Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evolution of Beak and Feather Disease Virus across Three Decades of Conservation Intervention for Population Recovery of the Mauritius Parakeet

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are key contributors to the current global biodiversity crisis. Psittaciformes (parrots) are one of the most vulnerable avian taxa and psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) is the most common viral disease in wild parrots. PBFD is caused by the beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), which belongs to the Circoviridae family and comprises a circular, single-stranded DNA genome. BFDV is considered to have spread rapidly across the world and, in 2005, an outbreak of PBFD was documented in the recovering population of the Mauritius parakeet (Alexandrinus eques). The Mauritius parakeet was once the world’s rarest parrot and has been successfully recovered through 30 years of intensive conservation management. Molecular surveillance for the prevalence of BFDV was carried out across a 24-year sample archive spanning the period from 1993 to 2017, and DNA sequencing of positive individuals provided an opportunity to assess patterns of phylogenetic and haplotype diversity. Phylogenetic analyses show variation in the extent of viral diversification within the replicase protein (Rep). Timeseries of BFDV prevalence and number of haplotypes reveal that two subsequent waves of infection occurred in 2010/2011 and 2013/2014 following the initial outbreak in 2005. Continued disease surveillance to determine the frequency and intensity of subsequent waves of infection may benefit future translocation/reintroduction planning. The continued growth of the Mauritius parakeet population despite the presence of BFDV bodes well for its long-term persistence.
The Emerging Role of the Gut Microbiome in the Cancer Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Narrative Review

The discovery of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has revolutionized the care of cancer patients. However, the response to ICI therapy exhibits substantial interindividual variability. Efforts have been directed to identify biomarkers that predict the clinical response to ICIs. In recent years, the gut microbiome has emerged as a critical player that influences the efficacy of immunotherapy. An increasing number of studies have suggested that the baseline composition of a patient's gut microbiota and its dysbiosis are correlated with the outcome of cancer immunotherapy. This review tackles the rapidly growing body of evidence evaluating the relationship between the gut microbiome and the response to ICI therapy. Additionally, this review highlights the impact of antibiotic-induced dysbiosis on ICI efficacy and discusses the possible therapeutic interventions to optimize the gut microbiota composition to augment immunotherapy efficacy.
Design and Field Evaluation of Hybrid FRP/Reinforced Concrete Superstructure System

Fiber-reinforced polymers offer several advantages over conventional construction materials but are also faced with several challenges. These include increased first cost, relatively low stiffness, and a lack of field experience. To address these challenges and to advance the state of the art, a hybrid fiber reinforced polymer/reinforced concrete bridge was designed and constructed in Texas. The bridge design and field evaluation are unique in several respects. Design considerations, the bid process, and the results of intermittent live load evaluations that have been conducted over a period of approximately 2 years are presented. Recommendations for the design of future similar bridges are provided.
Changes in biomass burning, wetland extent, or agriculture drive atmospheric NH3 trends in select African regions

Abstract. Atmospheric ammonia (NH3) is a precursor to fine particulate matter and a source of nitrogen (N) deposition that can adversely affect ecosystem health. The main sources of NH3 – agriculture and biomass burning – are undergoing are or expected to undergo substantial changes in Africa. Although evidence of increasing NH3 over parts of Africa has been observed, the mechanisms behind these trends are not well understood. Here we use observations of atmospheric NH3 vertical column densities (VCDs) from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) along with other satellite observations of the land surface and atmosphere to evaluate how NH3 concentrations have changed over Africa from 2008 through 2018, and what has caused those changes. In West Africa NH3 VCDs are observed to increase during the late dry season, with increases of over 6 % yr−1 in Nigeria during February and March (p<0.01). These positive trends are associated with increasing burned area and CO trends during these months, likely related to agricultural preparation. Increases are also observed in the Lake Victoria basin region, where they are associated with expanding agricultural area. In contrast, NH3 VCDs declined over the Sudd wetlands in South Sudan by over 1.5 % yr−1, though not significantly (p=0.28). Annual maxima in NH3 VCDs in South Sudan occur during February through May and are associated with the drying of temporarily flooded wetland soils, which favor emissions of NH3. The change in mean NH3 VCDs over the Sudd is strongly correlated with variation in wetland extent in the Sudd: in years when more area remained flooded during the dry season, NH3 VCDs were lower (r=0.64, p<0.05). Relationships between biomass burning and NH3 may be observed when evaluating national-scale statistics: countries with the highest rates of increasing NH3 VCDs also had high rates of growth in CO VCDs; burned area displayed a similar pattern, though not significantly. Livestock numbers were also higher in countries with intermediate or high rates of NH3 VCD growth. Fertilizer use in Africa is currently low but growing; implementing practices that can limit NH3 losses from fertilizer as agriculture is intensified may help mitigate impacts on health and ecosystems.
Effect of Reflection Waves on Water Hammer Loads

