Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do dragonflies migrate across the western Indian Ocean?

Abstract: In the tropical Indian Ocean, the Maldive Islands lack surface freshwater, so are unsuitable for dragonfly reproduction. Nevertheless, millions of dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata; mostly globe skimmer, Pantala flavescens) appear suddenly every year starting in October. Arrival dates in the Maldives and India demonstrate that the dragonflies travel from southern India, a distance of some 500–1000 km. Dates of arrival and occurrence coincide with the southward passage of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Circumstantial evidence suggests that the dragonflies fly with north-easterly tail winds, within and behind the ITCZ, at altitudes over 1000 m. It is proposed that this massive movement of dragonflies is part of an annual migration across the western Indian Ocean from India to East Africa. Arrival dates in the Seychelles support this hypothesis. Dragonflies also appear (in smaller numbers) in the Maldives in May, with the onset of the southwest monsoon, suggesting a possible return migration from Africa. These proposed migrations of dragonflies, regularly crossing 3500 km or more of open ocean, were previously unknown. It is known that these dragonflies exploit ephemeral rain pools for reproduction; the monsoons and ITCZ bring not only alternating, seasonal rains to India and Africa, but also appropriate winds for dragonflies to follow those rains. Several bird species migrate from India across the western Indian Ocean to wintering grounds in Africa. They do so at the same time as the dragonflies, presumably taking advantage of the same seasonal tail winds. Many of these birds also eat dragonflies; the possible significance of this was not previously appreciated.
Effects of nonylphenol on motion kinetics, acrosome and mitochondrial membrane potential in frozen-thawed bull sperm.

Recent reports have shown that the Nonylphenol (NP), a well-known toxic environmental chemical has adverse effects on sperm in different species. Therefore, the current study was aimed to determine the deleterious effect of NP on frozen-thawed bull sperm. Sperm were exposed to different concentrations of NP (1, 10, 100, 250 and 500 μg NP/mL) dissolved either in DMSO or Ethanol and incubated for 4 h at 37oC. Sperm parameters were assessed at 0, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th h of incubation. Both percent motility and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of sperm have decreased significantly (P<0.05) at dose level of ≥ 250 μg NP/mL. Acrosome reaction was induced (P<0.05) even at minimal dose concentrations of 1μg NP/mL (P<0.05). However, the percentage of acrosome reacted sperm increased (P<0.05) with increase in dose level. In conclusion, NP impairs the sperm characteristics by adversely affecting motion kinetics, mitochondrial membrane potential and inducing premature acrosome reaction in bovine.
A Comparative Study of Differential Evolution Variants in Constrained Structural Optimization

Differential evolution (DE) is a population-based metaheuristic search algorithm that optimizes a problem by iteratively improving a candidate solution based on an evolutionary process. Such algorithms make few or no assumptions about the underlying optimization problem and can quickly explore very large design spaces. DE is arguably one of the most versatile and stable population-based search algorithms that exhibits robustness to multi-modal problems. In the field of structural engineering, most practical optimization problems are associated with one or several behavioral constraints. Constrained optimization problems are quite challenging to solve due to their complexity and high nonlinearity. In this work we examine the performance of several DE variants, namely the standard DE, the composite DE (CODE), the adaptive DE with optional external archive (JADE) and the self-adaptive DE (JDE and SADE), for handling constrained structural optimization problems associated with truss structures. The performance of each DE variant is evaluated by using five well-known benchmark structures in 2D and 3D. The evaluation is done on the basis of final optimum result and the rate of convergence. Valuable conclusions are obtained from the statistical analysis which can help a structural engineer in practice to choose the suitable algorithm for such kind of problems.
The Effects of Aflatoxins on Oxidative Stress in Broiler Chickens

