Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Under the radar: Sessile epifaunal invertebrates in the seagrass Posidonia australis

Despite the current global decline in seagrass, sessile epifaunal invertebrates inhabiting seagrass ecosystems, particularly sponges and ascidians, have been poorly studied due to their taxonomic complexity. Understanding patterns of distribution of sessile epifaunal communities in seagrass meadows is an important precursor to determining the processes driving their distribution and species interactions. This study (1) identified the sponge and ascidian assemblage associated with Posidonia australis meadows and (2) determined distributional patterns of these invertebrates at a hierarchy of spatial scales in Jervis Bay, Australia. We used a fully nested design with transects distributed in the seagrass (10s m apart), two sites (100s m apart), and six locations (km apart). Within these transects, we recorded the abundance, volume, diversity and substratum used for attachment by sponges and ascidians. We encountered 20 sponge species and eight ascidian species; they were sporadically distributed in the seagrass meadows with high variability among the transects, sites and locations. A few sponge and ascidian species dominated the assemblage and were widespread across the largest spatial scale sampled. The remaining species were mostly rare and sparsely distributed. Sponges attached to a variety of substrata but most notably shells, P. australis and polychaete tubes. No obligate seagrass species were recorded although three species predominantly used P. australis as a substratum. These sponge species relying heavily on seagrass for their attachment are likely prone to disturbances impacting their host habitat. Examining the response of sessile epifauna to the degradation of their seagrass habitat remains a key challenge for the future.
Effects of Dietary Lysine Levels on Carcass Performance and Biochemical Characteristics of Chinese Local Broilers

Lysine is typically the second-limiting amino acid in poultry diets. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary lysine concentration on carcass and meat quality traits, and serum parameters in two lines – SD02 and SD03 – which originated from a Chinese local breed, the Erlang Mountainous chicken. Live body weight, carcass traits, meat quality traits (myofibre diameter and density), and serum metabolic markers were measured in high and low dietary lysine groups (HL and LL, respectively) at the end of the starter (1-28 days), grower (29-49 days) and finisher (50-70 days) periods. The results showed that mortality, live weight (LW), myofibre diameter of leg muscle (LFDM) and serum cholesterol (CHO) were greater in HL than LL (P<0.05). The chickens from HL had reduced subcutaneous fat thickness and heart weight than LL (P< 0.05). The chickens from line SD02 had greater leg muscle weight, myofibre diameter in breast, and LFDM than line SD03 (P<0.05). The chickens from line SD02 had more serum urea nitrogen and less total proteins than line SD03 (P<0.05). In conclusion, high lysine diets improved slaughter performance and muscle fibre diameter, and SD02 chickens had greater carcass yield and superior meat quality compared with chickens from line SD03.
The relationship of plasma homocysteine levels and polymorphism in homocysteine metabolism related enzymes with brain stroke

Objective To explore the significance of gene mutations of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase(MTHFR) C677T,cystathionine β-synthase(CBS)844ins68,T27796C and methionine synthase (MS A2756G) in the development of brain stroke. Methods There were no obvious differences in age and sex among the four groups. The plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels of 78 patients with cerebral infarction, 26 patients with cerebral hemorrhage, 29 patients with other neurological diseases and 50 healthy control elders were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Moreover,the genotypes of MTHFRC677T, CBS844ins68, CBST27796C and MSA2756G were detected by PCR-RFLP in four groups. Results The mean plasma Hcy levels in cerebral infarction or in cerebral hemorrhage was significantly higher than those in other neurological diseases or in healthy control elders. The prevalences of CBS 844ins68 and MS A2756G in the cohort studies were obviously lower than those in Caucasian populations. The plasma Hcy level in C677T homozygote mutation was higher than that in wild type or heterozygote. However,heterozygote mutation of CBS T27796C gene reduced Hcy concentration. There were no significant differences in the frequencies of MTHFR,CBS and MS mutations among four groups. Conclusions Hcy might be associated with brain stroke. Moreover,the prevalences of gene mutations of CBS 844ins68 and MS A2756G might vary with different ethnic groups or geographic regions. The homozygosity of MTHFR C677T might contribute to the increase of total plasma Hcy, and CBS T27796C gene heterozygote mutation might lower the raised total Hcy. In addition, four gene mutations are consistent with the law of heredity balance.
Effects of IL-6 on epithelial-mesenchymal transition of HGC-27 cells in vitro

