Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ameliorative potential of vitamin E on the impact of dietary fumonisin B1 on reproductive performance of female rabbits

Fumonisin B_1 (FB_1), a contaminant of agricultural products, particularly maize worldwide is known to be consumed by farm animals and has been documented to cause various physiological responses in animals. A 15-week trial on the ameliorative potential of vitamin E on the negative impacts of FB_1 on reproductive performance of rabbits was conducted. Forty-nine female rabbits aged 16 to 18 weeks weighing 1.65 to 2.0 kg body weight were assigned to seven experimental feeding groups: the control group received a diet without FB_1, three groups were fed diets containing different concentrations of FB_1 at 2.5, 5.0 or 7.5 mg kg^(−1), and three further groups had diets containing FB_1 and vitamin E i.e., 2.5 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) + 100 mg vitamin E, 5.0 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) + 100 mg vitamin E, and 7.5 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) + 100 mg vitamin E. Data obtained on reproductive parameters - gestation length, litter size, kit weight as well as the kit crown-rump length, were analysed using ANOVA. Serum reproductive hormones - luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin, prostaglanding F_2α (PGF_2α), and estradiol (E_2) levels in rabbits fed diets containing 7.5 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) were significantly lower than those for all other treatments. Rabbits fed diets containing >= 5 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) had significantly (p =5.0 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) were significantly (p<0.05) lower than the weight gain observed in the other treatment groups. Does fed diets supplemented with vitamin E had significantly (p<0.05) higher milk yield compared with does on not supplemented diets, including the control. This study has shown that vitamin E supplementation of does counteracts the adverse impacts of FB 1 on reproductive hormones, gestation length, kit weight, and milk production in rabbits.
An Unequal Clustering Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

Prolonging the lifetime of wireless sensor networks has always been a determining factor when designing and deploying such networks. Clustering is one technique that can be used to extend the lifetime of sensor networks by grouping sensors together. However, there exists the hot spot problem which causes an unbalanced energy consumption in equally formed clusters. In this paper, we propose UHEED, an unequal clustering algorithm which mitigates this problem and which leads to a more uniform residual energy in the network and improves the network lifetime. Furthermore, from the simulation results presented, we were able to deduce the most appropriate unequal cluster size to be used.
FOR THE DEGREE OF LICENTIATE OF ENGINEERING Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Economic Development Experiences from Eastern Africa

Entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development became an item on the development aid agenda in the years after World War II. After having fallen out of fashion, it returned in the 1980s, when the fallacies of other economic development interventions had become apparent. The notion that entrepreneurship is a key for economic growth is today an important part of national development strategies in both developed and developing countries. As a means of introducing a more organized approach to entrepreneurship and a model of encouraging it, business incubator initiatives are established in developing countries. Such initiatives are intended to diversify economies, commercialize technologies and to create jobs and wealth. This thesis focuses on how entrepreneurs are supported through business incubators and discusses some implications of business incubator initiatives in developing countries. Research has previously shown that there is unclarity regarding the effectiveness of certain interventions, such as business incubators, on economic development. A deeper understanding of business incubation initiatives as means for economic development is therefore motivated. The research underlying this thesis was conducted on a single case in a village in Uganda. Here, students from Sweden aimed to establish a business incubator, starting in 2007. A study of this social entrepreneurship project was performed during 2009 and 2010. Data collection methods have included semi-structured interviews and participant observation and have been complemented by a literature study. The thesis considers issues related to how entrepreneurship and specifically business incubation is utilized as a tool for economic development. It contributes to the literature by discussing how and under what conditions it is valuable to translate the concept of business incubation from the developed to the developing world. It furthermore suggests that mobilization of entrepreneurship may be more fruitful than attempts to create it, and posits that project initiators need awareness of the risk of falling into ethnocentric perspectives. Based on the findings, areas for possible further research are outlined and discussed. The text thus points to two other possible areas for further enquiry: first, alternative forms of business incubation and alternatives to business incubation as a tool for economic development; secondly, the relation between entrepreneurship initiatives and other activities supporting economic development. The research is aimed at contributing to the knowledge around social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development.
VARIATIONS IN THE PRECURSORS OF PLAIN BLACK TEA QUALITY PARAMETERS DUE TO LOCATION OF PRODUCTION AND NITROGEN FERTILIZER RATES IN EASTERN AFRICAN CLONAL TEA LEAVES

