Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Induction and Formation of Accessory Corpus Luteum after Artificial Insemination (AI) Might Increase Pregnancy Rate per AI in Heat Stressed Dairy Cows

Abstract The present study aimed to evaluate whether the induction and the formation of an accessory corpus luteum (CL) after AI might increase the pregnancy per AI (P/AI) in heat stressed dairy cows. Starting at d 50±3 post-partum, 113 lactating Holstein cows from one commercial herd during summer were scored for body condition, blood sampled and examined by ultrasound. Those bearing a CL>25mm and progesterone (P4) level>2ng/mL were synchronized using a double PGF2α injection given 12 h apart and AI-ed at detected estrus. In total 18 cows, there were not any signs of estrus (n=10) nor a P4 level <2ng/mL at the time of enrolment (n=8) and therefore they were excluded from the study, leading to 95 cows finally enrolled. At d5 post-AI, cows were randomly allocated into 2 groups: control group (CON, n=45) without any additional treatment, and treatment group (GnRH, n=50), treated with 0.008 mg Buserelin – a GnRH agonist. Blood sampling and ultrasound examination were done at d5, d14 and at d21 after AI, whereas the pregnancy diagnosis was done at d21 and d30 after AI. Average daily temperature and relative humidity values were used to calculate the temperature-humidity index (THI). The average THI during the experiment was 79.5±0.6. At d5, no differences were observed neither between the number of the CL nor between the P4 level in both groups. At d14 and d21, 82% of the GnRH-treated cows had more than one CL versus 0% of the CON cows. Both at d14 and 21, GnRH-treated cows had higher P4 levels compared to the CON cows (p<0.05). In addition, P/AI were higher in the GnRH group than in the CON group (65% vs. 48.3%, p<0.05), whereas late embryonic losses were higher in CON in comparison to GnRH cows (10.6 vs. 4%, respectively). The BCS at the moment of insemination did not affect P/AI (p>0.05). In conclusion, the induction of an accessory CL at d 5 after AI might increase P/AI in heat stressed dairy cows.
Characterization of Zebrafish Mutants to Model Human Genetic Defects in the LRRC56 Gene.

ii Acknowledgements . iv List of Figures . viii List of Abbreviations . x 1.0 Introduction . 1 1.1 Background Information . 1 1.2 Basic Structure and Function of Motile Cilia. 2 1.3 Defects of Axonemal Dyneins are associated with Ciliopathies. 6 1.4 Human LRRC56 is Homologous to the Algal oda8 gene which is involved in the Cytoplasmic Pre-assembly of the Outer Dynein Arms. 14 1.5 Zebrafish as a Model Organism . 19 1.5. 1 Cilia and Determination of Asymmetry in Zebrafish . 23 1.6 CRISPR/Cas9 Targeted Genome Editing . 28 1.7 Project Objectives . 31 2.0 Materials & Methods . 32 2.1Ethics Statement . 32 2.2 Zebrafish Maintenance . 32 2.3 Genotyping . 32 2.4 Whole mount in-situ hybridization . 34
Effects of Spacing, Humic Acid and Boron on Growth, Seed Production and Quality of Broad Bean (Vicia faba var major L)

