Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on maximal voluntary isometric strength and endurance of the elbow flexors

The present study investigated the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on maximal voluntary contraction strength (MVC) and the time to failure (TTF) of an isometric muscle endurance test of the elbow flexors. Prior to the main study, the test-retest reliability of MVC and TTF measures was investigated using 10 men (33.2 ± 9.4 y) for the measurements separated by 60 min (within-day) and one week (between-day). Coefficient of variation (CV), Intraclass correlation (ICC, R), a paired t-test and the Bland-Altman plots revealed that TTF at 30% MVC task was reliable, and was able to detect a possible effect of tDCS on TTF, if the magnitude of effect was greater than 11%. Based on the reliability study results, it was hypothesised that tDCS would increase TTF from the first test to the second test separated by 60 min, when a tDCS treatment was administered immediately before the second test. Fifteen men (27.7 ± 8.4 y) were tested for MVC and TTF at 30%-MVC before and immediately after tDCS or sham intervention (10 min) in three separate sessions. In two sessions direct current (2 mA) was delivered through saline-soaked sponge electrodes, with the anode placed on the scalp overlying the right motor cortical representation of the left arm and the cathode secured over the right shoulder. One session was a sham intervention (current delivery for the first 30s). The order of the intervention sessions was randomised and counterbalanced amongst the subjects and subjects who were blinded to intervention type. Changes in MVC strength and TTF from pre to post intervention were compared between the interventions by a two-way repeated measures ANOVA. No significant differences were evident for the two tDCS sessions. MVC strength (baseline: 66.0 ± 11.4 Nm) decreased by 5.9 ± 4.2 % (

Magic Squares Indeed

No abstract provided in this article

Collisions of localized patterns in a nonvariational Swift-Hohenberg equation

The cubic-quintic Swift-Hohenberg equation (SH35) has been proposed as an order parameter description of several convective systems with reflection symmetry in the layer midplane, including binary fluid convection. We use numerical continuation, together with extensive direct numerical simulations, to study SH35 with an additional nonvariational quadratic term to model the effects of breaking the midplane reflection symmetry. The nonvariational structure of the model leads to the propagation of asymmetric spatially localized structures (LSs). An asymptotic prediction for the drift velocity of such structures is validated numerically. Next, we present an extensive study of possible collision scenarios between identical and nonidentical traveling structures, varying a temperature-like control parameter. The final state may be a simple bound state of the initial LSs or longer or shorter than the sum of the two initial states as a result of nonlinear interactions. The Maxwell point of the variational system is shown to have no bearing on which of these scenarios is realized. Instead, we argue that the stability properties of bound states are key. While individual LSs lie on a modified snakes-and-ladders structure in the nonvariational SH35, the multi-pulse bound states resulting from collisions lie on isolas in parameter space. In the gradient SH35, such isolas are always of figure-eight shape, but in the present non-gradient case they are generically more complex, some of which terminate in T-point bifurcations. A reduced model consisting of two coupled ordinary differential equations is proposed to describe the linear interactions between the tails of the LSs in which the model parameters are deduced using gradient descent optimization. For collisions leading to the formation of simple bound states, the reduced model reproduces the trajectories of LSs with high quantitative accuracy.Comment: 19 pages, 28 figure

Spontaneous suppression of inverse energy cascade in instability-driven 2D turbulence

Instabilities of fluid flows often generate turbulence. Using extensive direct numerical simulations, we study two-dimensional turbulence driven by a wavenumber-localised instability superposed on stochastic forcing, in contrast to previous studies of state-independent forcing. As the contribution of the instability forcing, measured by a parameter $\gamma$, increases, the system undergoes two transitions. For $\gamma$ below a first threshold, a regular large-scale vortex condensate forms. Above this threshold, shielded vortices (SVs) emerge within the condensate. At a second, larger value of $\gamma$, the condensate breaks down, and a gas of weakly interacting vortices with broken symmetry spontaneously emerges, characterised by preponderance of vortices of one sign only and suppressed inverse energy cascade. The latter transition is shown to depend on the damping mechanism. The number density of SVs in the broken symmetry state slowly increases via a random nucleation process. Bistability is observed between the condensate and mixed SV-condensate states. Our findings provide new evidence for a strong dependence of two-dimensional turbulence phenomenology on the forcing

