Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statutory regulations of dead animal carcass disposal in Nigeria: A case study of Enugu State

The present study examined the statutory regulations governing the disposal of dead animal carcasses in Nigeria. A detailed literature review of the criminal code (Cap 77 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990), Animal Diseases (control) Act [Cap 18 LFN1990 and a structured interview of 120 livestock farmers in Enugu State of Nigeria was carried out. The Criminal Code and Animal Diseases (control) Act have numerous provisions that offer protection to live animals from being deliberately infested with disease and in the case of death strictly specifies the manner in which such dead animal carcass shall be disposed. Results obtained from the structured interview shows that 87% of farmers interviewed dispose dead young/immature animal carcasses by burning their carcass, whereas 13% resort to burying. The carcasses of matured dead animals are offered to the unsuspecting consumer as meat. Enforcement of the relevant provision of the statutes mentioned above is practically not in place. No prosecution of any offender of the provisions of these statues is known. It is concluded that whereas there are enabling statutory provisions that clearly stipulates the manner in which dead animal carcass shall be disposed in Nigeria, what is obtainable in practice is totally in contrast with the provisions of the statutes.
Evidence of Prolonged Monitoring of Trauma Patients Admitted via Trauma Resuscitation Unit without Primary Proof of Severe Injuries

Introductio: Although management of severely injured patients in the Trauma Resuscitation Unit (TRU) follows evidence-based guidelines, algorithms for treatment of the slightly injured are limited. Methods: All trauma patients in a period of eight months in a Level I trauma center were followed. Retrospective analysis was performed only in patients ≥18 years with primary TRU admission, Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) ≤ 1, Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) ≤ 1 and Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≤3 after treatment completion and ≥24 h monitoring in the units. Cochran’s Q-test was used for the statistical evaluation of AIS and ISS changes in units. Results: One hundred and twelve patients were enrolled in the study. Twenty-one patients (18.75%) reported new complaints after treatment completion in the TRU. AIS rose from the Intermediate Care Unit (IMC) to Normal Care Unit (NCU) 6.2% and ISS 6.9%. MAIS did not increase >2, and no intervention was necessary for any patient. No correlation was found between computed tomography (CT) diagnostics in TRU and AIS change. Conclusions: The data suggest that AIS, MAIS and ISS did not increase significantly in patients without a severe injury during inpatient treatment, regardless of the type of CT diagnostics performed in the TRU, suggesting that monitoring of these patients may be unnecessary.
Heaviside-Based Morphological Filters for Topology Optimization

To ensure manufacturability and mesh independence in density-based topology optimization schemes, it is imperative to use restriction methods. This paper proposes a family of Heaviside-based morphological filters based on the morphology-based restriction schemes, namely open, close, open-close and close-open filters. In the proposed morphological filters, Heaviside projection filter plays the role of dilation filter and modified Heaviside projection filter acts as the erosion filter. They work as principle operators and then applied sequentially to form the close, open, close-open, and open-close filters. The proposed morphological filters are tested by the compliance minimization problem. Test results show that the proposed four filters are volume preserving, and the characteristics of each filter are discussed.
Age-related hearing loss and neuropathologic burden

Early age-related hearing loss may influence the boundaries between normal and pathologic cognitive aging. Recent epidemiologic data from large population-based studies have prompted the identification of age-related hearing loss as the most important modifiable risk factor for dementia in midlife.1,2 Age-related hearing loss results from a complex impairment mostly involving central auditory pathways in addition to senescence of the inner ear cells. Several pointers show a possible association between age-related central auditory processing disorder and the likelihood of developing dementia.2 The most plausible association is based on the dynamic interaction between auditory and cognitive processing. The evidence for a strong link between age-related central auditory processing disorder and cognition has led to the provocative term “the cognitive ear” that implies that other associative cortical areas process hearing functions in addition to the ear and the auditory cortex.3
Patterns of CAG repeat instability in the central nervous system and periphery in Huntington’s disease and in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1

Abstract The expanded HTT CAG repeat causing Huntington’s disease (HD) exhibits somatic expansion proposed to drive the rate of disease onset by eliciting a pathological process that ultimately claims vulnerable cells. To gain insight into somatic expansion in humans, we performed comprehensive quantitative analyses of CAG expansion in ~50 central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral postmortem tissues from seven adult-onset and one juvenile-onset HD individual. We also assessed ATXN1 CAG repeat expansion in brain regions of an individual with a neurologically and pathologically distinct repeat expansion disorder, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). Our findings reveal similar profiles of tissue instability in all HD individuals, which, notably, were also apparent in the SCA1 individual. CAG expansion was observed in all tissues, but to different degrees, with multiple cortical regions and neostriatum tending to have the greatest instability in the CNS, and liver in the periphery. These patterns indicate different propensities for CAG expansion contributed by disease locus-independent trans-factors and demonstrate that expansion per se is not sufficient to cause cell type or disease-specific pathology. Rather, pathology may reflect distinct toxic processes triggered by different repeat lengths across cell types and diseases. We also find that the HTT CAG length-dependent expansion propensity of an individual is reflected in all tissues and in cerebrospinal fluid. Our data indicate that peripheral cells may be a useful source to measure CAG expansion in biomarker assays for therapeutic efforts, prompting efforts to dissect underlying mechanisms of expansion that may differ between the brain and periphery.
Validation of a SCID mouse model for transfusion by concurrent comparison of circulation kinetics of human platelets, stored under various temperature conditions, between human volunteers and mice

