Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Will Climate Change Impacts Aggravate Malnutrition in Concealed Ways? The Effects of Temperature Elevation on Nutritive Value of the Edible Seaweed Ulva fasciata Delile

The edible green seaweed Ulva fasciata which is abundant in Tanzania, is highly nutritious and can therefore help in curbing severe malnutrition currently reported in the country. Seaweeds on the other hand, are reported to be affected by temperature. This study was therefore aimed at investigating the effect of rising temperature on the nutritive value of Ulva fasciata . Samples were collected at the Oysterbay shoreline in Dar es Salaam and grown under controlled conditions at the University of Dar es Salaam. Growth rate and selected nutrients (proteins, vitamin A, carbohydrates, iron, phosphorus, calcium and potassium) were determined using standard analytical methods. Data analysis was done using Paleontological statistics (PAST) version 1.27, 1999-2012 package. The results show that temperature elevation caused a decline in growth rate of Ulva fasciata . Furthermore, its protein content declined sharply from 19.8% dry weight to only 5.8% dry weight when temperature increased above the range of 28-29 °C. With the exception of Phosphorus which increased progressively with temperatures rise, other nutrients including minerals showed a significant decrease when grown in higher temperature ranges. The results suggest that the ongoing global warming will decrease nutritive value of Ulva fasciata .
Near‐infrared photoimmunotherapy targeting EGFR—Shedding new light on glioblastoma treatment

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are high‐grade brain tumors, differentially driven by alterations (amplification, deletion or missense mutations) in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), that carry a poor prognosis of just 12–15 months following standard therapy. A combination of interventions targeting tumor‐specific cell surface regulators along with convergent downstream signaling pathways may enhance treatment efficacy. Against this background, we investigated a novel photoimmunotherapy approach combining the cytotoxicity of photodynamic therapy with the specificity of immunotherapy. An EGFR‐specific affibody (ZEGFR:03115) was conjugated to the phthalocyanine dye, IR700DX, which when excited with near‐infrared light produces a cytotoxic response. ZEGFR:03115–IR700DX EGFR‐specific binding was confirmed by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. The conjugate showed effective targeting of EGFR positive GBM cells in the brain. The therapeutic potential of the conjugate was assessed both in vitro, in GBM cell lines and spheroids by the CellTiter‐Glo® assay, and in vivo using subcutaneous U87‐MGvIII xenografts. In addition, mice were imaged pre‐ and post‐PIT using the IVIS/Spectrum/CT to monitor treatment response. Binding of the conjugate correlated to the level of EGFR expression in GBM cell lines. The cell proliferation assay revealed a receptor‐dependent response between the tested cell lines. Inhibition of EGFRvIII+ve tumor growth was observed following administration of the immunoconjugate and irradiation. Importantly, this response was not seen in control tumors. In conclusion, the ZEGFR:03115–IR700DX showed specific uptake in vitro and enabled imaging of EGFR expression in the orthotopic brain tumor model. Moreover, the proof‐of‐concept in vivo PIT study demonstrated therapeutic efficacy of the conjugate in subcutaneous glioma xenografts.
The Normal Bacterial Flora of the Human Intestine and Its Regulation

The gastrointestinal tract, and the colon in particular, is host to a number of bacteria that reside within its lumen. In health, greater than 90% of this flora is composed of anaerobes, whereas facultative anaerobes and aerobes are present in smaller numbers. The recent development of molecular methods to quantify these bacteria provides powerful tools to study the influence of these organisms on bowel function. These studies indicate that about 75% of fecal bacteria can be characterized, and belong to the 3 dominant groups—the Clostridium coccoides-Eubacterium rectale group, Clostridium leptum group, and Bacteroides-Prevotella group. The development and maturation of the enteric flora, and also the diversity of the flora, is reviewed. Multiple factors regulate the population number of these bacteria, including gastric acidity, intestinal transit, dietary factors, antibiotic use, and bacterial interactions with other bacteria and with the epithelium. Anaerobic bacteria in the intestine change the redox status of the colon; they also produce molecules such as short chain fatty acids, which influence colonic epithelial and mucosal physiology in many ways. New knowledge suggests that these bacteria exert effects on host immunity, which extend well beyond the intestine.
Measurement of fibrinogen concentration in the plasma of dogs: A comparison between heat precipitation and modified thrombin clotting time method

