Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wasted efforts impair random search efficiency and reduce choosiness in mate-pairing termites

Random search theories predict that animals employ movement patterns that optimize encounter rates with target resources. However, animals are not always able to achieve the best search strategy. Energy depletion, for example, limits searchers’ movement activities, forcing them to adjust their behaviors before and after encounters. Here, we quantified the cost of mate search in a termite, Reticulitermes speratus, and revealed that the searching cost reduces the selectivity of mating partners. After a dispersal flight, termites search for a mating partner with limited reserved energy. We found that their movement activity and diffusiveness progressively declined over extended mate search. Our data-based simulations qualitatively confirmed that the reduced movement diffusiveness decreased the searching efficiency. Also, prolonged search periods reduced colony foundation success and the number of offspring. Thus, mate search imposes doubled costs on termites. Finally, we found that termites with an extended mate search reduced the selectivity of mating partners, where males immediately paired with any encountering females. Thus, termites dramatically changed their mate search behavior depending on their physiological conditions. Our finding highlights that accounting for the searchers’ internal states is essential to fill the gap between random search theories and empirical behavioral observations.
Osteochondroprogenitor cells and neutrophils expressing p21 and senescence markers modulate fracture repair

Cells expressing features of senescence, including upregulation of p21 and p16, appear transiently following tissue injury, yet the properties of these cells or how they contrast with age-induced senescent cells remains unclear. Here, we used skeletal injury as a model and identified the rapid appearance following fracture of p21+ cells expressing senescence markers, mainly as osteochondroprogenitors (OCHs) and neutrophils. Targeted genetic clearance of p21+ cells suppressed senescence-associated signatures within the fracture callus and accelerated fracture healing. By contrast, p21+ cell clearance did not alter bone loss due to aging; conversely, p16+ cell clearance, known to alleviate skeletal aging, did not affect fracture healing. Following fracture, p21+ neutrophils were enriched in signaling pathways known to induce paracrine stromal senescence, while p21+ OCHs were highly enriched in senescence-associated secretory phenotype factors known to impair bone formation. Further analysis revealed an injury-specific stem cell-like OCH subset that was p21+ and highly inflammatory, with a similar inflammatory mesenchymal population (fibro-adipogenic progenitors) evident following muscle injury. Thus, intercommunicating senescent-like neutrophils and mesenchymal progenitor cells are key regulators of tissue repair in bone and potentially across tissues. Moreover, our findings establish contextual roles of p21+ vs p16+ senescent/senescent-like cells that may be leveraged for therapeutic opportunities.
Detection capabilities of the Yellowknife seismic array and regional seismicity

Detection statistics from a search of 99 days of Yellowknife Array data have been obtained. The mean 50 and 90 per cent cumulative detection levels are found to be m 3.9 and m 4.2 for the third zone from Yellowknife. Regional variations in the detection levels have been found. The 50 per cent cumulative detection level ranges from m 3.8 for Asia to m 4.3 for the Aleutians. Regional values of the slopes of the recurrence curves for log N versus magnitude have been obtained, the mean slope for the third zone from Yellowknife being −0.99.
Microbiological quality and impact of hygienic practices on raw cow's milk obtained from pastoralists and market. The case of Yabello District, Borana zone, Ethiopia

The aim of this study was to assess general handling practices and microbial quality of raw cow’s milk produced and marketed in Borana areas. A total of ninety pastoralists were randomly selected and interviewed on milk handling practices. The result of this study indicated that, majority of pastoralists use animal skin/hide (55.6%) for milking. 33.3% of them use plastic equipment for transporting their milk to the market point. All of the pastoralists were not washing udder before milking and only 3.3 % of the milkers washed their hands before milking. For microbial quality parameters sixty raw milk samples were taken from pastoralists and market. The samples were collected using random sampling method. The overall mean total bacterial count, coliform count, spore-forming bacterial count and yeast and mould count of raw milk samples obtained in the study area were 8.149 ± 0.043, 6.323 ± 0.028, 5.297 ± 0.031 and 4.363 ± 0.038 log 10 cfu/ml, respectively. The microbial quality of milk samples obtained from market were significantly higher (P<0.05) than milk samples obtained from pastoral household. The microbial quality of raw cow’s milk produced and marketed in the study area was poor and it is beyond the standard limits of raw quality milk. Therefore, improving hygienic practices and handling of milk along dairy value chain is important.
Does Telotristat Have a Role in Preventing Carcinoid Heart Disease?

