Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
E. coli Lipopolysaccharide Decreases the Expression of Proteins of Tight Junctions in the Jejunum of Weaning Piglets / Lipopolisacárido de E. coli Disminuye la Expresión de Proteínas de Uniones Apretadas en Yeyuno de Lechones Posdestete

Abstract. In order to assess the effect of the addition of E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the expression of tight junction proteins in the jejunum of weaned piglets (the animals were weaned at 21-days-old), 64 piglets were slaughtered at 1, 5, 7 and 10 days postweanig and complete extraction of jejunum was carried out in order to evaluate the molecular expression of Claudine 3 (C3), Claudine 4 (C4), and Zonula Ocludens-1 (ZO-1). To induce intestinal inflammation, animals were fed a basal diet supplemented with four levels of E. coli LPS (0, 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0 μg mg-1 of feed). The statistical design consisted of randomized blocks in a 4X4 factorial arrangement (four LPS concentrations and four post-weaning periods). A decrease was observed (P<0.01) in the expression of C3, C4, and ZO-1 in the animals that were fed the diet with the highest LPS-inclusion level. LPS contributes to the appearance of anatomical and intestinal functional disorders which are denoted by a decrease in the molecular expression of proteins from the intestinal barrier. This, in turn, is associated with an indiscriminate paracellular transport of molecules, microorganisms, and toxic compounds into the circulatory system. This results in post-weaning diarrhea and a decrease in the productive efficiency of piglets. / Resumen. Con el objetivo de evaluar el efecto de la adicion de lipopolisacarido LPS de E. coli sobre la expresion de proteinas de las uniones apretadas en yeyuno de lechones destetos, se sacrificaron 64 lechones escalonadamente los dias 1 (21 dias de edad, dia del destete), 5, 7 y 10 posdestete, y se les extrajo completamente el yeyuno para la evaluacion de la expresion molecular de Claudina 3 (C3), Claudina 4 (C4), y Zonula Ocludens-1 (ZO-1). Para inducir la inflamacion intestinal los animales fueron alimentados con una dieta basal, adicionada con cuatro niveles de LPS de E. coli (0; 0,3; 0,5 y 1,0 μg mg-1 de alimento). El diseno estadistico utilizado fue de bloques al azar en arreglo factorial de 4X4 (cuatro concentraciones de LPS en cuatro tiempos posdestete). Se observo la disminucion (P<0,01) en la expresion de C3, C4 y ZO-1 en los animales que consumieron la dieta con mayor nivel de inclusion de LPS. El LPS contribuye a desordenes anatomicos y funcionales a nivel intestinal, representados por la disminucion en la expresion molecular de proteinas de la barrera intestinal, lo que esta asociado al transporte paracelular indiscriminado de moleculas, microorganismos y compuestos toxicos hacia la circulacion sistemica. Todo lo anterior conlleva la presentacion de diarreas posdestete y a la disminucion en la eficiencia productiva de los lechones.
A NEW CLASS OF NEUTRON STAR BINARIES AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

Recent discovery of 2M ⊙ neutron stars in white dwarf-neutron star binaries, PSR J1614-2230 and PSR J0348+0432, has given strong constraints on the maximum mass of neutron stars. On the other hand, all well-measured neutron star masses in double neutron star binaries are still less than 1.5M ⊙ . These observations suggest that the neutron star masses in binaries may depend on the evolution process of neutron star binaries. In addition, recent works on LMXB (low-mass X-ray binaries) provides us the possibility of estimating the masses and radii of accreting neutron stars in LMXBs. In this talk, we discuss the implications of recent neutron star observations to the neutron star equation of states and the related astrophysical problems. For the evolution of neutron star binaries, we also discuss the possibilities of super-Eddington accretion onto the primary neutron stars.
Atomistic Frictional Properties of the C(100)2x1-H Surface

Density functional theory- (DFT-) based ab initio calculations were used to investigate the surface-to-surface interaction and frictional behavior of two hydrogenated C(100) dimer surfaces. A monolayer of hydrogen atoms was applied to the fully relaxed C(100)2x1 surface having rows of C=C dimers with a bond length of 1.39 A. The obtained C(100)2x1-H surfaces (C–H bond length 1.15 A) were placed in a large vacuum space and translated toward each other. A cohesive state at a surface separation of 4.32 A that is stabilized by approximately 0.42 eV was observed. An increase in the charge separation in the surface dimer was calculated at this separation having a 0.04 e transfer from the hydrogen atom to the carbon atom. The Mayer bond orders were calculated for the C–C and C–H bonds and were found to be 0.962 and 0.947, respectively. σ C–H bonds did not change substantially from the fully separated state. A significant decrease in the electron density difference between the hydrogen atoms on opposite surfaces was seen and assigned to the effects of Pauli repulsion. The surfaces were translated relative to each other in the (100) plane, and the friction force was obtained as a function of slab spacing, which yielded a 0.157 coefficient of friction.
Detection and Impact of Industrial Subsidies: The Case of Chinese Shipbuilding

