Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Abnormal Semen Parameters among Male Patients Attending the Fertility Center in Khartoum, Sudan

: Background: More than 70 million couples worldwide are affected by infertility. With a male factor infertility account for about half of the cases. Semen analysis is critical for determining male fertility potential. Objective : To estimate the prevalence of abnormal semen parameters among Sudanese Patients Fertility Center in Khartoum city, Sudan. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted on 2585 males who were referred to the fertility Center in Khartoum, in 2018, to evaluate the semen quality (sperm count, motility, and morphology) according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The descriptive statistics and frequency studies were conducted using the SPSS version (23). Results: There is a higher prevalence of abnormal semen parameters 86.8 % (sperm count 14.9% - sperm motility 0.7% - morphology 40.7% and 30.5% is a combination of two or more abnormal sperm counts). Sperm motility and morphology and only 13.2% showed normal semen parameters according to WHO criteria. Conclusion: the finding of this study revealed there is low semen quality. It shows a high prevalence of low sperm count, abnormal motility, and morphology according to the WHO criteria.
Global Temporal and Spatial Variations of Ionospheric Sporadic‐E Derived From Radio Occultation Measurements

We have analyzed 13 years of radio occultation data from the first Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate mission with a focus on scintillations originating in ionospheric sporadic‐E layers, henceforth referred to as Es. The analysis enabled the statistical global mapping of Es occurrence in space and time of very high resolution, and allowed an investigation of the statistical variation of Es height and thickness with seasons, solar activity, local time, and latitude. Data cleaning criteria were developed to rid the data of unreliable measurements, which allowed for more reliable statistics. To identify the Es irregularities, we applied a sophisticated algorithm termed the U‐shape algorithm that has some important advantages over other methods used on large data sets in previous studies. It is commonly known that the Es occurrence varies with the local time of day, where the greatest occurrence happens roughly around morning times and evening times. Important new observations were made in this study that show that Es height and thickness varies with seasons and solar activity, where different behavior was observed for Es in the morning and in the evening. The evening Es height and thickness showed great variations with solar activity, apparently having lower mean height and larger mean thickness when the activity is high. We interpret that as a tendency for the evening Es to be more tilted with respect to the local horizon.
Stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex modulates muscle sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure in humans

Abstract Introduction Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) controls the diameter of arterioles in skeletalmuscle, contributing importantly to the beat-to-beat regulation of blood pressure (BP). Although brain imaging studies have shown that bursts of MSNA originate in the rostral ventrolateral medulla, other subcortical and cortical structures—including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC)—contribute. Hypothesis We tested the hypothesis that MSNA and BP could be modulated by stimulating the dlPFC. Method dlPFC. In 22 individuals MSNA was recorded via microelectrodes inserted into the common peroneal nerve, together with continuous BP, electrocardiographic, and respiration.Stimulation of the right (n=22) or left dlPFC (n=10) was achieved using transcranial alternating current (tcACS; +2 to −2mA, 0.08 Hz,100 cycles), applied between the nasion and electrodes over the F3 or F4 EEG sites on the scalp. Results Sinusoidal stimulation of either dlPFC caused cyclicmodulation of MSNA, BP and heart rate, and a significant increase in BP. Conclusion We have shown, for the first time, that tcACS of the dlPFC in awake humans causes partial entrainment of MSNA, heart rate and BP, arguing for an important role of this higher-level cortical area in the control of cardiovascular function.
Major pollen sources for honey bee colonies in desert Toshka region, Egypt