Carcinoid heart disease (CHD) is a frequent and life-threatening complication in patients with carcinoid tumors. Its clinical management is challenging is some cases since serotonin-induced valve fibrosis leads to heart failure. Telotristat is an inhibitor of tryptophan-hydroxylase (TPH), a key enzyme in serotonin production. Telotristat use in patients with carcinoid syndrome and uncontrollable diarrhea under somatostatin analogs is approved, but its specific role in patients with CHD is still not clear. IN this context, we aimed to explore the effect of telotristat in heart fibrosis using a mouse model of serotonin-secreting metastasized neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN). To this aim, four treatment groups (n = 10/group) were evaluated: control, monthly octreotide, telotristat alone, and telotristat combined with octreotide. Plasma serotonin and NT-proBNP levels were determined. Heart fibrosis was histologically evaluated after 6 weeks of treatment or when an individual mouse’s condition was close to being terminal. Heart fibrosis was observed in all groups. Non-significant reductions in primary tumor growth were observed in all of the treated groups. Feces volume was increased in all groups. A non-significant decrease in feces volume was observed in the octreotide or telotristat-treated groups, while it was significantly reduced with the combined treatment at the end of the study compared with octreotide (52 g reduction; p < 0.01) and the control (44.5 g reduction; p = 0.05). Additionally, plasma NT-proBNP decreased in a non-significant, but clinically relevant, manner in the octreotide (28.2% reduction), telotristat (45.9% reduction), and the octreotide + telotristat (54.1% reduction) treatment groups. No significant changes were observed in plasma serotonin levels. A similar non-significant decrease in heart valve fibrosis was observed in the three treated groups. In conclusion, Telotristat alone and especially in combination with octreotide decreases NT-proBNP levels in a mouse model of serotonin-secreting metastasized NEN, when compared with the control and octreotide, but its effect on heart valve fibrosis (alone and in combination) was not superior to octreotide in monotherapy.
Epidemiological study on community acquired pneumonia among hospital treated adults in Tigray, Ethiopia.

Background: Of thetotalrespiratory system infectionsworldwide,pneumoniaaccounts2-3%andcommunityacquiredpneumoniatakesthemajorityalbeitlittleisknownabouttheproblemamongadultsinEthiopia. Objective:Todeterminethemagnitudeofcommunity acquiredpneumoniaamonghospitaltreatedadultsin Tigray,Ethiopia.Methods: Aretrospectivepatientrecordreviewwasused.Chartsofallpneumoniapatients treatedfrom July,2013to June,2015inzonalandtertiary hospitalsofTigraywereincludedinthestudy. Data werecollectedusingachecklistandenteredintoEpiinfo2002andanalysedusingSPSSVersion20.Results: Duringthestudyperiod,therewere36,005patientsofalltypesofpneumonia&5877communityacquired pneumoniacases.Hence,themagnitudeofcommunityacquiredpneumoniawas16%,withproportionsformales (16%)andfemales(17%). Themean ageofthestudy participantswas37.5 (+16.65). Theproportionofadmitted patientsduetocommunityacquiredpneumoniawas9.8%with amean admissionlength of6(+5.59) days.Conclusion: Thestudyrevealedthatthemagnitudeofcommunityacquiredpneumoniaamongthestudy participants inthestudy areawassignificant andmostprevalent amongyoungerpopulation.Hence,prevention strategiesshouldbedesignedandimplementedtominimizetheproblem.
Ice lollies: An ice particle generated in supercooled conveyor belts

