Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Marine Nematodes from the Shallow Subtidal Coast of the Adriatic Sea: Species List and Distribution

This study is the first attempt aiming to assess the composition and number of free-living marine nematode species on the coasts of the Marches region, Italy. A high number of putative species of nematodes were recognized (84), these belonging to 52 genera in 22 families. Fifty-one taxa have been identified to the species level increasing the number of known nematode species for the Adriatic Sea from 283 to 310 and for the Mediterranean Sea from 700 to 723. The highest diversity and abundance were registered for the nematode families typically of intertidal zones characterized as medium-fine sands. The majority of the species found in the present study are known to occur in the North European coasts or the North Atlantic Sea, the best known regions for nematode distribution. Inferences on the biogeography of marine nematodes are preliminary since most Biodiversity literature concerning the Mediterranean of the basin is very out of date. Considering the great importance of nematodes in the assessment of ecosystem health conditions, an intensification of sampling efforts should be pursued in other regions in order to improve our current knowledge of the distribution pattern of marine nematode species as well as clarify their biogeographical patterns.
The Relationship Between Body Weight and Reproductive Efficiency in Meat-Type Chickens

Abstract With improvements in growth rate of broiler chickens, the ability of meat-type parent stocks to reproduce has been severely reduced. Broiler breeder chickens require dedicated programs of feed restriction to maximize egg production and chick production. The production of settable eggs is limited by poor shell quality as a result of a lack of coordination of the shell calcification process, and by a high incidence of multiple-yolked eggs. The erratic nature of oviposition in full-fed hens, evidenced by multiple ovipositions in a 24-h period and by ovipositions occurring during the dark period, indicates that such hens do not abide by the principles of the ovulatory cycle that are accepted for egg-type hens. Fertility is reduced in overweight broiler breeders due to reduced mating success (which limits sperm transfer to the female), by a reduction in the duration of fertility, and possibly by impaired sperm transport to the site of fertilization (because the normal passage of developing eggs is more random than in egg-type hens). Fertility can also be poor due to problems with the male, including reductions in semen production and libido as well as poor physical coordination. Embryonic mortality is high in the eggs of overweight hens, as such eggs are often poorly calcified, which results in increased shell porosity and egg weight loss. Overweight hens exhibit short laying sequences and may also have poor overall chick production due to an increased incidence of first-of-sequence eggs, which have been demonstrated to exhibit an increased incidence of embryonic mortality.
Instant Post-Synthesis Aqueous Dispersion of Sb-doped SnO2 Nanocrystals: the Synergy between Small-Molecule Amine and Sb Dopant Ratio.

Direct printing of transparent conducting oxide (TCO) nanocrystal dispersions holds great promise in solution-processed optoelectronics, due to its advantages of low material waste and direct patterning on substrates. An essential prerequisite for printable TCO colloidal solutions is the effective stabilization of TCO nanocrystals to prevent their strong aggregation. In-situ stabilization uses long-chain ligands to provide inter-particle steric repulsion between TCO nanocrystals during the growths of TCO nanocrystals. In sharp contrast, the post-synthesis dispersion of TCO nanocrystals is particularly challenging, since the agglomeration already occurs, especially for TCO nanocrystals synthesized without protection by any organic species. Herein, we propose an instant post-synthesis strategy for aqueous colloidal dispersions of Sb-doped SnO2 (ATO) nanocrystals, using small-molecule amines of propylamine, ethylenediamine, monoethanolamine and triethylamine. The average size of ATO secondary particles in aqueous dispersions can be instantly reduced from around 400 nm to about 25 nm using these amines. The increased Sb dopant ratio also plays a synergistic role on the dispersion effect. The small-molecule amines are found to be preferably adsorbed onto the Sb sites exposed on ATO nanocrystal surface. A higher Sb dopant ratio would facilitate the adsorption of more amines and induce stronger surface charge repulsion that benefits the stable dispersion of ATO nanocrystals. TCO films fabricated with the ATO nanocrystal dispersions have a high transparency of 80.6% and low sheet resistance of 492 Ω/sq, showing promising application in electrochromic devices.
The Impact of Internal Monitoring Mechanism and External Audit on Earnings Quality Evidence from Indonesia

The objective of this study is to examine the combined effect of external audit and internal monitoring mechanism corporate governance on earnings quality. The paper uses panel data with fixed-effects model to examine the effect of external audit, internal monitoring mechanisms and the interaction between these two monitoring mechanisms on earnings quality. A sample of 216 listed Indonesian firms (non-financial) covering the period: 2013 to 2016 was used for the study. The findings of the study reveal that both board size and audit committee independence have positive relationships with earnings quality which is in contrary to the result of most previous studies. In essence, the result of this study indicates that both internal monitoring mechanisms (audit committee independence, board size and Audit committee meeting) and external audit have a joint effect to reduce earnings management. Thus, this show that the internal monitoring mechanism and external audit would jointly reduce earnings management and thereby improves earnings quality. Furthermore, the results of this study provide a beneficial information to investors in Indonesia to evaluate the influence external audit and internal monitoring mechanisms on earnings quality.
Synopsis of knowledge on Cnidaria Medusozoa from Brazil