: Toshka is a desert region of newly reclaimed lands has not been evaluated for beekeeping activities. The present was designed to evaluate the area for the major plant sources of pollen, which is the main source of protein for honeybee. To identify pollen plant sources needed for honeybee colonies throughout the year, four colonies of an equal strength were collected for the present study. Samples of pollen grains were collected from the surrounding plants and used as references to identify the pollen plant sources. Meantime samples of bee bread were collected from the tested colonies every month and microscopically examined and analyzed then the plant sources were identified. The results showed that there were 18 plant sources throughout the year belong to 11 plant families. The family Cucurbitaceae was the most common, which was represented by four plants, followed by both Asteraceae and Fabaceae with three plants each and the others families with one plant only. Spring and April which is the most months of the number of pollen plant sources with seven plants. The summer and June were the lowest in the number of plants with only two plants. The study showed significant differences in the percentages of pollen presence between different pollen grains and time. There were no significant differences in the percentages of pollen presence between both sunflower and fababean, but there were significant differences between sunflower and other plants .
The value of data gathering through gamification by a mobile application

This thesis was conducted in order to analyze the Icelandic grocery retail market in terms of new technological advantages of data gathering of personal information in a mobile application through the means of mobile marketing. Two studies were conducted in order to understand how those technological advantages can potentially change a buying behavior. Study 1 consisted of a research which was built upon in-depth interviews that were conducted in line with ethnographic research methods. These interviews were intended to investigate opinions and attitudes from four individuals that work for four different companies in the Icelandic marketplace. Study 2 was based on a single subject experiment in a form of a lottery game through a mobile application, using gamification. The aim was to affect the buying behavior of grocery retailing application users through an intervention sent to their smartphones via the mobile application Strimillinn. Results showed that the lottery game had an effect on users buying behavior, as the preferred product used in the experiment, increased in both sales value and sales volume. After conducting those two studies, it is clear that data gathering through mobile devices can be very beneficial for companies in order to personalize each message that is sent out to consumers, based on their needs and preferences.
Effect of Calcium Nanoparticles Coupled with Oxalic Acid in Minimizing Rachis Browning Incidence and Its Relation to Phenolic Compounds in 'Superior Seedless' Grapes During Shelf Life

The rachis browning phenomenon is an urgent problem in the grape trade where it is not acceptable to customers. The research was conducted in two successive growing seasons (2020-2021) to assess the influence of calcium nanoparticles (CaNPs) coupled with oxalic acid (OXA) in various concentrations on decreasing the browning phenomenon of rachis and maintaining the quality of 'Superior Seedless' grape bunches during shelf-life period. Bunche samples were taken from a private vineyard when SSC was about 16%. The grapes were stored for three days at laboratory temperature (at 27 ± 1 ° C and 46 ± 2% relative humidity). Result showed that the CaNPs-20 mM OXA significantly maintained the freshness of clusters rachis by reducing the rate of water loss, repressing the development of brown pigments and preserving the hue angle of rachis. Also, it maintained the soluble solids content and SSC:TA-ration, while it delayed the decreases of total acidity and ascorbic acid content, which showed the better maintenance of chemical content in the treated bunches. Besides, a notable decrease in the enzyme activities of cell walls such as polygalacturonase, xylanase, cellulase, and pectinase was observed. Also, the contents of total phenol and flavonoid have increased, while polyphenol oxidase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase have decreased. Also, the CaNPs-20mM OXA reduced malondialdehyde accumulation, lipoxygenase activity and the rachis electrolyte leakage percentage throughout the shelf-life duration. summary, CaNPs-20 mM OXA proved to be an effective treatment for maintaining the quality of 'Superior Seedless' bunches during the shelf-life duration.
Livelihood Status of Fishing Communities and Fish Biodiversity of Galachipa River in the Southern Coastal Area of Bangladesh

The present study was conducted to address the living status of the fishing community and fish biodiversity of the Galachipa River in the Patuakhali district of Bangladesh. For data collection, thirty people involved in fishing activities were interviewed through PRA tools and techniques. Results revealed that 43% of fishermen were young (age < 35). It was found that 90% of fishers were Muslim and 10% were Hindus; among them 53% were illiterate, 30% could
Metamaterial Liner for MRI Excitation—Part 1: Theory, Modeling and Design