Sixty 1-day-old male Ross-PM3 broiler chickens were used in this study. The chickens were divided into 5 groups, including one control and 4 experimental. The control group was fed commercial broiler feed free from aflatoxin (AF), whereas the experimental groups, namely, groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 were given feed containing, respectively, 0.05 ppm, 0.1 ppm, 0.5 ppm and 1.0 ppm of AF (approximately, 81.30% AF B1, 10.40% AF B2, 5.75% AF G1 and 2.55% AF G2) for 45 days. Blood samples were collected on days 15, 30 and 45 of the study. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in erythrocytes were determined. The results of this study revealed a significant decline in comparison to the control group with respect to SOD activity on days 30 and 45 in groups 4 and 5, GSH-Px activity on day 30 in group 5 and day 45 in groups 4 and 5, CAT activity on day 45 in group 5 and G6PD activity on day 45 in group 5, and a significant increase in the level of MDA in group 5. Therefore it was concluded that long-term (30 and 45 days) administration of AF at high doses (0.5-1.0 ppm) caused lipid peroxidation in broiler chickens. Certain significant statistical changes that occurred on day 30 in SOD and GSH-Px activities, and on day 45 in primarily SOD and GSH-Px (for groups 4 and 5) and secondly (for group 5) in all enzyme activities and MDA levels are supportive of this hypothesis. Furthermore, it has been understood that the most sensitive parameters utilised in determination of lipid peroxidation may include SOD, GSH-Px and MDA, and these parameters may prove to be significant with regard to the assessment of the severity of aflatoxicosis in poultry naturally intoxicated with AF, implementation of precautions taken against AF intoxication and the evaluation of such practices with regard to success.
Engineering Expression Cassette of pgdS for Efficient Production of Poly-γ-Glutamic Acids With Specific Molecular Weights in Bacillus licheniformis

Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is an emerging biopolymer with various applications and γ-PGAs with different molecular weights exhibit distinctive properties. However, studies on the controllable molecular weights of biopolymers are limited. The purpose of this study is to achieve production of γ-PGAs with a wide range of molecular weights through manipulating the expression of γ-PGA depolymerase (PgdS) in Bacillus licheniformis WX-02. Firstly, the expression and secretion of PgdS were regulated through engineering its expression elements (four promoters and eight signal peptides), which generated γ-PGAs with molecular weights ranging from 6.82 × 104 to 1.78 × 106 Da. Subsequently, through combination of promoters with signal peptides, the production of γ-PGAs with a specific molecular weight could be efficiently obtained. Interestingly, the γ-PGA yield increased with the reduced molecular weight in flask cultures (Pearson correlation coefficient of −0.968, P < 0.01). Finally, in batch fermentation, the highest yield of γ-PGA with a weight-average molecular weight of 7.80 × 104 Da reached 39.13 g/L under glutamate-free medium. Collectively, we developed an efficient strategy for one-step production of γ-PGAs with specific molecular weights, which have potential application for industrial production of desirable γ-PGAs.
Diagnostic and prognostic value of hematological and immunological markers in COVID-19 infection: A meta-analysis of 6320 patients

Objective Evidence-based characterization of the diagnostic and prognostic value of the hematological and immunological markers related to the epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is critical to understand the clinical course of the infection and to assess in development and validation of biomarkers. Methods Based on systematic search in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct up to April 22, 2020, a total of 52 eligible articles with 6,320 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cohorts were included. Pairwise comparison between severe versus mild disease, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) versus general ward admission, and expired versus survivors were performed for 36 laboratory parameters. The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the DerSimonian Laird method/random effects model and converted to Odds ratio (OR). The decision tree algorithm was employed to identify the key risk factor(s) attributed to severe COVID-19 disease. Results Cohorts with elevated levels of white blood cells (WBCs) (OR=1.75), neutrophil count (OR=2.62), D-dimer (OR=3.97), prolonged prothrombin time (PT) (OR=1.82), fibrinogen (OR=3.14), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (OR=1.60), procalcitonin (OR=4.76), IL-6 (OR=2.10), and IL-10 (OR=4.93) had higher odds of progression to severe phenotype. Decision tree model (sensitivity=100%, specificity=81%) showed the high performance of neutrophil count at a cut-off value of more than 3.74 x109/L for identifying patients at high risk of severe COVID-19. Likewise, ICU admission was associated with higher levels of WBCs (OR=5.21), neutrophils (OR=6.25), D-dimer (OR=4.19), and prolonged PT (OR=2.18). Patients with high IL-6 (OR=13.87), CRP (OR=7.09), D-dimer (OR=6.36), and neutrophils (OR=6.25) had the highest likelihood of mortality. Conclusions Several hematological and immunological markers, in particular neutrophilic count, could be helpful to be included within the routine panel for COVID-19 infection evaluation to ensure risk stratification and effective management.
Modeling the Mental Lexicon as Part of Long-Term and Working Memory and Simulating Lexical Access in a Naming Task Including Semantic and Phonological Cues