SUMMARY Theaflavins contribute to astringency and brightness while thearubigins contribute to colour and mouth feel of black tea. Green leaf flavan-3-ols influence levels and distribution of theaflavins and thearubigins in black tea and are black tea quality precursor compounds. Caffeine also contributes to tea quality. Although location of production and nitrogenous fertilizer rates influence black tea quality, it is not known if the variations arise from the levels and distribution of the precursor compounds in green leaf or other factors. The variations and distribution of the flavan-3-ols and caffeine in young green leaves of clone TRFK 6/8 due to nitrogen fertiliser rates in seven locations within Eastern Africa were evaluated. Green leaf comprising two leaves and a bud were harvested from each plot, and subjected to HPLC analysis for caffeine, total polyphenol, dihydroxyflavan-3-ols, trihydroxyflavan-3-ols, ratios of trihydroxyflavan-3-ols to dihydroxyflavan-3-ols and total catechins levels. Results were subjected to statistical analysis using split plot design, with locations as main treatments and nitrogen rates as the sub-treatment. Caffeine and flavan-3-ols levels changed (p ≤ 0.05) with location of production, demonstrating that even with use of same cultivar and similar agronomic management quality of tea from one location cannot be replicated in another location. Caffeine levels increased (p ≤ 0.05) with rise in nitrogen fertilizer rate in all locations, but the extent depended on location. Total polyphenols and individual flavan-3-ols showed an inverse quadratic response, except EGCG that linearly decreased (p ≤ 0.05) in some locations, due to increasing rates of nitrogen fertilizer. Similar responses in the black tea quality parameters had been observed in previous studies. The black tea quality results were therefore directly influenced by the green leaf precursor compound patterns. Region specific nitrogenous fertilizer rates need development to ensure high tea quality.
Drug Avoidance Self Efficacy Scale (DASES): A cultural adaptation and validation study

Abstract Background: Drug avoidance self efficacy has always been an important issue in substance abuse treatment and its important has emphasized in specific models of addiction. This study describes the process of cultural adaptation, validation and dimensionality of the Persian version of “Drug Avoidance Self Efficacy Scale”. Methods: Cultural adaptation process followed the procedure outlined by Beaton et al. Psychometric properties and dimensionality of the scale were assessed using sample of Iranian addicts (n = 317). The DASES was subject to independent exploratory (n = 157, mean age 29.40 ± 7.26) and confirmatory (n = 160, mean age 27.99 ± 5.70) factor analysis. Internal consistency of the questionnaire also was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. Results: There was no eliminated item in the cultural adaptation process. Results of exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor 14-item structure for the DASES. Secondary order, two-factor model provided a good statistical and conceptual fit for the data. The analysis of internal consistency of DASES was very satisfactory (α = 0.809). Conclusions: Although culturally adapted DASES is a potentially reliable and valid measure of substance users’ perceptions of avoidance self-efficacy, the findings should be viewed as preliminary in nature. Future research needs to determine to what extent substance users’ perceptions of avoidance self efficacy impact on treatment outcomes.
DYSGLYCEMIA-BASED CHRONIC DISEASE: AN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGISTS POSITION STATEMENT.