This work details the practical and theoretical concepts underlying the design of a metamaterial (MM) liner for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radio frequency (RF) excitation. The Part 2 companion to this paper details the practical design and performance comparison to a conventional birdcage coil. The operation of the MM liner relies on specifically engineered effective permittivity and permeability of a thin liner on the inner surface of the MRI bore, to enable the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves at frequencies below the natural-cutoff of the bore itself. Here, the effective anisotropic EM properties of the MM liner structure are calculated by a combined circuit- and effective-medium model, and the analytical dispersion characteristics are compared to full-wave eigenmode simulations. The results of the effective medium model representation of the MM liner agree fundamentally with simulation. The model may thus assist the design and tuning of the liner to achieve a standing-wave resonance with field distribution and mode spacing suitable for MRI RF excitation. The transmission properties and EM fields of a full-scale MM lined bore for $\text{B}_{0}=4.7$ T MRI are simulated including realistic losses. These methods enable robust design of thin MM liners for arbitrary bore sizes and B0 field strengths.
Successful rapid response to an accidental introduction of non-native lizards Podarcis siculus in Buckinghamshire, UK

SUMMARY Italian wall lizards Podarcis siculus campestris were accidentally introduced to a site in Buckinghamshire, UK with a consignment of stone originating in Italy. Many populations of this lizard and closely related species have been established outside their native range, sometimes from a small number of founders. Mindful of the potential for these lizards to establish in the UK, we decided on a “rapid response” intervention. We captured four lizards, including a gravid female, and removed them to a secure captive collection. The capture operation comprised two visits, with specialist advice assisting estate management and nature conservation staff. Vegetation around the stone was cut back to dissuade dispersal in an effort to contain any remaining lizards. The imported stone and surrounding area were placed under surveillance, and no further lizards were found over the course of two years. Good communications between landowners, a government agency and reptile specialists expedited this intervention. We conclude that this simple, low-effort example of rapid response has eliminated the risk of a non-native invasive species establishing.
MULTI-DIELECTRIC LOADED AXIALLY SLOTTED ANTENNA ON CIRCULAR OR ELLIPTIC CYLINDER

The far field characteristics of an axially slotted circular or elliptical antenna coated with multi-dielectric layers are investigated. The fields in the various regions are expressed in terms of Mathieu functions. The unknown field expansion coefficients in every region are obtained by applying the boundary conditions at various surfaces. Numerical results are obtained for the radiation pattern, aperture conductance and antenna gain for the case of conventional or metamaterials coatings. The obtained numerical results show that slotted antenna coated with multi-dielectric layers could have higher gain and lower sidelobes for specific parameters than single layered antenna.
Modulatory effects of cell–cell interactions between porcine skeletal muscle satellite cells and fibroblasts on the expression of myogenesis-related genes

ABSTRACT Co-culture is mimicked in vivo condition, which is influenced by adjacent cells. This study aimed to determine different myogenic genes in mono- and co-culture of satellite cells and fibroblasts. Fibroblasts and satellite cells were isolated from the piglet’s thigh muscles. The expression of PAX-7, MyoD, MyoG, and PAX-3 was downregulated in 24 h co-culture satellite cells than in monoculture. The expression of Myf-5 and CAV-1 was upregulated in 24 h co-culture satellite cells than in 24 h monoculture. The expression of PAX-7, MyoD, and Myf-5 was downregulated in 24 and 48 h co-culture fibroblasts than 24 h monoculture. The expression of MyoG and PAX-3 was upregulated in 24 and 48 h co-culture than 48 h monoculture fibroblasts. The Cyto-C was downregulated in 24 and 48 h co-culture fibroblast than 24 h monoculture. The expression of MyoG and CAV-1 was upregulated in 48 h incubation period co-culture fibroblasts than 24 h monoculture. The MyoD and CAV-1 expression were upregulated in 24 h co-culture than 24 h satellite cells and fibroblasts. The Bcl-2 and BAX were downregulated in 48 h co-culture than 24 h. This result recommended that the satellite cells and fibroblasts interaction enhance the myogenesis marker expression without cellular morphology change. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Physician Scheduling for Emergency Departments Under Time-Varying Demand and Patient Return