The ACL OCL Corpus: advancing Open science in Computational Linguistics

We present a scholarly corpus from the ACL Anthology to assist Open scientific research in the Computational Linguistics domain, named as ACL OCL. Compared with previous ARC and AAN versions, ACL OCL includes structured full-texts with logical sections, references to figures, and links to a large knowledge resource (semantic scholar). ACL OCL contains 74k scientific papers, together with 210k figures extracted up to September 2022. To observe the development in the computational linguistics domain, we detect the topics of all OCL papers with a supervised neural model. We observe ''Syntax: Tagging, Chunking and Parsing'' topic is significantly shrinking and ''Natural Language Generation'' is resurging. Our dataset is open and available to download from HuggingFace in https://huggingface.co/datasets/ACL-OCL/ACL-OCL-Corpus

BATCH FERMENTATION PROCESS OF SORGHUM WORT MODELING BY ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

The production of tchapalo (traditional beer) remains uncontrolled and artisanal. For the improvement of the product quality, we need to know more about the traditional process and beer characteristics. The fermentation process is one of the most critical steps, which determines the quality of the beer. In this study, artificial neural network, precisely multi layer perceptron was used for modeling batch fermentation process of sorghum wort. The artificial neural network showed its ability to predict the ph, temperature, substrate, biomass, carbon dioxide (CO2) and alcohol (ethanol) evolution during batch fermentation of sorghum wort. All the correlation coefficients between the observed and predicted values for the artificial neural network were higher than 0.96. Thus, artificial neural network can be used to determine fermentation deviations during production of tchapalo and also to monitor and improve its quality

BATCH FERMENTATION PROCESS OF SORGHUM WORT MODELING BY ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

The production of tchapalo (traditional beer) remains uncontrolled and artisanal. For the improvement of the product quality, we need to know more about the traditional process and beer characteristics. The fermentation process is one of the most critical steps, which determines the quality of the beer. In this study, artificial neural network, precisely multi layer perceptron was used for modeling batch fermentation process of sorghum wort. The artificial neural network showed its ability to predict the ph, temperature, substrate, biomass, carbon dioxide (CO2) and alcohol (ethanol) evolution during batch fermentation of sorghum wort. All the correlation coefficients between the observed and predicted values for the artificial neural network were higher than 0.96. Thus, artificial neural network can be used to determine fermentation deviations during production of tchapalo and also to monitor and improve its quality

Intense high-quality medical proton beams via laser fields

During the past decade, the interaction of high-intensity lasers with solid targets has attracted much interest, regarding its potential in accelerating charged particles. In spite of tremendous progress in laser-plasma based acceleration, it is still not clear which particle beam quality will be accessible within the upcoming multi petawatt (1 PW = 10$^{15}$ W) laser generation. Here, we show with simulations based on the coupled relativistic equations of motion that protons stemming from laser-plasma processes can be efficiently post-accelerated using crossed laser beams focused to spot radii of a few laser wavelengths. We demonstrate that the crossed beams produce monoenergetic accelerated protons with kinetic energies $> 200$ MeV, small energy spreads ($\approx$ 1$$) and high densities as required for hadron cancer therapy. To our knowledge, this is the first scheme allowing for this important application based on an all-optical set-up.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Tri phytochimique et activité antibactérienne des extraits hydroacétoniques de Baphia nitida (Fabaceae) sur Shigella spp et E. coli, deux entérobactéries impliquées dans les diarrhées infantiles à Daloa, Côte d’Ivoire