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) has created a dysglycemia-based chronic disease (DBCD) multimorbidity care model consisting of four distinct stages along the insulin resistance-prediabetes-type 2 diabetes (T2D) spectrum that are actionable in a preventive care paradigm to reduce the potential impact of T2D, cardiometabolic risk, and cardiovascular events. The controversy of whether there is value, cost-effectiveness, or clinical benefit of diagnosing and/or managing the prediabetes state is resolved by regarding the problem, not in isolation, but as an intermediate stage in the continuum of a progressive chronic disease with opportunities for multiple concurrent prevention strategies. In this context, stage 1 represents "insulin resistance," stage 2 "prediabetes," stage 3 "type 2 diabetes," and stage 4 "vascular complications. " This model encourages earliest intervention focusing on structured lifestyle change. Further scientific research may eventually reclassify stage 2 DBCD prediabetes from a predisease to a true disease state. This position statement is consistent with a portfolio of AACE endocrine disease care models, including adiposity-based chronic disease, that prioritize patient-centered care, evidence-based medicine, complexity, multimorbid chronic disease, the current health care environment, and a societal mandate for a higher value attributed to good health. Ultimately, transformative changes in diagnostic coding and reimbursement structures for prediabetes and T2D can provide improvements in population-based endocrine health care. Abbreviations: A1C = hemoglobin A1c; AACE = American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists; ABCD = adiposity-based chronic disease; CVD = cardiovascular disease; DBCD = dysglycemia-based chronic disease; FPG = fasting plasma glucose; GLP-1 = glucagon-like peptide-1; MetS = metabolic syndrome; T2D = type 2 diabetes.
Beyond the marginalisation thesis: evaluating participation in informal sector entrepreneurship

This paper evaluates which entrepreneurs participate in the informal sector. Until now, the dominant view has been that entrepreneurs from marginalised groups benefiting least from the formal sector are more likely to do so. To evaluate this marginalisation thesis, we report a 2013 survey of 11 central and east European countries involving 707 face-to-face interviews with entrepreneurs about their participation in the informal sector. Using logistic regression analysis, the finding is that the marginalisation thesis applies when examining characteristics such as the household financial circumstances and age of entrepreneurs engaged in the informal sector. However, when gender variations are analysed, the thesis is negatively confirmed. Meanwhile, no association is found when analysing characteristics such as the educational level, social class and area inhabited. The outcome is a call to move beyond the marginalisation thesis and towards a more nuanced understanding of which entrepreneurs participate in the informal sector.
Bioactivity of Purple Yam Tuber (Dioscorea alata L.) on the Level of CD8+and CD8+CD462L+ T cells and Histology of Liver in BALB/c Mice Model of Digestive Allergy

Purple yam tuber ( Dioscorea alata L.) is a family of Dioscoreaceae containing diosgenin which is known as immunomodulatory agent. This study aimed to understand the quantitative changes of naive and activated memory of T cells on mice model of digestive allergy after orally treated with ethanol extract of purple yam tuber. In this experiment, architecture of hepar histopathology is also observed. Ethanol extract of purple yam tuber with three doses of 0.167 g/kg bw (U1), 2.008 g/kg bw (U2), and 10.039 g/kg bw (U3) are applied. Data were analyzed using One-way ANOVA (p <0.05) and Tukey test using SPSS 16.0 for Windows. Ethanol extract of purple yam tuber triggers the immunocompetent activity of T cells in mice model of digestive allergy. The result showed that the number of memory type T cells in mice model of digestive allergy decreased in lower dose (0.167 g/kg bw (U1). However, the number of naive T cells, CD8 + CD62L + in mice with digestive allergy after administration of purple yam tuber ethanol extract increased significantly in lower dose (0.167 g/kg bw (U1) compared with positive control (OVA). Dose variations of extract ethanol of purple yam tuber (0.167 g/kg bw) has a significantly effect to shift the T cell status from memory to naive. Keywords: Digestive allergy, Dioscorea alata L. , histopathology, immunomodulatory, subset T cells
La Cantalera: an exceptional window onto the vertebrate biodiversity of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Iberian Peninsula

La Cantalera is an accumulation site for fossil vertebrates consisting mainly of teeth and isolated postcranial remains. It has the greatest vertebrate biodiversity of any site from the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Iberian Peninsula. Up to now, 31 vertebrate taxa have been recognized: an osteichthyan (Teleostei indet.), two amphibians (Albanerpetonidae indet. and Discoglossidae indet.), a chelonian (Pleurosternidae? indet.), a lizard (Paramacellodidae? indet.), four crocodylomorphs (cf. Theriosuchus sp., Bernissartiidae indet., Goniopholididae indet., cf. Lisboasaurus sp.), two pterosaurs (Istiodactylidae? indet., Ornithocheiridae? indet.), four ornithopod dinosaurs (Iguanodontoidea indet., Hadrosauroidea? indet., “Hypsilophodontidae” indet., Rhabdodontidae? indet.), a thyreophoran (Polacanthidae indet.), a sauropod (Euhelopodidae indet.), eleven theropods (Carcharodontosauridae? indet., Baryonychinae indet., aff. Paronychodon sp., Maniraptora indet. 1-3, Dromaeosaurinae indet. 1-3, Velociraptorinae indet., Avialae? indet.) and three or four multituberculate mammals (Cantalera abadi, Eobaatar sp., Plagiaulacidae or Eobaataridae gen. et sp. indet., “Plagiaulacida” indet.). Nine ootaxa have also been distinguished at the site of La Cantalera. Oofamilies assigned to dinosaurs (Elongaloolithidae, Prismatoolithidae, cf. Spheroolithidae), to crocodiles (Krokolithidae) and eggshells of two oofamilies incertidae sedis are represented. This association is consistent with the record of bone and tooth remains from the site. La Cantalera was formed in a marshy environment where there was an intermittent body of water. The great majority of the vertebrate fossil remains lack evidence of transport, so the preserved association is a good representation of the vertebrate ecosystem in or around the marshy area of La Cantalera. The vertebrate association of La Cantalera displays certain differences with respect to those from lacustrine environments of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition of the Iberian Range. These differences include, for example, the absence of Chondrichthyes, the merely token presence of the osteichthyans, the scarcity of chelonians, the presence of exclusively multituberculate mammals, the lower diversity of sauropods and the greater diversity of theropods.
Application of a Series of Continuously Fed Aerated Tank Reactors System for Recycling of Swine Slurry Nutrients

Single tank aeration systems operated in batch mode or sequential batch reactors based on intermittent aeration are generally applied for swine manure treatment in order to reduce nutrient content and odor. This study evaluated the feasibility of aerobic biological treatment conducted in a serial arrangement of continuously fed aerated tank reactors configuration with swine slurry on a pilot-scale. Compared to municipal wastewater treatment swine slurry rich in nutrients and solids requires different treatment standards for the applied methods to be economically and ecologically relevant. This study presents a sequential process scheme, in which biological treatment serves as a means of achieving a pH raise. This makes it possible to separate part of the nitrogen by stripping and enhances slurry precipitating/coagulation characteristics without substantial carbon or nitrogen loss in gaseous form (which is the opposite to that in a conventional active sludge process). The system was run with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of three to four days (whole system), and a feedback of 0.8±0.2. During treatment, total organic carbon (TOC) reduction varied between 2.4% and 14.6% and the total nitrogen concentration change was less than 3%. Nearly 50% of the total phosphorus was reduced. The results indicated that the odor of liquid manure had decreased efficiently at best to a level at which there was no odor or only very faint odor. Concurrently, manure pH rose to 8.7.
Characteristic analysis of looseness-rubbing coupling fault in dual-disk rotor system

For the looseness-rubbing coupling fault rotor-bearing system caused by pedestal looseness, the mechanical model and finite element model of dual-disk triad-supported looseness-rubbing coupling fault rotor-bearing system were established in this paper. The research of dynamics characteristics about the effect of rubbing stiffness and looseness stiffness on the system was done with equivalent stiffness model on the loose support, nonlinear finite element method, contact theory and the wavelet packet decomposition principle. It was demonstrated that alternating high and low peaks exist in the time domain while the trapezoidal shape appears in the orbit diagram of the signal. It was also found that the double frequency (2X) has a high energy distribution in the vibration signal. It could be used as fault frequency band of the looseness-rubbing coupling fault. These two characteristics (trapezoidal shape and double frequency) could serve as a basis in diagnosing looseness-rubbing coupling fault.
Researching UK Women Professionals in SET: A Critical Review of Current Approaches

In the UK and elsewhere, progress and achievements in tackling the under-representation of women in science, engineering and technology (SET) are far outweighed by the investment in this area in terms of both research and initiatives. The authors attempt to explain this by presenting a critical analysis of the development of research on women professionals in SET. This critique is structured around four approaches identified in the literature: essentialist constructions of science and gender; barriers facing women professionals in SET; the assimilation of women in SET; and the business case for change. It is argued that existing research in the field does not always offer practical solutions for change and has a tendency to situate women as part of the problem. It concludes that future research and solutions must be multi-faceted, evidence-based and policy oriented if equality is to be perceived not only as a ‘women’s issue’ and real cultural change is to be instigated in the sector.
Bird Species Sensitivity in a Fragmented Landscape of the Atlantic Forest in Southern Brazil 1

I tested whether terrestrial/understory habits, large body sizes, low tolerance to edge or to matrix habitat, and food/habitat specialization are characteristics of the most vulnerable bird species based on point counts conducted in 14 forest fragments in northern Paraná, southern region of the Brazilian Atlantic forest. In addition, the sensitivity level of each bird species to forest fragmentation in northern Paraná (high, medium, and low) was compared to the Viçosa region, another fragmented landscape of the Atlantic forest. Contrary to expectations, large body size and terrestrial/understory habits were not features clearly related to high sensitivity to forest fragmentation; but species with tolerance to edge did have lower sensitivity. I found also that specialized habitat/food were not good predictors of extinctions; the most specialized guilds, bamboo and vine‐tangle insectivores and trunk and twig insectivores, had a high number of species with low sensitivity. Patterns of sensitivity were compared for 75 bird species that occurred in both northern Paraná and Viçosa; higher incongruence occurred for 14 and 7 species considered as highly sensitive in Viçosa but were of medium or low sensitivity, respectively, in northern Paraná. These differences may occur because sensitivity to habitat fragmentation may vary from the center to the periphery of a species' geographic range. Geographic variation in patterns of sensitivity to forest fragmentation may be important for conservation planning.
Persistent organic pollutants in river food webs: influence of trophic position and degree of heterotrophy

We investigated how the degree of autotrophy/heterotrophy and organism trophic position influenced the bioaccumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 10 benthic river food webs consisting of terrestrial detritus, periphyton, invertebrates, and age-0 brown trout (Salmo trutta) in southern Sweden. Concentrations of PCBs increased with trophic position, estimated from δ 15 N and δ 13 C, on a dry weight basis (ng·g -1 dry weight) but not on a lipid weight basis (ng·g -1 lipid). PCB biomagnification factors between the first and second trophic levels (invertebrates/ periphyton and invertebrates/detritus) ranged between 0.3 and 2.3 and between the second and third levels (trout/inver- tebrates) between 0.3 and 2.0 on a lipid weight basis. The mean proportion of carbon ultimately derived from terres- trial sources, α, was 0.82 ± 0.19 for invertebrates and 0.67 ± 0.28 for trout. Contrary to our hypothesis, PCB concentrations in trout were positively related to α (r 2 = 0.58-0.77, p < 0.05). As α and the periphyton density (g Cm -2 ) in the rivers was positively related (r 2 = 0.88, p < 0.01), we propose that this relationship was due to an in- creased retention and exposure of PCBs to trout in rivers with low grazing pressure and high periphyton density. Resume : Nous avons determine dans quelle mesure le degre d'autotrophie/heterotrophie et la position trophique des organismes influencent la bioconcentration des biphenyls polychlores (BPC) dans 10 reseaux alimentaires benthiques de riviere comprenant le detritus terrestre, le periphyton, les invertebres et les truites brunes (Salmo trutta) d'âge 0 dans le sud de la Suede. Les concentrations de BPC augmentent en fonction de la position trophique lorsqu'elles sont estimees