Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dietary Hydroxytyrosol Supplementation on Growth Performance, Gut Morphometry, and Oxidative and Inflammatory Status in LPS-Challenged Broilers

Simple Summary Broiler chickens are frequently exposed to a variety of stress factors in the poultry industry. To simulate these factors, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli is commonly used as a research model to stimulate inflammatory and oxidative stresses in broilers. LPS can reduce growth performance parameters by negatively affecting broilers’ immune response to inflammation. Feed additives that could mitigate those detrimental effects are often demanded. The present study evaluated the impact of hydroxytyrosol supplementation on the growth performance, gut morphometry, and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant parameters of broilers challenged with LPS. Hydroxytyrosol improved the growth performance, gut morphometry, and oxidative status of broilers challenged with LPS. Therefore, hydroxytyrosol supplementation is a powerful nutritional intervention for mitigating the detrimental effects of LPS. Abstract This study assessed the effects of hydroxytyrosol (HT) on 8- to 20-day-old broilers challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS); 180 Cobb500™ male chicks were randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups, each comprising 10 replicates with 6 birds per replicate. Treatments included a control diet (CON), CON with LPS administration, and CON + LPS supplemented with 10 mg of HT/kg of feed. LPS was administered intraperitoneally on days 14, 16, 18, and 20. Body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured. On day 20, ten birds per treatment were slaughtered for analysis. Bursa, spleen, and liver were collected, and their respective relative weight was determined. The jejunum was destined for morphological analyses of villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD), and their ratio (VH:CD), and for mRNA expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and interleukins 10 (IL-10), 1 beta (IL-1β), and 8 (IL-8). HT improved BW, BWG, and FCR, and reduced crypt depth (CD) while increasing the VH:CD ratio in the jejunum. Moreover, HT downregulated mRNA expression of CAT, GPx, IL-10, and IL-1β. In conclusion, HT enhances broiler growth performance, mitigates jejunal mucosa damage from LPS, and modulates antioxidant and immune responses.
Patient Perception on Osteoporosis in Korean Female Patients with Osteoporosis

Background Patient perception is a key element in improving compliance with medications for osteoporosis. This study evaluated the awareness, perception, sources of information, and knowledge of osteoporosis among Korean women with osteoporosis. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted from July 22, 2021 to 13 August 2021. Patients who were followed up in endocrinology (Endo), orthopedic surgery (OS), and gynecology (GY) were recruited (N=40, 40, and 20 in each group). Patients were allocated according to their age, as follows: 15, 15, and 10 patients in their 60s, 70s, and 80s for Endo and OS, and 10 and 10 patients in their 60s and 70s for GY. The questionnaire was composed of the following topics: patient journey to the hospital, drug-related issues, communication with medical doctors, patient knowledge, and sources of information about osteoporosis. Results The results of medical check-ups were the most common reason for patient visits to the hospital for an initial diagnosis of osteoporosis (61%). A knowledge gap regarding mortality, refracture, and drug-induced osteoporosis was observed. Doctors were the most preferred and trustful source of information, while health-related TV shows were the second most common source of information. Patients with OS reported lower perceived severity and higher drug discontinuation, along with a higher proportion of fractures, as the initial reasons for hospital visits for osteoporosis. Conclusions Variations in perceptions according to the issue and group were identified. These should be considered during patient consultations to improve compliance with osteoporosis treatment.
Multiscale pore structure and its effect on gas transport in organic‐rich shale

A systematic investigation of multiscale pore structure in organic‐rich shale by means of the combination of various imaging techniques is presented, including the state‐of‐the‐art Helium‐Ion‐Microscope (HIM). The study achieves insight into the major features at each scale and suggests the affordable techniques for specific objectives from the aspects of resolution, dimension, and cost. The pores, which appear to be isolated, are connected by smaller pores resolved by higher‐resolution imaging. This observation provides valuable information, from the microscopic perspective of pore structure, for understanding how gas accumulates and transports from where it is generated. A comprehensive workflow is proposed based on the characteristics acquired from the multiscale pore structure analysis to simulate the gas transport process. The simulations are completed with three levels: the microscopic mechanisms should be taken into consideration at level I; the spatial distribution features of organic matter, inorganic matter, and macropores constitute the major issue at level II; and the microfracture orientation and topological structure are dominant factors at level III. The results of apparent permeability from simulations agree well with the values acquired from experiments. By means of the workflow, the impact of various gas transport mechanisms at different scales can be investigated more individually and precisely than conventional experiments.
Additive Impacts of Liveweight and Body Condition Score at Breeding on the Reproductive Performance of Merino and Non-Merino Ewe Lambs