Emergency departments (EDs) are facing increasing overcrowding and long patient waiting time, which is mainly caused by the time-varying demand of new and returning patients. In this paper, we focus on scheduling ED physicians to reduce the patient waiting time and the physician working hours. We consider the ED network as a time-varying queuing system with returns and provide an analytical methodology to approximate the system state and patient waiting time of this system. The computation of the system state is based on the pointwise stationary fluid flow approximation method, while we compute the patient waiting time by classifying the patients into groups and individually calculating the waiting time of each group. Because of the nonlinearity of the approximation methods, we propose a linearization technique to formulate the physician scheduling problem as a mixed-integer programming (MIP) model. Since the MIP model is hard to be solved by an optimization solver, a tabu search algorithm is designed. Numerical experiments show that our proposed methods can reasonably approximate the system state and patient waiting time of this complex queueing model. The scheduling computed by the heuristic algorithm can improve the physician schedule without increasing the number of physicians. Note to Practitioners—This article is motivated by the emergency department of our collaborative hospital in Wuhan, China. The emergency department wishes to use a “flexible shifts” strategy to obtain a better physician scheduling plan. Different from the traditional “three shifts” strategy, the “flexible shifts” strategy has more available shifts and more flexible physician assignments to accommodate the fluctuation of the patient demands. However, the managers generally have difficulty providing high-quality schedules to physicians, since they usually lack the understanding of the impact of the time-varying patient demands with returns. Thus, we propose a set of approaches to solve this problem. Especially, a computational approach for calculating the patient waiting time that considers the stochastic and time-varying arrivals of patients and their returns is proposed. Experiments with hospital’s real-life data show the methods proposed in this paper are useful for generating reasonable scheduling plans that can reduce the patient waiting time and system state without increasing the physician numbers.
Optimal Planning of Multiple Renewable Energy-Integrated Distribution System with Uncertainties using Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm

Appropriate installation of renewable energy-based distributed generation units (RDGs) is one of the most important challenges and current topics of interest in the optimal functioning of modern power networks. Due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources, optimal allocation and sizing of RDGs, particularly photovoltaic (PV) and wind turbine (WT), remains a critical task. Based on a new metaheuristic known as the Artificial hummingbird algorithm (AHA), this paper provides a novel approach for addressing the problem of RDG planning optimization. Considering various operational constraints, the optimization problem is developed with multiple objectives including power loss reduction, voltage stability margin (VSM) enhancement, voltage deviation minimization, and yearly economic savings. Furthermore, using relevant probability distribution functions, the ambiguities related with the stochastic nature of PV and WT output powers are evaluated. The proposed algorithm was compared to two of the recent metaheuristics applied in this domain known as improved harris hawks and particle swarm optimization algorithm (HHO-PSO) and hybrid of phasor particle swarm and gravitational search algorithm (PPSOGSA). The IEEE 33-bus and 69-bus systems are assessed as the test systems in this study. According to the findings, AHA delivers superior solutions and enhances the techno-economic benefits of distribution systems in all the scenarios evaluated.
Identification of RAPD molecular markers linked to phenotypic characteristics in Rabbits breeds

The study was planned to compare six pure rabbit breeds (Gabali, Chinchilla, V-line – Bouscat, New Zealand White and California) using random amplified polymorphic (RAPD) molecular markers and phenotypic characteristics. A total of 115 amplified bands were scored out of them 98 were polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphism (%P) ranged from 42.86% to 100.00%. The cluster analysis revealed similarity coefficient values ranged from 0.31 (Gabali and California) to 0.66 (Bouscat and New Zealand). A cluster analysis realized using percentage of similarity method for phenotypic data, revealed similarity coefficient values ranged from 77.74 (California and Gabali) to 96.37 (Bouscat and V Line). Results of single marker analysis showed seven, five and four RAPD markers related to body weight, body tall and mortality rate (MR) traits, respectively. The marker OPA-13 200bp was significantly associated with litter's weight at weaning (LWW) (r=0.010, p =0.041). The associated markers each explained a maximum regression of 69.00 (LWW) to 93.00% (MR) of the total available variation for individual associated traits. The phenotypic data showed that New Zealand rabbits had the highest body weight and the body tall compared with the other pure breeds. The highest pre-weaning mortality rate was for Bouscat rabbits compared to other pure breeds. In the same direction, the highest LWW was for California rabbits.
Biomass Accumulation and Carbon Sequestration in Tectona grandis Linn. f. and Gmelina arborea Roxb.

