Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Probiotics Supplementation on the Intestinal Metabolites, Muscle Fiber Properties, and Meat Quality of Sunit Lamb

Simple Summary The meat quality of small ruminants is adversely affected when the feeding mode is changed from grazing to captivity. We found that adding probiotics to lamb feed regulated the intestinal metabolites (SCFAs) of Sunit lambs, acting as signaling factors that affected the gene mRNA expression of MyHC isoforms and the activity of metabolic enzymes, thereby promoting the transformation of muscle fiber types and increasing the proportion of oxidative muscle fibers. Finally, the tenderness of the meat was improved. Abstract The development of animal husbandry is closely related to the meat quality of small ruminants. Intestinal metabolites and the muscle fiber types of lambs are important factors that affect their meat quality, but few studies have examined the regulation of the "intestinal muscle axis" by probiotics. In this study, 12 Sunit lambs were divided into a control group (C) and a probiotics group (P). The gene expressions of the myosin heavy chain, metabolic enzyme activity, and short-chain fatty acids in the intestines were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and quantitative real-time PCR. The results showed that levels of propionic acid and butyric acid in the intestines of group P were significantly higher than in group C (p < 0.05). In addition, probiotics increased the number and area ratio of type I muscle fibers. They also increased the mRNA expression of MyHC IIA and the activity of malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH). Propionic acid was negatively correlated with the number ratio of type IIB muscle fibers. Butyric acid was found to be significantly positively correlated with the number ratio of type IIA muscle fibers. Cooking loss, pH24h, and shear force decreased significantly in group P. In conclusion, intestinal metabolites (SCFAs) altered the activity of oxidative-myofibril-metabolizing enzymes and the expression of myosin heavy-chain type IIA, reduced the meat shear values, and improved meat tenderness. This study provides a new basis for improving the production and meat quality of small ruminants.
The mathematics of ship slamming

﻿Motivated by the motion of a ship in a heavy sea, a mathematical model for the vertical impact of a two-dimensional solid body onto a half-space of quiescent, inviscid, incompressible fluid is formulated. No solutions to the full problem are known, but in the case when the impacting body has small deadrise angle (meaning that the angle between the tangent to the profile and the horizontal is everywhere small) a uniformly valid solution is obtained by using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. The pressure on the body is calculated and is in fair agreement with experimental results. The model is generalised for more complicated impacts and the justifications for the model are discussed. The method is extended to three-dimensional bodies with small deadrise angle and solutions are obtained in some special cases. A variations! formulation of the leading order outer problem is derived, which gives information about the solution and leads to an fixed domain scheme for calculating solutions numerically. A partial linear stability analysis of the outer problem is given which indicates that entry problems are stable but exit problems are unstable to small perturbations. A mathematical model for the effect of a cushioning air layer between the body and the fluid is presented and analysed both numerically and in appropriate asymptotic limits. Finally, the limitations of the models are discussed and directions for future work indicated.
Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds in Exhaled Breath Following a COMEX-30 Treatment Table

The COMEX-30 hyperbaric treatment table is used to manage decompression sickness in divers but may result in pulmonary oxygen toxicity (POT). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath are early markers of hyperoxic stress that may be linked to POT. The present study assessed whether VOCs following COMEX-30 treatment are early markers of hyperoxic stress and/or POT in ten healthy, nonsmoking volunteers. Because more oxygen is inhaled during COMEX-30 treatment than with other treatment tables, this study hypothesized that VOCs exhaled following COMEX-30 treatment are indicators of POT. Breath samples were collected before and 0.5, 2, and 4 h after COMEX-30 treatment. All subjects were followed-up for signs of POT or other symptoms. Nine compounds were identified, with four (nonanal, decanal, ethyl acetate, and tridecane) increasing 33–500% in intensity from before to after COMEX-30 treatment. Seven subjects reported pulmonary symptoms, five reported out-of-proportion tiredness and transient ear fullness, and four had signs of mild dehydration. All VOCs identified following COMEX-30 treatment have been associated with inflammatory responses or pulmonary diseases, such as asthma or lung cancer. Because most subjects reported transient pulmonary symptoms reflecting early-stage POT, the identified VOCs are likely markers of POT, not just hyperbaric hyperoxic exposure.
A growing understanding of the role of muscarinic receptors in the molecular pathology and treatment of schizophrenia