Simple Summary Fatness is linked to reproductive performance in sheep, and it is realistic to expect that higher body condition scores at breeding would have positive effects on the reproductive rate of ewe lambs, over and above liveweight. Data were analysed from over 17,000 records from Merino and non-Merino ewe lambs from 22 different flocks across Australia. There were significant curvilinear relationships between liveweight or body condition score prior to breeding and reproductive rate for both Merino and non-Merino ewe lambs. When analysed together, there was a significant quadratic effect of body condition score on reproductive rate, independent of correlated changes in liveweight. The results indicated that if only a proportion of ewe lambs were selected for breeding, selection based on both liveweight and body condition scores may only improve overall reproductive rate by 1 to 2% compared to selection based on liveweight alone. Abstract Ewe lambs that are heavier due to improved nutrition pre- and post-weaning achieve puberty at a younger age, are more fertile, and have a higher reproductive rate. Fatness is intimately linked to reproduction, and we hypothesised that higher body condition scores at breeding would have positive effects on the reproductive rate of ewe lambs over and above liveweight. We also expected that if only a proportion of ewe lambs were presented for breeding, then it would be more effective to select them based on both liveweight and body condition score. To test these hypotheses, we analysed data from over 17,000 records from Merino and non-Merino ewe lambs from 22 different flocks across Australia. Non-Merino ewe lambs were more fertile (69.4% vs. 48.7%) and achieved a higher reproductive rate than Merino ewe lambs (96.9% vs. 60.7%). There were significant curvilinear relationships between liveweight (p < 0.001) or body condition score (p < 0.001) prior to breeding and reproductive rate for both Merino and non-Merino ewe lambs. For both breeds, there was a significant (p < 0.001) quadratic effect of body condition score prior to breeding on reproductive rate, independent of the correlated changes in liveweight, and at the same liveweight, an extra 0.5 of a body condition score up to 3.3 improved reproductive rate by about 20%. Nevertheless, the results indicated that if only a proportion of ewe lambs were selected for breeding, then selection based on both liveweight and body condition scores may only improve the overall reproductive rate by 1 to 2% compared to selection based on liveweight alone. We conclude that liveweight is a more effective method than body condition score for selecting ewe lambs for breeding.
Surface hydrological processes of rock glaciated basins in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

ABSTRACT Glaciers in the western USA contribute summer meltwater to regional hydrological systems. In the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, where glaciers do not exist, rock glaciers serve that function during the summer runoff period. Most rock glaciers in Colorado are located on northern slopes in mountainous areas; however, some rock glaciers in southwest Colorado have different aspects. In this study, we asked how slope aspect and rising air temperatures influence the hydrological processes of streams sourced from rock glaciers in the San Juan Mountains. We focused on three adjacent basins, Yankee Boy basin, Blue Lakes basin, and Mill Creek basin, which share a common peak, Gilpin Peak. Using HOBO® U20-001–04 water-level loggers, streamflow data were collected in each of these basins, below each rock glacier. Air temperature significantly influenced stream discharge below the rock glacier. Discharge and air temperature patterns indicate a possible air temperature threshold during late summer when rock glacier melt increases at a greater rate. The results also suggest that the aspect of rock glacier basins influences stream discharge, but that temperature and precipitation are likely larger components of melt regimes.
A high‐resolution sea‐level proxy dated using quartz OSL from the Holocene Skagen Odde spit system, Denmark