This paper provides a model-based empirical strategy to, (i) detect the presence and gauge the magnitude of government subsidies and (ii) quantify their impact on production reallocation across countries, industry prices, costs and consumer surplus. I construct and estimate an industry model that allows for dynamic agents in both demand and supply and apply my strategy to world shipbuilding, a classic target of industrial policy. I find strong evidence consistent with China having intervened and reducing shipyard costs by 13-20%, corresponding to 1.5 to 4.5 billion US dollars, between 2006 and 2012. The subsidies led to substantial reallocation of ship production across the world, with Japan, in particular, losing significant market share. They also misaligned costs and production, while leading to minor surplus gains for shippers.
Circumstances leading to self-diagnosis and self-medication in the Municipality of Marabá (State of Pará, Brazil)

The theme medication/self-diagnosis presents contrary opinions about what is right or wrong, in addition to being scarce the quantitative studies with the purpose to clarify the causes of these two dangerous practices. For both, the objective of this study was to identify the causes that influence the self-diagnosis and medication, as well as analyze failures in public assistance in health, which can be promoting the avoidance of the patient to search for an alternative medicine, evidencing the risk that this done can promote. It was a descriptive and cross-sectional study, of qualitative nature, carried out in all health centers in the urban area of Marabá (Pará State, Brazil), through the application of forms and having the data analyzed and tabulated, making use mainly of Chi-square statistical test. The results showed that education is not directly related to the medication, which before was vacant in literature, but the main result highlighted expressed that the motivation for the choice of ingesting medication without prescription, are the difficulties encountered in SUS, the poor quality of care and failures in the relationship doctor patient of the public health service.
Influence of nitrogen fertilizer on grain yield of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) under irrigated conditions

A field study was conducted from 1998 to 2000 in Ciudad Real (Spain) to analyze the productive response of thebarley (Hordeum vulgare L.) crop to different nitrogen-fertilizer strategies. The effect of N dose and its partitioningbetween sowing-time and top-dressing at tillering state on grain yield and yield components was evaluated, as well asthe contribution of each one of these parameters to the final yield by means of a correlation and regression study, andpath coefficient analysis. The specific climatic conditions of each growing season had a very marked effect on barleycrops, and grain yields and yield components significantly differed every year. No significant differences in yieldwere found between 100 and 150 kg N ha-1 doses, but yield was significantly reduced by applying 200 kg N ha-1. Theevolution of grain yield according to N fertilizer was properly fitted to a quadratic function, with the maximum valuecorresponding to about 120 kg N ha-1. It is not advisable to exceed this dose because this is of no benefit to the plantand implies a risk of environmental contamination. The highest yield was obtained by applying two thirds of the totalN fertilizer at seeding time, whereas a single application of N fertilizer as a top-dressing resulted in a significantreduction in barley grain yield. In these field conditions, grain yield mainly depended on the number of ears per squaremeter, being the 1000-kernel weight the most stable yield component.
Aerodynamic forces and vortical structures in flapping butterfly's forward flight

Forward flights of a bilaterally symmetrically flapping butterfly modeled as a four-link rigid-body system consisting of a thorax, an abdomen, and left and right wings are numerically simulated. The joint motions of the butterflies are adopted from experimental observations. Three kinds of the simulations, distinguished by ways to determine the position and attitude of the thorax, are carried out: a tethered simulation, a prescribed simulation, and free-flight simulations. The upward and streamwise forces as well as the wake structures in the tethered simulation, where the thorax of the butterfly is fixed, reasonably agree with those in the corresponding tethered experiment. In the prescribed simulation, where the thoracic trajectories as well as the joint angles are given by those observed in a free-flight experiment, it is confirmed that the butterfly can produce enough forces to achieve the flapping flights. Moreover, coherent vortical structures in the wake and those on the wings are identified. The g.
Embedding Decision Heuristics in Discrete Choice Models: A Review

Contrary to the usual assumption of fixed, well-defined preferences, it is increasingly evident that individuals are likely to approach a choice task using rules and decision heuristics that are dependent on the choice environment. More specifically, heuristics that are defined by the local choice context, such as the gains or losses of an attribute value relative to the other attributes, seem to be consistently employed. Recent empirical findings also demonstrate that previous choices and previously encountered choice tasks shown to respondents can affect the current choice outcome, indicating a form of inter-dependence across choice sets. This paper is primarily focused on reviewing how heuristics have been modelled in stated choice data. The paper begins with a review of the heuristics that may be relevant for coping with choice task complexity and then proceeds to discuss some modelling approaches. Next, relational heuristics, such as prospect theory, random regret minimization and extremeness aversion (compromise effect) are discussed. These are heuristics which operate within the local choice set. Another major class of heuristics reviewed in this paper pertains to ordering effects and more generally on past outcomes and past attribute levels of the alternatives.
Bio-inspired disparity estimation system from energy neurons