Objective To investigate the effects of IL-6 on epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT) of human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line HGC-27 in vitro.Methods HGC-27 cells were cultured with DMEM medium containing IL-6(50 ng / mL). The morphological changes of the cells were observed by invert phase contrast microscope.The expressions of EMT-associated genes,E-cadherin,Ncadherin and vimentin in HGC-27 cells were analyzed with real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR),and the levels of Ecadherin,N-cadherin and vimentin were determined by western blotting.Transwell migration assay and plate clonality assay were conducted respectively to assess the changes of cell migration and colony-forming ability of HGC-27 cells with or without IL-6 treatment.Results HGC-27 cells acquired more typical spindle-shape phenotype of mesenchymal cells after co-cultured with IL-6.Most of the cells presented fibroid form.qRT-PCR showed that the levels of mesenchymal cell marker N-cadherin and vimentin in the HGC-27 cells treated with IL-6 increased significantly(P 0.05 respectively) and the level of E-cadherin was suppressed(P 0.01). Western blotting analysis showed that the levels of N-cadherin and vimentin protein in HGC-27 cells upon the exposure to IL-6 increased significantly(P 0.05) while the level of E-cadherin protein was suppressed(P 0.05). IL-6 also remarkably enhanced the migration and colony-forming ability of HGC-27 cells.Conclusion IL-6 may induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition of gastric cancer cells,which should be a potential contributing to tumor progress.
Phylogeography of north-eastern Australia’s Cyrtodactylus radiation: a habitat switch highlights adaptive capacity at a generic level

Abstract. The genus Cyrtodactylus is the most diverse and widely distributed group of geckos in the world. Throughout their extensive range, species exploit a diverse range of habitats and are able to partition niches locally. Recent work has shown that Cyrtodactylus geckos in Queensland, Australia, have radiated in situ after colonisation by an arboreal Papuan ancestor and have undergone a habitat switch to rock dwelling during their evolutionary history. Using mitochondrial data we conducted a phylogeographic and molecular dating analysis to investigate the historical biogeography of Cyrtodactylus species in north Queensland. Our analyses show that after the arrival of a Papuan rainforest-dwelling ancestor, Cyrtodactylus diverged into two major lineages: one more restricted in northern Cape York and the other more widespread. Discordance in the timing of the speciation events and phylogeographic distribution within the two lineages likely reflect regional differences in the continuity of mesic rock habitats and climatic variability over the last 15 million years. Reconstructing the history of habitat use on a pre-existing global phylogeny reveals that switches between major habitat ecologies, rock and forest, have occurred multiple times in this genus. The ability to transition between different habitat types may have contributed to the global diversification of these geckos.
The Effects of Nestbox Thermal Environment on Fledging Success and Haematocrit in Tree Swallows

Nest microclimate, particularly temperature, can affect energy balance of both parents and offspring. Here I investigate patterns of correlation between internal temperatures of artificial nestboxes and fitness in Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Nests with cold overnight temperatures were less likely to fledge offspring. Conversely, nests with high daytime temperatures were also less likely to fledge offspring. In particular, nest success declined when internal nestbox temperatures exceeded 35°C. To investigate a potential physiological cause for reduced fitness, I tested whether haematocrit, a rough indicator of blood volume, was related to warmer nest temperatures. Whilst variable, nests with higher temperatures had higher average haematocrit of nestlings on day 13. This may indicate greater evaporative heat loss reflected in lower plasma volumes. These results as a whole indicate that temperatures outside the thermo-neutral zone may influence energy balance of both parents and offspring and may have an important effect on fitness.
Public Investment , Growth and Debt Sustainability