Initial evaluation of new platelet (PLT) products for transfusion includes a clinical study to determine in vivo recovery and survival of autologous radiolabeled PLTs in healthy volunteers. These studies are expensive and do not always produce the desired results. A validated animal model of human PLTs in vivo survival and recovery used pre‐clinically could reduce the risk of failing to advance product development.
Walking Strategies and Performance Evaluation for Human-Exoskeleton Systems under Admittance Control

Lower-limb exoskeletons as walking assistive devices have been intensively investigated in recent decades. In these studies, intention detection and performance evaluation are important topics. In our previous studies, we proposed a disturbance observer (DOB)-based torque estimation algorithm and an admittance control law to shape the admittance of the human-exoskeleton system (HES) and comply with the user’s walking intention. These algorithms have been experimentally verified under the condition of no ground reaction force (GRF) in our previous studies. In this paper, we devised and integrated with the exoskeleton control system a sensing and communication module on each foot to measure and compensate for GRF. Rigorous theoretical analysis was performed and the sufficient conditions for the robust stability of the closed-loop system were derived. Then, we conducted level ground assistive walking repeatedly with different test subjects and exhaustive combinations of admittance parameters. In addition, we proposed two tractable and physically insightful performance indices called normalized energy consumption index (NECI) and walking distance in a fixed period of time to quantitatively evaluate the performance for different admittance parameters. We also compared the energy consumption for users walking with and without the exoskeleton. The results show that the proposed admittance control law reduces the energy consumption of the user during level ground walking.
Impact of hydrology and effluent quality on the management of woodchip pads for overwintering cattle. II. Effluent analysis and nutrient balance

SUMMARY Woodchip pads can be a sustainable alternative to the overwintering of stock on grassland or in conventional housing and can offer benefits in improved animal performance, improved health and environmentally sustainable options for the management of the effluent resulting from the animal excreta (dung, urine and rainfall over the pad). Detailed observations were made on effluent flow and quality from woodchip pads on two commercial farms in the UK, one in Powys (Wales) and the other in Leicestershire (England), over a period of 8 months in 2009/10. Flow data and hydrological characteristics, reported in the companion to the current paper (Jackson & Smith 2012), were combined with the results of effluent sample and soiled woodchip analyses, together with records of animal numbers and activity on the pads, to calculate nutrient fluxes and nutrient balances across the pad for defined periods. Nutrient balances showed that, of the estimated nutrient inputs in animal excreta deposited on the pad, only 0·05–0·10 of the N and P were contained in the effluent draining from the pad, with the rest (>0·90 of N and P inputs) retained in the solids accumulating in the surface layers of soiled woodchip, ‘spent timber residues’ (STR). The STR was similar in analysis to straw-based farmyard manure (FYM), high in organic N, and land spreading of this material should be managed in a similar way to FYM. It also appears suitable for application to grassland, except when based on coarse woodchips. These results confirm the hypothesis that the effluent draining from the pads should be considered as consistently similar to dirty water rather than slurry, as in the current rules associated with Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) in England and Wales.
Abortive seed development in Ulmus minor (Ulmaceae)

Three genotypes of field elm (Ulmus minor) were studied to determine the structural basis of seed abortion in this species. In the non-abortive control, P-VV1, the pattern of seed development is similar to many flowering plants. The embryo progresses through defined morphological stages leading to developmental arrest as the seed matures. Storage products are abundant within embryo cells. Endosperm development is similar to the nuclear type; however, a more extensive cellularization of the endosperm occurs prior to it being crushed by the expanding embryo. For the abortive genotypes, M-SF1 and V-JR1, abnormalities in endosperm development are found. This is judged by the early cellularization and the massive synthesis of the PAS-positive material in the cellular endosperm. In these abortive genotypes, embryo development is delayed and storage products failed to accumulate within embryo cells. After seed desiccation, no living embryo tissue remains within the seed coat in the abortive genotypes. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 145, 455–467.
Clinical and Epidemiological Features of 46 Children <1 Year Old With Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Wuhan, China: A Descriptive Study

