Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Altitude and its inverse association with abdominal obesity in an Andean country: a cross-sectional study

Background: Abdominal obesity represents an accurate predictor of overall morbidity and mortality, which is worrisome because it is also continuously increasing across Andean countries. However, its relationship with altitude remains unclear. The objective of this study was to assess the association between altitude and abdominal obesity in Peru, and how sociodemographic variables impact this association. Methods: We estimated the prevalence of abdominal obesity in Peru and analyzed its association with altitude using the data from the 2012-2013 National Household Survey (ENAHO). During this survey, a representative sample of Peruvians was screened for abdominal obesity, using waist circumference as a proxy, and the Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines cutoffs. Results: Data were analyzed from a sample of 20 489 Peruvians (51% male). The prevalence of abdominal obesity was estimated at 33.6% (95% CI: 32.5 to 34.6%). In Peru, altitude was significantly and inversely associated with abdominal obesity, decreasing with higher altitudes: 1500-2999 meters above mean sea level (MAMSL) vs <1500 MAMSL, adjusted prevalence rate [aPR]= 0.90 (95% CI: 0.84 to 0.96); ≥3000 MAMSL vs <1500 MAMSL, aPR= 0.78 (95% CI: 0.72 to 0.84), when adjusting by age, gender and residence area (rural/urban). However, this association was significantly modified by age and gender ( p< 0.001). Conclusion: Abdominal obesity is highly prevalent in Peru and decreases significantly with altitude, but age and gender modify this association. Thus, abdominal obesity appears to affect older women from low altitudes more than younger men from high altitudes.
Varietal traits limiting the grain yield of tropical maize IV. Plant traits and productivity of tropical varieties

Abstract At Tlaltizapan, Mexico, 26 maize varieties with a wide range of various contrasting traits were grown at three plant densities (25, 000, 50, 000, and 100, 000 plants per ha) to clarify the factors currently limiting grain yield. The following results were obtained. 1. Long-duration varieties compared to short-duration varletles tended to be taller and to produce a larger number of leaves, larger LAl, larger TDW, and higher grain yield. No evidence was obtained to indicate that plant type was important for high-yielding varieties. 2. High grain yield was attributable mainly to the larger number of kernels per unit field area. The sink size is possibly the dominant factor controlllng the grain yield, indicating the importance of studies on the yield components. For obtaining high-yielding varieties, it would be important to improve a strain so that a single ear became larger and more tolerant to barrenness at a high plant density.
Relationship between mycorrhizal dependence and competitive ability of two tallgrass prairie grasses

The impact of mycorrhizal symbiosis on growth of Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem) and Koeleria pyranidata (junegrass) was compared. Andropogon gerardii was 98% dependent on the symbiosis, whereas K. pyranidata displayed less than 0.02% dependence. Mycorrhizal fungus inoculation resulted in 50 times larger A. gerardii plants but did not alter growth of K. pyranidata. When competing in pairs, A. gerardii dominated when the mycorrhizal symbiosis was present and K. pyranidata dominated when it was not present. Dry weight of mycorrhizal A. gerardii was altered, whether grown alone or with K. pyranidata, but mycorrhizal K. pyranidata grew well only in the absence of competition and failed to grow appreciably if A. gerardii was present. Without mycorrhizal fungus inoculation, A. gerardii did not grow and had no deleterious effects on K. pyranidata. When P fertilization was substituted for mycorrhizal fungus inoculation, A. gerardii grew better alone than in competition with K. pyranidata at low P levels but wa.
Estimativa de repetibilidade para caracteres de qualidade de frutos de laranjeira-doce

