Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lipopolysaccharides of Brucella suis S2 Impaired the Process of Decidualization in Early Pregnancy in Mice

Brucellosis is a notorious zoonotic disease caused by Brucella, which can lead to reproductive diseases in humans and animals, such as infertility and abortion. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are the main virulence factor of Brucella. LPS derived from Brucella are different and non-classical and are less toxic and less active than LPS isolated from E. coli. However, the effects and possible mechanisms of Brucella LPS-caused pregnancy loss remain to be revealed. In the present study, we investigated the effects of Brucella suis S2 LPS on early pregnancy loss in mice. The results indicated that embryo implantation failure was induced by Brucella LPS treatment in a dose-dependent manner. The injection of Brucella LPS mainly resulted in fibrinolysis in the decidual area of the uterus on the 6th day post coition (dpc), infiltration of large granular cells among the decidual cells near the embryo on the 8th dpc, a large number of gaps in the decidual area, and cell necrosis around the embryo. In addition, the expression of Cyclin D3 mRNA in the uterus on the 7th and 8th dpc and IGFBP-1 mRNA and the progesterone receptor in the uterus on the 6th and 7th dpc were also inhibited. Moreover, the expression of decidualization marker Cyclin D3 and decidualization prolactin-associated protein (dPRP) in endometrial stromal cells were also inhibited by Brucella LPS treatment in vitro. In summary, Brucella LPS affect the process of endometrial decidualization in mice by affecting the structure of the decidua and the expression of decidual marker factors in endometrial stromal cells.
Anesthetics and Anesthesiology

Background: Operating theatres are heavily budgeted departments in health facilities. Theatre turnaround time (TAT) is used as one modality in determining the efficiency of health service delivery. Factors that correlate with TAT in the Kenyan setting are largely unknown. The main objective of this study was to determine the factors affecting turnaround time in Kenyatta National Hospital’s main theatres. Methods: This was a descriptive observational study done in September and October 2021. Data on personnel, surgical, equipment, consumable and infrastructural factors was collected. A structured questionnaire was administered both physically and digitally. Bivariate chi-square tests of association and multinomial logistic regression were used to evaluate the nature of the associations between the various factors and TAT. Results: There was a significant relationship between personnel, surgical, equipment, and consumable factors with TAT (p < 0.05). These included: prolonged nursing handover time (p = 0.000), staff shortage (p = 0.039), lack of support from theatre managers (p = 0.020), the urgency of surgery (p = 0.025), lack of blood (p = 0.000) and inadequacy in the supply of drapes and gowns (p = 0.019). There was availability of anesthesia machines (0.019), drugs (p = 0.041), stretchers, and wheelchairs (p = 0.022) reducing TAT. Others findings were unreliability of electricity (p = 0.011) and oxygen supply (P = 0.023) and difficulty accessing main theatres from the surgical wards and ICU (p = 0.000). Conclusion: It is hoped that the study findings can be used to address the multiple factors affecting TAT and surgical patient service delivery.
Mathematical models of glacier sliding and drumlin formation

One of the central difficulties in many models of glacier and ice sheet flow lies in the prescription of boundary conditions at the bed. Often, processes which occur there dominate the evolution of the ice mass as they control the speed at which the ice is able to slide over the bed. In part I of this thesis, we study two complications to classical models of glacier and ice sheet sliding. First, we focus on the effect of cavity formation on the sliding of a glacier over an undeformable, impermeable bed. Our results do not support the widely used sliding law $u_b = C\tau_b^pN^{-q}$, but indicate that $\tau_b/N$ actually decreases with $u_b/N$ at high values of the latter, as suggested previously for simple periodic beds by Fowler (1986). The second problem studied is that of an ice stream whose motion is controlled by bed obstacles with wavelengths comparable to the thickness of ice. By contrast with classical sliding theory for ice of constant viscosity,the bulk flow velocity does not depend linearly on the driving stress. Indeed, the bulk flow velocity may even be a multi-valued function of driving stress and ice thickness. In the second part of the thesis, attention is turned to the formation of drumlins. The viscous till model of Hindmarsh (1998) and Fowler (2000) is analysed in some detail. It is shown that the model does not predict the formation of three-dimensional drumlins, but only that of two-dimensional features, which may be interpreted as Rogen moraines. A non-linear model allows the simulation of the predicted bedforms at finite amplitude. Results obtained indicate that the growth of bedforms invariably leads to cavitation. A model for travelling waves in the presence of cavitation is also developed, which shows that such travelling waves can indeed exist. Their shape is, however, unlike that of real bedforms, with a steep downstream face and no internal stratification. These results indicate that Hindmarsh and Fowler's model is probably not successful at describing the processes which lead to the formation of streamlined subglacial bedforms.
Depth-averaged flow computation at a river confluence