The contact between wave‐influenced foreshore and aeolian‐influenced backshore sediments (BA boundary) in raised spit deposits (Skagen Odde) is here used as a proxy for palaeo‐sea level over the past 7600 years. The elevation of the BA boundary was measured at 57 sample sites along the northwestern coast of the spit, and the age of these sites determined by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz grains. The elevation of the BA boundary with age gives past variation in relative sea level; relative sea level rose between c. 7600 and c. 6250 years ago, when it reached a peak value around 12.5 m above present mean sea level (apmsl), followed by a slow sea‐level fall until c. 4600 years ago before it dropped rapidly to reach 2 m apmsl c. 2000 years ago. From the new data it is tentatively deduced that the land uplift rate declined from about 3 mm a−1 6000 years ago to about 1.5 mm a−1 2000 years ago (low estimate), or alternatively from 5 mm a−1 5000 years ago to 1.5 mm a−1 2000 years ago (extreme estimate). These data indicate that the long‐term average rate of vertical land movement during the past 5000 years was around 1.8 mm a−1 (low estimate) or around 2.5 mm a−1 (extreme estimate). These values seem reasonable compared with a modern value of about 1.6 to 1.7 mm a−1. The lack of an independent data set illustrating the isostatic uplift history with time, however, precludes the construction of a well‐constrained eustatic sea‐level curve.
Clinical role of the long non‑coding RNA, EGFR‑AS1, in patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta‑analysis

The novel long non-coding RNA, EGFR-AS1, is expressed in various types of solid tumour, and its oncogenic role has been fully identified. In the present study, several articles were screened following an electronic search of the PubMed database. In total, 8 studies were included in the present systematic review. For each analysis indicator risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) or hazard ratios (HRs) with standard errors and 95% CIs were estimated using Review Manager 5.3. The pooled RR of high EGFR-AS1 expression among patients with or without vascular invasion was 1.81 with a 95% CI of 1.22–2.69; the pooled HR of high EGFR-AS1 expression for patient overall survival rate was 1.74 with a 95% CI of 1.39–2.18. Therefore, EGFR-AS1 was identified as an oncogene and the upregulated EGFR-AS1 expression was significantly associated with advanced tumour progression and poor prognosis.
Responses of intertidal macroalgae and associated fauna to interactive processes acting over multiple spatial scales

iii lumbricalis to compare possible similarities between coastlines and to determine if inferred mesoto large-scale processes influence physical trends in a similar manner despite the coastlines being affected by different hydrodynamic processes. The macroalgae were located in two distinctly different upwelling regimes, Hypnea spicifera on the east and south coasts and Champia lumbricalis on the west coast. Upwelling (delivery of nutrients and primary production) was not found to be an important factor in determining the physical characteristics of macroalgae but there were clear patterns linked to latitude. Mean percentage cover of Hypnea spicifera was positively correlated with distance along the east and south coasts. Mean mass and mean surface area of H. spicifera were, however, negatively correlated with distance from Port St Johns. Mean frond length showed a negative trend but this relationship was not statistically significant. On the west coast, there was a significant increase in mean frond length from north to south for Champia lumbricalis. Mean surface area and mean mass of C. lumbricalis exhibited non-significant negative trends from north to south while there was a non-significant positive trend for mean percentage cover. Following the “Productivity Hypothesis”, these patterns from north to south along the coastlines of South Africa could have important implications for biodiversity associated with these algae. Many previous studies have focussed on the effects of upwelling on species (i.e. effects of nutrients and temperature) but have failed to separate this effect from large scale effects such as biogeography and latitudinal gradients. I tested the influence meso-scale upwelling, large-scale biogeographic processes and latitudinal gradients with two different species of macroalgae one on the east and south coasts of South Africa and the other on the west coast. Hypnea spicifera inhabits the east and south coasts of South Africa spanning two biogeographic provinces and is generally affected by relatively weak upwelling, whereas Champia lumbricalis inhabits the west coast spanning one biogeographic province which is subjected to intense persistent upwelling
Process intensification in food industry: hydrodynamic and acoustic cavitation for fresh milk treatment