Bio-inspired control systems attempt to reproduce the intelligent behavior by simulating the internal architecture and mechanisms of the biological counterpart. In this paper we propose a bio-inspired algorithm for disparity estimation based on the disparity energy model. In literature several models have been proposed but actually each of these models seems to have unique features and unique lacks due to the intrinsic architecture. Different bio-inspired architectures are reviewed and from the comparison among these algorithms we propose a new architecture that takes into account the good properties of the previous models and tries to overcome the limitations. Simulations are performed on real images, and comparison with published algorithms on Middlebury stereo database are shown. We comment the obtained results from the point of view of humanoid robotics and show how the study of neurophysiology can inspire the design of vision systems.
Adjusting effort estimation using micro-productivity profiles

We investigate a phenomenon we call micro-productivity decrease, which is expected to be found in most development or maintenance projects and has a specific profile that depends on the project, the development model, and the team. Micro- productivity decrease refers to the observation that the cumulative effort to implement a series of changes is larger than the effort that would be needed if we made the same modification in only one step. The reason for the difference is that the same sections of code are usually modified more than once in the series of (sometimes imperfect) atomic changes. Hence, we suggest that effort estimation methods based on atomic change estimations should incorporate these profiles when being applied to larger modification tasks. We verify the concept on industrial development projects with our metrics-based machine learning models extended with statistical data. We show that the calculated Micro-Productivity Profile for these projects could be used for effort estimation of larger tasks with more accuracy than a naive atomic change-oriented estimation.
On the impact of financial distress on capital structure: The role of leverage dynamics

This paper uses a research design that addresses the endogenous effect of financial distress on debt ratios. Using a probability of financial distress derived from a hazard model as a measure of financial distress, we find that leverage dynamics are crucial in unraveling the true effect of financial distress on leverage. Our findings offer an explanation for the prior conflicting evidence on the association between leverage and financial distress and shed new light on the role of leverage dynamics in understanding capital structure decisions. We then show that firms balance the tax benefit of debt and financial distress costs when making financing decisions in a dynamic process.
The Impact of Leadership Styles on Four Variables of Executives Workforce

Leadership is widely considered to be an important aspect of organizing and there are several reasons to suggest that managerial styles are of particular relevance in this context. However, there is a dearth of both theoretical and empirical work on leadership styles and their subsequent effects on middle managers’ organizational commitment, their job satisfaction, their communication and their managerial effectiveness. The aim of this paper is to report the findings of an empirical study exploring the relationship between four prominent models of leadership and the fundamental organizational features such as commitment, satisfaction, communication and effectiveness, regarding a variety of measures of variables such as the organizational structure (i.e. the type of branch) and the managers’ individual traits (i.e. the age, the education level). The results reveal that, the spectrum of four leadership styles containing basic characteristics, such as the type of branches, the age and educational level are inter-related with communication, commitment, satisfaction, and effectiveness.
Exchange Rate Volatility and International Trade In Nigeria

Volatile exchange rate makes international trade and investment decisions more difficult because volatility increases exchange rate risk. This study seeks to evaluate the impact of exchange rate volatility on international trade in Nigeria on the basis of annual data from 1980 to 2013, which was obtained from World Bank Development Indicators (WDI). Exchange rate volatility, gross national product (GDP), investment, interest rate, import and export were used to capture the causal relationship between exchange rate volatility and international trade and also the long-run and short-run relationship between exchange rate volatility and international trade. A review of the literature reveals that exchange rate volatility has a negative impact on international trade. The empirical analysis began with testing for stationarity of the variables by applying the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), this was followed by co-integration test, then the granger causality and the Error Correction Model (ECM). The co-integration test indicated that the variables are co-integrated which implies that a long-run relationship exist between the variables while the granger causality test showed that a causal relationship exist between international trade and exchange rate volatility. It was observed form the ECM analysis that exchange rate volatility negatively affects international trade. The study therefore recommend that the government should put in place exchange rate and trade policies that will promote greater exchange rate stability and trade conditions that will promote domestic production in the economy. In other to achieve this, the government should provide efficient infrastructural services like energy resources.
Conference on International Research on Food Security, Natural Resource Management and Rural Development Effect of Garlic (Allium sativum) Supplementation in Diets of Broilers on Productive Performance, Meat Cholesterol and Sensory Quality.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of garlic (Allium sativum) supplementation in diets of broiler as a replacement antibiotic on productive performance and meat acceptability test. Three hundred and twenty, one-day-old chicks were randomly allocated to 4 groups consisting of 4 replications with 20 chicks. The groups were assigned to receive the treatment diet as follows: balanced diet with 0.01% antibiotic (T1), balanced diet supplemented with 0.7% garlic powder (T2), balanced diet supplemented with 1% garlic powder (T3) and balanced diet supplemented with 1.3% garlic powder (T4). The balanced diet was formulated according to the growing period; 0-3 weeks, 3-6 weeks. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in feed intake and weight gain and FCR across treatment was observed in this study. The garlic supplementation treatment tended to have higher weight gain compared to the treatment supplementation with 0.01% antibiotic. A slightly better FCR was also observed in all garlic supplementation treatment compared to the treatment supplementation with 0.01% antibiotic. The mortality rate of the broilers in treatment 1, 2, 3 and 4 was 0, 3.5, 5 and 3.5%; respectively. In term of carcass quality, there were no significant difference (P>0.05) in abdominal fat, meat cholesterol among treatment. To evaluate the sensory quality, the 9- point Hedonic Scale was used. The result showed no significant (P>0.05) differences in an overall liking of meat among treatment. It was suggested that replacing of garlic powder for antibiotic growth promoter could maintain productive performance of broiler and have no effect on sensory quality.
Forecasting Births Using Google

