Prediction of Rebound Amount in Dry Mix Shotcrete by a Fast Adaboosting Neural Network

In this study, a new machine learning approach has been proposed to predict the rebound causing loss of material in shotcrete using the ensemble learning method. In shotcrete application, the amount of rebound material was obtained for use in a dataset. In this study, the shotcrete mixes that contain an additive of fly-ash, silica fume, and polypropylene fiber were produced besides simple shotcrete. Each mix was sprayed onto 2 wooden panels measuring 45 × 45 × 15 cm in size. The rebound material resulting from the spraying process was collected, weighed and recorded as data. The highest rebound was observed for the plain sample and the lowest for samples with substituted silica fume. Dependent and independent parameters were identified in the dataset produced as a result of experimental studies. Hyperparameters producing optimum results in the training of the model were identified for the model and boosting method. The dataset was split into training and testing sets by 80% and 20%, respectively. As a result, the model achieved a prediction performance of 84.25%. To test the performance of the proposed model, traditional machine learning algorithms were compared on the same dataset. Consequently, the proposed model was observed to have the highest accuracy

Exact Microsatellite Density Differences among Capsicum Tissues and Development Stages

Density and position differences of microsatellites in genomes may indicate important roles of microsatellites in genetic development and regulation of gene expression. However, there is no or limited study on microsatellite density differences among tissues of development stages. In the present study, exact microsatellite densities and motifs among 7 different tissues and development stages were determined using Capsicum annuum L. expressed sequence tags (ESTs), which were reassembled into in silico libraries. Results indicated that densities of exact microsatellites (1 to 6 bp repeats) in housekeeping and tissue specific ESTs of anther, flower bud, and placenta specific ESTs were statistically different, being low in comparison to that of leaf, fruit, early and hairy root. Further analyses also indicated that exact microsatellite density of anther and placenta was significantly low while exact microsatellite density of flower bud, early and hairy root was significantly higher. There were density differences among mono-, di-, tri- and hexa-nucleotides between housekeeping and tissue specific ESTs. Density of tri- and penta-nucleotides was not statistically significant. Overall results of the present study indicated that since the microsatellite densities differed between housekeeping and tissue specific genes, genes containing microsatellites may differ among tissues and development stages

It isn't over ‘till it’s over: A continuing concern of the SARS-CoV-2 variants, and miRNAs targeting the S protein as a probable absolute cure

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak which still continues to affect the general population, has mutated day by day and new variants have emerged. More than 40 variants, usually caused by mutations in the spike (S) protein, have been recorded. Observation of S protein mutations in the development of t herapeutic agents will increase success rates. As we identify the three-dimensional (3D) conformation of viruses, it is more and more possible to work on models for understanding molecular interactions. Development of agents for arrays and 3D sequencing of proteins paves the way for potential therapeutic studies against variants. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) seemingly act as a potentially important group of biomolecules in combating uncontrolled cytokine release. Besides antiviral response, miRNAs promise to be  powerful therapeutic agents against infections. Studies have shown that miRNAs are able to inhibit the genome directly by miRNA-based treatments as they are sprecific to the SARS-CoV-2 genome. In order to expose this potential, in silico studies before continuing with lab studies are helpful. In our bioinformatics analysis, we proposed to compare the S protein similarities of Delta and Omicron, two of the most common variants, and to detect miRNAs targeting the S protein. The S proteins and coding sequences were compared between the two variants, and differences were determined. Within our analysis, 105 and 109 miRNAs for the Delta and Omicron variants, respectively, were detected. We believe that our study will be a potential guide for deciding on the miRNAs that may most likely have an effect on the management of the infection caused by both variants

The relationship between carbonic anhydrase-III expression and oxidative stress in brown adipose tissue