Abstract The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has exceeded 10 million. However, little is known about the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 infants. We collected medical information of 46 confirmed patients (<1 year old) and retrospectively analyzed epidemiological history, clinical symptoms, and laboratory test results. The median age was 5 (interquartile range, 2–7) months. Sixteen cases had fever and 27 cases had cough. Moderate disease was present in 40 cases and cardiac injury occurred in 38 cases, following by liver dysfunction in 20 cases and lymphocytosis in no cases. Of all infant patients, 2 received invasive mechanical ventilation and 1 died with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.
Energy and amino acid content in phase 1 nursery diet: piglet performance and body chemical composition

It was evaluated the effects of metabolizable energy (ME) and digestible lysine (dLYS) densities on performance and body composition of weaned piglets. The study used 114 piglets weaned at 7.4 ± 0.80 kg, out of which 108 were allotted in the nursery and 6 were slaughtered on the weaning day to determine comparative data of body chemical composition. Six nutrients densities were stipulated from a previous study based on the highest nitrogen retention, maintaining the following ME:LYS relationship in the experimental diets: 3,390:1.291; 3,450:1.409; 3,650:1.411; 3,780:1.461; 3,940:1.507; and 4,109 kcal/kg ME:1.564% dLYS. The experimental diets were offered for 13 days when the piglets reached 12.986 ± 1.449 kg of body weight. The probable residual effects of nutritional density on the subsequent performance of the piglets were evaluated. At the end of initial phase 1, six piglets from each density were slaughtered to determine their chemical composition in body fractions and empty body. There was no significant influence of nutritional levels on the performance of the piglets at the end of the evaluation. The results of food conversion and body composition confirm the level indicated in the previous study, 4 g dLYS/Mcal of ME. The increase of energy and lysine densities confirms the need for a correct relationship among both of them to assure better performance of the piglets at the beginning of the growing phase.
Elephant feeding behaviour in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania*

Summary Elephants were observed in an area of woodland and bushland during two dry seasons and the intervening wet season. In the wet season elephants ate mainly grass while in the dry season they ate mainly woody browse. The quality of food eaten was higher in the wet season than in the dry. Most vegetation damage was caused in the dry season. Browsing bulls tended to move from plant to plant less frequently than did cows. There were within-season differences in the diversity of browse eaten, within-season and between-season variations in the use of individual tree and shrub species, and between-season differences in defaecation rates. Resume Des elephants ont ete observes dans une zone de forets et de buissons durant deux saisons seches et la saison des pluies intermediaire. Pendant la saison des pluies les elephants mangent principalement de l'herbe alors que pendant la saison seche ils mangent surtout des elements ligneux. La qualite de la nourriture prise en saison des pluies est meilleure qu'en saison sechre. Les plus grands degats causes a la vegetation le sont en saison seche. Les mâes qui se nourrissent ont tendance a aller d'une plante a l'autre moins souvent que ne le font les femelles. I1 ya a I'interieur d'une meme saison des differences dans la diversite des aliments choisis, des variations intra- et intersaisonnieres dans I'usage d'especes d'arbres et d'arbustes et des differences intersaisonnieres dans le rythme des defecations.
Effects of Time-Interval since Blood Draw and of Anticoagulation on Platelet Testing (Count, Indices and Impedance Aggregometry): A Systematic Study with Blood from Healthy Volunteers

Platelet count, indices (mean volume, young—immature platelet fraction) and aggregation are widely used laboratory parameters to investigate primary hemostasis. We performed a systematic, thorough evaluation of the influence of the time-interval since blood draw from 20 healthy individuals and of the anticoagulation of collected blood on such parameters. Blood was anticoagulated with citrate, K2-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and hirudin and analyzed 5, 30, 60, 120 and 180 min after blood draw. Multiple electrode aggregometry (MEA) was performed with either hirudin (half-diluted with NaCl) or citrate samples (half-diluted with NaCl or CaCl2 3 mM). Platelet count and indices (Sysmex XN-20) were rather stable over time with EDTA blood. MEA results were lower with citrate blood than with hirudin blood; supplementation with calcium was partially compensatory. MEA results were also lower when performed less than 30 or more than 120 min after blood draw. Platelet clumping, quantitatively estimated with microscope examination of blood smears, was more important in hirudin blood than citrate or EDTA blood and could explain some of the differences observed between preanalytical variables. The results stress once more the importance of preanalytical variables in hemostasis laboratory testing. Decision thresholds based on those tests are only applicable within specific preanalytical conditions.
Lichens respond to heavy metals by phytochelatin synthesis