Background To produce and understand words, humans access the mental lexicon. From a functional perspective, the long-term memory component of the mental lexicon is comprised of three levels: the concept level, the lemma level, and the phonological level. At each level, different kinds of word information are stored. Semantic as well as phonological cues can help to facilitate word access during a naming task, especially when neural dysfunctions are present. The processing corresponding to word access occurs in specific parts of working memory. Neural models for simulating speech processing help to uncover the complex relationships that exist between neural dysfunctions and corresponding behavioral patterns. Methods The Neural Engineering Framework (NEF) and the Semantic Pointer Architecture (SPA) are used to develop a quantitative neural model of the mental lexicon and its access during speech processing. By simulating a picture-naming task (WWT 6-10), the influence of cues is investigated by introducing neural dysfunctions within the neural model at different levels of the mental lexicon. Results First, the neural model is able to simulate the test behavior for normal children that exhibit no lexical dysfunction. Second, the model shows worse results in test performance as larger degrees of dysfunction are introduced. Third, if the severity of dysfunction is not too high, phonological and semantic cues are observed to lead to an increase in the number of correctly named words. Phonological cues are observed to be more effective than semantic cues. Conclusion Our simulation results are in line with human experimental data. Specifically, phonological cues seem not only to activate phonologically similar items within the phonological level. Moreover, phonological cues support higher-level processing during access of the mental lexicon. Thus, the neural model introduced in this paper offers a promising approach to modeling the mental lexicon, and to incorporating the mental lexicon into a complex model of language processing.
In vitro binding capacity of organic (wheat bran and rice bran) and inorganic (perlite) sources for Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe

ABSTRACT This study was carried out to determination of in vitro binding capacity of wheat bran, rice bran, and perlite for Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe. For this reason, wheat bran and rice bran were chemically analysed for moisture, protein, ash, ether extract, total carbohydrate, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, crude fibre, cellulose, hemicelluloses, phytic acid, Non-Fiber Carbohydrate, total dietary fibre, soluble dietary fibre, insoluble dietary fibre, DF + lignin, and endogenous minerals. Mineral binding capacity of wheat bran, rice bran, and perlite for Mn, Zn, Fe, and Cu under sequential simulated physiological conditions of the stomach, small intestine, and colon was investigated and compared. Rice bran showed the highest mineral-binding capacity in small intestine for Mn, Zn, and Cu. Among the minerals, Mn exhibited the lowest percentage of binding under the simulated physiological conditions of the small intestine and the highest percentage of removing occurred in the stomach for all of the treatments. Cereal bran's had an affinity for Cu > Zn > Fe > Mn. The amounts of minerals bound varied among samples. Rice bran showed the highest and perlite had lowest mineral-binding capacity in small intestine for Mn, Zn, and Cu.
Determinants of cattle Market Participation Decision by Pastoralist in Southern Ethiopia: The case of Moyale district in Borana zone of Oromiya Region