ABSTRACT Fibrinogen is a glycoprotein that plays a key role in blood clotting and is also a non-specific indicator of inflammation. The most widely used techniques for measuring plasma fibrinogen concentration include heat precipitation (Millar’s technique) and modified thrombin clotting time (Clauss method). Both techniques have been automated in a haematology analyzer (QBC-Vet Autoreader®, IDEXX; Millar’s technique) and in a newly developed semi-automatic mechanical and optical detection coagulometer (MC1 Plus®, DIASys Greiner GmbH; Clauss method). The purpose of this study was to compare the results of the above mentioned techniques for the measurement of fibrinogen concentration in the plasma of dogs. Fibrinogen concentrations were measured with both techniques in the plasma of 85 clinically normal dogs and of 43 dogs with diseases that have been previously associated with dysfibrinogenemia. Passing-Bablock’s regression and Bland Altman difference plots were used for the comparison of the results of the two techniques. No correlation was found between the results of the two techniques; thus the two techniques cannot be used interchangeably. Measurement of fibrinogen concentration with the heat precipitation method is more applicable for single sample analysis, while the modified thrombin clotting time method is more practical for analyzing stored frozen samples and thus for research purposes. Keywords: Dog, Plasma, Fibrinogen, Heat Precipitation, Thrombin Clotting Time
Local and geographic variation in grazing intensity by herbivorous crabs in SW Atlantic salt marshes

Coupling experiments at small spatial scales with large-scale surveys can help to gen- eralize experimental results across large spatial scales. The goal of the present study was to evaluate patterns of crab herbivory within and, at a larger scale, between many southwestern (SW) Atlantic salt marshes. Hence, we conducted experiments in an Argentinean salt marsh to elucidate the effects of crab Chasmagnathus granulatus grazing on the cordgrass Spartina densiflora and the factors that can affect this interaction, and then examined the potential generality of these results across SW Atlantic salt marshes from Brazil to Argentina (15 marshes, range ≈ 2000 km). Experimental exami- nation of the effects of crabs (control and exclusion) on marsh grass transplants, and factors that can affect them, i.e. the presence or absence of plant neighbors and marsh height (middle and low), revealed that crab herbivory decreased plant biomass and increased stem mortality; however, her- bivory effects were significantly diminished in the presence of plant neighbors and with increasing marsh elevation. Our geographical survey showed that crab herbivory is common in SW Atlantic salt marshes, with more than 20% of leaves damaged in most marshes and with greater consumption at marshes with higher crab densities. In addition, plants at the lower edge of marshes were generally the most consumed (max. >60% leaves consumed) and crabs preferred S. alterniflora over S. densi- flora. Over a regional spatial scale, our results suggest that herbivory may affect plant production at some marshes and can also play a role in limiting the lower tidal elevation limit of low-marsh plants.
Health Risks of Hypovitaminosis D: A Review of New Molecular Insights

Hypovitaminosis D has become a pandemic, being observed in all ethnicities and age groups worldwide. Environmental factors, such as increased air pollution and reduced ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation, as well as lifestyle factors, i.e., decreased outdoor activities and/or poor intake of vitamin D-rich food, are likely involved in the etiology of a dramatic reduction of vitamin D circulating levels. The insufficiency/deficiency of vitamin D has long been known for its association with osteoporosis and rickets. However, in the last few decades it has become a serious public health concern since it has been shown to be independently associated with various chronic pathological conditions such as cancer, coronary heart disease, neurological diseases, type II diabetes, autoimmune diseases, depression, with various inflammatory disorders, and with increased risk for all-cause mortality in the general population. Prevention strategies for these disorders have recently involved supplementation with either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3 or their analogs at required daily doses and tolerable upper-limit levels. This review will focus on the emerging evidence about non-classical biological functions of vitamin D in various disorders.
Automatic identification of language varieties: The case of Portuguese

Automatic Language Identification of written texts is a well-established area of research in Computational Linguistics. Stateof-the-art algorithms often rely on n-gram character models to identify the correct language of texts, with good results seen for European languages. In this paper we propose the use of a character n-gram model and a word n-gram language model for the automatic classification of two written varieties of Portuguese: European and Brazilian. Results reached 0.998 for accuracy using character 4-grams.
PPMA: Privacy-Preserving Multisubset Data Aggregation in Smart Grid

Privacy-preserving data aggregation has been extensively studied in smart grid. However, almost all existing schemes aggregate the total electricity consumption data of the whole user set, which sometimes cannot meet the fine-grained demands from control center in smart grid. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving multisubset data aggregation scheme, named PPMA, in smart grid. PPMA can aggregate users’ electricity consumption data of different ranges, while guaranteeing the privacy of individual users. Detailed security analysis shows that PPMA can protect individual user's electricity consumption privacy against a strong adversary. In addition, extensive experiments results demonstrate that PPMA has less computation overhead and no more extra communication and storage costs.
A new earliest Paleocene (Puercan) mammalian fauna from Colorado's Denver Basin, U.S.A.