The objective of this work was to determine the repeatability coefficient of fruit quality characteristics of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) and the minimum number of evaluations that can provide levels of prediction certainty of the true genotype value. Thirty nine genotypes of sweet orange, collected in nine municipalities of the state of Acre, Brazil, were evaluated in five crop cycles. A randomized complete block design was used, with three replicates. The following were evaluated: average fruit weight, juice yield, peel thickness, soluble solids (SS), total acidity (TA), SS/TA ratio, and technological index. To estimate the repeatability coefficients, the methods of analysis of variance, principal component analysis, and structural analysis were used. All evaluated characters showed variability, except for juice yield. The evaluated characters showed a cyclic pattern, which was best captured by the multivariate methodologies for estimating the repeatability coefficient. Fifteen evaluations are needed to determine, with 90% certainty, the characters peel thickness and soluble solids, and 11, 6, 3, 2, and 1 evaluations, respectively for average fruit weight, total acidity, technological index, juice yield, and SS/TA ratio, respectively.
Effect of feeding a lupin grain supplement on reproductive performance of maiden and mature ewes

Summary A study was made of reproductive performance in 183 maiden and 218 mature ewes from a single Merino flock either with or without lupin grain supplement (Lupinus angustifolius cv. Uniwhite) at 500 g/head/day from 14 days prior to the introduction of the rams until 12 days post coitus. The ewes were grazed either on irrigated perennial pasture or hay fed on a fallow area. Ovulation rates increased (P < 0·01) in ewes which received the supplement. Insemination rates were not affected by the supplement, although embryo survival was reduced (P < 0·05). Feeding the lupin grain supplement did not increase the number of embryos present at days 28·31 post coitus. Ovulation rate and embryo survival were not influenced by diets of irrigated pasture or hay, although insemination rates of ewes tended to be lower when ewes grazed the irrigated pasture rather than hay.
KATAGNYMENE: CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL MARINE DIAZOTROPH

The marine planktonic cyanobacterial genus Katagnymene was described by Lemmermann in 1900 and is found in oligotrophic tropical and subtropical oceans. The genus comprises two species, K. pelagica Lemmermann and K. spiralis Lemmermann, and both were observed in most stations sampled during a cruise in the southwest Pacific Ocean in 1998. Katagnymene is nonheterocystous and characterized by single ensheathed trichomes that do not form colonies. Acetylene reduction‐GC demonstrated that natural populations of Katagnymene fixed nitrogen and that nitrogenase activity occurred exclusively in the light during a 12:12 light:dark cycle. Whole cell immunolocalization revealed that nitrogenase (the Fe protein) appeared in 7% of the total number of cells and that these were arranged in zones composed of consecutively arranged cells. At least one zone of nitrogenase‐containing cells per trichome was found. Nitrogenase was present throughout both the day and night, as shown by Western blotting, and in the same percentage of cells. Ultrastructural immunolocalization on sectioned trichomes also confirmed the presence and localization of nitrogenase in Katagnymene. Cultures of Katagnymene are able to grow on nitrogen‐free media and fix nitrogen only in the light. Finally, cloning and sequencing of nifH verified the diazotrophic nature of the genus Katagnymene and demonstrated a close relationship to members of the marine genus Trichodesmium.
A Review of Non-Chemical Alternatives to SO2 Fumigation to Prevent Pericarp Browning of Litchi

