Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Platelet Concentration for The Therapeutic Effect of Autologous Neutrophil-Reduced Platelet Rich Plasma in A Rat Model of Achilles Tendinopathy

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2 SUMMARY Background. Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is used for treatment of tendinopathy. Efficacy, however, is variable, possibly caused by differences in PRP platelet concentrations. In an animal model of tendinopathy, we determined if there was an optimal PRP platelet concentration. Methods. Tendinopathy was induced by collagenase injections into the Achilles tendons in rats. 10 days later, PRP at platelet concentrations of 50 (P50 group), 75 (P75 group), 100 (P100 group) and 150 × 104/μL (P150 group) or normal saline (control group) was injected into the tendons. To assess pain relief, spontaneous locomotor activity was measured for 12 hours at night. After 19 days, Achilles tendons were removed, and histological sections stained with hematoxylin-eosin or by TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling. Results. Activities in the P75 and P100 groups were significantly greater than in the P50, P150 and control groups. The numbers of microtears, laminations and apoptotic cells in tendons in the P75 and P100 groups were significantly fewer than in the P50, P150 and control groups. Conclusions. Pain relief and tendon repair were greatest in the P75 and P100 groups. In this rat model of tendinopathy, the optimal PRP platelet concentration in PRP was approximately a range of 75 to 100 × 104/μL.
Forage Yield and Nutritive Value of Cool-Season and Warm-Season Forages for Grazing Organic Dairy Cattle

The objective of this study was to compare the forage nutritive value of cool-season perennial grasses and legumes with that of warm-season annual grasses grazed by organic dairy cows. Two pasture systems were analyzed across the grazing season at an organic dairy in Morris, Minnesota. Pasture system 1 included perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), meadow bromegrass (Bromus riparius Rehmann), meadow fescue (Schedonorus pratensis (Huds.) P. Beauv), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), and chicory (Cichorium intybus L.). Pasture system 2 was a combination of system 1 and monocultures of warm-season grasses (sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench subsp. drummondii [Steud.]) and teff (Eragrostis tef L.)). Across the grazing season, forage yield was 39% greater for system 2 than system 1 due to greater forage yield during the summer. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were similar for cool-season and warm-season grasses. Warm-season grasses had greater forage yield during the summer months compared with cool-season grasses and legumes. The total tract NDF digestibility (TTNDFD) varied by month and year across the study for both pasture systems. Overall, weather may affect the forage nutritive value for both cool-season perennial grasses and legumes and warm-season annual grasses.
Identification and characterization of circRNAs encoded by MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2

Abstract The life-threatening coronaviruses MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-1/2) have caused and will continue to cause enormous morbidity and mortality to humans. Virus-encoded noncoding RNAs are poorly understood in coronaviruses. Data mining of viral-infection-related RNA-sequencing data has resulted in the identification of 28 754, 720 and 3437 circRNAs encoded by MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, respectively. MERS-CoV exhibits much more prominent ability to encode circRNAs in all genomic regions than those of SARS-CoV-1/2. Viral circRNAs typically exhibit low expression levels. Moreover, majority of the viral circRNAs exhibit expressions only in the late stage of viral infection. Analysis of the competitive interactions of viral circRNAs, human miRNAs and mRNAs in MERS-CoV infections reveals that viral circRNAs up-regulated genes related to mRNA splicing and processing in the early stage of viral infection, and regulated genes involved in diverse functions including cancer, metabolism, autophagy, viral infection in the late stage of viral infection. Similar analysis in SARS-CoV-2 infections reveals that its viral circRNAs down-regulated genes associated with metabolic processes of cholesterol, alcohol, fatty acid and up-regulated genes associated with cellular responses to oxidative stress in the late stage of viral infection. A few genes regulated by viral circRNAs from both MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 were enriched in several biological processes such as response to reactive oxygen and centrosome localization. This study provides the first glimpse into viral circRNAs in three deadly coronaviruses and would serve as a valuable resource for further studies of circRNAs in coronaviruses.
The Importance of Organic Content to Fractal Floc Properties in Estuarine Surface Waters: Insights From Video, LISST, and Pump Sampling