Uma sinopse sobre o conhecimento dos Medusozoa (Cnidaria) da costa brasileira e apresentada. Este estudo e baseado em uma lista com todos os registros de Medusozoa para o Brasil, incluindo informacoes sobre a distribuicao das especies e suas fases (polipo ou medusa). O numero de especies de Medusozoa registradas para o Brasil ate o momento e 377 (205 generos e 82 familias), com 348 especies de hidrozoarios, 22 de cifozoarios, 3 de cubozoarios e 1 de estaurozoario. Analises geografica e historica tambem foram conduzidas. A analise geografica mostra claramente a ausencia de conhecimento sobre a biodiversidade da costa norte bem como de parte da costa nordeste do pais. Embora a costa sudeste seja a melhor conhecida em termos de numeros de especies e representantes de taxons supragenericos registrados, ha em geral ausencia de conhecimento sobre ambientes diferentes das aguas rasas, um padrao tambem observado para as outras regioes. Historicamente, o crescimento dos registros de hidrozoarios iniciou-se apos a decada de 1940, com um aumento na ultima decada; os estudos com coronados estao todos concentrados na ultima decada mas, em geral, outros grupos mostram um acumulo lento e gradual nos registros de especies. Linhas gerais e politicas para o estudo da biodiversidade dos Medusozoa sao sugeridas.
Association Between Orthonasal Olfaction and Chemosensory Perception in Patients With Smell Loss

Objectives Self‐ratings seem to be the most effortless strategy for assessment of patients' chemical senses. Notably, although flavor perception strongly relies on olfaction, the relationship between self‐reported flavor perception and orthonasal olfactory tests have hitherto not been considered. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between self‐perceived olfactory function (SO), taste (ST), and flavor perception (SF) and smell test results in patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD). Methods We included 203 patients with quantitative OD. Group comparison, bivariate correlation, and ordinal logistic regression were employed to quantify the relationships between predictor variables (age, gender, reason for OD, and orthonasal olfaction—summed scores of threshold, discrimination, and identification [TDI]) and outcomes of SO and SF (“impaired,” “average,” or “good”). Results Group comparison revealed significant differences between SO and SF (P < .001). Stronger correlations were found between SO and TDI (r = 0.64), compared to SF and TDI (r = 0.27). No relevant correlation was found between ST and TDI (r = 0.10). Higher TDI was associated with odds of higher SO in univariate (odds ratio = 1.25) and multivariable analyses (adjusted odds ratio = 1.23), and both models showed good fit of data. Conversely, regression models on the associations between TDI and changes in SF did not meet the assumption of goodness of fit. Conclusion We found that higher orthonasal olfactory performance was associated with odds of higher SO in patients with OD, even after controlling for olfactory‐relevant factors. To the contrary, similar models based on flavor perception failed to describe these relationships. This indicates for SF and ST to be less represented by the TDI compared to SO. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 130:2213–2219, 2020
Herbicide treatment alters the effects of water hyacinth on larval mosquito abundance

ABSTRACT: Invasive aquatic weeds are managed with herbicides to reduce their negative impacts on waterways in many areas, including the California Delta Region. Herbicides create a dynamic environment of living and decomposing plant matter that could affect larval mosquitoes and other invertebrates, such as their predators and competitors. Our objective was to compare the number of larval mosquitoes in water or water hyacinth, before and after an herbicide treatment. We created replicated pond mesocosms with water hyacinth, water hyacinth treated with glyphosate and an oil adjuvant, open water, and water with glyphosate plus adjuvant. We sampled for larval mosquitoes and other aquatic invertebrates. Before herbicide addition, there was a trend for more larval mosquitoes in open water tanks than in tanks with water hyacinth. Herbicide application resulted in an immediate decrease of larval mosquitoes. As decay progressed, larval mosquitoes became most abundant in mesocosms with herbicide-treated hyacinth and very few larval mosquitoes were found in other habitat treatments. Although the numbers of predatory and competitor insects had some variation between treatments, no clear pattern emerged. This information on how invasive weed management with herbicides affects larval mosquitoes will allow control practices for larval mosquitoes and invasive weeds to be better integrated.
Depth Information-Based Automatic Annotation of Early Esophageal Cancers in Gastroscopic Images Using Deep Learning Techniques