In power plants, engineering analysis is used to design piping systems for steam and water hammer events. A simple and effective approach based on hand calculation was proposed by E.C. Goodling1 which has been widely used in the industry to estimate fluid loads for pipe stress analysis and design of piping restraints. His approach provides a conceptual understanding of many factors that control fluid loads, which can be used both to perform approximate checks of more detailed computer solutions, and to identify parameters that can be changed to optimize system designs. In Goodling’s work, the possibility of reflection waves affecting fluid loading is mentioned. However, this effect was not explored and is often neglected when simple hand estimates of fluid loads are made. This paper looks at the effects reflection waves from pressure vessels or large headers may have on steam/ water hammer loads. A few sample problems are solved with the aid of a Method of Characteristic (MOC) computer program and compared to solutions found using the Goodling approach. It is shown that neglecting reflection waves may lead to non-conservative loads (by up to a factor of two). The effects of other critical parameters (e.g., pressure pulse rise rate) are also discussed.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Decoration of Ag Nanoparticle on ZnO Nanowire by Intense Pulsed Light and Enhanced UV Photodetector

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) are wide-bandgap semiconductors that absorb ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Various post-treatment processes have been studied to improve the optical properties of the as-grown ZnO NWs. Among them, Ag nanoparticles (NPs) effectively improved the optical properties on the surface of the ZnO NWs. In this study, ZnO NWs were synthesized via the hydrothermal synthesis method. ZnO NWs were decorated with Ag NPs on the surface of the ZnO NWs in a silver nitrate (AgNO3) aqueous solution by intense pulsed light (IPL) irradiation. Ag NPs were successfully decorated under the following conditions: aqueous AgNO3 solution of 100 nM, an energy of 1 J/cm2, and an exposure time of 8 ms. The responsivity and sensitivity of the ZnO NW UV photodetectors increased by 7.43 and 3.37 times, respectively. The IPL process makes it possible to decorate Ag NPs in a simple manner within an extremely short time.
Athlete victims of sexual violence: links to conformity to the sport ethic

Abstract In research, various reasons have been proposed to be able to understand the occurrence of sexual violence in sport. This article examines the relationships between conformity to the sport ethic norms and sexual violence among young athletes, according to sex and type of sport (individual and team). Athletes (n = 1140) from Quebec, Canada aged 13–18 years responded to an online questionnaire, which included two validated tools: a measure of conformity to the sport ethic norms (i.e. striving for distinction, self-sacrifice and refusing to accept limits) and a measure of experiences of sexual violence (i.e. by team-mates and coaches). Relationships between variables were examined using logistic regression analysis. The results show that increasing conformity to the striving for distinction norm contributes to an increase in the probability of being a victim of sexual violence from team-mates. Conformity to this norm is also associated with sexual violence by the coach, depending on the type of sport. Finally, increasing conformity to the norm of self-sacrifice increases the likelihood of experiencing sexual violence from the coach in an individual sport. These results may lead to the establishment of collective actions to influence conformity to the sport ethic norms and may pave the way for other studies to examine the factors influencing sexual violence since the phenomenon is multifactorial and little of the variance is explained by sport ethic.
Performance assessment of sprinkler irrigation systems: a new indicator for spray evaporation losses

Performance assessment is an increasingly relevant concept in present‐day irrigation systems. To this end some indicators have been proposed for comparing actual performance with established design criteria. Concerning sprinkler irrigation, evaluation of the jet losses due to environmental conditions can be considered an important indicator of system performance. The issue requires a full analytical description of spray flow and waste and entails both experimental and theoretical studies. In the former, it appears to be difficult to identify, and so to measure, the contribution of each parameter to the final result; in the latter, the non‐linear relationships among the variables make it difficult to obtain an exhaustive analytical picture of the process. Numerous experimental and theoretical studies have been conducted recently in an attempt to gain a deeper insight into the phenomenon but much work still remains to be done. A mathematical model for irrigation sprinkler droplet ballistics, based on a simplified dynamic approach to the phenomenon, has been presented. The results compare very favourably with the kinematic results obtained by other authors using more complicated procedures. Moreover, field trials showed the model to reliably estimate spray evaporation losses caused by environmental conditions. Further analytic and experimental work is needed to gain a better understanding of the problem. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reimagining language space with bilingual youth in a social studies classroom