This paper analyses two joint problems worrying in some euro area countries: the slow rate of economic growth and the high public debt level. Economic growth has remained low even after the end of the long economic crisis, also because an adequate fiscal stimulus has been missing. In particular, public investment is still well below (as a percentage of GDP) the pre-crisis levels. In this context, a feasible solution is provided by the realization of a large investment program at the EU (or at least at the Eurozone) level. Such a program could be easily market-financed. This plan could have significant positive effects on current and medium term GDP growth. Moreover, in the paper it is shown – through numerical simulations – how important stabilizing effects might be obtained on both public debt and interest rates. Thus such a plan not only will not augment national public debts but it will indirectly help to reduce the debt service on existing sovereign bonds. By raising economic growth and improving social conditions, the proposed plan could also favour the restoration of a pro-European sentiment, which lately has faded away in many EU countries because of the growth-depressing fiscal austerity policies. JEL Classification: E65, F34, F36
Measurement science issues relating to PM10 and PM2.5 airborne particles.

Airborne Particulate Matter (PM) is associated with major health effects in Britain and elsewhere. It also has a significant role in climate change. Current UK and European legislation sets limit values on health grounds for ambient concentrations of PM10 (total mass per unit volume of air of particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 µm) and PM2.5 (the fraction less than 2.5 µm, called the fine fraction). However, it is well known that measurements of these quantities can vary by amounts of the order 50% depending on the method and instrument used, making compliance with legal obligations more problematic than for other important pollutants. Standardisation of manual measurements for EU purposes is being carried out through CEN. There has also been a recent EU-led exercise to define in practical terms how a non-standard method can be determined to be equivalent to the standard method. In a separate but related development, CEN has started work on standardisation of automated methods for measuring PM. Both the standardisation process and the revision of the equivalence procedure are currently ongoing. This short Report aims to summarise:
On the benefits provided by the wetland ecosystem of Wadi Gaza – Gaza Strip

The wetland ecosystem of Wadi Gaza in the Gaza Strip faces subsequent destruction threatening its ecological integrity and sustainability. This study comes to survey the various benefits provided by the wetland ecosystem of Wadi Gaza, which in turn may promote raising environmental awareness of all stakeholders towards the conservation and sustainable use of the system. The wetland ecosystem of Wadi Gaza plays as a refuge for wildlife species including many threatened ones, and hence wildlife hunting is practiced using different hunting tools. Bedouin families residing Wadi Gaza usually practice food collection, herbal medicine and grazing of their livestock on natural vegetation. The production of baskets, carpets, kites, food dishes, chairs and huts along with wood and timber exploitation are direct uses of reeds and woody plants in Wadi Gaza. The system has a storage potential of more than 100,000 m3 of surface water that could be considered as convenient water resource for agricultural uses. It has the potential to partially treat large quantities of wastewater. It reduces the impacts of flood to neighboring agricultural lands and human dwellings. It could act as a recreational facility. It represents a natural laboratory enhancing scientific research in different disciplines. Small scale extraction of sand, stones and gravel from the Wadi bed was documented as well. Finally, this survey may represent a good tool to promote more respect and to enhance public awareness towards conserving the wetland ecosystem of Wadi Gaza and its environmental resources.
Interferon-α as adjuvant therapy for melanoma: An individual patient data meta-analysis of randomised trials

8526 Background: Many randomised trials have evaluated the role of adjuvant interferon-a (IFN) in high-risk melanoma, some suggesting benefit and others not. To assess the totality of current evidence, an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis of all available trials was performed. Methods: Standard IPD meta-analysis methods were used to assess event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS), with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) calculated. Trials were divided by dose of IFN - high (20 MU/m2), intermediate (5–10 MU), low (3 MU) and very low (1 MU). Subgroup analyses by patient age, gender and disease characteristics were also performed. Results: IPD was provided for 10 of 13 reported trials of IFN vs. no IFN (for the other 3 trials published data were used). 6067 patients (IPD available for 85%) were included in the analysis, with over 3,700 and 3,000 events for EFS and OS. There was statistically significant benefit for IFN for both EFS (OR=0.87, CI=0.81–0.93, p=0.00006) and OS (0.9, 0.
EGFR, HER2 and Kras as predictive factors for cetuximab sensitivity in colorectal cancer