Summary • The main aims of this paper are to investigate: if widespread lichen species ( Xanthoria parietina , Physconia grisea and Physcia adscendens , collected in Italy and Poland) exposed to cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) synthesize phytochelatins; whether phytochelatins are synthesized by the heterotrophic fungus (mycobiont) or by the photosynthetic alga (photobiont), or by both of the partners; and if there are significant differences in phytochelatin production in the same lichen species growing at different latitudes. • In the lichens investigated, Cd, Pb and Zn induced the biosynthesis of phytochelatins (PC 2 , PC 3 and PC 4 ) and some DES-GLYCIL derivatives. However, only the photobiont partners (the green microalgae of the genus Trebouxia ) were capable of phytochelatin production and, by contrast, aposymbiotically grown mycobionts only produced glutathione. • The Cd-exposed lichens grown in Italy produced significantly larger amounts of phytochelatins than the same species grown in Poland. An opposite trend was observed in Pb-exposed lichens. • The trebouxioid lichens may gain an ecological advantage from their capability to counter heavy metal stress with prompt phytochelatin synthesis.
Skeletal and dentoalveolar effects using tooth-borne and tooth-bone-borne RME appliances: a randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate and compare the skeletal and dentoalveolar effects of tooth-borne (TB) and tooth-bone-borne (TBB) rapid maxillary expansion (RME). MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty-two consecutive patients who met the eligibility criteria were recruited and allocated to either the TB group, mean age 9.3 years [standard deviation (SD) 1.3], or the TBB group, mean age 9.5 years (SD 1.2). Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) records and plaster models were taken before (T0), directly after (T1), and 1 year after expansion (T2). Dentoalveolar and skeletal measurements were made on the CBCT images. The dental expansion was also measured on the plaster models. RANDOMIZATION Participants were randomly allocated in blocks of different sizes using the concealed allocation principle in a 1:1 ratio. The randomization list was also stratified by sex to ensure homogeneity between groups. BLINDING Due to clinical limitations, only the outcomes assessors were blinded to the groups to which the patients were allocated. RESULTS Skeletal expansion in the midpalatal suture and at the level of the nasal cavity was significantly higher in the TBB group. However, the magnitude of the expansion in the midpalatal suture was around 1 mm [95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 0.5-1.7, P = 0.001] more and perhaps not clinically significant. The magnitude of the expansion at the level of the nasal cavity was almost two times higher in the TBB group (95 per cent CI 0.7-2.6, P = 0.001). The dental expansion, alveolar bending, tipping of the molars, and stability 1 year post-expansion did not show any statistically significant differences between the groups. The actual direct cost of the treatment for the TBB group was approximately €300 higher than TB group. LIMITATIONS Double blinding was not possible due to the clinical limitations. CONCLUSIONS In young preadolescents with constricted maxilla and no signs of upper airway obstruction, it seems that conventional TB RME achieves the same clinical results with good stability 1 year post-expansion at lower cost. TRIAL REGISTRATION The trial was not registered.
Case for staged thyroidectomy

Recent modifications in the management of well‐differentiated thyroid cancer have resulted in significant alterations in clinical approach. Utilizing a series of preoperative and postoperative risk factors involving both the patient and the disease pathology, we offer the term “staged thyroidectomy” to help organize these risk factors for patients and the endocrine team to optimize management. This approach is intended to incorporate our latest nuanced understanding of certain endocrine pathology and may serve to optimize patient outcomes.
Rapid radiation and hybridization contribute to weak differentiation and hinder phylogenetic inferences in the New World Mallard complex (Anas spp.)

ABSTRACT Of the 13 taxa composing the Mallard complex, 4 occur in North America: the sexually monochromatic American Black Duck (A. rubripes), Mexican Duck (A. [platyrhynchos] diazi), and Mottled Duck (A. fulvigula), and the dichromatic Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). Although morphologically distinct, inferring the evolutionary relationships of this group is confounded by extensive genic sharing due to incomplete lineage sorting and ongoing hybridization. The objective of this study was to examine the underlying cause (i.e. incomplete lineage sorting vs. contemporary gene flow) of phylogenetic uncertainty. Whereas most taxa were fairly structured at mitochondrial DNA, a “starburst” pattern of divergence consistent with a rapid radiation was recovered with 17 nuclear introns. Furthermore, nuclear-based divergence estimates and tests of population structure recovered Florida and West Gulf Coast Mottled Ducks as well-differentiated and genetically diagnosable from each other and the remaining taxa, whereas Mallards, American Black Ducks, and Mexican Ducks were indistinguishable. In general, neither population structure analyses nor coalescent-based gene flow estimates conclusively identified the presence of hybrids or significant gene flow, suggesting that genetic similarity within the group is largely influenced by incomplete lineage sorting. However, we also cannot reject potentially high levels of gene flow. Moreover, inconsistent relationships among species trees indicated that phylogenetic results were sensitive to which individuals were included. Taxa within the New World group are phenotypically distinguishable, yet genetically similar and seemingly lack the apparent reproductive isolation that is consistent with early stages of (incomplete) speciation. Future work should focus on genomic regions under selection to better understand the stage of speciation among the various incipient forms.