ABSTRACT This qualitative study documented the way in which a social studies teacher co- created language space with emergent bilingual youth. Drawing from qualitative approaches, we collected data from a teacher interview (s), classroom observations and student artifacts to chronicle the way in which a secondary social studies teacher enacted translanguaging pedagogy to expand on students’ understandings of their own civicness. We employed a translanguaging theoretical lens to examine the manner in which one teacher taught civic education and present pedagogical practices of teacher translanguaging used intentionally to advance students’ language development. Findings from this study suggest that community resources and belonging used within translanguaging pedagogy broaden students’ knowledge of their own civic identities, agency, and membership.
Compression and Visualization Interactive of 3D Mesh

The combination of compression and visualization is mentioned as perspective, very few articles treat with this problem. Indeed, in this paper, we proposed a new approach to multiresolution visualization based on a combination of segmentation and multiresolution mesh compression. For this, we proposed a new segmentation method that benefits the organization of faces of the mesh followed by a progressive local compression of regions of mesh to ensure the refinement local of the three-dimensional object. Thus, the quantization precision is adapted to each vertex during the encoding /decoding process to optimize the rate-distortion compromise. The optimization of the treated mesh geometry improves the approximation quality and the compression ratio at each level of resolution. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm gives competitive results compared to the previous works dealing with the rate-distortion compromise and very satisfactory visual results.
Krüppel-homologue 1 Mediates Hormonally Regulated Dominance Rank in a Social Bee

Simple Summary In diverse animal species, individuals establish dominance hierarchies by means of agonistic interactions. Dominance rank is functionally significant because it affects access to vital resources such as mates, food, and shelter, but little is known on the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms, specifically in insects, and among females. We tested the hypothesis that Krüppel homologue 1, a key endocrine signaling gene, influences dominance among bumble bee female workers. We developed and validated a new nanoparticle-based protocol to down-regulate gene expression in bumble bees. Using this protocol, we show that Krüppel homologue 1 mediates endocrine influences, not only on fertility and wax production, but also on aggression and dominance rank. These findings, which establish the first causal link between a gene and a dominance rank in a social insect, are important for determining whether there are general molecular principles governing dominance ranks across gender and animal species. Abstract Dominance hierarchies are ubiquitous in invertebrates and vertebrates, but little is known on how genes influence dominance rank. Our gaps in knowledge are specifically significant concerning female hierarchies, particularly in insects. To start filling these gaps, we studied the social bumble bee Bombus terrestris, in which social hierarchies among females are common and functionally significant. Dominance rank in this bee is influenced by multiple factors, including juvenile hormone (JH) that is a major gonadotropin in this species. We tested the hypothesis that the JH responsive transcription factor Krüppel homologue 1 (Kr-h1) mediates hormonal influences on dominance behavior. We first developed and validated a perfluorocarbon nanoparticles-based RNA interference protocol for knocking down Kr-h1 expression. We then used this procedure to show that Kr-h1 mediates the influence of JH, not only on oogenesis and wax production, but also on aggression and dominance rank. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study causally linking a gene to dominance rank in social insects, and one of only a few such studies on insects or on female hierarchies. These findings are important for determining whether there are general molecular principles governing dominance rank across gender and taxa.
Knowledge, Social Influences, Perceived Risks and Benefits, and Cultural Values Explain the Public's Decisions Related to Prudent Antibiotic Use

People should use antibiotics (AB) prudently to mitigate antibiotic resistance (ABR). Previous studies—and, subsequently, interventions—on ABR have focused mainly on improving public awareness and knowledge. We investigated a comprehensive theory‐based explanatory model to understand the public's decision making regarding prudent AB use, based on, among others, the theory of planned behavior. In a cross‐sectional online survey, the psychological determinants of people's decisions about prudent AB use were examined in a sample of 1,228 Swiss adults. The questionnaire assessed respondents’ demand for AB, willingness to adopt measures that prevent the need for AB, perceived risks of ABR, perceived benefits of AB, attitudes and social influences regarding AB, knowledge of AB and ABR, and cultural values. Mokken scale analysis revealed three types of knowledge: knowledge of the functioning of AB, of ABR, and of preventive measures. Structural equation modeling indicated that respondents’ demand for AB was mostly predicted by social influences, perceived benefits of AB, and knowledge of AB functioning. Willingness to prevent AB use was mainly related to conservative values, perceived risks of ABR, negative attitudes toward AB, and knowledge of preventive measures. Our study suggests that the provision of information about AB and preventive measures is a first step toward changing people's decisions related to prudent AB use. Future interventions that additionally utilize cultural values to convey important messages and target additional factors, such as social influences, the risks of ABR, and the benefits of cautious AB use, can be more successful in promoting prudent AB use.
Do sediments of ephemeral and perennial streams show different impacts on water quality when subjected to the same drying conditions?