Two field experiments were carried out in a private farm located at Bangar El Sokar region - Borg Al-Arab -Alexandria, Egypt, during winter growing season of 2014/2015 to study the effects of three spacing (10, 20 and 30 cm),three Humic acid (HA) rates (control, 1000 and 2000 mg l-1) and three boric acid rates (control, 2.5 and 5 mg l-1) on thevegetative growth, seed yield and its quality of broad bean plants.The results indicated that increasing spacing between broad bean plants lead to an increase in the numbers ofbranchesplant-1 and poor seeds percentage. While, plant height, seed yield fed-1 (ton) and good seeds percentage characterswere decreased by increasing spacing.Treated broad bean plants with humic acid increased plant height and the numbers of branches. However, usinghumic acid at rate 2000 mg l-1gave the highest mean value of fresh mass plant-1. While, increasing humic acid rate waslead to decrease the nods setting percentage. In addition to, application of 1000 mg l-1 of humic acid gave the highestmean value of the seed yield fed-1and good seed percentage, as well as the lowest percentage of poor seeds.The results showed that the highest mean values of plant height (cm) were obtained from treated plants with2.5 mg l-1 boric acid. Also, increasing boric acid rates up to 5 mg l-1 decreased the fresh mass of plant-1. Whereas, thehighest mean value of the earliness and nods setting percentage achieved by application 5 mg l-1 of boric acid. Increasingthe boric acid rates up to 5 mg l-1 was associated with increments in the average seed yield fed-1 and the good seedpercentage. In general, the highest dry seed yield fed-1, under conditions of Bangar El Sokar region - Borg Al-Arab –Alexandria, were achieved when sowing broad bean plants at 10 cm with the application of humic acid at rate 1000 mg l-1and foliar application of boric acid at rate 5 mg l-1.
Unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes simulations on deforming domains

Mesh generation has been an important topic of research for the past four decades, pnmarily because it is one of the cntical elements in the numerical simulation of fluid flows One of the main current issues m this regard is mesh generation and flow solution on domains with moving boundanes In this research a no\ el scheme has been proposed for mesh generation on domains \\ ith moving boundanes. with the location of boundary nodes known at any particular time A new set of hneanzed equations is den\ ed based on a full nonlinear elliptic gnd generation system The basic assumption in den\ ing these new equations is that each node expenences only a small amount of disturbance when the mesh moves from one time to the next Companson with gnds generated by the full elliptic system shows that this new method can generate high quality gnds with significantly less computational cost Inherently, the flow on such a domain will be unsteady The \ a \ ler-Stokes equations for unsteady 2D laminar incompressible flow are expressed in the pnmitne \anables formulation A SIMPLE-hke scheme is applied to link the pressure and \elocity fields and ensure conservation of mass is satisfied The equations are discretized in a pure finite difference formulation and solved by implicitly marching in time The flow solver is validated against results in the literature for flow through a channel with a moving indentation along one wall
Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica no 45 (1, 2019)

Soil loss poses a threat to hilly and mountainous areas, particularly where local economies strongly depend on agricultural production. Among agricultural landscapes, vineyards are responsible for the highest erosion rates, particularly in steep-slope landscapes. The impact of vineyard mechanisation on soil loss is only marginally explored in published literature. This study provides an estimation of the annual soil loss rate by application of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in 24 terraced vineyards located in north-eastern Italy. Field observations showed that 13 vineyards consisted of fully mechanised fields, 5 vineyards had no form of mechanisation, while in 6 vineyards a mixture of practices was found. Soil erodibility (K factor) was derived for these practices (based on soil characteristics and varying degrees of compaction), while slope length and steepness (LS factors) were calculated from a 1-m LiDAR-based DTM, and remaining factors were based on datasets by the European Soil Data Centre. Mechanised fields showed 29% higher erosion rates than non-mechanised fields (respectively 53.9 and 69.5 t ha y), although this is not statistically significant. Still, the direct impact of mechanisation is underestimated in this comparison, due to the predominant steep slopes in the manually cultivated fields. Furthermore, estimated soil loss from mechanised fields in addition to mechanised paths and roads is significantly higher by 37% than nonmechanised fields. This study thus offers an indication of how machinery and related soil compaction and transformation of terraces and infrastructure, increases soil loss risk. Impacto de la mecanización en la pérdida de suelo en viñedos aterrazados RESUMEN. La pérdida de suelo amenaza las áreas de montaña, particularmente donde la economía local depende fuertemente de la agricultura. Los viñedos muestran las tasas de erosión más altas especialmente en los paisajes que presentan pendientes escarpadas. El impacto de la mecanización en los viñedos en la pérdida de suelo ha sido escasamente investigado. Este estudio provee una estimación de la tasa de pérdida de suelo anual utilizando
Thermal Decarboxylation of Betacyanins in Red Beet Betalain-Rich Extract