To better understand the nature of flocs of varying organic content in estuarine surface waters, LISST, video settling, and pump sampling were deployed in the York River estuary. A new in-situ method was developed to simultaneously solve for floc fractal dimension (F), primary particle size (dp), and primary particle density (ρp) by fitting a simple fractal model to observations of effective floc density (Δρ) as a function of floc diameter (df) while ensuring the integrated particle size distribution was consistent with measurements of bulk apparent density (ρa). When fractal fits were statistically justified, application of the above methods showed the bulk fraction of organic matter (forg) to be well correlated to multiple floc properties. As forg increased, dp and ρa also increased, while ρp, total suspended solids (TSS), and median floc size decreased. Notably for microflocs, neither F nor Δρ was significantly related to either forg or TSS. This indicates that organic matter may partially displace water content within microflocs without fundamentally changing the flocs’ inorganic structure. When pooling multiple samples, a marked decrease in F was seen at the transition to macroflocs, and most strongly for high forg cases. This suggested that settling velocities ≥ ~ 1 mm/s may produce turbulent stresses that tend to tear macroflocs apart. This study also found that when fractal theory held, ρp had a near 1:1 correlation with the bulk dry density of filtered TSS, implying that primary particles are tightly bound aggregates of combined mineral and organic components.
Seasonal and meridional variations of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the lower troposphere of the northern and southern hemispheres

Systematic collection of air samples over the Pacific Ocean was begun in March 1982 on board a container ship sailing between Japan and Australia. A current picture of seasonal and meridional variations of lower tropospheric C0 2 was derived from the measurement of these samples and supplementary information from several other observational programs. It was concluded that: (1) the amplitude of the seasonal variation was about 15 ppmv in high and mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere and decreased southward to low values of about 1 ppmv in the southern hemisphere; (2) the maximum and minimum concentrations of the seasonal variation in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere appeared early in April and in mid-August, respectively, and their occurrences were delayed gradually southward and northward from that latitude; (3) the annual mean C0 2 concentration was high in the midnorthern hemisphere, decreased gradually southward to low values in the mid-southern hemisphere and increased slightly again in the Antarctic region, the concentration difference between the mid-northern hemisphere and the Antarctic region being about 3 ppmv; (4) the year-to-year changes of annual mean CO 2 concentrations in all latitudes covered by this measurement were 1.3 and 1.7 ppmv yr -1 , for 1982-1983 and 1983-1984, respectively. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0889.1987. tb00268.x
Information literacy challenges in digital culture: conflicting engagements of trust and doubt

ABSTRACT The ability of citizens to establish the credibility of information and information sources through critical assessment is often emphasized as essential for the upholding of a democratic society and for people’s health and safety. Drawing on material-discursive conceptualizations, the article asks, how does critical assessment of information and information sources play out as it is folded into a networked information infrastructure in which different types of information are mediated and shaped by the same algorithms and flattened into the same interfaces? The empirical material comprises dyadic interviews with 61 adolescents. The interviews were analysed using an interpretative approach focusing on the construction of action and meaning. The analysis foregrounds trust and agency as two dimensions. This way normative assumptions become visible as stereotypes, sometimes positioned as ideals towards which to strive, other times as deterrent examples: the non-evaluator, the naïve evaluator, the skeptical evaluator and the confident evaluator. The created stereotypes help to comprehend different understandings of critical assessment of information and how these can bring about different actions. The article argues that critical assessment of information as an element in media and information literacy must be understood not just in relation to how it is used to assess the credibility of information, but also regarding how it is performatively enrolled in the shaping of knowledge and in the creation of ignorance and doubt.
Liquid-Solid Mass Transfer Behavior of a Vertical Array of Closely Spaced Horizontal Tubes in Relation to Catalytic and Electrochemical Reactor Design

The rates of mass transfer at a vertical array of closely spaced horizontal tubes were measured by the limiting-current technique under single-phase flow, gas sparging and two-phase flow. The single-phase flow data were correlated by the equation: Sh = 0.75 Sc0.33 Re0.59. The gas sparging data with no net solution flow were correlated by the equation: J = 0.31(Reg.Fr)–0.22. For two-phase flow, the gas flow was found to enhance the rate of array mass transfer by a factor ranging from 1.25 to 5.25, depending on Reg and Re. The enhancement ratio increases with decreasing Re and increasing Reg. For Re ≥ 2500, the rate of mass transfer approaches the value of single-phase flow, regardless of the value of Reg, which ranged from 7 to 41. The importance of the present geometry in building electrochemical and catalytic reactors, where exothermic liquid-solid diffusion-controlled reactions take place, is highlighted. The present geometry offers the advantage that the outer surface acts as a turbulence promoter while the inner surface acts as a heat exchanger.
Educating 'surplus population': uses and abuses of aspiration in the rural peripheries of a globalising world

Increasing school enrolment has been a focus of investment, even in remote rural areas whose populations are surplus to the requirements of the global economy. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in primary schools and their neighbouring communities in rural areas of Lesotho, India and Laos, we explore how young people, their parents and teachers experience schooling in places where the prospects of incorporation into professional employment (or any well rewarded economic activity) are slim. We show how schooling uses aspiration, holding out a promise of a 'better future' remote from the lives of rural children. However, children’s attachment to such promises is tenuous, boosted yet troubled by the small minority who defy the odds and succeed. We question why education systems continue to promote occupational aspirations that are unattainable by most, and why donors and governments invest so heavily in increasing human capital that cannot be absorbed.
Tax Aggressiveness, Corporate Governance and Audit Fees: A Study of Listed Firms in Nigeria