On 21 January 2009, a maturing low‐pressure weather system approached the UK along with several associated frontal systems. As a part of the Aerosol Properties, PRocesses And InfluenceS on the Earth's climate‐Clouds project, an observational research flight took place in southern England, sampling the leading warm front of this system. During the flight, a distinctive hydrometeor type was repeatedly observed which has not been widely reported in previous studies. We refer to the hydrometeors as “drizzle‐rimed columnar ice” or “ice lollies” for short due to their characteristic shape. We discuss the processes that led to their formation using in situ and remote sensing data.
Is Natural Language Processing Effective in Education Research? A case study in student perceptions of TA support

Natural language processing (NLP) techniques are widely used in linguistic analysis and have shown promising results in areas such as text summarization, text classification, autocorrection, chatbot conversation management, and many other applications. In education, NLP has primarily been applied to automated essay or open-ended question grading, semantic evaluation of student work, or the generation of feedback for intelligent tutoring-based student interaction. However, what is notably missing from NLP work to date is a robust automated framework for accurately analyzing text-based educational survey data. To address this gap, this case study uses NLP models to generate codes for thematic analysis of student needs for teaching assistant (TA) support and then compares code assignments for NLP vs. those assigned by an expert researcher. Student responses to short answer questions regarding preferences for TA support were collected from an instructional support survey conducted in a broad range of electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering courses between 2016-2021 in engineering (N>1400) at a large public research institution. The resulting dataset was randomly split into training (60%), validation (20%), and test set (20%). A popular NLP topic modeling approach (Latent Dirichlet Allocation—LDA) was applied to the training dataset, which determined the optimal number of topics of code represented in the dataset to be four. These four topics were labeled as: (1) examples, where students expressed a need for TAs to illustrate additional problem-solving and applied content in engineering courses; (2) questions and answers, where students desired more opportunities to pose questions to TAs and obtain timely answers to those questions; (3) office hours, encompassing additional availability outside of formally scheduled class times; and (4) lab support. For the testing and validation datasets, an experienced researcher then used these four labels as codes to identify the ground truth for each student's response. Ground truth was then compared to NLP model predictions to gauge the accuracy of the model. For the validation dataset, the accuracy with which NLP identified each response as containing or not containing each code ranged from 79.4% to 91.1%, while for the testing dataset, such accuracies ranged from 81.1 to 92.
La dernière transition glaciaire/interglaciaire des Andes tropicales sud (Bolivie) d'après l'étude des variations des niveaux lacustres et des fluctuations glaciaires

Une comparaison entre les variations des niveaux lacustres dans le bassin de Uyuni-Coipasa et les fluctuations glaciaires dans la Cordillere Orientale montre que les lacs et les glaciers ont simultanement enregistre les changements des precipitations. Un intense maximum lacustre (∼13-12 14 C ka BP) a eu lieu aux latitudes tropicales sud de la Bolivie, 4000 a 6000 ans avant le maximum lacustre de l'Afrique nord-equatoriale
Meta-Analysis of Open-Heart Surgery Pain Relief Using Transversus Thoracic Plane Blocks