Litchi pericarp browning is a widespread problem caused by a wide range of factors, such as polyphenolsoxidase and peroxidase, disease, desiccation, chilling, senescence, decay, micro-cracks, and heat injury. To overcome these problems, the litchi industry commercially uses SO2, but it leaves undesirable residues. Furthermore, chemical controls of browning have been threatened by consumer preferences and regulatory issues concerning pesticide residues in fruits. Thus, there is a necessity to develop alternatives to maintain the overall quality. Several alternatives to SO2 fumigation, such as hot water brushing, modified/controlled atmosphere storage, bio-control agents, surface coating, cold storage, and irradiation, have been proposed.
Broad‐scale geographic patterns in body size and hind wing development of western Palaearctic carabid beetles(Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Research into large-scale ecological rules has a long tradition but has received increasing attention over the last two decades. Whereas environmental, especially climatic, influences on the geographic distribution of species traits such as body size are well understood in mammals and birds, our knowledge of the determinants and mechanisms which shape spatial patterns in invertebrate traits is still limited. This study analyzes macroecological patterns in two traits of the highly diverse invertebrate taxon of carabid beetles: body size and hind wing development, the latter being directly linked to species’ dispersal abilities. We tested for potential impacts of environmental variables (spatial, areal, topographic and climate-related) representing both contemporary conditions and historical processes on large-scale patterns in the two traits. Regression models revealed hump-shaped relationships with latitude for both traits in the categories 1) all species, 2) widespread and 3) endemic (restricted-range) species: body size and the proportion of flightless species increased from northern towards southern Europe and then decreased towards North Africa. The shared and independent influence of environmental factors was analyzed by variation partitioning. While contemporary environmental productivity and stability (represented by measures of ambient energy and water energy balance) had strong positive relationships with carabid body size, patterns in hind wing development were most notably influenced by topography (elevation range). Regions with high elevation range and low historical climate variability (since the last ice age), which likely offer long-term stable habitats (i.e. glacial refugia), coincide with regions with high proportions of flightless species. Thus geographic patterns in carabid traits tend to be formed not only by recent climate but also by dispersal and historical climate and processes (i.e. glaciations and postglacial colonization).
Soil Solarization as an Alternative to Methyl Bromide Fumigation for Annual Strawberry Production in a Mediterranean Area

ABSTRACT This study compares the effects of soil solarization and methyl bromide fumigation on the growth and yield of strawberry plants (Fragaria xananassa Duch.) cultivated under plastic tunnel conditions. The study was conducted in a Mediterranean coastal area, in four consecutive annual production cycles in a field with no history of methyl bromide fumigation and 2-year history of strawberry production. In all 4 years, solarization was conducted for 7- to 9-week intervals from late June to early September. Cultivar Tudla frigo-plants were planted through mulch in the first week of September of each year. Average daily soil temperatures in solarized plots measured at 15 cm depth were 6.0, 8.1, 7.8, and 8.4 °C higher than the control, during Summer 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, respectively. Solarization produced 781, 610, 630, and 525 hours above 37 °C at 15 cm depth during the first, second, third, and fourth year, respectively. In the first year, solarization significantly increased both early and total marketable yields by 15% compared with the fumigated plots, whereas in the successive years, solarization and fumigation were equally effective in increasing yields when compared to untreated plots. No significant differences in average fruit weight were observed between solarized and fumigated plots in individual years. The study demonstrated that the Mediterranean coastal areas have appropriate environmental conditions to apply soil solarization in strawberry planting as a viable substitute to methyl bromide fumigation.
The evolution of high-fidelity social learning

A defining feature of human culture is that knowledge and technology continually improve over time. Such cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) probably depends far more heavily on how reliably information is preserved than on how efficiently it is refined. Therefore, one possible reason that CCE appears diminished or absent in other species is that it requires accurate but specialized forms of social learning at which humans are uniquely adept. Here, we develop a Bayesian model to contrast the evolution of high-fidelity social learning, which supports CCE, against low-fidelity social learning, which does not. We find that high-fidelity transmission evolves when (1) social and (2) individual learning are inexpensive, (3) traits are complex, (4) individual learning is abundant, (5) adaptive problems are difficult and (6) behaviour is flexible. Low-fidelity transmission differs in many respects. It not only evolves when (2) individual learning is costly and (4) infrequent but also proves more robust when (3) traits are simple and (5) adaptive problems are easy. If conditions favouring the evolution of high-fidelity transmission are stricter (3 and 5) or harder to meet (2 and 4), this could explain why social learning is common, but CCE is rare.
Similar Energy Expenditure During BodyPump and Heavy Load Resistance Exercise in Overweight Women