Cavitation phenomena, which are commonly connected to erosion effects in fluid-flow systems, can be valid non-conventional mild disinfection processes for the treatment of fresh milk, clear juices and aqueous beverages. In this work, two flow-through reactors for hydrodynamic and ultrasonic cavitation have been tested in an attempt to achieve the simultaneous pasteurization and homogenization of fresh cow milk at low temperature and in a modified atmosphere. In this work, hydrodynamic cavitation in a loop reactor gives up to 88% microorganism inactivation when working at 6 bar pressure in a CO2 atmosphere for 30 min. Acoustic cavitation in a ultrasonic flow reactor (Sonotube, power 370 W) gave microorganism abatement percentages of 95% in 10 min. Fast and efficient homogenization occurred in both loop reactors. An additional, and important, advantage of these techniques is the fact that they can easily be scaled-up for industrial applications.
Assessment of Soil Fertility Status for Bambara Groundnut Production in South-eastern Tanzania

Intensive farming practised in the agro-ecological zones of Makonde plateau (C2) and Inland plain (E5) of south-eastern Tanzania without proper soil management has led to nutrient depletion. The objective of the study was to assess the fertility status of soils in Bambara groundnut growing areas of south-eastern Tanzania. Twenty-two farmers' field sites were sampled and composite samples of top soil at 0 – 20 cm depth were collected for physical and chemical analysis. The results indicate that the soils in the study area are sandy loam (64%), loamy sand (27%) and sandy clay loam (9%). About 28% of the soils in the study area had very low CEC values (< 6 cmol (+) kg soil). Soil pH was strongly acidic to moderately acidic (≤ 5.5) and slightly acidic (≥ 6.0) in the C2 and E5 agroecological zones, respectively. Total N was very low (< 0.1%) and organic carbon was very low to low (< 0.6%). Low levels of available P (<10 mg/kg), inadequate S (SO4-S) levels (< 10 mg/kg) were observed. The exchangeable K in the C2 zone was very low to low (< 0.05 cmol(+)/kg) while E5 zone had medium K level. The calcium level of C2 was low to medium (0.2 – 2.5 cmol(+)/kg) whereas that of E5 was medium to high (0.6 – 5.0 cmol(+)/kg). The exchangeable Mg 2+ levels were very low to low (< 0.2 cmol(+)/kg) while Na was < 0.30 cmol(+)/kg soil indicating no sodicity problem. For > 90% of the studied soils extractable Zn was below critical level of 0.6 mg/kg. All soils had adequate extractable Fe whereas > 70% of the soils had high (> 5 mg/kg) extractable Mn. The study area generally indicated low fertility status in terms of N, P, K, S, Mg and Zn, calling for proper management for improving crop production.
The Evaluation of a Code-Switched Sepedi-English Automatic Speech Recognition System

Speech technology is a field that encompasses various techniques and tools used to enable machines to interact with speech, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR), spoken dialog systems, and others, allowing a device to capture spoken words through a microphone from a human speaker. End-to-end approaches such as Connectionist Temporal Classification (CTC) and attention-based methods are the most used for the development of ASR systems. However, these techniques were commonly used for research and development for many high-resourced languages with large amounts of speech data for training and evaluation, leaving low-resource languages relatively underdeveloped. While the CTC method has been successfully used for other languages, its effectiveness for the Sepedi language remains uncertain. In this study, we present the evaluation of the SepediEnglish code-switched automatic speech recognition system. This end-to-end system was developed using the Sepedi Prompted Code Switching corpus and the CTC approach. The performance of the system was evaluated using both the NCHLT Sepedi test corpus and the Sepedi Prompted Code Switching corpus. The model produced the lowest WER of 41.9%, however, the model faced challenges in recognizing the Sepedi only text
Sensor Network Localization via Riemannian Conjugate Gradient and Rank Reduction