Introduction : Dans le but de contribuer à une prise en charge efficiente des diarrhées infantiles et des troubles gastrointestinales, nous avons évalué l’activité antibactérienne des extraits des organes (feuilles tiges et racines) de Baphia nitida, une plante de la pharmacopée ivoirienne. Méthodes : Ainsi, un tri phytochimique des extraits hydroacétoniques d’organes de B. nitida à partir des réactions de précipitations et de colorations suivi des tests de sensibilité antimicrobienne sur Shigella spp et E. coli ATCC 25922 ont été réalisés. Resultats : Les résultats obtenus ont montré que les trois organes de plante étaient riches en polyphénols, flavonoïdes, alcaloïdes et tanins cathéchiques. En plus, les extraits des feuilles de B. nitida ont présenté une plus grande diversité avec d’autres métabolites secondaires qui étaient faiblement représentés. Les extraits de B. nitida se sont revélés bactéricides pour les deux souches testées. Ces actions seraient dose –dépendante avec une inhibition maximale à c = 100 mg/mL. Les extraits des feuilles ont montré une activité antibactérienne plus efficace que les extraits de tiges, eux mêmes plus actifs que les extraits de racines. Conclusion : Les souches d’E. coli testées se sont revelées plus sensibles que celles de Shigella spp pour les trois types d’organes de B. nitida. Les extraits des organes de B. nitida (en particulier les feuilles) pourraient constituer une alternative pour le traitement des diarrhées et une nouvelle source de molécules naturelles antiinfectieuses.   Introduction : In order to contribute to an efficient management of infantile diarrhea and gastrointestinal disorders, we evaluated the antibacterial activities of extracts of organs (leaves, stems and roots) of Baphia nitida, a plant of the Ivorian pharmacopoeia. Methods : Thus, a phytochemical screening of hydroacetone extracts of B. nitida organs based on precipitations and staining reactions followed by antimicrobial susceptibility tests on Shigella spp and E. coli ATCC 25922 were performed. Results : The results obtained revealed that the three plant organs were abundant in polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids and catechic tannins. In addition, the extracts from the leaves of B. nitida exhibited a greater diversity of other secondary metabolites that were weakly represented. B. nitida extracts were found to be bactericidal for both strains tested. These actions appeared to be dose-dependent with maximum inhibition at c = 100 mg/mL. The leaves extracts showed a more effective antibacterial activity than the stem extracts, which were more effective than the root extracts. Conclusion : The E. coli strains tested were more sensitive than Shigella spp. for all three types of B. nitida organs. The extracts of B. nitida organs (especially the leaves) could be an alternative for the treatment of diarrhoea and a new source of natural antibacterial molecules

Tri Phytochimique et Activités Antimicrobiennes des Extraits Hydroacétoniques de Baphia Nitida (Fabaceae) sur Shigella spp et E. coli, Deux Entérobactéries Impliquées dans les Diarrhées Infantiles à Daloa, Côte d’Ivoire

Introduction : Dans le but de contribuer à une prise en charge efficiente des diarrhées infantiles et des troubles gastrointestinales, nous avons évaluer les activités antibactériennes des extraits des organes (feuilles tiges et racines) de Baphia nitida, une plante de la pharmacopée ivoirienne.  Méthodes : Ainsi, un tri phytochimique des extraits hydroacétoniques d’organes de B. nitida à partir les réactions de précipitations et de colorations suivi des tests de sensibilité antimicrobienne sur Shigella spp et E. coli ATCC 25922 ont été réalisés. Resultats : Les résultats obtenus ont montré que les trois organes de plante étaient riches en polyphénols, flavonoïdes, alcaloïdes et tanins cathéchiques. En plus, les extraits des feuilles de B. nitida ont présenté une plus grande diversité d’autres métabolites secondaires faiblement représentés. Les extraits de B. nitida se sont revélés bactéricides pour les deux souches testées. Ces actions seraient dose –dépendante avec une inhibition maximale à c =.200 mg/mL. Les extraits des feuilles ont montré une activité antibactérienne plus efficace que les extraits de tiges, eux mêmes plus actifs que les extraits de racines. Conclusion : Les souches d’E. coli testées se sont revelées plus sensibles que celles de Shigella spp pour les trois types d’organes de B. nitida. Les extraits des organes de B. nitida (en particulier les feuilles) pourraient constituer une alternative pour le traitement des diarrhées et une nouvelle source de molécules naturelles antiinfectieuses.   Introduction : In order to contribute to an efficient management of infantile diarrhea and gastrointestinal disorders, we evaluated the antibacterial activities of extracts of organs (leaves, stems and roots) of Baphia nitida, a plant of the Ivorian pharmacopoeia. Methods : Thus, a phytochemical screening of hydroacetone extracts of B. nitida organs based on precipitations and staining reactions followed by antimicrobial susceptibility tests on Shigella spp and E. coli ATCC 25922 were performed. Results : The results obtained revealed that the three plant organs were abundant in polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids and catechic tannins. In addition, the extracts from the leaves of B. nitida exhibited a greater diversity of other secondary metabolites that were weakly represented. B. nitida extracts were found to be bactericidal for both strains tested. These actions appeared to be dose-dependent with maximum inhibition at c = 200 mg/mL. The leaf extracts showed a more effective antibacterial activity than the stem extracts, which were more effective than the root extracts. Conclusion : The E. coli strains tested were more sensitive than Shigella spp. for all three types of B. nitida organs. The extracts of B. nitida organs (especially the leaves) could be an alternative for the treatment of diarrhoea and a new source of natural antibacterial molecules