Betalains are one of the most common groups of plant pigments found in nature, however, they are not as well studied as compared to other natural pigments such as anthocyanins, carotenoids, and chlorophylls [Stafford et al., 1994]. Betalain pigments which are composed of red-violet betacyanins together with yellow-orange betaxanthins are mainly found in most families of the Caryophyllales order [Chhikara et al., 2019]. In addition, both betacyanins and betaxanthins can occur in the same plant part, despite the difference in its coloration [Martins et al., 2017]. These pigments are commercially recognizable as food colorants due to their non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, and non-poisonous nature [Esatbeyoglu et al., 2015; Siervo et al., 2013]. Betalains are stable at pH values ranging from 3 to 7 and suitable for dyeing low acidic and neutral foods. In addition, they may be stabilized by ascorbic acid. In contrast, anthocyanins are unsuitable for coloration of such foods as they are unstable at pH values over 3, in addition their degradation is facilitated by ascorbic acid. For that reason, utilization of betalain pigments instead of anthocyanins for
Meanings and practices of oral health: a qualitative study with mothers of disabled children

The aim of this study was to understand the meanings and oral health practices of ten mothers of disabled children between the ages of zero and three years. The qualitative method was used. The data was collected by means of a semi-structured interview and were recorded, transcribed and analysed using the Thematic Content Analysis. Regarding to the oral health care of the mothers, three reported difficult and traumatising experiences and three did not have much contact with dentists during their childhood. Regarding to the children, the age of their first visit to the dentist varied from three months to two years and six months, and the reason for this appointment for seven children was referral by their doctor or by the Association of Parents and Friends of the Exceptional. Seven mothers reported that they brushed the teeth of their children at least twice a day and only two cited the importance of regular dental appointments. For two mothers, the meaning of oral health was to have a perfect smile and for four others, maintain oral hygiene. Half of the mothers related oral health to general health. All reported that dental caries is related to diet and lack of care regarding to oral hygiene. It was possible to conclude that for this group of mothers, oral health has an important meaning and that oral health practices are based on a healthy diet and brushing. Although mothers of disabled children have presented positive attitudes, in general, the results indicated limited knowledge about oral health. The results showed the importance of considering the point of view of the mothers as data of analysis bringing greater proximity with the reality studied. More qualitative studies should be conducted in order to collaborate with the improvement of the oral condition of disabled children.
How Does Nakamoto Set His Clock? Full Analysis of Nakamoto Consensus in Bounded Delay Networks

Nakamoto consensus, arguably the most exciting development in distributed computing in the last few years, is in a sense a recasting of the traditional state-machine-replication problem in an unauthenticated setting, where furthermore parties come and go without warning. The protocol relies on a cryptographic primitive known as proof of work (PoW) which is used to throttle message passing. Importantly, the PoW diﬃculty level is appropriately adjusted throughout the course of the protocol execution relying on the blockchain’s timekeeping ability. While the original formulation was only accompanied by rudimentary analysis, signiﬁcant and steady progress has been made in abstracting the protocol’s properties and providing a formal analysis under various restrictions and protocol simpliﬁcations. Still, a full analysis of the protocol that includes its target recalculation and, notably, the timestamp adjustment mechanism —speciﬁcally, the protocol allows incoming block timestamps in the near future, as determined by a protocol parameter, and rejects blocks that have a timestamp in the past of the median time of a speciﬁc number of blocks on-chain (namely, 11)— which equip it to operate in its intended setting of bounded communication delays, imperfect clocks and dynamic participation, has remained open. The gap is that Nakamoto’s protocol fundamentally depends on the blockchain itself to be a consistent timekeeper that should advance roughly on par with real time. In order to tackle this question we introduce a new analytical tool that we call hot-hand executions , which capture the regular occurrence of high concentration of honestly generated blocks, and correspondingly put forth and prove a new blockchain property called concentrated chain quality , which may be of independent interest. Utilizing these tools and techniques we demonstrate that Nakamoto’s protocol achieves, under suitable conditions, safety, liveness as well as (consistent) timekeeping.
Interacting effects of vegetation components and water level on methane dynamics in a boreal fen