Purpose High-repetition, low-load resistance exercise in group class settings has gained popularity in recent years, with BodyPump as a prime example. For individuals using exercise for body-weight management, the energy expenditure during exercise is of interest. Therefore, we herein aimed to estimate the energy expenditure during a session of BodyPump and a time-matched session of heavy load resistance training in overweight women (BMI ≥ 25.0). Methods Eighteen women participated in the study (mean age 35.4 years ± 10.2, BMI 30.4 kg/m2 ± 4.8), 10 exercising BodyPump (50–100 repetitions each muscle group) and eight performed a heavy load session (eight repetition maximum × three sets). The energy expenditure was assessed with indirect calorimetry during the sessions and for two intervals at rest during the recovery phase: 0–20 and 120–140 min after the sessions. Results The BodyPump group lifted significantly more loads than the heavy load group (19,485 kg ± 2258 vs 15,616 kg ± 2976, p = 0.006), while energy expenditure was similar with 302 kcal ± 67 and 289 kcal ± 69 in BodyPump and heavy load group, respectively (p = 0.69). With no group differences, the resting metabolic rate (RMR) was elevated with 15–22% 2 h after exercise. Conclusion Overweight women achieved an energy expenditure of approximately 300 kcal (4.7 kcal per min) during a single session of BodyPump, which was similar with the women performing a single session of heavy load resistance exercise.
Preclinical ex-vivo Testing of Anti-inflammatory Drugs in a Bovine Intervertebral Degenerative Disc Model

Discogenic low back pain (LBP) is a main cause of disability and inflammation is presumed to be a major driver of symptomatic intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Anti-inflammatory agents are currently under investigation as they demonstrated to alleviate symptoms in patients having IDD. However, their underlying anti-inflammatory and regenerative activity is poorly explored. The present study sought to investigate the potential of Etanercept and Tofacitinib for maintaining disc homeostasis in a preclinical intervertebral disc (IVD) organ culture model within IVD bioreactors allowing for dynamic loading and nutrient exchange. Bovine caudal IVDs were cultured in a bioreactor system for 4 days to simulate physiological or degenerative conditions: (1) Phy—physiological loading (0.02–0.2 MPa; 0.2 Hz; 2 h/day) and high glucose DMEM medium (4.5 g/L); (2) Deg+Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)—degenerative loading (0.32–0.5 MPa; 5 Hz; 2 h/day) and low glucose DMEM medium (2 g/L), with TNF-α injection. Etanercept was injected intradiscally while Tofacitinib was supplemented into the culture medium. Gene expression in the IVD tissue was measured by RT-qPCR. Release of nitric oxide (NO), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) into the IVD conditioned medium were analyzed. Cell viability in the IVD was assessed using lactate dehydrogenase and ethidium homodimer-1 staining. Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess protein expression of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and collagen type II in the IVD tissue. Etanercept and Tofacitinib downregulated the expression of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, Matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1), and MMP3 in the nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue and IL-1β, MMP3, Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), and Nerve growth factor (NGF) in the annulus fibrosus (AF) tissue. Furthermore, Etanercept significantly reduced the IL-1β positively stained cells in the outer AF and NP regions. Tofacitinib significantly reduced IL-1β and IL-8 positively stained cells in the inner AF region. Both, Etanercept and Tofacitinib reduced the GAG loss to the level under physiological culture condition. Etanercept and Tofacitinib are able to neutralize the proinflammatory and catabolic environment in the IDD organ culture model. However, combined anti-inflammatory and anabolic treatment may be required to constrain accelerated IDD and relieving inflammation-induced back pain.
Characterization of Bacterial and Fungal Assemblages From Historically Contaminated Metalliferous Soils Using Metagenomics Coupled With Diffusion Chambers and Microbial Traps