Pre-clinical models, postmortem and neuroimaging studies all support a role for muscarinic receptors in the molecular pathology of schizophrenia. From these data it was proposed that activation of the muscarinic M1 and/or M4 receptor would reduce the severity of the symptoms of schizophrenia. This hypothesis is now supported by results from two clinical trials which indicate that activating central muscarinic M1 and M4 receptors can reduce the severity of positive, negative and cognitive symptoms of the disorder. This review will provide an update on a growing body of evidence that argues the muscarinic M1 and M4 receptors have critical roles in CNS functions that are dysregulated by the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. This realization has been made possible, in part, by the growing ability to visualize and quantify muscarinic M1 and M4 receptors in the human CNS using molecular neuroimaging. We will discuss how these advances have provided evidence to support the notion that there is a sub-group of patients within the syndrome of schizophrenia that have a unique molecular pathology driven by a marked loss of muscarinic M1 receptors. This review is timely, as drugs targeting muscarinic receptors approach clinical use for the treatment of schizophrenia and here we outline the background biology that supported development of such drugs to treat the disorder.
Oral Administration Evaluation of the Hydro-Ethanolic Extract of Ginger (Rhizome of Zingiber officinale) against Postoperative-Induced Peritoneal Adhesion: Investigating the Role of Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidative Effects

Peritoneal adhesions (PAs) occur and develop after abdominal surgery. Abdominal adhesions are common and often develop after abdominal surgery. Currently, there are no effective targeted pharmacotherapies for treating adhesive disease. In this regard, ginger is wildly used in traditional medicine because of its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and has been investigated for peritoneal adhesion treatment. This study analyzed ginger ethanolic extraction via HPLC to have a 6-gingerol concentration. Four groups induced peritoneal adhesion to evaluate ginger's effects on peritoneal adhesion. Then, ginger extract (50, 150, and 450 mg/kg) was administered by gavage in various groups of male Wistar rats (220 ± 20 g, 6–8 weeks). After scarifying the animals for biological assessment, macroscopic and microscopic parameters were determined via scoring systems and immunoassays in the peritoneal lavage fluid. Next, the adhesion scores and interleukin IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-(TNF-) α, transforming growth factor-(TGF-) β1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were elevated in the control group. The results showed that ginger extract (450 mg/kg) notably decreased inflammatory (IL-6 and TNF-α), fibrosis (TGF-β1), anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10), angiogenesis (VEGF), and oxidative (MDA) factors, while increased antioxidant factor glutathione (GSH), compared to the control group. These findings suggest that a hydro-alcoholic extract of ginger is a potentially novel therapeutic strategy for inhibiting adhesion formation. Also, it might be considered a beneficial anti-inflammatory or antifibrosis herbal medicine in clinical trials. However, further clinical studies are required to approve the effectiveness of ginger.
Thermally Stimulated Current from Polyethylene in High-Temperature Region

Thermally stimulated current (TSC) is obtained with a small external electric field from low and high density polyethylenes which have been treated by a high-field application. Two peaks, P1 and P2, appear at about 85° and 50°C, respectively. The decay time constant of trapped charges is also obtained from the isothermal decay experiment which is compared with that estimated from the TSC curve. For the peak P1, a consideration on both the activation energies and the relation between the apparent capture cross section and the nature of life-time suggests that the trap is surrounded by a potential barrier. For the peak P2, the traps exist in the amorphous-crystalline interface and the release of the trapped charges is enhanced by the molecular motion.
Computation and Communication Efficient Federated Learning With Adaptive Model Pruning

Federated learning (FL) has emerged as a promising distributed learning paradigm that enables a large number of mobile devices to cooperatively train a model without sharing their raw data. The iterative training process of FL incurs considerable computation and communication overhead. The workers participating in FL are usually heterogeneous and the workers with poor capabilities may become the bottleneck of model training. To address the challenges of resource overhead and system heterogeneity, this article proposes an efficient FL framework, called FedMP, that improves both computation and communication efficiency over heterogeneous workers through adaptive model pruning. We theoretically analyze the impact of pruning ratio on training performance, and employ a Multi-Armed Bandit based online learning algorithm to adaptively determine different pruning ratios for heterogeneous workers, even without any prior knowledge of their capabilities. As a result, each worker in FedMP can train and transmit the sub-model that fits its own capabilities, accelerating the training process without hurting model accuracy. To prevent the diverse structures of pruned models from affecting the training convergence, we further present a new parameter synchronization scheme, called Residual Recovery Synchronous Parallel (R2SP). Besides, our proposed framework can be extended to the peer-to-peer (P2P) setting. Extensive experiments on physical devices demonstrate that FedMP is effective for different heterogeneous scenarios and data distributions, and can provide up to 4.1× speedup compared to the existing FL methods.
Pre-Operative Functional Mapping in Patients with Brain Tumors by fMRI and MEG: Advantages and Disadvantages in the Use of One Technique over the Other

Simple Summary Providing an accurate localization of the brain functions before proceeding with neurosurgery is of vital importance to spare the removal of crucial brain areas. In this review paper, we investigated how two techniques, namely functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), can serve this purpose, with specific reference to pre-operative assessment of sensorimotor and language functions in patients with brain tumors. First, we explored the methodological strengths and issues of each technique from data acquisition, to data processing and result display, also providing a temporal overview of these technical aspects and potential strategies developed to overcome the main issues. Then, we identified 16 studies that made pre-operative assessments by both techniques and accurately scrutinized them. Overall, despite the potential limitations associated with one technique or the other, the majority of these studies underlined the reliable and complementary use of fMRI and MEG. For these reasons, with the aim of the most reliable pre-operative assessment as possible, we recommend the combined use of both techniques, favored by the recent technological advances making MEG use more feasible. Abstract Pre-operative mapping of brain functions is crucial to plan neurosurgery and investigate potential plasticity processes. Due to its availability, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is widely used for this purpose; on the other hand, the demanding cost and maintenance limit the use of magnetoencephalography (MEG), despite several studies reporting its accuracy in localizing brain functions of interest in patient populations. In this review paper, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of both techniques, from a methodological perspective first; then, we scrutinized and commented on the findings from 16 studies, identified by a database search, that made pre-operative assessments using both techniques in patients with brain tumors. We commented on the results by accounting for study limitations associated with small sample sizes and variability in the used tasks. Overall, we found that, although some studies reported the superiority for MEG, the majority of them underlined the complementary use of these techniques and suggested assessment using both. Indeed, both fMRI and MEG present some disadvantages, although the development of novel devices and processing procedures has enabled ever more accurate assessments. In particular, the development of new, more feasible MEG devices will allow widespread availability of this technique and its routinely combined use with fMRI.
Nonlinear Beam-Column Element Under Consistent Deformation

A new nonlinear beam-column element capable of considering the shear deformation is proposed under the concept of consistent deformation. For the traditional displacement interpolation function, the beam-column element produces membrane locking under large deformation and shear locking when the element becomes slender. To eliminate the membrane and shear locking, force equilibrium equations are employed to derive the displacement function. Numerical examples herein show that membrane locking in the traditional nonlinear beam-column element could cause a considerable error. Comparison of the present improved formulae based on the Timoshenko beam theory with that based on the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory indicates that the present approach requires several additional parameters to consider shear deformation and it is suitable for computer analysis readily for incorporation into the frames analysis software using the co-rotational approach for large translations and rotations. The examples confirm that the proposed element has higher accuracy and numerical efficiency.
Joint Terminal Pairing and Multi-Dimensional Resource Allocation for Cooperative Computation in a WP-MEC System

The combination of multi-access edge computing (MEC) and wireless power transfer (WPT) can potentially improve system performance and prolong terminals’ battery lifetime. In this paper, we study cooperative computation in a wireless powered multi-access edge computing (WP-MEC) system. In this system, there are an access point (AP) deployed with an MEC server and multiple cellular terminals that are powered by harvested energy from a power station. The computational task of each terminal is partially completed locally and partially offloaded to the AP and an nearby idle terminal. In order to minimize energy consumption in the system, we jointly optimize terminal pairing and multi-dimensional resource (i.e., computing power and communication resource) allocation. A non-convex mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) problem is formulated in this paper. To solve this challenging problem, we propose a bilevel optimization approach, in which the multi-dimensional resource allocation scheme is designed under given terminal pairing relationships in the inner level, and then the pairing relationships between terminals are obtained in the outer level based on the obtained multi-dimensional resource allocation scheme. Extensive numerical results show that the proposed bilevel optimization scheme can reduce energy consumption considerably compared to some baseline schemes.
Reduction of stiffness and mass matrices

Just as it is often necessary to reduce the size of the stiff­ness matrix in statical structural analysis, the simulta­neous reduction of the nondiagonal mass matrix for natural mode analysis may also be required. The basis for one such reduction technique may follow the procedure used in Ref. 1 for the stiffness matrix, namely, the elimination of coordinates at which no forces are applied.
New Stabilizing Controller Nonlinear System Design Using the Generalized Thin Arrow Form Matrix. Application to the Chaos Synchronization

Abstract This paper deals with the stability study of closed loop nonlinear continuous systems for which the instantaneous characteristic matrix is under the generalized thin arrow form. Indeed, the description of studied systems by matrix in generalized thin arrow form, makes stabilization conditions expressed easily when aggregation techniques are used. Obtained results are successfully applied such that Qi system is controlled to be hyperchaotic Lorenz Stenflo system.
Students’ Perceptions of the Heat and Temperature Concepts: A Comparative Study between Primary, Secondary, and University Levels