Few areas preserve the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary and earliest Paleocene (Puercan) mammalian faunas better than Colorado9s Denver Basin. Research conducted decades ago described a diverse Puercan fauna from the Denver Basin, but many would agree that the best-known fauna in the basin—the Littleton fauna—probably represents a late early-Puercan (i.e., late Pu1) assemblage. Renewed collecting of fossil mammals from Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNH) loc. 2560 in the Denver Formation on the eastern side of the Denver Basin—approximately nine meters stratigraphically above the K–Pg boundary—has produced a Puercan faunal assemblage containing isolated teeth of at least nine species of fossil mammal. Based upon its faunal composition, low diversity, absence of taxa characteristic of middle and late Puercan faunal assemblages, and close stratigraphic proximity to the K–Pg boundary, the fauna from DMNH loc. 2560 probably represents a Puercan fauna that is earlier than the Littleton fauna. It is most similar to early Puercan (Pu1) faunas in Wyoming and northeast Montana. We document the occurrence of three species of the multituberculate Mesodma ( M. ambigua, M. formosa , and M. hensleighi ), the cimolodont Cimexomys minor , the marsupial Thylacodon montanensis , and four species of archaic ungulate (or ‘condylarth’), including Protungulatum donnae , Oxyprimus sp. , Baioconodon nordicus , and Maiorana sp. The presence of P. donnae defines the onset of the Puercan age, while Oxyprimus, Maiorana , and B. nordicus are restricted elsewhere to Pu1. C. minor is known from Lancian and early Puercan (Pu1) localities. The faunal assemblage from DMNH loc. 2560 indicates that the characteristic, low-diversity Pu1 fauna found in Montana and Wyoming extended as far south as Colorado. Additionally, we report the occurrence of the ‘condylarth’ Ampliconus browni from the South Table Mountain locality (DHMH loc. 2814) near Golden, Colorado. Its presence corroborates research by others that this locality is probably temporally correlative to the late early-Puercan (late Pu1) Alexander locality south of Denver, Colorado (UCM loc. 77267 [UCM = University of Colorado Museum of Natural History]). Our research provides a more complete picture of early Puercan mammalian diversity in the Denver Basin and a means to temporally correlate early Puercan faunas from Montana to Colorado.
Is this Tweet Satirical? A Computational Approach for Satire Detection in Spanish

Computational approaches to analyze gurative language are attract- ing a growing interest in Computational Linguistics. In this paper, we study the characterization of Twitter messages in Spanish that advertise satirical news. We present and evaluate a system able to classify tweets as satirical or not. To this pur- pose, we concentrate on the tweets published by several satirical and non-satirical Twitter accounts. We model the text of each tweet by a set of linguistically moti- vated features that aim at capturing the style more than the content of the message. Our experiments demonstrate that our model outperforms a word-based baseline. We also demonstrate that our system models global features of satirical language by showing that it is able to detect if a tweet contains or not satirical contents inde- pendently from the account that generated the tweet.
Dopamine Deficiency Mediates Early Rod-Driven Inner Retinal Dysfunction in Diabetic Mice

Purpose Electroretinograms (ERGs) are abnormal in diabetic retinas before the appearance of vascular lesions, providing a possible biomarker for diabetic vision loss. Previously, we reported that decreased retinal dopamine (DA) levels in diabetic rodents contributed to early visual and retinal dysfunction. In the current study, we examined whether oscillatory potentials (OPs) could serve as a potential marker for detecting early inner retinal dysfunction due to retinal DA deficiency. Methods Retinal function was tested with dark-adapted ERGs, taken at 3, 4, and 5 weeks after diabetes induction with streptozotocin. Electrical responses were analyzed and correlations were made with previously reported retinal DA levels. The effect of restoring systemic DA levels or removing DA from the retina in diabetic mice on OPs was assessed using L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) treatments and retina-specific tyrosine hydroxylase (Th) knockout mice (rTHKO), respectively. Results Diabetic animals had significantly delayed OPs compared to control animals in response to dim, but not bright, flash stimuli. L-DOPA treatment preserved OP implicit time in diabetic mice. Diabetic rTHKO mice had further delayed OPs compared to diabetic mice with normal retinal Th, with L-DOPA treatment also providing benefit. Decreasing retinal DA levels significantly correlated with increasing OP delays mediated by rod pathways. Conclusions Our data suggest that inner retinal dysfunction in early-stage diabetes is mediated by rod-pathway deficits and DA deficiencies. OP delays may be used to determine the earliest functional deficits in diabetic retinopathy and to establish an early treatment window for DA therapies that may prevent progressive vision loss.
Cancer and Exercise: Warburg Hypothesis, Tumour Metabolism and High-Intensity Anaerobic Exercise