Monitoring fertility change is particularly important for policy and planning purposes. New data may help us in this monitoring. We propose a new leading indicator based on Google web-searches. We then test its predictive power using US data. In a deep out-of sample comparison we show that popular time series specifications augmented with websearch-related data improve their forecasting performance at forecast horizons of 6 to 24 months. The superior performance of these augmented models is confirmed by formal tests of equal forecast accuracy and superior predictive ability. Moreover, our results survive a falsification test and are confirmed also when a forecast horse race is conducted using different out-of-sample tests, and at the state rather than at the federal level. Conditioning on the same information set, the forecast error of our best model for predicting 2009 births is 35% lower than the Census bureau projections. Our findings indicate the potential use of Googe web-searches in monitoring fertility change and in informing fertility forecasts.
Global Stabilization of High-Order Time-Delay Nonlinear Systems under a Weaker Condition

Under the weaker condition on the system growth, this paper further investigates the problem of global stabilization by state feedback for a class of high-order nonlinear systems with time-varying delays. By skillfully using the homogeneous domination approach, a continuous state feedback controller is successfully designed, which preserves the equilibrium at the origin and guarantees the global asymptotic stability of the resulting closed-loop system. A simulation example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design procedure.
Temporal evolution of low‐flow regimes in Canadian rivers

This study investigates temporal evolution of 1‐, 7‐, 15‐, and 30‐day annual and seasonal low‐flow regimes of pristine river basins, included in the Canadian reference hydrometric basin network (RHBN), for three time frames: 1974–2003, 1964–2003, and 1954–2003. For the analysis, the RHBN stations are classified into three categories, which correspond to stations where annual low flows occur in winter only, summer only, and both summer and winter seasons, respectively. Unlike in previous studies for the RHBN, such classification is essential to better understand and interpret the identified trends in low‐flow regimes in the RHBN. Nonparametric trend detection and bootstrap resampling approaches are used for the assessment of at‐site temporal trends under the assumption of no persistence or short‐term persistence (STP). The results of the study demonstrate that previously suggested prewhitening and trend‐free prewhitening approaches, for incorporating the effect of STP on trend significance, are not adequate for reliably identifying trends in low‐flow regimes compared to a simple bootstrap‐based approach. The analyses of 10 relatively longer records reveal that trends in low‐flow regimes exhibit fluctuating behavior, and hence, their temporal and spatial interpretations appear to be sensitive to the time frame chosen for the analysis. Furthermore, under the assumption of long‐term persistence (LTP), which is a possible explanation for the fluctuating behavior of trends, many of the significant trends in low‐flow regimes, noted under the assumption of STP, become nonsignificant and their field significance also disappears. Therefore correct identification of STP or LTP in time series of low‐flow regimes is very important as it has serious implications for the detection and interpretation of trends.
Algae Proliferation on Substrates Immersed in Biologically Treated Sewage

Due fast biomass production, high affinity for N and P and possibilities to CO2 sequestration microalgae are currently in the spotlight, especially in renewable energy technologies sector. The majority of studies focus their attention on microalgae cultivation with respect to biomass production. Fuel produced from algal biomass can contribute to reducing consumption of conventional fossil fuels and be a remedy for a rising energy crisis and global warming induced by air pollution. Some authors opt for possibilities of using sewage as a nutrient medium in algae cultivation. Other scientists go one step further and present concepts to introduce microalgal systems as an integral part of wastewater treatment plants. High costs of different microalgal harvesting methods caused introduction of the idea of algae immobilization in a form of periphyton on artificial substrates. In the present study the attention has focused on possibilities of using waste materials as substrates to proliferation of periphyton in biologically treated sewage that contained certain amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus.