Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tucumã Oil Shifted Ruminal Fermentation, Reducing Methane Production and Altering the Microbiome but Decreased Substrate Digestibility Within a RUSITEC Fed a Mixed Hay – Concentrate Diet

Tucumã oil is sourced from the fruit pulp of the tucumã tree and contains high concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids and carotenoids. Due to these properties it may have the potential to decrease enteric methane (CH4) from ruminants when included in the diet. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of oil mechanically extracted from the fruit pulp of tucumã on fermentation characteristics, CH4 production and the microbial community using the rumen stimulation technique. Treatments consisted of a control diet (forage:concentrate; 70:30), and tucumã oil included at 0.5 or 1.0% (v/v). Addition of tucumã oil linearly decreased (P < 0.01) dry matter disappearance. Total gas (mL/d) and carbon dioxide (CO2) production (mL/d, mL/g DM) were unaffected (P ≥ 0.36) to increasing addition of tucumã oil where 0.5% (v/v) of Tucumã oil numerically increased both variables. Acetate and butyrate percentages of total VFA were linearly decreased (P ≤ 0.01) and propionate and valerate percentages of total VFA were linearly increased (P < 0.01) by increasing concentrations of tucumã oil added to the substrate. The ratio of acetate to propionate was linearly decreased (P < 0.01) with increasing concentration of tucumã oil. Methane production (mL/d) was linearly decreased (P = 0.04) with increasing addition of tucumã oil to the substrate. Tucumã oil reduced the bacterial richness and diversity when included at 1.0% (v/v) in both solid- and liquid- associated microbes. The abundance of the genera Fibrobacter and Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group were decreased and Pyramidobacter, Megasphaera, Anaerovibrio, and Selenomonas were enriched by the addition of 1.0% tucumã oil. In conclusion, tucumã oil resulted in the favorable shift in fermentation products away from acetate toward propionate, decreasing the production of CH4 when tucumã oil was included at 1.0% (v/v), however, substrate digestibility was also inhibited. The rumen microbiota was also altered by the addition of tucumã oil.
The impact of self-esteem on the preferential processing of self-related information: Electrophysiological correlates of explicit self vs. other evaluation

Preferential processing of self-related information is a well-documented phenomenon on both the behavioral and neural levels. However, the impact of self-esteem on this self-preference has not been studied in a systematic way. Here, the electrophysiological correlates of explicit self-reflection were investigated in individuals with low (LSE) and high self-esteem (HSE). Participants evaluated trait adjectives in reference to the self or to an “other” person (close-other, famous) while EEG was recorded. The analysis of event-related potentials focused on the late positive component (LPC), which exhibits a fronto-central distribution and latency over 500 ms. In both LSE and HSE groups, the amplitudes of LPC were enhanced in the self condition when compared to control conditions (both close-other and famous). Crucially, LPC amplitudes in the HSE group were significantly higher than in the LSE group. Moreover, the self-preference effect, defined as the difference between amplitudes of LPC associated with the evaluation of words in relation to oneself vs. other people, was significantly higher in the HSE group than in the LSE group. Overall, our findings indicate that people with high self-esteem tend to engage in self-referential processing to a higher extent.
Attenuating Sulfidogenesis in a Soured Continuous Flow Column System With Perchlorate Treatment

Hydrogen sulfide production by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) is the primary cause of oil reservoir souring. Amending environments with chlorate or perchlorate [collectively denoted (per)chlorate] represents an emerging technology to prevent the onset of souring. Recent studies with perchlorate reducing bacteria (PRB) monocultures demonstrated that they have the innate capability to enzymatically oxidize sulfide, thus PRB may offer an effective means of reversing souring. (Per)chlorate may be effective by (i) direct toxicity to SRB; (ii) competitive exclusion of SRB by PRB; or (iii) reversal of souring through re-oxidation of sulfide by PRB. To determine if (per)chlorate could sweeten a soured column system and assign a quantitative value to each of the mechanisms we treated columns flooded with San Francisco bay water with temporally decreasing amounts (50, 25, and 12.5 mM) of (per)chlorate. Geochemistry and the microbial community structure were monitored and a reactive transport model was developed, Results were compared to columns treated with nitrate or untreated. Souring was reversed by all treatments at 50 mM but nitrate-treated columns began to re-sour when treatment concentrations decreased (25 mM). Re-souring was only observed in (per)chlorate-treated columns when concentrations were decreased to 12.5 mM and the extent of re-souring was less than the control columns. Microbial community analyses indicated treatment-specific community shifts. Nitrate treatment resulted in a distinct community enriched in genera known to perform sulfur cycling metabolisms and genera capable of nitrate reduction. (Per)chlorate treatment enriched for (per)chlorate reducing bacteria. (Per)chlorate treatments only enriched for sulfate reducing organisms when treatment levels were decreased. A reactive transport model of perchlorate treatment was developed and a baseline case simulation demonstrated that the model provided a good fit to the effluent geochemical data. Subsequent simulations teased out the relative role that each of the three perchlorate inhibition mechanisms played during different phases of the experiment. These results indicate that perchlorate addition is an effective strategy for both souring prevention and souring reversal. It provides insight into which organisms are involved, and illuminates the interactive effects of the inhibition mechanisms, further highlighting the versatility of perchlorate as a sweetening agent.
Novel Ultrasound System With Intelligent Compensation for High Precision Measurement of Thin Wall Tube

