Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Different mowing frequencies affect nutritive value and recovery potential of forage bermudagrass

Abstract. Mowing is one of the most effective methods of pasture management, and frequency plays a critical role in management strategies. Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. ) is a highly valuable forage grass due to its exceptionally high mowing recovery rate and its high potential to be used as a forage crop. In China, bermudagrass is increasingly becoming a crucial forage crop because of the growing demand from the livestock industry. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of mowing frequencies on forage bermudagrass (‘Wrangler’) yields and nutritive value. Four treatments with different mowing frequencies (2, 4, 6 and 12 weeks) were evaluated. Harvested grasses were assessed for yield and nutritive value. The shoot dry weight, crude fibre and N content did not exhibit any difference at various mowing frequencies. The highest content of crude protein was attained at the 2-weeks mowing frequency, although the 4-weeks mowing frequency resulted in a relatively higher shoot fresh weight, crude fat content, water content, P concentration and plant height. A persistently high upregulation of NRT1, PHT1, PHT2, AOC, AOS, MYC2 and NCED1 genes were observed at 4-weeks frequency. Yield was highest at 4- and 6-weeks mowing frequencies. Consequently, the 4-weeks frequency was considered to be the optimal mowing frequency in view of the forage quality and regrowth capacity.
The impact of taxes on optimal portfolio choice : an Australian study

Taxes are an important component of investing that is commonly overlooked in both the literature and in practice. For example, many understand that taxes will reduce an investment’s return, but less understood is the risk-sharing nature of taxes that also reduces the investment’s risk. This thesis examines how taxes affect the optimal asset allocation and asset location decision in an Australian environment. It advances the model of Horan & Al Zaman (2008), improving the method by which the present value of tax liabilities are calculated, by using an after-tax risk-free discount rate, and incorporating any new or reduced tax liabilities generated into its expected risk and return estimates. The asset allocation problem is examined for a range of different scenarios using Australian parameters, including different risk aversion levels, personal marginal tax rates, investment horizons, borrowing premiums, high or low inflation environments, and different starting cost bases. The findings support the Horan & Al Zaman (2008) conclusion that equities should be held in the taxable account. In fact, these findings are strengthened with most of the efficient frontier maximising equity holdings in the taxable account instead of only half. Furthermore, these findings transfer to the Australian case, where it is found that taxed Australian investors should always invest into equities first through the taxable account before investing in super. However, untaxed Australian investors should invest their equity first through superannuation. With borrowings allowed in the taxable account (no borrowing premium), Australian taxed investors should hold 100% of the superannuation account in the risk-free asset, while undertaking leverage in the taxable account to achieve the desired risk-return. Introducing a borrowing premium decreases the likelihood of holding 100% of super in the risk-free asset for taxable investors. The findings also suggest that the higher the marginal tax rate, the higher the borrowing premium in order to overcome this effect. Finally, as the investor’s marginal tax rate increases, the overall allocation to equities should increase due to the increased risk and return sharing caused by taxation, and in order to achieve the same risk/return level as the lower taxation level, the investor must take on more equity exposure. The investment horizon has a minimal impact on the optimal allocation decision in the absence of factors such as mean reversion and human capital.
Lactulose 51Cr-labelled ethylenediaminetetra-acetate, l-rhamnose and polyethyleneglycol 500 as probe markers for assessment in vivo of human intestinal permeability