The concept of audit fee has received immense empirical investigation in literature. However, these vast studies have not sufficiently explored the relation of the concept with tax aggressiveness and corporate governance. This study therefore sought to provide empirical evidence as to whether tax aggressive and corporate governance mechanisms are significantly associated with audit fees among listed firms in Nigeria. Leaning on the agency and stakeholder theories, the study examined the measures of tax aggressiveness of effective tax rate and cash tax rate as well as corporate governance mechanisms of board gender diversity, audit committee diligence, and board independence; and how these variables explain changes in external audit fees. A sample of one hundred and seven (107) firms from the entire firms quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at December, 2018 was utilised. Data were sourced solely from annual financial statements of the studied firms over a ten-year period (2009 to 2018). The panel regression technique, with preference for the random effect model based on the outcome of the Hausman test, was employed to estimate the balanced panel data. The results of the study showed that cash tax rate, audit committee diligence and board independence all exert positive and significant effect on audit fees. Surprisingly, the study revealed a positive but statistically insignificant link between board gender diversity and audit fees. This result may not be unconnected with the low presence of female directors on the board of the firms investigated. In light of the findings, we therefore recommend that more female gender should be allowed to sit on the boards of listed firms in Nigeria in line with the Norwegian model of 40% female gender representation and the Federal Government 35% Affirmative Action. We also recommend that board independence should be encouraged more so as to enhance their oversight functions, and promote quality financial reporting and audit amongst listed firms in Nigeria.
In patients who have multidrug-resistant, gram-negative bacterial infections, does polymyxin B have less renal toxicity than colistimethate?

Ameta-analysis of four retrospective and one prospective cohort studies (N51,103) assessed the risk of developing nephrotoxicity in patients treated with colistimethate and polymyxin B for multidrug-resistant, gram-negative infections. Baseline renal function of patients varied with some studies excluding those on dialysis entirely and others with up to 18%on dialysis. The majority of studies had at least 75% of patients in the intensive care unit and with treatment lasting around 10–12 days. Colistimethate was most commonly at around 4.0 mg/kg and polymyxin B at around 2.0 mg/kg. Nephrotoxicity was defined using RIFLE criteria (Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss of kidney function, and End stage renal disease) in all but two studies, with the other studies using similar guidelines. Potential confounders included differences in patient comorbidities, severity of infection, dosing of antibiotic, site of infection, surgical control of the infection, and bacterial virulence. After adjusting for the above, nephrotoxicity presented more frequently in patients treated with colistimethate than in patients treated with polymyxin B, with greater irreversible kidney damage sustained in colistimethate-treated patients (hazard risk 2.2; 95% CI, 1.4–3.3). The largest retrospective study (N5225) in the above meta-analysis was a multicenter cohort comparing toxicity rates between treatment with colistimethate and polymyxin B in patients with a gram-negative bacterial infection. Patients with underlying kidney disease were excluded. Doses were given according to ideal body weight with colistimethate (n5121) dosed at 4.6 mg/kg and polymyxin B (n5104) dosed at 1.8 mg/kg; treatment follow-up was not adequately specified. The primary outcome measured was kidney function with correlated RIFLE criteria, whereas secondary outcomes included time to manifestation of nephrotoxicity and hospital mortality. The development of nephrotoxicity was significantlymore common in patients receiving colistimethate treatment than in the polymyxin B group (55% vs 21%, P,.003). Nephrotoxicity also presented much earlier in the colistimethate group compared with the polymyxin B group (;5 vs ;15 days, P5.003). No significant difference was noted in overall hospital mortality between the two groups.
Mixed models for biomass prediction in the semiarid zone of Pernambuco State, Brazil

Most of the datasets used for biomass modeling in native forests have high variability, containing several sample plots of different sites, trees of different species in the same plot, and several measurements of the same tree along the bole. Assuming that data from uneven-aged forests are highly diversified, the mixed-effects modeling analyzes hierarchically structured data more efficiently than any other approach and increases the prediction accuracy of the equations. The objective of this paper was to develop a mixed model to predict the above-ground biomass for Caatinga species in the municipality of Floresta – PE, Brazil. Biomass data of 100 trees belonging to five species were used for this purpose. The model of Schumacher and Hall was fitted considering the structure of a mixed linear model by the inclusion of intercepts and random coefficients, considering the species as the random effect. The best model was selected based on the root mean square error, bias, mean absolute error, Akaike information criterion, and residual graphic analysis. Species as a random effect contributed to increasing the accuracy of the estimates in a mixed model. The Schumacher and Hall model with random effects on dbh (diameter at breast height) and h (height) was the best way to predict the total biomass of the trees in the Pernambuco semiarid region.
Study Of The Prevalence Of Some Intestinal Parasites And Its Effect On Some Blood Parameters Aspect Among Children Patients Of Al Muthanna Province / Iraq