4021 Background: In colorectal cancer, biological mechanisms underlying response or resistance to cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody against the extracellular domain of the EGFR are not defined. Small retrospective studies suggested that EGFR increased gene copy number measured by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) or presence of KRAS mutations were associated with cetuximab response or resistance, respectively. This study aimed to identify biological predictors for sensitivity/resistance to cetuximab treatment in colorectal cancer. We also compared biomarker results in primary tumors and corresponding metastases. Methods: We analyzed EGFR (IHC, FISH), HER2 (FISH), and KRAS (mutation) in paraffin embedded tumor blocks from 85 colorectal cancer patients treated with cetuximab. For FISH analyses, a positive result was defined according to criteria described in breast (Wolff et al. J Clin Oncol 2007), lung (Cappuzzo et al. JNCI 2005) and colorectal cancer (Moroni et al. Lancet Oncology 2005). EGFR, HER2.
Hydrological cycle and water use efficiency of veld in different successional stages.

Hydraulic non-floating lysimeters were used to determine the evapotranspiration (Et) and water use efficiency (W.U.E.) of veld in different successional stages for the period September 1978 to June 1979. In addition runoff of the various successional stages was recorded on runoff plots.Averages of 1,018 litres, 1,258 litres and 1,771 litres of water were lost by evapotranspiration from climax, subclimax and pioneerveld respectively for each gram D.M. produced during the second half of the growing season. The highest Et-losses were recorded during the last week of November, when the grasses were in the reproduction phase.The runoff from the pioneer-runoff plots was 171 percent higher than that of the climax runoff plot. A computer programme was used to fit harmonic curves to the weekly Et/Eo relationship of each successional stage for the 1978/79 growing season. Keywords: afrikaans; botany; evapotranspiration; grass; grasses; hydraulic non-floating lysimeters; lysimeter; orange free state; runoff; season; south africa; sydenham; university of the free state; veld; water use efficiency
POTENCIAL DAS SEMENTES DE ABÓBORA SUBMETIDAS A DIFERENTES PERÍODOS DE EMBEBIÇÃO / POTENTIAL OF PUMPKIN SEEDS UNDER DIFFERENT SOAKING PERIODS

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a germinacao das sementes submetidas a imersao em agua por diferentes periodos e o crescimento inicial de plântulas de abobora moranga ‘Exposicao’. O estudo foi realizado em casa de vegetacao, nas dependencias do IFCE, Campus de Sobral. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos inteiramente casualizados, com quatro repeticoes de 16 sementes cada. As sementes de abobora moranga ‘Exposicao’ passaram por tratamento de embebicao na pre-semeadura por quatro periodos (0, 24, 48, 72 horas). As variaveis analisadas foram: primeira contagem; indice de velocidade de germinacao; porcentagem de germinacao; tempo medio de germinacao; altura da planta; diâmetro do caule; numero de folhas; area foliar; peso seco aereo e peso seco radicular. Foi observado diferencas significativas apenas para as variaveis primeira contagem, area foliar e numero de folhas. A porcentagem de germinacao das sementes no tratamento de controle foi 11% maior em comparacao a germinacao das sementes do tratamento de 48 horas de embebicao. Recomenda-se a nao embebicao das sementes ou que sejam imersas por 24 horas, pois nestes dois tratamentos se obteve resultados mais expressivos.
A Real-time Robot-based Auxiliary System for Risk Evaluation of COVID-19 Infection