Background. Severe postoperative pain is commonly reported following open-heart surgery, necessitating the implementation of effective pain management strategies to facilitate patient recovery. The benefits of the transverse thoracic muscle plane (TTMP) block for open-heart surgery remain unclear. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to systematically evaluate the effect of TTMP on postoperative analgesia and recovery in patients undergoing open-heart surgery. Methods. A computer search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, CNKI, and Wangfang databases. The primary outcome was 24-hour postoperative opioid consumption, and the secondary outcomes were 12- and 24-hour postoperative resting and motor pain scores, time of first analgesia demand, extubation time, length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), time of first feces, incidence of nausea and vomiting, and length of hospitalization. Results. Thirteen randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving a total of 766 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with the control group, the TTMP group showed a significant reduction in opioid consumption within 24 h postoperatively (mean difference = −41.88 mg; 95% confidence interval: −51.99, −31.77; p<0.001; and I2 = 98%). However, the 12- and 24-hour postoperative resting and moment VAS pain scores were significantly lower in the TTMP group. In addition, the TTMP group had a longer time of first analgesic demand; shorter endotracheal intubation time, ICU stay duration, time of first feces, and length of hospital stay; and a lower incidence of nausea and vomiting. Conclusions. Perioperative TTMP block can reduce the use of opioids in patients undergoing open-heart surgery for 24 h postoperatively, decrease the early postoperative pain scores, prolong the time of first analgesic demand, shorten the time of extubation and the length of ICU stay and hospitalization, and reduce the incidence of nausea and vomiting, which are all conducive to the recovery of patients. Registration. This trial is registered with PROSPERO database (CRD42022312435).
Sediment yields from a forested and a pasture catchment, coastal Hawke's Bay, North Usland, New Zealand

This study compares the suspended sediment load from two catchments, one in pasture (7.95 km 2 ) and the other in a mature exotic plantation forest (3.45 km 2 ) for a 29-month period (January 1995-May 1997) before harvesting. Both catchments are underlain by gently dipping Tertiary sediments capped with gravels, volcanic ash, and loess. The mean annual rainfall is 1300 mm, but the annual variability is large. Streamflow is measured with broad-crested weirs, and suspended sediment concentrations a monitored with automatic water samplers. The sediment yield response to nine storms was monitored in both catchments and when the calculated suspended sediment yields were summed, the catchment in pasture generated almost 2.5 times the amount of sediment per unit area compared with the one in forest, Initially, sediment rating curves based on log-transformed concentration and instantaneous flow data were used in conjunction with flow duration curves to estimate annual suspended sediment yields, but the scatter in the plots was unacceptably high. Instead, the relationship between peak discharge and storm suspended sediment load for both catchments was used to estimate the total yields. The total suspended sediment yield for the forested catchment (January 1995-May 1997) was estimated at 32.7 (± 3.0) t /km 2 , and for the catchment in pasture at 104.4 (± 8.3) t/km 2 , which is roughly three times the former. Between a quarter and a third of the total suspended sediment was contributed by one storm. Bedload made up less than 1% of the total sediment yield.
Properties of marine stratocumulus obtained with partly cloudy pixel retrievals and found in the MODIS MOD06 cloud product

Partly cloudy pixel retrievals (PCPRs) of cloud properties for marine stratocumulus were compared with those of the 1 km Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud product (MOD06). In addition, the fractional cloud cover obtained from the PCPRs applied to 1 km MODIS radiances was compared with that derived from the 250 m cloud mask (MOD35). The comparisons were made for pixels that were overcast and pixels that were only partially covered by clouds. Accounting for failed retrievals in both the MOD06 cloud properties and those obtained with the PCPRs leads to the suggestion that regional cloud cover be estimated in terms of lower and upper limits. The average could serve as the best estimate of the cloud cover, and the difference between the average and an extreme could serve as the uncertainty. The comparisons reveal that the overcast assumption used in the MODIS cloud property retrievals leads to cloud cover, droplet effective radii, and cloud top temperatures that are overestimated and, shortwave optical depths, liquid water paths that are underestimated. These biases persist when the properties are averaged to form spatial and temporal means. Owing to significant horizontal variations of cloud liquid water within the 1 km MODIS pixels, visible optical depths, droplet effective radii, and liquid water paths derived from the PCPRs show similar biases. The trends of the biases with pixel‐scale and regional‐scale cloud cover suggest that estimates of the aerosol indirect radiative forcing derived from satellites have been overestimated.
Sirtuins Affect Cancer Stem Cells via Epigenetic Regulation of Autophagy