There is ample evidence that regular moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity is related to a reduced risk for various forms of cancer to suggest a causal relationship. Exercise is associated with positive changes in fitness, body composition, and physical functioning as well as in patient-reported outcomes such as fatigue, sleep quality, or health-related quality of life. Emerging evidence indicates that exercise may also be directly linked to the control of tumour biology through direct effects on tumour-intrinsic factors. Beside a multitude of effects of exercise on the human body, one underscored effect of exercise training is to target the specific metabolism of tumour cells, namely the Warburg-type highly glycolytic metabolism. Tumour metabolism as well as the tumour–host interaction may be selectively influenced by single bouts as well as regularly applied exercise, dependent on exercise intensity, duration, frequency and mode. High-intensity anaerobic exercise was shown to inhibit glycolysis and some studies in animals showed that effects on tumour growth might be stronger compared with moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. High-intensity exercise was shown to be safe in patients; however, it has to be applied carefully with an individualized prescription of exercise.
Nonlinear Analysis of Rubber-Based Polymeric Materials with Thermal Relaxation Models

ABSTRACT Using mathematical modeling and computer simulation, nonlinear dynamics of rubber-based polymers has been studied with due regard for the effect of thermal relaxation. Main results have been obtained for the case of elongational oscillations of a ring-shaped body subjected to periodic (“internal”)boundary conditions. Particular emphasis has been placed on high-frequency and short spatial variations of temperature and displacement, in which the role of nonlinearities in the dynamics of the material and their close connection with the effect of thermal relaxation time can be best appreciated. It is shown how the vanishing relaxation time can lead to an attenuation of nonlinear effects in the thermomechanical system.
Parsimonious Gaussian Process Models for the Classification of Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Images

A family of parsimonious Gaussian process models for classification is proposed in this letter. A subspace assumption is used to build these models in the kernel feature space. By constraining some parameters of the models to be common between classes, parsimony is controlled. Experimental results are given for three real hyperspectral data sets, and comparisons are done with three other classifiers. The proposed models show good results in terms of classification accuracy and processing time.
The Validity of the Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire (IBQ) in Sport

ABSTRACT According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT), basic psychological needs will be influenced by other individuals’ interpersonal behaviors. The objective of the present research is to extend the validity of the Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire (IBQ and IBQ-Self) to the sport context. The measure was designed to assess perceptions of interpersonal behaviors of others (IBQ) or self-reports of interpersonal behaviors (IBQ-Self) in the context of SDT. This measure consists of 24 items and six subscales looking at autonomy-supportive, autonomy-thwarting (controlling), competence-supportive, competence-thwarting, relatedness-supportive, and relatedness-thwarting interpersonal behaviors. In Study 1, athletes were asked to report on their perceptions of their coaches’ interpersonal behaviors (IBQ). In Study 2, coaches were asked to report on their interpersonal behaviors when they coach their athletes (IBQ-Self). The results supported that the scale had a strong factor structure, internal consistency, and validity. Overall, the results supported the IBQ and IBQ-Self are valid measures of interpersonal behaviors in sport.
Vitamin E function and requirements in relation to PUFA

Abstract Vitamin E (α-tocopherol) is recognised as a key essential lipophilic antioxidant in humans protecting lipoproteins, PUFA, cellular and intra-cellular membranes from damage. The aim of this review was to evaluate the relevant published data about vitamin E requirements in relation to dietary PUFA intake. Evidence in animals and humans indicates a minimal basal requirement of 4–5 mg/d of RRR-α-tocopherol when the diet is very low in PUFA. The vitamin E requirement will increase with an increase in PUFA consumption and with the degree of unsaturation of the PUFA in the diet. The vitamin E requirement related to dietary linoleic acid, which is globally the major dietary PUFA in humans, was calculated to be 0·4–0·6 mg of RRR-α-tocopherol/g of linoleic acid. Animal studies show that for fatty acids with a higher degree of unsaturation, the vitamin E requirement increases almost linearly with the degree of unsaturation of the PUFA in the relative ratios of 0·3, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 for mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexaenoic fatty acids, respectively. Assuming a typical intake of dietary PUFA, a vitamin E requirement ranging from 12 to 20 mg of RRR-α-tocopherol/d can be calculated. A number of guidelines recommend to increase PUFA intake as they have well-established health benefits. It will be prudent to assure an adequate vitamin E intake to match the increased PUFA intake, especially as vitamin E intake is already below recommendations in many populations worldwide.