The urinary excretion of lactulose, 51Cr-labelled ethylenediaminetetra-acetate (51Cr-EDTA), L-rhamnose and polyethyleneglycol 400 (PEG-400) has been measured after intravenous and oral administration in healthy volunteers. Intestinal permeation of the probes was compared after their ingestion in iso-osmolar, hyperosmolar and cetrimide-containing test solutions. Urinary recovery of lactulose and 51Cr-EDTA after intravenous administration reached 75% by 5 h, and exceeded 90% at 24 h, and these values were 62 and 72%, respectively, for L-rhamnose. Recovery of PEG-400, however, varied with the relative molecular mass (Mr) of each polymer from 25.9 to 68.5% in 24 h. Intestinal permeation of ingested lactulose and 51Cr-EDTA was low, but that of L-rhamnose was 45-fold, and that of PEG-400 100-fold, greater. Permeation of lactulose and 51Cr-EDTA was markedly increased by cetrimide and hyperosmolar stress, whereas that of L-rhamnose showed little change. PEG-400 permeation was not affected by cetrimide, but was slightly increased by hyperosmolar stress. The 5 h permeation of lactulose, but not of L-rhamnose or PEG-400, correlated with that of 51Cr-EDTA (r = 0.98, P less than 0.001). These findings are compatible with three distinct pathways of unmediated mucosal permeation, L-rhamnose (radius less than 0.4 nm) passing mainly through small aqueous 'pores' of high incidence, lactulose and 51Cr-EDTA (radius greater than 0.5 nm) through larger aqueous 'channels' of low incidence susceptible to cetrimide and hyperosmolar stress, and PEG-400, which has appreciable lipid solubility, by partition through cell membrane lipid as well as the aqueous 'pores'.
Lumboperitoneal shunt: clinical applications, complications, and comparison with ventriculoperitoneal shunt.

Lumboperitoneal (LP) shunting has the advantage of completely extracranial surgical management, minimizing intracranial complications. An LP shunt has been intentionally adopted for patients who require cerebrospinal fluid diversion. A retrospective study was designed to examine the indications for and complications associated with LP shunts in 207 patients (including 28 pediatric patients) treated during the past 11 years. Follow-up averaging 5.1 years revealed no deaths related directly to LP shunt placement. Twenty-nine patients (14%) underwent revision of the shunt because of obstruction. Shunt-related infections were observed in only 2 patients (1%). Radicular pain occurred in 10 patients (5%), 2 of whom required shunt replacement. Postoperative occurrence of dyspnea and disturbance of consciousness necessitated conversion to a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt in 2 patients (1%), who subsequently were noted to have Chiari malformations. In 4 patients (2%), an acute subdural hematoma developed after mild head trauma. Symptomatic chronic subdural hematomas were observed in 2 patients (1%). One patient had a mild myelopathy that rapidly resolved after shunt replacement. The comparison to 120 patients treated with a VP shunt during the identical period (an average follow-up of 5.2 years) suggests the following conclusions. After subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm, hydrocephalus is usually of the communicating type and is an indication for an LP shunt. The incidence of infection and malfunction with an LP shunt is significantly lower than that with a VP shunt. An LP shunt is also indicated for pediatric patients, although a relatively higher incidence of malfunction is noted compared to adults. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A secondary progressive clinical course is uncommon in neuromyelitis optica

We compared the clinical course of 96 patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) to multiple sclerosis (MS) natural history data. Based on the distribution of follow-up data (median 6.1 year), we estimated that 21 NMO patients would convert to a secondary progressive course, but we observed only two conversions (p = 0.00002; relative risk = 0.08). The disparate natural histories of MS and NMO suggest dissociation between relapses and clinical progression in CNS demyelinating diseases.
The Effect of Intraperitoneal Catalase on Prevention of Peritoneal Adhesion Formation in Rats

The objective of our study was to investigate the efficacy of catalase in preventing the formation of peritoneal adhesions induced by cecal serosal laceration in rats. A research study was set up using a randomized complete block design. This study was performed in the Experimental Surgical Research Center, Kahramanmaras Sutcuimam University, Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Thirty Wistar albino rats were assigned to 3 groups of 10 animals each. The animals were anesthetized, a median laparotomy was performed, and the cecum was traumatized. In the final stages of surgery, the first group received 30,000 U of catalase intraperitoneally (ip) (catalase group), the second group received 2 mL of saline solution ip (isotonic group), and the last group received no treatment (control group). All rats were sacrificed on day 14. Adhesions were counted and blood samples were taken for measuring the catalase level. There were significant differences between the adhesion scores among all groups (p <. 05, Kruskal–Wallis test). The catalase group had significantly lower adhesion scores than the other groups (post hoc Mann–Whitney test). At day 14, blood catalase levels in the catalase group were significantly lower than in the other groups (p <. 05). We conclude that introduction of catalase into the peritoneal cavity during surgery inhibited adhesion formation.
Constrained discrete-time PI controller design for output PDFs of stochastic systems with time delays