The logistic regression analysis was employed to identify determinants of cattle market participation decision by pastoral household in Borana zone. Three kebeles were selected based on secondary data and reviewed literatures. Primary data were collected from 223 sampled pastoralist, 25 traders and 14 brokers. Econometric Approach was used to investigate determinants of pastoralist household cattle market participation. For logistic regression model six explanatory variables used and out of which three significantly affect probability of producers’ market participation decision. The number of cattle owned, number of camel owned and gender are predictors that significantly affect probability of cattle market participation. Both number of cattle and camel owned per household affects positively the probability of market participation. This implies that rearing large size of cattle and camels provoke cattle market participation decision of pastorals and it is also advisable to promote Borana cattle breed conservation. Holding the other predictor variables constant, being male by its-self increase the probability cattle market participation by 2.92 factors as compared to female household heads. This calls for systematic intervention of government to mainstreaming gender in cattle market that supposed to optimize the sector productivity. For one unit increase in number of cattle owned the probability of cattle market participation increase by 1.12 factors, other factors held fixed. For one unit increase in number of camel owned, the probability of cattle market participation decision increase by factor of 1.23 times, given the other variables held constant. Top 1st to 5th ranked constraints of cattle market include lengthy market, brokers’ interference, disease and parasite, clan conflict and unfriendly relation between market actors. Other 6th to 10th ranked market problems include informal trade, lack of reliable market information, recurrent tax, infrastructure constraint and initial capital problem. As remedial measure shortening the supply chain, animal health center development, capacity development, adopting value addition practices, update market information provision, cooperative formation and linking producers to market is believed to optimize the benefits of pastorals and boost cattle productivity.
Health Care-Specific Enacted HIV-Related Stigma's Association with Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence and Viral Suppression Among People Living with HIV in Florida.

Among people living with HIV (PLWH) in Florida, <2/3 are virally suppressed (viral load <200 copies/mL). Previous theoretical frameworks have pointed to HIV-related stigma as an important factor for viral suppression; an important outcome related to the HIV continuum of care. This study aims to analyze the association between enacted HIV-related stigma and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and viral suppression among a sample of PLWH in Florida. The overall sample (n = 932) was male (66.0%), majority greater than 45 years of age (63.5%), black (58.1%), and non-Hispanic (79.7%). Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression models. The odds of nonadherence to ART was not significantly greater for those reporting low/moderate or high levels of general enacted HIV-related stigma (vs. no stigma) [AOR = 1.30, CI: (0.87-1.95), p = 0.198; AOR = 1.17, CI: (0.65-2.11), p = 0.600, respectively]. Moreover, the odds of nonviral suppression were not significantly greater for those reporting low/moderate or high levels of general enacted HIV-related stigma (vs. no stigma) [AOR = 0.92, CI: (0.60-1.42), p = 0.702; AOR = 1.16, CI: (0.64-2.13), p = 0.622, respectively]. However, ever experiencing health care-specific enacted HIV-related stigma was associated with both nonadherence [AOR = 2.29, CI: (1.25-4.20), p = 0.008] and nonsuppression [AOR = 2.16, CI: (1.19-3.92), p = 0.011]. Despite limitations, the results suggest that the perpetuation of stigma by health care workers may have a larger impact on continuum of care outcomes of PLWH than other sources of enacted stigma. Based on the results, there is a need to develop and evaluate interventions for health care workers intended to reduce experienced stigma among PLWH and improve health outcomes.
Unraveling Particle Formation: From Single Droplet Drying to Spray Drying and Electrospraying

Spray drying and electrospraying are well-established drying processes that already have proven their value in the pharmaceutical field. However, there is currently still a lack of knowledge on the fundamentals of the particle formation process, thereby hampering fast and cost-effective particle engineering. To get a better understanding of how functional particles are formed with respect to process and formulation parameters, it is indispensable to offer a comprehensive overview of critical aspects of the droplet drying and particle formation process. This review therefore closely relates single droplet drying to pharmaceutical applications. Although excellent reviews exist of the different aspects, there is, to the best of our knowledge, no single review that describes all steps that one should consider when trying to engineer a certain type of particle morphology. The findings presented in this article have strengthened the predictive value of single droplet drying for pharmaceutical drying applications like spray drying and electrospraying. Continuous follow-up of the particle formation process in single droplet drying experiments hence allows optimization of manufacturing processes and particle engineering approaches and acceleration of process development.
Letter to the Editor: “Examining Bias and Reporting in Oral Health Prediction Modeling Studies”