Abstract. Vegetation and hydrology are important controlling factors in peatland methane dynamics. This study aimed at investigating the role of vegetation components, sedges, dwarf shrubs, and Sphagnum mosses, in methane fluxes of a boreal fen under natural and experimental water level drawdown conditions. We measured the fluxes during growing seasons 2001–2004 using the static chamber technique in a field experiment where the role of the ecosystem components was assessed via plant removal treatments. The first year was a calibration year after which the water level drawdown and vegetation removal treatments were applied. Under natural water level conditions, plant-mediated fluxes comprised 68 %–78 % of the mean growing season flux (1.73±0.17 g CH4 m−2 month−1 from June to September), of which Sphagnum mosses and sedges accounted for one-fourth and three-fourths, respectively. The presence of dwarf shrubs, on the other hand, had a slightly attenuating effect on the fluxes. In water level drawdown conditions, the mean flux was close to zero (0.03±0.03 g CH4 m−2 month−1) and the presence and absence of the plant groups had a negligible effect. In conclusion, water level acted as a switch; only in natural water level conditions did vegetation regulate the net fluxes. The results are relevant for assessing the response of fen peatland fluxes to changing climatic conditions, as water level drawdown and the consequent vegetation succession are the major projected impacts of climate change on northern peatlands.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FRP REINFORCED

Glued laminated (glulam) timber, one of various engineered wood products (EWP), has been widely accepted as structural, as well as non-structural member of choices in civil engineering infrastructure applications. During recent years, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) has been introduced to be applied as external reinforcement for glulam timber beams due to its many advantages over conventional engineering material reinforcement. The use of Para-rubber wood (PW) planks in glulam beams has been intensely under attention over the past decades. However, the use of FRP materials for reinforcement and PW as a raw wood material for glulam timber are still very limited; prior studies are scarcely available and/or have not yet shed sufficient light, especially on structural performances and behaviors. The main objective of this research is thus to evaluate the structural performance, strength, stiffness properties and the behavior of FRP reinforced PW glulam beams under a variety of bending test conditions. In the study, analytical methodologies have been proposed to determine the maximum load (moment) capacity, reduction factor of f lexural rigidity and deformation factor. The experimental and analytical results derived are expected to contribute to a further knowledge and understanding of structural performance and behavior of this promising composite material.
Learning strategies and sociodemographic variables of undergraduate teachers

This paper is based on the Cognitive Psychology/Information Processing Theory, with emphasis on the study of learning strategies used by university teachers to learn. It analyzes the frequency of the use of teacher learning strategies from a university in the North of Paraná, as a function of socio-demographic variables. A total of 56 professors participated in the survey, being 57.14% female and 42.46% male. The data collection was done online, by means of Google Drive forms. The results showed that most of the professors use more frequently Cognitive and Metacognitive Self-Regulation strategies than Internal/Contextual and Social Self-Regulation Strategies. Female participants and teachers from the Department of Vernacular Letters (Portuguese teaching Course) were the most strategic. It is important to highlight the need of including in the undergraduate courses contents about learning strategies, in order to enable professors the access to knowledge of new models of teaching how to learn.
A Learning-Based Incentive Mechanism for Federated Learning