Ultrasound is widely used for measuring wall-thickness and diameter of tubes. All tubes are required to conduct the full profile of inspection to guarantee the quality by using an automatic nondestructive testing system. However, most of the current ultrasonic testing works were done under the stationary condition for both specimen and probes with limited detection area. There exist challenges for providing a precisely measurement by approaching an automatic ultrasonic testing with high-speed inspection while it suffers the influence from temperature change of the water, mechanical vibration, and tube deformation. In this paper, the spectral analysis of ultrasonic resonance was applied to measure the wall-thickness and diameter of the tubes. Besides, a novel intelligent compensation ultrasonic system with embedded strategy of self-organizing feature mapping artificial neural network is proposed to eliminate the interference under the condition of high-speed inspection. The experimental and comparison studies have been carried out. The corresponding results illustrate that the measurement precision of diameter and wall thickness can be effectively improved by using the proposed method.
The Relationship Between Psychological Contract Breach and Employees’ Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Mediating Effect of Organizational Cynicism and Work Alienation

Psychological contract breach (PCB) may trigger negative attitudes in employees and ultimately cause further negative behaviors. By drawing on social exchange theory, this study aims to explore the link between PCB and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) by focusing on the mediating role of organizational cynicism and work alienation. We administered a cross-sectional survey of 484 energy company front-line employees. The conceptual model was examined via structural equation modeling. The results suggested that organizational cynicism and work alienation sequentially mediated the relationship between PCB and CWB. This study elucidated the mechanisms underlying the relationship between PCB and CWB by introducing negative attitudes (i.e., organizational cynicism and work alienation) into the model, and offered further evidence that organizations should pay more attention to employees’ PCB and negative attitudes in order to reduce their CWB.
Changes in the Responsiveness of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis to Kisspeptin-10 Administration during Pubertal Transition in Boys

In human, no studies are available regarding changes in kisspeptin1 receptor (KISS1R) sensitivity during pubertal transition. In this study, healthy boys were classified into 5 Tanner stages of puberty (n = 5/stage). Human kisspeptin-10 was administered to boys at each Tanner stage and to adult men (n = 5) as an IV bolus for comparison. Serial blood samples were collected for 30 min pre- and 120 min post-kisspeptin injection periods at 30 min interval for measuring plasma LH and testosterone levels. There was insignificant effect of kisspeptin on LH and testosterone levels in boys of Tanner stages I–III. At Tanner stage IV, the effect of kisspeptin on plasma LH was insignificant. However, a paired t-test on a log-transformed data showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in mean peak post-kisspeptin testosterone level. In Tanner stage V, a significant (P < 0.05) increase was observed in mean post-kisspeptin peak LH level as compared to the mean basal LH value. Post-kisspeptin plasma testosterone levels were also significantly (P < 0.05) increased as compared to the pre-kisspeptin level in Tanner stage V. Our data suggest that sensitivity of KISS1R on GnRH neurons with reference to LH stimulation in boys develops during the later part of puberty reaching to adult level at Tanner stage V. This trial is registered with WHO International Clinical Trial Registration ID NCT03286517.
Prevalence, Potential Virulence, and Genetic Diversity of Listeria monocytogenes Isolates From Edible Mushrooms in Chinese Markets

Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular foodborne pathogen, is capable of causing listeriosis, such as meningitis, meningoencephalitis, and abortion. In recent years, the occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes in edible mushroom products has been reported in several countries. There are no guidelines for qualitative and quantitative detection of L. monocytogenes in mushroom products in China. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence and contamination level of L. monocytogenes in edible mushrooms in Chinese markets and to determine the antibiotic resistance and sequence types (STs) of these isolates to provide data for risk assessments. Approximately 21.20% (141/665) of edible mushroom samples were positive for L. monocytogenes, while 57.44% (81/141) of positive samples contained contamination levels of less than 10 MPN/g. The 180 isolates derived from positive samples belonged to serogroup I.1 (1/2a-3a, n = 111), followed by serogroup II.2 (1/2b-3b-7, n = 66), and serogroup III (4a-4c, n = 3). Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that over 95% of L. monocytogenes isolates were resistant to penicillin, ampicillin, oxacillin, and clindamycin, while over 90% were susceptible to 16 antibiotic agents, the mechanisms of resistance remain to be elucidated. According to multilocus sequencing typing, the 180 isolates represented 21 STs, one of which was identified for the first time. Interestingly, ST8 and ST87 were predominant in edible mushroom products, indicating that specific STs may have distinct ecological niches. Potential virulence profiles showed that most of the isolates contained full-length inlA genes, with novel premature stop codons found in isolate 2035-1LM (position 1380, TGG→TGA) and 3419-1LM (position 1474, CAG→TAG). Five isolates belonging to serogroup II.2 carried the llsX gene from Listeria pathogenicity island (LIPI)-3, present in ST224, ST3, and ST619; 53 (29.44%) harbored the ptsA gene from LIPI-4, presenting in ST3, ST5, ST87, ST310, ST1166, and ST619. Five potential hypervirulent isolates carrying all three of these virulence factors were identified, suggesting edible mushrooms may serve as possible transmission routes of potential hypervirulent L. monocytogenes, which may be of great public health concern to consumers. Based on our findings, the exploration of novel approaches to control L. monocytogenes contamination is necessary to ensure the microbiological safety of edible mushroom products.
Genomic biomarkers in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common non-cutaneous cancer among men in the United States. In the last decade there has been a rapid expansion in the field of biomarker assays for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment prediction in prostate cancer. The evidence base for these assays is rapidly evolving. With several commercial assays available at each stage of the disease, deciding which genomic assays are appropriate for which patients can be nuanced for physicians. In an effort to help guide these decisions in clinical practice, we aim to give an update on the current status of the biomarker field of prostate cancer.
Noradrenaline Increases mEPSC Frequency in Pyramidal Cells in Layer II of Rat Barrel Cortex via Calcium Release From Presynaptic Stores

Somatosensory cortex is innervated by afferents originating from the locus coeruleus which typically release noradrenaline. We tested if activation of presynaptic α1-adrenoceptors (AR) coupled to a Gq-mediated signaling cascade resulted in calcium (Ca2+) release from stores and thereby increased spontaneous transmitter release in rat barrel cortex. Adding 1–100 μM noradrenaline (NA) or 5 μM cirazoline (CO), a α1-AR specific agonist, to the standard artificial cerebrospinal fluid increased the frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSC) by 64 ± 7% in 51% of pyramidal cells in layer II (responders) with no effect on the amplitude. In 42 responders, the mEPSC frequency during control was significantly smaller (39 ± 2 vs. 53 ± 4 Hz) and upon NA exposure, the input resistance (Rin) decreased (9 ± 7%) compared to non-responders. Experiments using CO and the antagonist prazosin revealed that NA acted via binding to α1-ARs, which was further corroborated by simultaneously blocking β- and α2-ARs with propranolol and yohimbine, which did not prevent the increase in mEPSC frequency. To verify elements in the signaling cascade, both the phospholipase C inhibitor edelfosine and the membrane permeable IP3 receptor blocker 2-APB averted the increase in mEPSC frequency. Likewise, emptying Ca2+ stores with cyclopiazonic acid or the chelation of intracellular Ca2+ with BAPTA-AM prevented the frequency increase, suggesting that the frequency increase was caused by presynaptic store release. When group I metabotropic glutamate receptors were activated with DHPG, co-application of NA occluded a further frequency increase suggesting that the two receptor activations may not signal independently of each other. The increased mEPSC frequency in a subset of pyramidal cells results in enhanced synaptic noise, which, together with the reduction in Rin, will affect computation in the network.
Surrogate endpoints in early prostate cancer research

Clinical research into clinically-localized prostate cancer (PC) is a highly challenging environment. The protracted durations and large numbers required to achieve survival endpoints have placed much pressure on validating early surrogate endpoints. Further confounding is the predominance of deaths from causes other than PC. The analysis of multiple randomized clinical trials in early PC has shown MFS to be a robust surrogate for OS, using a contemporary analytic framework that identify patient-level and trial-level associations. This could potentially save around one year of trial follow-up in some therapies. Identification of a similarly robust surrogate at a substantially earlier timepoint remains a major challenge. Multiple biochemical indices based on PSA have been proposed in the literature, but all remain to be validated at the trial-level. Operationally, many of these indices have inherent biases such as immortal-time bias (ITB) and interval censoring that potentially weakens associations and the individual- or trial-level. The complexity of a failure definition can also impact the reliability of the derived outcomes. Confounding issues such as the impact of comorbidities leading to non-cancer deaths have been largely dealt with by their exclusion using cancer-specific endpoints and advanced statistical methods, while issues such as PSA “bounce” and recovery from androgen deprivation therapy remain important to account for in cohorts treated with radiotherapy. Several potential surrogate endpoints based on serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels show promising associations with PC-specific and overall survival (OS) in individual studies. Further large collaborative projects will continue to refine potential indices with these issues in mind, and explore the objective of an early surrogate of OS.
Cooperative Consensus Algorithm for Clock Synchronization in Wireless Sensor Networks

We propose a novel time synchronization algorithm based on cooperative-consensus that replaces one- by-one aggregation in a consensus approach with one-shot averaging of many node responses in the physical layer. Through simulation, the algorithm is shown to achieve both skew and offset compensation in a multi-hop wireless sensor network. The proposed algorithm has the capability (a) to significantly improve the convergence rate of consensus-based distributed time synchronization protocols (while keeping the computational complexity low) by employing concurrent cooperative transmission and (b) to reduce the time synchronization error by crossing the network in fewer hops. The proposed algorithm is compared with the Average TimeSynch (ATS) algorithm running a media access control (MAC) protocol based on the IEEE standard 802.15. 4 unslotted carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) for two root locations.
High-Accuracy Three-Dimensional Visible Light Positioning Systems Using Image Sensor

A 3D positioning method based on visible light communication is proposed. Compared to the previous methods, we only need three light emitting diodes (LEDs) with known coordinates to obtain the object position without the priori knowledge of the receiver's height and tile angle. The gradient descent method and vector method are used to obtain the coordinate and inclination of the object (i.e., camera). To validate the effectiveness of our methods, the relation of mean positioning error caused by the discrete camera sensor pixel and the system parameters (i.e., focal length of the camera, pixel density and height of the receiver) is analyzed. Simulation results show the quantization error is about 5 cm.
Prevalence of malaria and associated risk factors among asymptomatic migrant laborers in West Armachiho District, Northwest Ethiopia

Background Malaria is a febrile illness caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. It is prevalent in tropical and subtropical countries and becomes a challenge to a highly endemic area of Africa including Ethiopia. The West Armachiho district is a malaria-endemic lowland area where communities are experiencing hyperendemic malaria transmission. Objective The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria and the associated risk factors among asymptomatic migrant laborers in the West Armachiho district, Northwest Ethiopia. Materials and methods Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September to December 2016 on 385 migrant laborers selected by proportionate two-stage sampling method in Agricultural camps of the West Armachiho district. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data and risk factors. Capillary blood was collected for Giemsa-stained blood film examination to detect and identify Plasmodium parasites. Data were coded, entered, checked for completeness, and analyzed using SPSS version-20 statistical software. Multivariate logistic regression was used to asses significantly associated risk factors. A P-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results The prevalence of malaria was found to be 18.4% (n=71). Education level, home area or origin of migrant laborers, number of visits, outdoor sleeping, and bed net utilization were associated with the risk of malaria (P<0.05). Conclusion Malaria was high in this study area and associated with outdoor sleeping, number of visits, home area, and bed net utilization.
Effects of Mechanical Cycling on the Microstructure of SAC305 Lead Free Solder

Failures in solder joints are responsible for about 70% of failures in electronic systems. The most common failure mode is fatigue failure due to cyclic thermal loading (e.g. power switching) or cyclic mechanical loading (e.g. vibration). To better design electronic products more strategically for specific applications, it is important to understand the damage accumulation and failure mechanisms of lead-free solders under cyclic loading. However, there have been limited studies on how the microstructures of such solders evolve during cyclic loading. The main purpose of this study was to better understand the microstructural evolution and damage accumulation occurring in SAC305 lead free solder during the mechanical cycling that occurs during fatigue testing. Uniaxial test specimens were first prepared by reflowing solder in circular cross-section glass tubes with a controlled temperature profile. After reflow solidification, the samples were mechanically cycled (strain control) for various durations (e.g. 0, 50, 100, 200, 300 … cycles) representing various percentages of the fatigue life (Nf). The cycled samples were reflowed and polished using the industry standard procedures, and then the microstructures were examined using SEM and the microstructural evolution and damage accumulation were characterized. The SEM images were used to observe features like IMCs and the dendrite structure. The observed microstructure changes were correlated with the degradation of various mechanical properties (elastic modulus, ultimate strength, and creep rate) measured in our prior study. The initial experiments described above allowed us to understand the microstructure evolution taking place in an average sense since different samples (with different levels of cycling) were used for each of the microstructure images. To better visualize and understand the mechanisms of the evolution taking place, additional experiments were performed to examine a fixed region of a single sample subjected to mechanical cycling. An area near the center of the sample was polished, and a small region of interest within the polished area was marked by indents using a Nanoindenter. After various durations of cycling the sample was repeatedly examined using microscopy, and the time history of the microstructural evolution in the fixed region was determined.