This article presents a new proportional-integral (PI) tracking control strategy for non-Gaussian stochastic systems based on a square root B-spline model for the output probability density functions (PDFs). Following the square root B-spline approximation to the measured output PDF, a non-linear discrete-time dynamical model can be established between the control input and the weights related to the PDFs. It is noted that the PDF tracking is transformed to a constrained dynamical tracking control problem for weight dynamics. For the non-linear discrete-time weight model including time-delay terms and exogenous disturbances, convex linear matrix inequality optimisation algorithms are used to design a generalised PI controller such that stabilisation, state constraint and tracking performance can be guaranteed simultaneously. Furthermore, in order to enhance the robustness, the peak-to-peak measure index is applied to optimise the tracking performance. Simulations are given to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.
Gamma irradiation in the control of pathogenic bacteria in refrigerated ground chicken meat

ABSTRACT: This work evaluated the effect of gamma radiation on reducting the population of Staphylococcusaureus , Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium in ground chicken breast stored under refrigeration. Theexperiment included a control and 4 doses of gamma radiation (2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0 kGy) along with 5 periodsof storage under refrigeration (1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days). Samples of ground chicken breast were inoculatedwith Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 14458), Escherichia coli (ATCC 11105) and Salmonella typhimurium (ATCC0626), irradiated at temperatures between 4 and 8 o C and stored under refrigeration (5 o C) for 28 days. Theincreased radiation dose and period of storage under refrigeration caused a reduction of Staphylococcus aureus ,Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium populations in the ground chicken breast. Mean radiation D valuesdetermined for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were 0.41 and 0.72 kGy, respectively. Gammairradiation was an effective treatment for chicken meat conservation because the radiation dose of 6.0 kGy keptthe ground chicken breast within the microbiological limits established by the Brazilian legislation, for up to 28days under refrigeration.Key words: gamma irradiation, pathogenic bacteria, chicken meat, refrigeration
Emmanuel Goldberg, Electronic Document Retrieval, and Vannevar Bush's Memex

Vannevar Bush’s famous article, “As We May Think” (1945), described an imaginary information retrieval machine, the Memex. The Memex is usually viewed, unhistorically, in relation to subsequent developments using digital computers. This study reconstructs the little-known background of information retrieval in and before 1939 when “‘As We May Think” was originally written. The Memex was based on Bush’s work during 1938-1940 in developing an improved photoelectric microfilm selector, an electronic retrieval technology pioneered by Emanuel Goldberg of Zeiss Ikon, Dresden, in the 1920s. Visionary statements by Paul Otlet (1934) and Walter Schiirmeyer (1935) and the development of electronic document retrieval technology before Bush are examined.
BILINGUAL MEN BUT NOT WOMEN DISPLAY LESS LEFT EAR BUT NOT RIGHT EAR ACCURACY DURING DICHOTIC LISTENING COMPARED TO MONOLINGUALS

Thirty monolingual university men and women and 33 bilingual university men and women who had learned English after 5 years of age were administered Roberts Dichotic Word Listening Test. The bilingual men committed twice the numbers of errors for words presented to the left ear but not to the right ear or to both ears when compared to the bilingual women, the monolingual men, or the monolingual women. The latter three groups did not differ significantly from each other. This interaction between sex and language history explained about 16% of the variance in the numbers of errors for the left ear. The results are related to other studies that showed men who acquired English after the age of 5 years exhibited a relative weakness for verbal memory but not for figural memory compared to bilingual women or monolingual men and women. Implications for the relative accuracies of verbal memory are considered.
Facebook Addiction: Concerns, Criticism, and Recommendations—A Response to Andreassen and Colleagues