Objective: High-fat foods increase adipose tissue size, and induce obesity. Although carbonic anhydrase III is abundantly found in brown adipose tissue, its function is not fully defined. In this study, we investigated the relationship between carbonic anhydrase III enzyme mRNA expression and malondialdehyde, oxidative stress marker, in brown adipose tissue of rats that were fed high-fat diets. In addition, we investigated potential effect of N-acetylcysteine as an antioxidant in this relationship. Methods: In our study three experimental groups were formed and each contained 6 rats (control, obese, and antioxidant groups). The experimental groups were fed for a duration of 85 days with high fat diets. In these groups, carbonic anhydrase III mRNA expression, total carbonic anhydrase hydratase activitie, and malondialdehyde levels were measured in brown adipose tissues dissected from rat scapula regions. Results: According to our findings, carbonic anhydrase III mRNA expression was higher in the obese group than in the control group (p = 0.004), and malondialdehyde levels were lower in the obese group than in the control group (p =0.03). It was observed that carbonic anhydrase III mRNA expression was higher in the antioxidant group than in the control group (p = 0.006), and malondialdehyde levels were lower in the antioxidant group than in the control group (p = 0.006). In addition, in the obese group carbonic anhydrase III mRNA expression was higher than in the antioxidant group (p=0.01). Conclusion: In brown adipose tissue of rats that were fed high-fat diets, this study showed that the carbonic anhydrase III mRNA expression increased and the malondialdehyde level decreased

Association of b7-h4 gene polymorphisms in urothelial bladder cancer

Background/aim: We aimed to study polymorphisms of the B7-H4 gene in order to evaluate a possible association in urothelial carcinoma, as it is highly expressed in cancer tissues. Materials and methods: In this study B7-H4 gene rs10754339, rs10801935, and rs3738414 SNPs were studied by PCR-RFLP method in paraffin-embedded tumor specimens from 62 urothelial carcinoma patients and in a control group including 30 patients without bladder cancer. Results: We detected that the rs10754339 polymorphism was more frequent in the cancer patients when compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Only the rs3738414 polymorphism showed a statistically significant difference in frequency between pathologic diagnostic groups. Conclusion: The rs10754339 AA genotype distribution was found to have a higher frequency whereas the rs3738414 AG genotype distribution was lower in the bladder cancer group (P < 0.05). None of the genotype distributions showed a significant difference from the control group for the rs10801935 polymorphism. We conclude that B7-H4 has the potential to be a useful prognostic marker in urothelial carcinoma

Construction and Evaluation of The Wind Tunnel Technique for Estimating Ammonia Volatilization from Land

Agriculture is mainly responsible for ammonia (NH3) volatilization. Among all agricultural activities, livestock and especially animal manures are the most important sources of NH3 emissions. Manure application which not only exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions, but also leads to eutrophication of water bodies. Many studies have shown that surface application of manure can lead to large ammonia losses and run off, on the other hand that tillage can substantially reduce these losses. It is necessary to determine ammonia flux from manure-amended soils to improve management manure handling practices for minimizing agriculture’s impact on the environment. From this point of view, one of the direct measured method was used to determine this volatilization. The objections of this work were: i) The design, construction, physical calibration, and operation of the little wind tunnels. ii) Recover ammonia loss from bovine slurry by little wind tunnel method. iii) Determine the effect of slurry application depth on ammonia emission. The little wind tunnel system consisted of plastic canopy covering the treatment area (2 m long by 0.5 m wide). By was using a fan, it was imitated the natural wind speed in the test area (1-1.5 m/s). Nitrogen losses were measured with this method in surface application, 50 mm and 100 mm subsurface. In the surface application, the highest ammonia emission was observed. It was approximately 68% higher in compared to another methods. There is significantly (P=0.05) different in the ammonia emission, between the surface apply method and injection manure in soil methods. But There isn’t any significantly different between ammonia emission amount in injection subsurface methods (100 mm and 50 mm deep)

Determining crystal structures through crowdsourcing and coursework

We show here that computer game players can build high-quality crystal structures. Introduction of a new feature into the computer game Foldit allows players to build and real-space refine structures into electron density maps. To assess the usefulness of this feature, we held a crystallographic model-building competition between trained crystallographers, undergraduate students, Foldit players and automatic model-building algorithms. After removal of disordered residues, a team of Foldit players achieved the most accurate structure. Analysing the target protein of the competition, YPL067C, uncovered a new family of histidine triad proteins apparently involved in the prevention of amyloid toxicity. From this study, we conclude that crystallographers can utilize crowdsourcing to interpret electron density information and to produce structure solutions of the highest quality