The early diagnoses of esophageal cancer are of great significance in the clinic because they are critical for reducing mortality. At present, the diagnoses are mainly performed by artificial detection and annotations based on gastroscopic images. However, these procedures are very challenging to clinicians due to the large variability in the appearance of early cancer lesions. To reduce the subjectivity and fatigue in manual annotations and to improve the efficiency of diagnoses, computer-aided annotation methods are highly required. In this work, we proposed a novel method that utilized deep learning (DL) techniques to realize the automatic annotation of early esophageal cancer (EEC) lesions in gastroscopic images. The depth map of gastroscopic images was initially extracted by a DL network. Then, this additional depth information was fused with the original RGB gastroscopic images, which were then sent to another DL network to obtain precise annotations of EEC regions. In total, 4231 gastroscopic images of 732 patients were used to build and validate the proposed method. A total of 3190 of those images were EEC images, and the remaining 1041 were non-EEC images. The experimental results show that the combination of depth information and RGB information improved the annotation performance. The final EEC detection rate and mean Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of our method were 97.54% and 74.43%, respectively. Compared with other state-of-the-art DL-based methods, the proposed method showed better annotation performances and fewer false positive outputs. Therefore, our method offers a good prospect in aiding the clinical diagnoses of EEC.
Social flexibility in a primitively social allodapine bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae): results of a translocation experiment

Many species of social animals are known to exhibit intraspecific variation in social traits between different populations. In the social insects, geographically separate populations may show wide-ranging forms of social behaviour, presumably because of variation in environmental parameters such as climate. For example, several bee species are known to exhibit eusocial or solitary behaviour depending on the latitude or altitude of the population. However, there is little or no empirical evidence to determine if this variation is a result of behavioural plasticity or long-term adaptation to local conditions, both of which have implications for the evolution of sociality. In this study, colonies of the allodapine bees Exoneura robusta and E. nigrescens were translocated between a montane and heathland habitat in southern Australia to assess the effect of habitat change on social behaviour. Results indicate that brood development in translocated colonies of both species differed from control colonies, leading to opportunities for different forms of social behaviour. However, there was also a high degree of variation within each habitat, suggesting an influence of both within and between habitat factors.
Support and deformability in insect wings

Coupled investigations of insect wing movements and detailed wing morphology are in progress, and some functional principles underlying wing design are emerging. High speed cine and still photography and stroboscopy indicate that most wings undergo orderly deformation in flight. Common patterns are described and their significance discussed in the light of recent aerodynamic studies. Many aspects of wing morphology–venational features, relief, thickened areas, flexionlines and vein fractures–may be related to the control of three-dimensional shape while beating. It is usually possible to distinguish areas specialized for deformability, and for support and the limiting of deformation. Some structural adaptations for these roles are described and illustrated.
Glycopolymer Brushes by Reversible Deactivation Radical Polymerization: Preparation, Applications, and Future Challenges

The cellular surface contains specific proteins, also known as lectins, that are carbohydrates receptors involved in different biological events, such as cell–cell adhesion, cell recognition and cell differentiation. The synthesis of well-defined polymers containing carbohydrate units, known as glycopolymers, by reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) methods allows the development of tailor-made materials with high affinity for lectins because of their multivalent interaction. These polymers are promising candidates for the biomedical field, namely as novel diagnostic disease markers, biosensors, or carriers for tumor-targeted therapy. Although linear glycopolymers are extensively studied for lectin recognition, branched glycopolymeric structures, such as polymer brushes can establish stronger interactions with lectins. This specific glycopolymer topology can be synthesized in a bottlebrush form or grafted to/from surfaces by using RDRP methods, allowing a precise control over molecular weight, grafting density, and brush thickness. Here, the preparation and application of glycopolymer brushes is critically discussed and future research directions on this topic are suggested.
Butterfly dispersal across Amazonia and its implication for biogeography

Spatial movement is fundamental to ecological and evolutionary processes because of its role in habitat colonization and diversification. This study examines the dispersal potential of two Neotropical butterflies, Morpho achilles and Bia actorion, to estimate the time necessary to expand into their current geographical distribution in the Amazon Forest. To do so, we use life history data, dispersal rates estimated from mark-release-recapture experiments, and reaction-diffusion or integro- difference equations to calculate an annual speed for the wave of dispersal across suitable unoccupied habitat. We show that times required for these butterflies to disperse across Amazonia are orders of magnitude smaller than phylogenetic estimates of the species ages. We compare dispersal rates of Morpho and Bia to other Neotropical butterflies, including taxa that could have moved relatively rapidly through Central America and Mexico. Our findings demonstrate that butterflies (and possibly many other organisms) have tremendous potential for rapid colonization of suitable habitats. Our results also suggest that dispersal can easily increase local diversity in areas where speciation has been attributed mostly to vicariance (such as the eastern slope of the Andes).
Design Lessons From AI’s Two Grand Goals: Human Emulation and Useful Applications