The significance of role of biomass of tree species in carbon sequestration had long been recognized, but very little attempts have been made to estimate the biomass accumulation and their contribution for sequestration of carbon, especially in mined out areas. Selection of ideal species for carbon sequestration is very important step for restoration of reduced ecosystem. Tectona grandis and Gmelina arborea belonging to family Verbenaceae, are most widely distributed and economically important timber species in India. In the present paper, attempts were made to work out biomass accumulation and carbon sequestration of these species raised in age series of plantations on coal mine overburden of Singrauli, M.P, India, adopting non harvest technique using following steps: volume over bark (vob), standing biomass, carbon of standing tree, biomass accumulation and carbon sequestration and finally, preparation of biomass and carbon tables. On the basis of maximum correlation coefficient and minimum standard error, the best fit equations were computed to be VOB = -0.017 + 0.003D + 0.0014H + 1.899 x 10 -5 D 2 H (R 2 =0.986, SE = 0.0049702113); and VOB = -0.009 + 0.003D + 0.000D 2 + 4.889x10 -5 D 2 H (R 2 = 0.979, SE = 0.0070497) for Gmelina arborea and Tectona grandis, respectively and Where, VOB = volume over bark in CMT; D= diameter at breast height in cm; H= total tree height in meter. The growth data was collected for 49 trees of Gmelina arborea and 72 trees of Tectona grandis (above 5 cm diameter at breast height) covering the over burden plantations of Northern Coal Field Limited, Singrauli (M.P.), India. The best fit equation was then applied to determine the accumulation of total biomass (above- and below- ground) and carbon content adopting IPCC guidelines. The trees were selected in plantations of all available ages representing different diameters and heights. The linear correlation between basal area vs volume, DBH vs volume and basal area vs total biomass was found to be significant in both the species. The values of R 2 were closer to +1 which indicated the better line fits of the data.
Root Exposure to 5-Aminolevulinic Acid (ALA) Affects Leaf Element Accumulation, Isoprene Emission, Phytohormonal Balance, and Photosynthesis of Salt-Stressed Arundo donax

Arundo donax has been recognized as a promising crop for biomass production on marginal lands due to its superior productivity and stress tolerance. However, salt stress negatively impacts A. donax growth and photosynthesis. In this study, we tested whether the tolerance of A. donax to salinity stress can be enhanced by the addition of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a known promoter of plant growth and abiotic stress tolerance. Our results indicated that root exposure to ALA increased the ALA levels in leaves along the A. donax plant profile. ALA enhanced Na+ accumulation in the roots of salt-stressed plants and, at the same time, lowered Na+ concentration in leaves, while a reduced callose amount was found in the root tissue. ALA also improved the photosynthetic performance of salt-stressed apical leaves by stimulating stomatal opening and preventing an increase in the ratio between abscisic acid (ABA) and indol-3-acetic acid (IAA), without affecting leaf methanol emission and plant growth. Supply of ALA to the roots reduced isoprene fluxes from leaves of non-stressed plants, while it sustained isoprene fluxes along the profile of salt-stressed A. donax. Thus, ALA likely interacted with the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway and modulate the synthesis of either ABA or isoprene under stressful conditions. Overall, our study highlights the effectiveness of ALA supply through soil fertirrigation in preserving the young apical developing leaves from the detrimental effects of salt stress, thus helping of A. donax to cope with salinity and favoring the recovery of the whole plant once the stress is removed.