoma Classifier with VGG16-CNN

Melanoma is the most severe kind of skin cancer that is becoming more common in the Western world. This is still thought to be caused primarily by exposure to the sun. Patients with malignant melanoma have a wide range of prognoses; however public awareness initiatives encouraging early detection have resulted in considerable reductions in mortality rates. This disease primarily affects Caucasian men and women and has a terrible prognosis once it has spread to other parts of the body. As a result, early detection of this malignancy is critical for patient treatment success. In this paper, we present an experimental result of a Melanoma Image Classifier using the VGG16 model for preprocessing the images dataset. Thedataset comprises 4596 image samples with 2239 images for training, 2239 images formodel validationand 118 images for testing the model. The resultant images were trained with a Convolutional Neural Network(CNN) Sequential model of a learning rate of 0.0001,adam optimizer with binary cross-entropy as loss and accuracy as a metric. The model yields an accuracy of 93%, thereby outperforming other Deep learning models. The approach is viable and effective, and it achieves the preliminary goal of classifying melanoma lesion images.
Synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 on polyester fiber for PM2.5 removal

Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) was introduced on the surface of fibers of a non-woven fabric made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The phase structure, morphology, textural properties and chemical structure were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen (N2) adsorption analyzer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The XRD, SEM and FTIR results indicated that ZIF-8 had been successfully coated on the PET fibers. N2 adsorption analyses suggested that addition of ZIF-8 significantly increased the specific surface and micropore volume of composites. The PM2.5 removal experiment showed the filtration efficiency of ZIF-8/PET was twice as high as that of pure PET. Meanwhile, ZIF-8/PET also displayed a low pressure drop and good recycling performance. This research provided a facile method to deposit active ZIF-8 onto polymers with low air resistance, and that ZIF-8/PET was a good candidate as an air filter for PM2.5 removal.
Polymer Topology Effects on Dynamics of Comb Polymer Melts

Controlling polymer viscosity and flow is key to their many applications through strength and processability. The topology of the polymer i.e., linear, stars, and branched, affects the macroscopic flow characteristics of melts, where introducing one branch is sufficient to increase the viscosity significantly. While a number of studies have probed the effects of polymer topology on their rheology, the molecular understanding that underlies the macroscopic behavior remains an open question. The current study uses molecular dynamics simulations to resolve the effects of topology of polymer melts on chain mobility and viscosity in the comb regime using polyethylene as a model system. A coarse-grained model where four methylene groups constitute one bead is used, and the results are transposed to the atomistic level. We find that while the number of branches only slightly affects the chain mobility and viscosity, their length strongly impacts their behavior. The results are discussed in terms of interplay bet.
NATURAL BIOMATERIALS FOR SKIN TISSUE ENGINEERING: REPAIR AND REGENERATION - A SHORT REVIEW

The development of new materials and the enhancement of existing materials to develop skin regeneration are wide areas of research in polymeric biomaterials. The paper presents the analysis of a wide range of several natural polymers such as proteins and polysaccharides which can be utilized for skin tissue repair and regeneration. The reviews look at the few examples of commercially available natural - origin polymers with applications in tissue engineering. Natural polymers, such as proteins and polysaccharides, being components of, or structurally similar to, the glycosaminoglycans in the extracellular matrix (ECM) are valuable materials for tissue engineering applications. Natural polymers have great coincidence to natural ECM elements, particularly in biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this paper, the attention is focused on several natural polymers that found application in research work for drug or cell delivery within the skin tissue engineering field, namely collagen, chitin, chitosan, alginate, gellan, gelatin, and curcumin.