Researchers’ goals shape the questions they raise, collaborators they choose, methods they use, and outcomes of their work. This article offers a fresh vision of artificial intelligence (AI) research by suggesting a simplification to two goals: 1) emulation to understand human abilities to build systems that perform tasks as well as or better than humans and 2) application of AI methods to build widely used products and services. Researchers and developers for each goal can fruitfully work along their desired paths, but this article is intended to limit the problems that arise when assumptions from one goal are used to drive work on the other goal. For example, autonomous humanoid robots are prominent with emulation researchers, but application developers avoid them, in favor of tool-like appliances or teleoperated devices for widely used commercial products and services. This article covers four such mismatches in goals that affect AI-guided application development: 1) intelligent agent or powerful tool; 2) simulated teammate or teleoperated device; 3) autonomous system or supervisory control; and 4) humanoid robot or mechanoid appliance. This article clarifies these mismatches to facilitate the discovery of workable compromise designs that will accelerate human-centered AI applications research. A greater emphasis on human-centered AI could reduce AI’s existential threats and increase benefits for users and society, such as in business, education, healthcare, environmental preservation, and community safety.
Effect of Dietary Japanese Green Tea Powder Supplementation on Feed Utilization and Carcass Profiles in Broilers

Responses of broiler to dietary Japanese green tea powder (GTP) were investigated using 30 broiler chicks reared from 18 to 52 days of age. Five rations were formulated by addition of 0, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5% of GTP to starter and finisher diets, and each ration was fed ad libitum to appropriate group each consisting of 6 birds. Supplemental GTP tended to decrease feed intake and body weight gain with a higher dose, but tended to improve feed conversion ratio. Dressing percentage was not affected by GTP, though proportions of some parts of the carcass were influenced. Proportion of thigh meat was increased by 1.5% GTP feeding while that of wing meat was decreased in all GTP-fed groups. The quantity and percentage of abdominal fat were decreased significantly (P<0.05) by GTP supplementation. Levels of liver cholesterol, liver fat and blood serum cholesterol were significantly reduced (P<0.05) by GTP feeding. Thiobarbituric acid content of meat remained significantly lower (P<0.05) in GTP fed broilers. GTP is likely to produce broilers with less fat, cholesterol and oxidative profiles without serious adverse effects on general performance.
Estimation of the Prevalence of Tobacco Consumption among Rural Women in South India using Mixed Methods Analysis

Background: Tobacco consumption is a public health problem in Tamil Nadu. Objectives: The current study was done to estimate the prevalence of tobacco consumption among rural women and to identify the sociodemographic characteristics with high prevalence of tobacco consumption. Materials and Methods: It was a community-based cross-sectional descriptive study conducted among women ≥18 years of age. Mixed methods were employed to obtain the comprehensive picture about the substance use among women. Multistage random sampling method was used to interview 210 women using a semi-structured and pretested schedule. This was followed by key informant interviews, in which nine women were interviewed. Frequency distributions and Chi-square test were employed to study the association. In addition, manual content analysis was done to identify the reasons for the initiation of tobacco consumption and the measures to curb the practice. Results: The prevalence of tobacco consumption among the women was estimated as 15.2%. Women in the lower socioeconomic status group showed a higher prevalence of tobacco consumption than the middle and high socioeconomic status group. All 32 (100%) women were consuming tobacco products in the smokeless forms. Further, 28 (87.5%) women were not willing to quit tobacco consumption. Conclusion: The prevalence of tobacco consumption among the women was estimated to be above expectation of the national figures. Lower socioeconomic class and poor educational status were found to be major determinants for tobacco consumption among rural women.
(Semi)-Synthetic Fucosylated Chondroitin Sulfate Oligo- and Polysaccharides

Fucosylated chondroitin sulfate (fCS) is a glycosaminoglycan (GAG) polysaccharide with a unique structure, displaying a backbone composed of alternating N-acetyl-d-galactosamine (GalNAc) and d-glucuronic acid (GlcA) units on which l-fucose (Fuc) branches are installed. fCS shows several potential biomedical applications, with the anticoagulant activity standing as the most promising and widely investigated one. Natural fCS polysaccharides extracted from marine organisms (Echinoidea, Holothuroidea) present some advantages over a largely employed antithrombotic drug such as heparin, but some adverse effects as well as a frequently found structural heterogeneity hamper its development as a new drug. To circumvent these drawbacks, several efforts have been made in the last decade to obtain synthetic and semi-synthetic fCS oligosaccharides and low molecular weight polysaccharides. In this Review we have for the first time collected these reports together, dividing them in two topics: (i) total syntheses of fCS oligosaccharides and (ii) semi-synthetic approaches to fCS oligosaccharides and low molecular weight polysaccharides as well as glycoclusters displaying multiple copies of fCS species.