A depth-averaged elliptic computational model in curvilinear coordinates is presented for velocity and depth computations in shallow water river confluences of any geometry. The pressure correction equation has been used with SIMPLE or SIMPLE-like procedures in depth-averaged models to date; here this is replaced by a depth correction equation to improve the convergence. This is a significant enhancement to the SIMPLE procedure when applied to depth-averaged flow computations of river elements with irregular bed topography. First, the model is validated using laboratory measurements from a flat-bed confluence with flow recirculation. Second, it is validated using laboratory measurements from a confluence with irregular bed topography derived at the dynamic equilibrium of a movable bed experiment. Next the model is employed to simulate the complex confluence flow at a bend of a river with a floodplain. The model predictions give satisfactory agreement with field observations. Though the flow in the scour h.
Evaluation of Lentil Varieties/Lines for Utilization of Rice Fallow in Tripura

A field experiment was conducted during 2013-14 and 2014-15 to evaluate the performance of lentil varieties under reduced tillage condition in rice fallow. Seventeen lentil (Lens culinaris) varieties/lines were tested in rice fallow under reduced tillage condition with residual soil moisture. Results revealed that the varieties/lines, L-112-7 and ILL-237 took minimum number of days (52-54 days), however, ILL-10971 took maximum number of days (67-69 days) for 50% flowering. Variety L-112-7 was matured 85-89 days after sowing, while ILL-10971 required maximum number of days (99-103 DAS) for 50% pod maturity. RL-12-171 was recorded maximum root length and nodule number/plant followed by L-112-7, BM-5 and ILL-10951, while lowest root length and minimum number of nodule/plant was found in ILL-10971. Root length and nodule number/plant were showed a significant linear relationship with seed yield. The highest numbers of branches/plant were recorded with ILL-10951 (9.9) in 2013-14 and RL-12-171 (8.6) in 2014-15. The maximum number of pods/plant was recorded with L-4076 (118.7) in 2013-14 and ILL-10951 (87) in 2014-15. Number of seeds/pod was the highest in WBL-81 (2.0). The test weight (weight of 1000 seed) was recorded to be highest in ILL-8180 (69.0-70.0) followed by ILL-10897 (55.0-56.0). The highest seed yield was recorded in RL-12-171 followed by L-112-7 and ILL-10951, all of which were significantly higher than those of other cultivars. Most of the cultivars matured in about 100 days with very few maturing in about 110 days. Thus, the study revealed the opportunity of lentil cultivation in lowland rice fallow with appropriate technologies in Tripura. Therefore, lentil is a potential crop for crop diversification and enhancing productivity of rice based cropping systems in Tripura.
The discovery of peridotite xenoliths and megacrysts in Jining, Inner Mongolia

Located in Inner Mongolia, the northern edge of the North China craton, Jining Cenozoic basalts belong to the generalized “Hannuoba Basalts”. A lot of peridotite xenoliths as well as some pyroxene, feldspar and titanomagnetite megacrysts were discovered for the first time in the alkali basalt southeast of Sanyitang. Most of these xenoliths are spinel lherzolites with the assemblage of olivine + orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + spinel. The pyroxene megacrysts are mostly diopside and augite in composition. Feldspar megacrysts are mainly anorthoclase and minor plagioclase. The equilibrium temperature represented by these spinel lherzolite xenoliths is about 950℃ at 1.5 GPa, which is almost the same as that of the Hannuoba xenoliths and reflects the temperature of spinel phase in the lithospheric mantle beneath the northern edge of the North China craton. The crystallization temperature and pressure of clinopyroxene megacrysts are higher than those of lherzolite xenoliths, implying an origin deeper than that of the peridotite xenoliths. Petrography and mineral chemistry of these xenoliths indicate that they are fragments of the upper mantle captured by basaltic magmas along the ascending way. The high Mg# (89.5～91.7) and high NiO (0.29%～0.55%) contents of olivines demonstrate that Jining peridotite xenoliths are derived from the infusible lithospheric mantle.
A method of estimating horizontal principal stress magnitudes from stress-induced wellbore breakout and leak-off tests and its application to petroleum engineering

Existing methods and a newly proposed method are used to estimate the magnitudes of the horizontal principal stresses from stress-induced borehole breakouts and leak-off tests. Under the condition that the depth interval between leak-off and breakout is sufficiently small, so that the stress ratios sigma H /sigma v and sigma h /sigma v can be reasonably regarded as constants within the depth range, both horizontal principal stresses sigma H and sigma h can be resolved with some knowledge of breakout width. A comparison of the methods has been conducted with well data from the North West Shelf of Australia. The estimated stress magnitudes are generally consistent with the measured trend from neighbouring modified leak-off (or hydraulic fracturing) tests, and also indicate that the tectonic stress regime in the depth range from 2.6 to 2.9 km, at the location of the borehole, is likely to be on the boundary between extension and strike-slip. Knowledge of the in situ stress field provides a crucial development factor in petroleum engineering, such as the optimum design of inclined or horizontal drilling for maximizing wellbore mechanical stability and recovery from fractured reservoirs.
Strategic ambiguity in the social sciences