Empirical evidence was studied to investigate whether ephemeral stream sediments have redeeming biological and physical attributes with respect to water quality, via a laboratory mesocosm study simulating stagnant pooled conditions in ephemeral and perennial streams. In addition to stream type, the effect of sediment quantity variation (sediment to water ratio) was also studied. From the water quality parameters tested (electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrogen species and phosphate), only electrical conductivity showed a significant difference between the two stream types irrespective of sediment to water ratio. However, the temporal water quality of a given stream type changed with sediment quantity in the mesocosm. Re‐flooding of mesocosms after complete drying did not result in blackwater conditions, but a similar spike in nutrient concentration was observed in both stream types. The absence of blackwater was attributed to the lack of addition of new organic matter and litter, as well as the saturation of dissolved oxygen in mesocosms, therefore, indicating that aeration and litter control could be used as mitigation methods for blackwater events. It was evident that water quality variations in ephemeral streams are purely based on the flow regime (hydrological flow conditions) and organic loading. No evidence was found for any unique biological and physical properties of ephemeral sediment that redeem water quality.
Variation in leaf traits, yield and yield components of faba bean in response to planting dates and densities

Although faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a rich source of protein and forage yet its yield is low in Pakistan. Planting time and density are the two major factors affecting faba bean yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of planting dates and densities on the leaf traits, yield and yield components of faba bean at New Developmental Farm, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar. Faba bean was planted on 8 dates from 20 September to 27 December at two-week interval at four planting densities of 150,000, 300,000, 450,000 and 600,000 plants ha -1 . Planting dates significantly affected days to 50% flowering, pods plant -1 , leaves plant -1 , leaf area (LA), leaf weight (LW), specific leaf area (SLA) and specific leaf weight (SLW), while planting densities significantly affected days to 50% flowering, LA, SLW, pods plant -1 , and 100 grains weight. Crop planted on September 20 or October 4 took maximum days to 50% flowering (64), produced more pods plant -1 (21.8), heavier grains (66.13 g), more and heavier leaves plant -1 . Planting density of 450,000 plants ha -1 improved yield and yield components, and further increase in planting density decreased leaf traits, pods plant -1 and grain yield. It may be concluded that faba bean can be planted up to October 4 at 450,000 plants ha -1 to obtain maximum yield in the study area.
Cost-Efficient Scheduling of Multicast Transfers With Deadline Guarantees Across Edge Datacenters

Moderate-scale datacenters are increasingly deployed at the network edge to support low-latency and high-bandwidth Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G applications. These applications usually have bulk data to transfer from one datacenter to several datacenters, which can cause a significant amount of bandwidth costs. Traffic engineering (TE) systems at the network edge must minimize the bandwidth costs of multicast transfers across edge datacenters. To avoid service quality degradation, TE should also guarantee transfer deadlines, which have received little attention in existing work. Due to the dynamic bandwidth pricing schemes, it is challenging to strike a good balance between minimizing costs and guaranteeing transfer deadlines. In this article, we present CDScheduler, a cost-efficient scheduling solution for multicast transfers with deadline guarantees. To reduce bandwidth costs, CDScheduler uses Steiner trees for forwarding and adaptive routing that considers bandwidth price variation and transfer demands. We formulate the cost-efficient multicast transfer scheduling problem and propose an algorithm based on linear program relaxation and randomized rounding to find a solution that guarantees timely completion and reduces cost. Extensive evaluations show that CDScheduler can reduce bandwidth cost significantly and outperforms the state-of-the-art solutions by cutting down up to 78% bandwidth cost.
Post‐Processing the National Water Model with Long Short‐Term Memory Networks for Streamflow Predictions and Model Diagnostics

We build three long short‐term memory (LSTM) daily streamflow prediction models (deep learning networks) for 531 basins across the contiguous United States (CONUS), and compare their performance: (1) a LSTM post‐processor trained on the United States National Water Model (NWM) outputs (LSTM_PP), (2) a LSTM post‐processor trained on the NWM outputs and atmospheric forcings (LSTM_PPA), and (3) a LSTM model trained only on atmospheric forcing (LSTM_A). We trained the LSTMs for the period 2004–2014 and evaluated on 1994–2002, and compared several performance metrics to the NWM reanalysis. Overall performance of the three LSTMs is similar, with median NSE scores of 0.73 (LSTM_PP), 0.75 (LSTM_PPA), and 0.74 (LSTM_A), and all three LSTMs outperform the NWM validation scores of 0.62. Additionally, LSTM_A outperforms LSTM_PP and LSTM_PPA in ungauged basins. While LSTM as a post‐processor improves NWM predictions substantially, we achieved comparable performance with the LSTM trained without the NWM outputs (LSTM_A). Finally, we performed a sensitivity analysis to diagnose the land surface component of the NWM as the source of mass bias error and the channel router as a source of simulation timing error. This indicates that the NWM channel routing scheme should be considered a priority for NWM improvement.