The majority of environmental microbiomes are not amenable to cultivation under standard laboratory growth conditions and hence remain uncharacterized. For environmental applications, such as bioremediation, it is necessary to isolate microbes performing the desired function, which may not necessarily be the fast growing or the copiotroph microbiota. Toward this end, cultivation and isolation of microbial strains using diffusion chambers (DC) and/or microbial traps (MT) have both been recently demonstrated to be effective strategies because microbial enrichment is facilitated by soil nutrients and not by synthetically defined media, thus simulating their native habitat. In this study, DC/MT chambers were established using soils collected from two US Department of Energy (DOE) sites with long-term history of heavy metal contamination, including mercury (Hg). To characterize the contamination levels and nutrient status, soils were first analyzed for total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). Multivariate statistical analysis on these measurements facilitated binning of soils under high, medium and low levels of contamination. Bacterial and fungal microbiomes that developed within the DC and MT chambers were evaluated using comparative metagenomics, revealing Chthoniobacter, Burkholderia and Bradyrhizobium spp. , as the predominant bacteria while Penicillium, Thielavia, and Trichoderma predominated among fungi. Many of these core microbiomes were also retrieved as axenic isolates. Furthermore, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of biogeochemical measurements, metal concentrations and bacterial communities revealed a positive correlation of Chthoniobacter/Bradyrhizobium spp. , to THg whereas Burkholderia spp. , correlated with MeHg. Penicillium spp. , correlated with THg whereas Trichoderma spp. , and Aspergillus spp. , correlated with MeHg, from the MT approach. This is the first metagenomics-based assessment, isolation and characterization of soil-borne bacterial and fungal communities colonizing the diffusion chambers (DC) and microbial traps (MT) established with long-term metal contaminated soils. Overall, this study provides proof-of-concept for the successful application of DC/MT based assessment of mercury resistant (HgR) microbiomes in legacy metal-contaminated soils, having complex contamination issues. Overall, this study brings out the significance of microbial communities and their relevance in context to heavy metal cycling for better stewardship and restoration of such historically contaminated systems.
Assessing crowd management strategies for the 2010 Love Parade disaster using computer simulations and virtual reality

Dense crowds in public spaces have often caused serious security issues at large events. In this paper, we study the 2010 Love Parade disaster, for which a large amount of data (e.g. research papers, professional reports and video footage) exist. We reproduce the Love Parade disaster in a three-dimensional computer simulation calibrated with data from the actual event and using the social force model for pedestrian behaviour. Moreover, we simulate several crowd management strategies and investigate their ability to prevent the disaster. We evaluate these strategies in virtual reality (VR) by measuring the response and arousal of participants while experiencing the simulated event from a festival attendee’s perspective. Overall, we find that opening an additional exit and removing the police cordons could have significantly reduced the number of casualties. We also find that this strategy affects the physiological responses of the participants in VR.
Shallow neural networks for fluid flow reconstruction with limited sensors

In many applications, it is important to reconstruct a fluid flow field, or some other high-dimensional state, from limited measurements and limited data. In this work, we propose a shallow neural network-based learning methodology for such fluid flow reconstruction. Our approach learns an end-to-end mapping between the sensor measurements and the high-dimensional fluid flow field, without any heavy preprocessing on the raw data. No prior knowledge is assumed to be available, and the estimation method is purely data-driven. We demonstrate the performance on three examples in fluid mechanics and oceanography, showing that this modern data-driven approach outperforms traditional modal approximation techniques which are commonly used for flow reconstruction. Not only does the proposed method show superior performance characteristics, it can also produce a comparable level of performance to traditional methods in the area, using significantly fewer sensors. Thus, the mathematical architecture is ideal for emerging global monitoring technologies where measurement data are often limited.
Multi-Focus Image Fusion With Point Detection Filter and Superpixel-Based Consistency Verification

An accurate and efficient measurement of pixel’s sharpness is a critical factor in most multi-focus image fusion methods. In our practice, we found that the focused regions get more blurred than the defocus regions when the multi-focus images are blurred digitally. Based on this observation, a novel multi-focus image fusion method is presented in this paper. In the given fusion scheme, focused regions detection is achieved by point detection filter and Gaussian filter, which has been certified more effective than other frequently used image clarity measures. Moreover, unlike the other commonly used consistency verification, we propose a superpixel-based consistency verification (SCV) method by integrating the image superpixels to improve the fusion performance. Image superpixels can perceptually represent meaningful image local features. Two datasets of multi-focus images are used to conduct experiments. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can be competitive with or even outperform the state-of-the-art fusion methods in terms of both subjective visual perception and objective evaluation metrics.