This paper addresses the Sensor Network Localization (SNL) problem using received signal strength. The SNL is formulated as an Euclidean Distance Matrix Completion (EDMC) problem under the unit ball sample model. Using the Burer-Monteiro factorization type cost function, the EDMC is solved by Riemannian conjugate gradient with Hager-Zhang line search method on a quotient manifold. A"rank reduction"preprocess is proposed for proper initialization and to achieve global convergence with high probability. Simulations on a synthetic scene show that our approach attains better localization accuracy and is computationally efficient compared to several baseline methods. Characterization of a small local basin of attraction around the global optima of the s-stress function under Bernoulli sampling rule and incoherence matrix completion framework is conducted for the first time. Theoretical result conjectures that the Euclidean distance problem with a structure-less sample mask can be effectively handled using spectral initialization followed by vanilla first-order methods. This preliminary analysis, along with the aforementioned numerical accomplishments, provides insights into revealing the landscape of the s-stress function and may stimulate the design of simpler algorithms to tackle the non-convex formulation of general EDMC problems.
On the Convergence of Locally Adaptive and Scalable Diffusion-Based Sampling Methods for Deep Bayesian Neural Network Posteriors

Achieving robust uncertainty quantification for deep neural networks represents an important requirement in many real-world applications of deep learning such as medical imaging where it is necessary to assess the reliability of a neural network's prediction. Bayesian neural networks are a promising approach for modeling uncertainties in deep neural networks. Unfortunately, generating samples from the posterior distribution of neural networks is a major challenge. One significant advance in that direction would be the incorporation of adaptive step sizes, similar to modern neural network optimizers, into Monte Carlo Markov chain sampling algorithms without significantly increasing computational demand. Over the past years, several papers have introduced sampling algorithms with claims that they achieve this property. However, do they indeed converge to the correct distribution? In this paper, we demonstrate that these methods can have a substantial bias in the distribution they sample, even in the limit of vanishing step sizes and at full batch size.
Structural investigation of the liquid crystalline phases of three homologues from the series of 4-pentylphenyl-4'-n-alkyloxythiobenzoates (n = 9, 10, 11)

Polarizing optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry are used to determine the phase sequence of three liquid crystalline 4-pentylphenyl-4'-n-alkyloxythiobenzoates with n = 9, 10, 11. The X-ray diffraction method is applied for structural characterization of the liquid crystalline phases. The smectic layer spacing, tilt angle, average distance between the long axes of molecules and correlation length of the short-range order are determined as a function of temperature. For the crystal-like smectic phases with hexagonal or herring-bone packing, the unit cell parameters are obtained. The presence of the tilted hexagonal phase for n = 10, 11 and tilted herring-bone phase for n = 9, 10 is indicated, although the direction of the tilt cannot be determined.
Precipitaciones por frentes atlánticos en la Comunidad Valenciana: cambios y tendencias en las últimas décadas

En las ultimas decadas del siglo XX se han detectado cambios en el regimen de precipitaciones en la vertiente mediterranea de la Peninsula Iberica, dominados por un descenso general de las precipitaciones totales. Este descenso enmascara importantes diferencias dependiendo del origen de la precipitacion ya sea de frente atlantico, de ciclogenesis mediterraneas o de situaciones convectivas. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los cambios que se han producido en las precipitaciones procedentes unicamente de frente atlantico en la Comunidad Valenciana. Los resultados confirman una tendencia clara al descenso del volumen absoluto anual en el caso de frentes atlanticos. Segun lo anterior, el escenario de futuro se traduce en una zona interior de condiciones cada vez mas aridas frente a una zona litoral con mayores aportes de agua pero con tendencia a un marcado caracter torrencial. [EN]During the last decades of the last century some changes have been detected in the precipitation regime in the Spanish Mediterranean coast, showing a generalized decrease in the precipitation totals. This decrease masks important differences if we disintegregate the precipitacions attending to their originating processes (atlantic fronts, mediterranean cyclogenesis and convective rains). The objective of this work is to analyze the changes in the precipitation regime in the Valencian region just in the case of precipitation coming from atlantic fronts. Our results corrobrate a clear tendency to a decrease in the absolute annual volume of precipitation in the case of atlantic fronts. Following, the future scenario in the Valencian region leads to a drier and arid inner regions in front of coastal areas with increasing precipitation inputs but with a tendency to a marked torrential character.