In the wake of the replication crisis, there have been calls to increase the clarity and precision of theory in the social sciences. Here, we argue that the effects of these calls may be limited due to incentives favoring ambiguous theory. Intentionally or not, scientists can exploit theoretical ambiguities to make support for a claim appear stronger than it is. Practices include theory stretching, interpreting an ambiguous claim more expansively to absorb data outside of the scope of the original claim, and post-hoc precision, interpreting an ambiguous claim more narrowly so it appears more precisely aligned with the data. These practices lead to the overestimation of evidence for the original claim and create the appearance of consistent support and progressive research programs, which may in turn be rewarded by journals, funding agencies, and hiring committees. Selection for ambiguous research can occur even when scientists act in good faith. Although ambiguity might be inevitable or even useful in the early stages of theory construction, scientists should aim for increased clarity as knowledge advances. Science benefits from transparently communicating about known ambiguities. To attain transparency about ambiguity, we provide a set of recommendations for authors, reviewers, and journals. We conclude with suggestions for research on how scientists use strategic ambiguity to advance their careers and the ways in which norms, incentives, and practices favor strategic ambiguity. Our paper ends with a simple mathematical model exploring the conditions in which high-ambiguity theories are favored over low-ambiguity theories, providing a basis for future analyses.
IS SILENCE GOLDEN? CONVERSATIONS OF NATIVE SPEAKERS OF RIMI IN SINGIDA- TANZANIA

This paper provides an empirical examination of the perception of silence as a communicative act in a Rimi cultural context. Four casual conversations with Rimi native speakers were examined. Silence in conversation was determined using a turn-taking framework in Conversation Analysis previously described by Sacks et al. (1974) as a turn-taking organization. Native speakers of Rimi like people in other cultures have beliefs and myths regarding silence. However, these cultural artifacts are often hardly reflected in their real conversation practice. Rimi's belief regarding the value of silence dictates avoidance of silence because they consider it a danger and veiled bad intentions. Despite this cultural orientation regarding silence, in some contexts, Rimi native speakers give it a positive value. The findings show that silence can be used for terminating a topic, showing agreement, and indicating emotions such as sadness. Silence therefore can lead to either harmonious or troubled conversation at the same time. Many prolific studies have shown that Eastern cultures appreciate silence while the Western cultures silence is attributed to incompetence and lack of willingness to participate in communication. This cultural dichotomy regarding the perception of silence between Western and Eastern cultures gives an impression that cultures can either perceive silence positively or negatively. Data from this study show that this understanding is faulty. The data indicate that silence cannot be described categorically as solely positively or negatively perceived in a particular culture; instead, it should be viewed as a variable entity within a single cultural group.
Carbon Emissions Analysis of Modular House Construction

Amidst the pressing issue of the climate crisis, the concern of housing backlog requires sustained and intensive growth in housing construction. To address this challenge while also considering environmental impacts, the Indonesian Government has prepared various strategies, one of which involves adopting a modular construction approach. This method is believed to be fast, efficient, and environmentally friendly. Despite its perceived benefits, some critics argue that the environmental advantage of the modular construction approach remains unclear, as it increases transportation activity. This study dives into the process of modular house construction and quantifies the environmental impacts of each stage involved in the process. It is found that the environmental impacts of all stages in the construction process amount to 1588.44 kgCO2. Among these stages, the raw materials extraction stage holds the largest contribution share, accounting for 94% of the total emissions. In contrast, stages related to transportation activity have a relatively low contribution share, which is 2.5%. To mitigate this impact, practitioners could optimize building design, reduce the use of high embodied carbon materials, and improve workers' competency.
Psychology’s reform movement needs a reconceptualization of scientific expertise

Science is supposed to be a self-correcting endeavor, but who is “the scientific expert” that corrects faulty science? We grouped traditional conceptualizations of expertise in psychology under three classes (substantialist, implicitist, and social conventionalist), and then examined how these approaches affect scientific self-correction in reference to various components of the credibility crisis such as fraud/QRPs, the inadequate number of replication studies, challenges facing big team science, and perverse incentives. Our investigation pointed out several problems with the traditional views. First, traditional views conceptualize expertise as something possessed, not performed, ignoring the epistemic responsibility of experts. Second, expertise is conceived as an exclusively individual quality, which contradicts the socially distributed nature of scientific inquiry. Third, some aspects of expertise are taken to be implicit or relative to the established research practices in a field, which leads to disputes over replicability and makes it difficult to criticize mindless scientific rituals. Lastly, a conflation of expertise with eminence in practice creates an incentive structure that undermines the goal of self-correction in science. We suggest, instead, that we conceive an expert as a reliable informant. Following the extended virtue account of expertise, we propose a non-individualist and a performance-based model, and discuss why it does not suffer from the same problems as traditional approaches, and why it is more compatible with the reform movement's goal of creating a credible psychological science through self-correction.
The variation of evapotranspration in growing season of the Leymus chinensis in north arid and cold area