This paper provides a brief critique of the Facebook addiction research field in relation to the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale developed by Andreaessen and colleagues (2012). Just like the term “Internet addiction,” the term “Facebook addiction” may already be obsolete because there are many activities that a person can engage in on the Facebook website (e.g., messaging friends, playing games like Farmville, and gambling). What is needed is a new psychometric scale examining potential addiction to a particular online application (i.e., social networking) rather than activity on a particular website (i.e., Facebook).
Direct effect of p,p'- DDT on mice liver

Contact with the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p′-DDT) can be the cause of various harmful effects in humans, wildlife, and the environment. This pesticide is known to be persistent, lipophilic, resistant to degradation, and bioaccumulive in the environment and to be slowly released into bloodstream. Growing evidence shows that exposure to DDT is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus. Individuals exposed to elevated levels of DDT and its metabolite have an increased prevalence of diabetes and insulin resistance. To evaluate these possible relationships, experiments were performed on eight-week-old female mice, divided into three groups (n = 10 per group): Group 1 received a vehicle-control intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of sesame oil; Groups 2 and 3 received an i.p. dose of 50 and 100 µg/g p,p′-DDT respectively, dissolved in sesame oil. All groups were treated once daily for four days. Real-time PCR analysis of several genes was undertaken. Additionally, biochemical parameters and histopathological changes were measured. NQO1, HMOX1, NR1I3 and NR3C1 were up-regulated in DDT-exposed animals compared to the vehicle control group, while only SREBP1 was down-regulated in the 100 µg/g group. MTTP and FABP5, not previously reported for DDT exposure, but involved in regulation of fatty acid fluxes, could also function as biomarkers cross-talking between these signaling pathways. These results suggest that beyond epidemiological data, there is increasing molecular evidence that DDT may mimic different processes involved in diabetes and insulin resistance pathways.
Dividend Policy, Agency Costs, and Earned Equity

Why do firms pay dividends? If they didn't their asset and capital structures would eventually become untenable as the earnings of successful firms outstrip their investment opportunities. Had they not paid dividends, the 25 largest long-standing 2002 dividend payers would have cash holdings of $1.8 trillion (51% of total assets), up from $160 billion (6% of assets), and $1.2 trillion in excess of their collective $600 billion in long-term debt. Their dividend payments prevented significant agency problems since the retention of earnings would have given managers command over an additional $1.6 trillion without access to better investment opportunities and with no additional monitoring. This logic suggests that firms with relatively high amounts of earned equity (retained earnings) are especially likely to pay dividends. Consistent with this view, the fraction of publicly traded industrial firms that pays dividends is high when the ratio of earned equity to total equity (total assets) is high, and falls with declines in this ratio, becoming near zero when a firm has little or no earned equity. We observe a highly significant relation between the decision to pay dividends and the ratio of earned equity to total equity or total assets,controlling for firm size, profitability, growth, leverage, cash balances, and dividend history. In our regressions, earned equity has an economically more important impact than does profitability or growth. Our evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that firms pay dividends to mitigate agency problems.
PENSION CHALLENGES FACING THE OLDER PERSONS IN NIGERIA

Background--It is unknown how socio-demographic variables impact on regularity of pension among the older persons in Nigeria. This has become essential in order to improve the preparation for old age among Nigerians. Reliable information is also required to formulate comprehensive social security system for the elderly. Methods-----Quantitative data were collected through an individual - based questionnaire. Multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select local government areas, enumeration areas and individuals for the study. In all, 810 respondents were interviewed. Findings---- while age of respondents, religion, and family size are significantly related to the regular pension in model 2, in the Male Model, with the exception of religion, all other factors are significantly associated with regular pension. In this model, while males aged 60-64 are 1.2 times more likely to, those aged 65-69 are 2.0 times more likely to report regular pension than those aged 70 years and above. In terms of religion, while Christians are 2.1 times more likely to, Muslims are 2.4 times more likely to report regular pension than adherents of African traditional religion. With respect to family size, while those with 1-3 children are 2.8 times more likely to, those with 4-6 children are 1.4 times more likely to report regular pension than those with seven or more children. Conclusion----- The idea that old-age security and well being in Nigeria should remain the primary responsibility of the family is untenable. The government must assume the primary responsibility in a partnership in which the family also continues to play a significant role.
ating behavior and its morphological correlates in two color morphs f Girardinus metallicus ( Pisces : Poeciliidae ) , a species previously hought not to exhibit courtship display ita