In this paper, we propose a real-time robot-based auxiliary system for risk evaluation of COVID-19 infection. It combines real-time speech recognition, temperature measurement, keyword detection, cough detection and other functions in order to convert live audio into actionable structured data to achieve the COVID-19 infection risk assessment function. In order to better evaluate the COVID-19 infection, we propose an end-to-end method for cough detection and classification for our proposed system. It is based on real conversation data from human-robot, which processes speech signals to detect cough and classifies it if detected. The structure of our model are maintained concise to be implemented for real-time applications. And we further embed this entire auxiliary diagnostic system in the robot and it is placed in the communities, hospitals and supermarkets to support COVID-19 testing. The system can be further leveraged within a business rules engine, thus serving as a foundation for real-time supervision and assistance applications. Our model utilizes a pretrained, robust training environment that allows for efficient creation and customization of customer-specific health states.
S3-Rec: Self-Supervised Learning for Sequential Recommendation with Mutual Information Maximization

Recently, significant progress has been made in sequential recommendation with deep learning. Existing neural sequential recommendation models usually rely on the item prediction loss to learn model parameters or data representations. However, the model trained with this loss is prone to suffer from data sparsity problem. Since it overemphasizes the final performance, the association or fusion between context data and sequence data has not been well captured and utilized for sequential recommendation. To tackle this problem, we propose the model S3-Rec, which stands for Self-Supervised learning for Sequential Recommendation, based on the self-attentive neural architecture. The main idea of our approach is to utilize the intrinsic data correlation to derive self-supervision signals and enhance the data representations via pre-training methods for improving sequential recommendation. For our task, we devise four auxiliary self-supervised objectives to learn the correlations among attribute, item, subsequence, and sequence by utilizing the mutual information maximization (MIM) principle. MIM provides a unified way to characterize the correlation between different types of data, which is particularly suitable in our scenario. Extensive experiments conducted on six real-world datasets demonstrate the superiority of our proposed method over existing state-of-the-art methods, especially when only limited training data is available. Besides, we extend our self-supervised learning method to other recommendation models, which also improve their performance.
Norms of Eilenberg-Mac Lane Spectra and Real Bordism

We provide a new method to compute the (homotopy) fixed-points of the permutation action on $H\mathbb{F}_2 \wedge H\mathbb{F}_2$ by relating it to Real bordism. More precisely, we identify the $C_4$-pullback of the $C_2$-spectrum $N_e^{C_2}H\mathbb{F}_2$ with a localization of $N_{C_2}^{C_4}MU_{\mathbb{R}}$. This allows us to use the localized slice spectral sequence for the computation of $\pi_{\bigstar}^{C_2}N_e^{C_2}H\mathbb{F}_2$. From this, we compute the first eight homotopy groups and deduce an infinite family of differentials in the homotopy fixed point spectral sequence.
Uncovering the Primary X-Ray Emission and Possible Starburst Component in the Polarized NLS1 Mrk 1239

X-ray observations of the unique NLS1 galaxy Mrk 1239 spanning 18 yr are presented. Data from XMM-Newton, Suzaku, Swift, and NuSTAR are combined to obtain a broadband, multi-epoch view of the source. There is spectral variability in the 3–10 keV band over the 18 yr. An analysis of the NuSTAR and Suzaku lightcurves also suggests rapid variability in the 3–10 keV band, which is consistent with the NLS1 definition of the source. However, no variability is seen below 3 keV on any timescale. Two distinct physical models are adopted to describe the data above and below . The low energies are dominated by a hot, diffuse gas likely associated with a starburst component at large physical scales. The higher-energy spectrum is dominated by emission from the central region. Ionized partial covering and relativistic blurred reflection are considered for the central region emission. In both cases, the underlying power law has a photon index of Γ ∼ 2.3–2.4. A distant reflector, a neutral partial covering component with a covering fraction near ∼1, and contributions from starburst emission are always required. The blurred reflection model requires a reflection-dominated spectrum, which may be at odds with the low emissivity index and radio properties of the source. By contrast, the two absorption components required in the ionized partial covering model may correspond to the two distinct regions of polarization observed in the optical. Regardless of the physical model, spectral changes between epochs are driven by the absorption components—and on short timescales, by intrinsic active galactic nucleus variability.