Based on the field experimental data of climate and physiology factors from 2005 to 2006,using the dual crop coefficient approach presented in the FAO irrigation and drainage paper56(FAO56,1998,Crop evapotranspiration,Guidelines for computing crop water requirement)we imulated the daily the evapotranspiration of the community of Leymus Chinensis in the Otindag sandy area in two different hydrology yeas.The simulated transpiration and evaporation were assessed by the regression between observed and simulated values.The evapotranpiration values were analyzed according to the physiology chacterastics,canopy structure,change climate factors and root zoon water content.The evapotranpiration and average daily evapotranpiration strength in growing stages were determined and the variations of them were revealed.
Pristine stratospheric collection of interplanetary dust on an oil‐free polyurethane foam substrate

We performed chemical, mineralogical, and isotopic studies of the first interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the stratosphere without the use of silicone oil. The collection substrate, polyurethane foam, effectively traps impacting particles, but the lack of an embedding medium results in significant particle fragmentation. Two dust particles found on the collector exhibit the typical compositional and mineralogical properties of chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP‐IDPs). Hydrogen and nitrogen isotopic imaging revealed isotopic anomalies of typical magnitude and spatial variability observed in previous CP‐IDP studies. Oxygen isotopic imaging shows that individual mineral grains and glass with embedded metal and sulfide (GEMS) grains are dominated by solar system materials. No systematic differences are observed in element abundance patterns of GEMS grains from the dry collection versus silicone oil‐collected IDPs. This initial study establishes the validity of a new IDP collection substrate that avoids the use of silicone oil as a collection medium, removing the need for this problematic contaminant and the organic solvents necessary to remove it. Additional silicone oil‐free collections of this type are needed to determine more accurate bulk element abundances of IDPs and to examine the indigenous soluble organic components of IDPs.
Relict Majoritic Garnet Microstructures from Ultra-Deep Orogenic Peridotites in Western Norway

Protogranular, and (or equant-poly-KEY gonal) garnet from Mg–Cr type orogenic garnet peridotites, Otrøy, Western Gneiss Region, Norway, have been studied using naked eye, light-optical, electron-optical and confocal laser (ﬂuorescence) microscopy techniques. Protogranular and porphyroclastic garnets contain microstructural evidence for the former consists of for maximum pyroxene total volume percentage in one single protogranular or porphyroclastic garnet
Fire danger monitoring using RADARSAT‐1 over northern boreal forests

The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential use of RADARSAT‐1 images to assess daily variations in dead fuel moisture over a northern boreal forest area, as parameterized by the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System. The study area was located in the south‐central region of Canada's Northwest Territories and was comprised of three land cover classes (mature forest, burned forest, and fireguard areas). Nineteen RADARSAT‐1 images were acquired over the study area in June 2000 and August 2002, and their backscatter was compared to weather data and to the FWI System components. In both cases, the influences of incident angle and land cover class were measured. Radar backscatter was related to rainfall, and strong relationships were observed with the FWI System codes and indexes, particularly for Duff Moisture Code (R 2 = 0.68–0.83), Drought Code (R 2 = 0.77–0.82), Build‐up Index (R 2 = 0.72–0.86), and FWI (R 2 = 0.62–0.85). The best regression models were obtained using a stepwise regression procedure in which radar backscatter from the burned forest was used as the independent variable.
A Channel Estimation Method for Modified Walsh-Hadamard Code Division Multiplexing in Helicopter Satellite Communications and Its Application to Initial Acquisition

Modified Walsh-Hadamard code division multiplexing (MWHCDM) is a promising solution for the degradation of bit error rate (BER) performance due to the periodic blockage (PB) of the channel caused by rotor blades in helicopter satellite communications. While zero-forcing (ZF) enhances the anti-PB capability of MWHCDM, it requires channel information. This paper proposes a channel estimation method for MWHCDM, discussing its application to initial acquisition. The proposed channel estimation method reproduces the transmitted signal from the received signal by utilizing the structure of MWHCDM signals. It estimates the channel information based on the cross-correlation coefficient between the reproduced transmitted signal and the received signal. Computer simulation shows that introducing ZF combined with the proposed channel estimation method to initial acquisition significantly improves the acquisition performance in the PB channel, similar to the BER performance.