Internet of Things (IoT) generates large amounts of data at the network edge. Machine learning models are often built on these data, to enable the detection, classification, and prediction of the future events. Due to network bandwidth, storage, and especially privacy concerns, it is often impossible to send all the IoT data to the data center for centralized model training. To address these issues, federated learning has been proposed to let nodes use the local data to train models, which are then aggregated to synthesize a global model. Most of the existing work has focused on designing learning algorithms with provable convergence time, but other issues, such as incentive mechanism, are unexplored. Although incentive mechanisms have been extensively studied in network and computation resource allocation, yet they cannot be applied to federated learning directly due to the unique challenges of information unsharing and difficulties of contribution evaluation. In this article, we study the incentive mechanism for federated learning to motivate edge nodes to contribute model training. Specifically, a deep reinforcement learning-based (DRL) incentive mechanism has been designed to determine the optimal pricing strategy for the parameter server and the optimal training strategies for edge nodes. Finally, numerical experiments have been implemented to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed DRL-based incentive mechanism.
A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE EFFECT OF LINOLEIC ACID AND CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID ON BOVINE OOCYTE DEVELOPMENTAL COMPETENCE

Optimization of in vitro oocyte maturation conditions is crucial to maximize the number and quality of the transferable embryos. A demand for optimised chemically defined, serum-free medium for this purpose is increasing. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been shown to influence oocyte competence. Many ruminant diets are rich in the omega 6 Linoleic acid (LA) which has detrimental effect on oocyte developmental competence in vitro in the absence of antioxidants. In ruminants, biohydrogenation of fatty acids changes the structure of a high proportion of dietary LA into conjugated LA (CLA). The aim of this study was to compare the effect of LA and CLA supplementation to serum‑free maturation media on the oocyte maturation rate and subsequent embryo development. The result revealed that the cumulus cell expansion and oocyte nuclear maturation to MII stage were inhibited by LA supplementation. This was reflected in subsequent development where higher proportion of embryos produced from the LA-treated oocytes were blocked at 2–cell stage and resulted in lower cleavage and blastocyst rates. The quality of the blastocyst produced in the LA group was similar to that of the control. In contrast, CLA did not affect cumulus cell expansion, nuclear maturation or the subsequent cleavage and blastocyst rates, however, blastocysts produced form CLA-treated oocytes had more total cell numbers due to increased trophectoderm (TE) cells. In conclusion, in serum free conditions, CLA supplementation resulted better quality embryos when compared to LA.
Influence of electronically conductive additives on the cycling performance of argyrodite-based all-solid-state batteries

All-solid-state batteries (SSBs) are attracting widespread attention as next-generation energy storage devices, potentially offering increased power and energy densities and better safety than liquid electrolyte-based Li-ion batteries. Significant research efforts are currently underway to develop stable and high-performance bulk-type SSB cells by optimizing the cathode microstructure and composition, among others. Electronically conductive additives in the positive electrode may have a positive or negative impact on cyclability. Herein, it is shown that for high-loading (pelletized) SSB cells using both a size- and surface-tailored Ni-rich layered oxide cathode material and a lithium thiophosphate solid electrolyte, the cycling performance is best when low-surface-area carbon black is introduced.
The Effects of Teachers’, Parents’, and Students’ Attitudes and Behavior on 4th and 8th Graders’ Science/math Achievements: A model of School Leaders’ Perspectives

The study provided a multi-group structural equation model (SEM) of school leaderships‟ views of teachers‟, parents‟, and students‟ characteristics related to students‟ performances in TIMSS 2015 science and math assessment for 4th and 8th grade students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). For both student groups, school questionnaire items concerning school leaders‟ perception of teachers, parents, and students were used for the analysis (13 items). The analysis employed exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to construct the models. Both models provided acceptable fit statistics with several, but different significant paths. The SEM models of both Grade 4 and Grade 8 students almost replicated each other. Results pointed to the significance of attitudes and behavior of teachers, parents, and students. There were significant paths from teachers to students, from parents to both students and TIMSS scores, and from students to TIMSS scores. The direct impact of the parent construct on TIMSS scores was elaborated carefully. Implications of the study were addressed along with future research directions.