Dear Editor, Du and colleagues (Du et al. 2020) noted that our model (Kuboniwa et al. 2016) includes predictors selected by univariate analysis (PROBAST 4.5). However, we did not perform univariate analysis to select predictors. Rather, to examine correlation of the saliva metabolome with periodontal inflammatory levels, we constructed orthogonal projections to latent structures (OPLS) regression models by setting all 63 metabolites identified by mass spectrometry as X predictor variables, with the periodontal inflamed surface area (Nesse et al. 2008) as the Y response variable. They also stated that no internal validation techniques were used in our model (PROBAST 4.8). However, OPLS models constructed using SIMCA software underwent 7-fold cross-validation, yielding a Q2 score of 0.616, which suggested model performance validity since Q2 > 0.5 is usually recognized as a good predictor (Triba et al. 2015). Furthermore, we employed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves as a supplemental method to test the validity of biomarker candidates obtained from the OPLS model. Unfortunately, we did not perform internal validation and acknowledge that greater effort should have been made in this regard. However, Liebsch et al. investigated the correlation of salivary metabolites with periodontal disease severity in 909 subjects and their results favored our prediction model (Liebsch et al. 2019). Considering that these reports provide external validation, we believe that the predictive performance of our model is reliable. Acknowledgments
Location of a Triticum speltoides chromosome segment conferring resistance to leaf rust in Triticum aestivum

A leaf rust resistant line, 2-9-2, was selected in the fourth backcross generation to Triticum aestivum of an interspecific hybrid, T. aestivum × Triticum speltoides. The resistance segregated independently of T. speltoides leaf rust resistance gene Lr28, previously shown to be incorporated into wheat chromosome 1B in two other transfer lines. Monosomic and telosomic analyses showed that the gene in line 2-9-2, Lr36, was incorporated into the short arm of chromosome 6B. C-banding analysis showed that the homoeologous crossing-over occurred distally to an interstitial C-band in the satellite and linkage analysis showed Lr36 to be tightly linked to the telomeric C-band.Key words: C-banding, physical mapping, linkage, wheat, chromosome 6B, introgression.
Liver injury is independently associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19

Objective Data on serial liver biochemistries of patients infected by different human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are lacking. The impact of liver injury on adverse clinical outcomes in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients remains unclear. Design This was a retrospective cohort study using data from a territory-wide database in Hong Kong. COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and other HCoV patients were identified by diagnosis codes and/or virological results. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) elevation was defined as ALT/AST ≥2 × upper limit of normal (ie, 80 U/L). The primary end point was a composite of intensive care unit (ICU) admission, use of invasive mechanical ventilation and/or death. Results We identified 1040 COVID-19 patients (mean age 38 years, 54% men), 1670 SARS patients (mean age 44 years, 44% men) and 675 other HCoV patients (mean age 20 years, 57% men). ALT/AST elevation occurred in 50.3% SARS patients, 22.5% COVID-19 patients and 36.0% other HCoV patients. For COVID-19 patients, 53 (5.1%) were admitted to ICU, 22 (2.1%) received invasive mechanical ventilation and 4 (0.4%) died. ALT/AST elevation was independently associated with primary end point (adjusted OR (aOR) 7.92, 95% CI 4.14 to 15.14, p<0.001) after adjusted for albumin, diabetes and hypertension. Use of lopinavir–ritonavir ±ribavirin + interferon beta (aOR 1.94, 95% CI 1.20 to 3.13, p=0.006) and corticosteroids (aOR 3.92, 95% CI 2.14 to 7.16, p<0.001) was independently associated with ALT/AST elevation. Conclusion ALT/AST elevation was common and independently associated with adverse clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Use of lopinavir–ritonavir, with or without ribavirin, interferon beta and/or corticosteroids was independently associated with ALT/AST elevation.