Girardinus metallicus is a Cuban poeciliid fish whose social behavior has been little studied. The only account involves a colorless morph that is sexually monochromatic and does not exhibit courtship display. We describe the behavior of two other morphs (black and yellow) that exhibit sexual dichromatism. We observed courtship displays in black but not yellow males. Contrary to the pattern in most poeciliids, black males exhibit long gonopodia and courtship; typically, longer gonopodia evolve in species without courtship, because they facilitate coercive mating but circumvent female choice. We focused on the black morph to address whether morphological traits are favored by sexual selection. Larger males with longer gonopodia courted and attempted copulations more often. Black area was not associated with intersexual interactions, but was positively associated with aggressiveness. Dominant males attempted irardinus metallicus
Dietary salt restriction and drug-free treatment of hypertension in ESRD patients: a largely abandoned therapy.

Historical reviews have a tendency to be dinosaurian and consequently, if read at all, have little impact upon therapeutic paradigms. However, the neglect of old knowledge may lead to therapeutic tragedies, and I believe that throughout the world today dialysis patients are being incorrectly managed with respect to dietary salt intake and the concentration of dialysate sodium to control hypertension. The word ‘salt’ is used in this article to mean sodium chloride. However, a ‘salt-restricted intake’ and a ‘dialysate sodium concentration’ refer to all sodium salts, including sodium bicarbonate. The problem of poor control of hypertension in dialysis patients with the associated increase in mortality from cardiovascular causes has been recognized in the US by the National Kidney Foundation. It created a task force to investigate these ‘epidemic’ causes of death. It recommended 11 clinical studies to evaluate and control the epidemic, and yet it rejected the proposal by Scribner w1x of an evaluation of ‘the drug-free salt restriction ultrafiltration method of blood pressure control’. Historically, the first reported benefit of a reduced dietary salt intake in controlling hypertension in patients with chronic renal failure was published in 1944 by Kempner w2x. Its success was undoubtedly due to the paternalism of Kempner in persuading patients to stick to a rice diet with added fruit that contained only 250–300 mg salt, 350 g rice and 20 g protein. Drinking water was to be distilled if it contained more than 20 mgul sodium. With this draconian diet, he was able to control patient blood pressures dramatically (Figure 1). The question as to whether the history of the world would have been different if President Roosevelt, dying from uncontrollable malignant hypertension, had been treated with a low-salt diet whilst attending the Yalta conference in February 1945 will always remain speculative. The first mention of the ability to control hypertension in haemodialysis patients without the use of drugs was in 1961 w3x. The first four patients treated by long-term dialysis in Seattle were hypertensive, and their hypertension was well controlled by a low sodium diet and ultrafiltration alone. Drug therapy had been stopped in three patients as it was producing too many Correspondence and offprint requests to: Dr Stanley Shaldon, MA, MD, FRCP, 25 Le Michelangelo, 7 Avenue des Papalins, Monaco 98000. Email: stanley_shaldon@monaco377.com Fig. 1. The blood pressure of patient ML, a male aged 23, suffering from chronic renal failure was reduced from 230u145 to 135u90 mmHg in 8 weeks with symptomatic improvement of headache, nausea and vomiting, remarkable improvement in eyesight and with reduction of macula papilloedema. Modified from reference w2x. 1163 Nephrol Dial Transplant (2002) 17: Editorial Comments