One of the fundamental problems that can impede the achievement of a sound understanding of a scientific concept is misconception. This study examines students’ perceptions of the concepts related to heat and temperature and how they evolve during the various levels of education. The findings from the literature review of students’ perceptions of heat issues combined with the results of this research, as obtained through the responses of students of primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Greece regarding the problems of temperature and heat, permitted the identification of alternative ideas of students for this conceptual area.
Demonstrating quality control procedures for fMRI in DPABI

Quality control (QC) is an important stage for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. The methods for fMRI QC vary in different fMRI preprocessing pipelines. The inflating sample size and number of scanning sites for fMRI studies further add to the difficulty and working load of the QC procedure. Therefore, as a constituent part of the Demonstrating Quality Control Procedures in fMRI research topic in Frontiers, we preprocessed a well-organized open-available dataset using DPABI pipelines to illustrate the QC procedure in DPABI. Six categories of DPABI-derived reports were used to eliminate images without adequate quality. After the QC procedure, twelve participants (8.6%) were categorized as excluded and eight participants (5.8%) were categorized as uncertain. More automatic QC tools were needed in the big-data era while visually inspecting images was still indispensable now.
Children's Constructions of Knowledge for Fraction Division After Solving Realistic Problems

Abstract The authors examined the thinking of children who had the opportunity to construct personal knowledge about division of fractions. The authors based this study on a teaching experiment design and used relevant contexts/situations to foster students' development of knowledge. Participants were a group of mixed-ability, 5th-grade mathematics students. They used pictures, symbols, and words to resolve situations and communicate their solutions. The authors analyzed the solutions to describe the students' constructions of division-of-fractions concepts and procedures. All strategies that the students used represented some manifestation of conceptual knowledge about addition and subtraction of fractions and a definition of division. Some students developed formal symbolic procedures, and others developed pictorial procedures; none invented an invert-and-multiply procedure. Through the window of constructivism, this study allowed the authors to glimpse children's constructions of knowledge and provided alternatives to the traditional view of the expected procedure (invert and multiply) that children should learn for division of fractions.
Impact of Cavitation Jet on the Structural, Emulsifying Features and Interfacial Features of Soluble Soybean Protein Oxidized Aggregates

A cavitation jet can enhance food proteins’ functionalities by regulating solvable oxidized soybean protein accumulates (SOSPI). We investigated the impacts of cavitation jet treatment on the emulsifying, structural and interfacial features of soluble soybean protein oxidation accumulate. Findings have shown that radicals in an oxidative environment not only induce proteins to form insoluble oxidative aggregates with a large particle size and high molecular weight, but also attack the protein side chains to form soluble small molecular weight protein aggregates. Emulsion prepared by SOSPI shows worse interface properties than OSPI. A cavitation jet at a short treating time (<6 min) has been shown to break the core aggregation skeleton of soybean protein insoluble aggregates, and insoluble aggregates into soluble aggregates resulting in an increase of emulsion activity (EAI) and constancy (ESI), and a decrease of interfacial tension from 25.15 to 20.19 mN/m. However, a cavitation jet at a long treating time (>6 min) would cause soluble oxidized aggregates to reaggregate through an anti-parallel intermolecular β-sheet, which resulted in lower EAI and ESI, and a higher interfacial tension (22.44 mN/m). The results showed that suitable cavitation jet treatment could adjust the structural and functional features of SOSPI by targeted regulated transformation between the soluble and insoluble components.
Phytochemical analysis, antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities of a methanol extract from Stachys brachyclada de Noé ex Coss. leaves

Abstract Stachys brachyclada de Noé ex Coss. (Lamiaceae) is a quite rare medicinal plant endemic to the Mediterranean basin. In this study, seven secondary metabolites from a methanol extract of its leaves have been isolated and identified by a combination of chromatographic and spectroscopic methods (1D and 2D NMR experiments and ESIMS analysis). They include one ethyl 4-hydroxybenzoate (1), three acylated flavone glycosides (2–4), one diapigenin derivative (5) and two flavone aglycones (6–7). Stachysetin (5) was found the major compound of the extract (74.0 mg/g of dry matter). Moreover, the produced extract showed the ability in inhibiting the α-glucosidase enzyme (IC50 = 13.7 µg/mL), in quenching the radical 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (EC50 = 74.6 µg/mL), and in reducing the intracellular oxidative stress level in Human Dermal Fibroblast (64% inhibition at 50 µg/mL). Graphical Abstract