The present study was carried out in Al Muthanna province through the period from June, 2017 to May, 2018. A (551) and (566) of stool samples were collect from urban and rural respectively from children under 12 years. The percentages of prevalence in urban and rural monthly changes (highest and lowest) were: Entamoeba histolytica (urban: 21.41%, rural: 23.49%, and total: 22.47%, urban: 28.12% in July, 5.0% in January, rural: 31.74% in June, and 5.0% in January). Giardia lamblia (urban: 21.41%, rural: 27.20 and total: 24.35, urban: 31.03% in June, 5.0% in January, rural: 36.50 in June, 0.0% January) and Enterobius vermicularis (urban: 12.15%, rural 21.55%, and total: 216.92%, urban: 15.51% in June, 5.0% January, rural 29.03 in July, 0.0% in January) respectively. The incidence according to the age and sex of children was: E. histolytica (10-24% in male), (18-24% in female), G. lamblia (13-12% in male and female), the highest infection at age groups (3-6), (6-9) in both sexes of the two parasites, and E. vermicularis (13-12% males and females), the most affected at age group (3-6). There is a significant effect of age and sex of incidence at (0.01). The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of hemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV) and white blood cell (WBCs) for (20) patients and (20) control were as following: E. histolytica (Hb 9.88 ±0.455, PCV 31.61±1.359, WBCs 9.55 ±2.81), G. lamblia (Hb 9.71±0.519, PCV 31.12 ±1.549 and WBCs 7.94±1.117) and E. vermicularis (Hb 9.62± 0.423, PCV 30.84 ±1.265 and WBCs 8.22± 0.767) and control group (Hb 11.01±2.597, PCV 36.73± 0.475 and WBCs 7.41±1.179). Statistical analysis showed a significant effect of the three parasites on the level of Hb at (0.05), PCV and WBCs at
Development and Application of Image-Based High-Throughput Phenotyping Methodology for Salt Tolerance in Lentils

Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress in Australian lentil-producing areas. It is therefore imperative to identify genetic variation for salt tolerance in order to develop lentil varieties suitable for saline soils. Conventional screening methods include the manual assessment of stress symptoms, which can be very laborious, time-consuming, and error-prone. Recent advances in image-based high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) technologies have provided unparalleled opportunities to screen plants for a range of stresses, such as salt toxicity. The current study describes the development and application of an HTP method for salt toxicity screening in lentils. In a pilot study, six lentil genotypes were evaluated to determine the optimal salt level and the growth stage for distinguishing lentil genotypes using red–green–blue (RGB) images on a LemnaTec Scanalyzer 3D phenomics platform. The optimized protocol was then applied to screen 276 accessions that were also assessed earlier in a conventional phenotypic screen. Detailed phenotypic trait assessments, including plant growth and green/non-green color pixels, were made and correlated to the conventional screen (r = 0.55; p < 0.0001). These findings demonstrated the improved efficacy of an image-based phenotyping approach that is high-throughput, efficient, and better suited to modern breeding programs.
Effect of Curcumin (Curcuma longa) and Red Ginger (Zingiber officinale) on Hematology Values of Broilers

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of supplemented curcumin (Curcuma longa) and red ginger (Zingiber officinale) on hematological values of broilers. Three hundred twenty one-day-old broilers were randomly distributed into 8 treatment groups with 4 replicates (pens) of 10 chicks each. The treatment diets were control groups (T01=basal diet and T02=basal diet + bacitracin), and treatment diets supplemented with curcumin (C1, C2, and C3), and supplanted with ginger (Z1, Z2 and Z3). Results showed that PVCs and hemoglobin level of the chickens fed treatment diets increased significantly (P<0.05) compare to the control diets, and the erythrocytes of the chickens fed diet supplemented with ginger increased significantly (P<0.05) compared to the control in period I (21 days of age) but no significant differences in Period II (34 days of age). Furthermore, treatment diets had no effect on erythrocyte indices of MCHC and MCV (P>0.05). However, dietary inclusion of the addition of ginger significantly decreased MCH in period I (P<0.05), but no significant differences were observed in period II. Furthermore, the treatment diets had significantly lower leucocytes and heterophils/lymphocytes ratios (P<0.05) than the control diets, but no significant differences were investigated in the percentage of differential leucocytes of eosinophils and basophils. In conclusion, the use of curcumin and ginger up to the level of 1.5% indicated the potentcy of improving the general health status of broilers. They have been able to improve the hematological values, and reduce the stress level of the chickens.