Sirtuins (SIRTs) are stress-responsive proteins that regulate several post-translational modifications, partly by acetylation, deacetylation, and affecting DNA methylation. As a result, they significantly regulate several cellular processes. In essence, they prolong lifespan and control the occurrence of spontaneous tumor growth. Members of the SIRT family have the ability to govern embryonic, hematopoietic, and other adult stem cells in certain tissues and cell types in distinct ways. Likewise, they can have both pro-tumor and anti-tumor effects on cancer stem cells, contingent upon the specific tissue from which they originate. The impact of autophagy on cancer stem cells, which varies depending on the specific circumstances, is a very intricate phenomenon that has significant significance for clinical and therapeutic purposes. SIRTs exert an impact on the autophagy process, whereas autophagy reciprocally affects the activity of certain SIRTs. The mechanism behind this connection in cancer stem cells remains poorly understood. This review presents the latest findings that position SIRTs at the point where cancer cells and autophagy interact. Our objective is to highlight the various roles of distinct SIRTs in cancer stem cell-related functions through autophagy. This would demonstrate their significance in the genesis and recurrence of cancer and offer a more precise understanding of their treatment possibilities in relation to autophagy.
Review of pollutants in urban road dust and stormwater runoff: part 1. Heavy metals released from vehicles

ABSTRACT Urban road dust can be highly enriched with trace metals such as copper, lead, zinc, and platinum group elements (PGEs) that are released primarily from vehicles. Concentrations of these metals are up to about 100 times higher than background levels. Lead concentrations in sediment core have declined dramatically due to phase out of leaded gasoline. Recent ban on the use of lead wheel balancing weight in Europe and in some US states will accelerate the decline of lead in the environment. Concentrations of copper, zinc, and PGEs in sediments in many urban areas have increased continuously due to increase of urban sprawl and increased numbers and travel distance of vehicle. Wear of brake pads and tyres are the primary sources of copper and zinc in urban road dust. PGEs have been released from catalytic converters since the mid-1970s. Contaminated urban road dust is picked up by stormwater runoff and delivered into local receiving waterbodies (e.g. streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries). Concentrations of these metals in waterbodies and sediments receiving stormwater runoff from densely populated urban areas are high enough to impair the health of aquatic organisms and frequently exceed water quality criteria and sediment quality guidelines. In order to improve the quality of urban waterbodies, legal regulations are necessary to reduce release of toxic metals from vehicle use as demonstrated in the case of lead in gasoline. Recent regulations and agreement to reduce copper content in brake pads to 0.5% by 2026 in the USA should result in significant reduction of copper entering urban watersheds. A less optimal option is removal of suspended sediments from stormwater runoff before they enter receiving waterbodies using best management practices such as retention ponds, detention basins, and grass swales.
Preferential Binding of Polyphenols in Blackcurrant Extracts with Milk Proteins and the Effects on the Bioaccessibility and Antioxidant Activity of Polyphenols

Milk proteins are well-known delivery agents; however, there is no clear understanding of the competitive interactions of milk proteins with polyphenols in mixed complex systems. Here, we investigate the preferential competitive interactions of different polyphenols present in blackcurrant extract with milk proteins by quantifying the protein-bound polyphenols and comparing the factors affecting these interactions. In addition, bioaccessibility and antioxidant activity were studied after in vitro gastric digestion. Our results indicated that polyphenols from blackcurrant extracts were preferentially bound to caseins more than whey proteins, with noncovalent interactions causing secondary structural changes in the protein. The hydrophobicity and the charge of the polyphenols were negatively and positively related to the number of polyphenols bound to casein and whey proteins, respectively. Moreover, the bioaccessibility and antioxidant activity of polyphenols were enhanced in the presence of milk proteins in milk-based blackcurrant samples when compared to polyphenol and protein-alone samples in the in vitro gastric phase. These findings underscore the critical role of milk proteins in encapsulating or delivering polyphenols. This will pave the way for boosting the bioavailability of polyphenols by complexing them with milk proteins and formulating functional dairy foods, integrating the beneficial effects of these compounds.