Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth performances and changes of macronutrient ion concentrations in the culture medium when Euglena gracilis was cultured with nitrified digestate

ABSTRACT We investigated the possibility of using Euglena gracilis to convert digestate from methane fermentation of organic wastes into a medium for soilless crop culture. The growth of E. gracilis cultured with aqueous solutions containing filtrate of raw digestate at 1–30% (v/v) and nitrified digestate at 10–100% (v/v) was examined. Concentrations of plant macronutrient ions in nitrified digestate before and after culturing E. gracilis were also examined. Specific growth rates in aqueous solutions containing filtrate of raw digestate at 1–10% and nitrified digestate at 10–100% showed no significant differences, respectively (0.781 ± 0.031 d−1 and 0.925 ± 0.033 d−1, mean ± standard error). The rates in the filtrate of nitrified digestate were significantly higher than those in the filtrate of raw digestate. Moreover, there were no significant differences between the concentrations of plant macronutrient ions other than in the filtrate of nitrified digestate before and after culturing E. gracilis. The concentration of decreased significantly by 10.5% of the initial concentration. As a result, the constituent ratio of plant macronutrient ions other than magnesium in the solution after culturing E. gracilis was similar to that in a standard nutrient solution for soilless culture.
Tumor suppressor RIZ1 in obesity and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

The aim of this study was to investigate the shared molecular pathways of obesity and cancer by exploring the role of RIZ1 in obesity and the phospatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K)/V‐Akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog (PKB) (AKT)/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway.
A Theory of Interactive Debugging of Knowledge Bases in Monotonic Logics

A broad variety of knowledge-based applications such as recommender, expert, planning or configuration systems usually operate on the basis of knowledge represented by means of some logical language. Such a logical knowledge base (KB) enables intelligent behavior of such systems by allowing them to automatically reason, answer queries of interest or solve complex real-world problems. Nowadays, where information acquisition comes at low costs and often happens automatically, the applied KBs are continuously growing in terms of size, information content and complexity. These developments foster the emergence of errors in these KBs and thus pose a significant challenge on all people and tools involved in KB evolution, maintenance and application. If some minimal quality criteria such as logical consistency are not met by some KB, it becomes useless for knowledge-based applications. To guarantee the compliance of KBs with given requirements, (non-interactive) KB debuggers have been proposed. These however often cannot localize all potential faults, suggest too large or incorrect modifications of the faulty KB or suffer from poor scalability due to the inherent complexity of the KB debugging problem. As a remedy to these issues, based on a well-founded theoretical basis this work proposes complete, sound and optimal methods for the interactive debugging of KBs that suggest the one (minimally invasive) error correction of the faulty KB that yields a repaired KB with exactly the intended semantics. Users, e.g. domain experts, are involved in the debugging process by answering automatically generated queries whether some given statements must or must not hold in the domain that should be modeled by the problematic KB at hand.
Adding Local Search to Particle Swarm Optimization

Particle swarm optimization is a stochastic algorithm for optimizing continuous functions. It uses a population of particles that follow trajectories through the search space towards good optima. This paper proposes adding a local search component to PSO to improve its convergence speed. Two possible methods are discussed. The first adds a term containing estimated gradient information to the velocity of each particle. The second explicitly incorporates the Nelder-Mead algorithm, a known local search technique, within PSO. The suggested methods have been applied to the problem of estimating parameters of a gene network model. Results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed strategies.
Expression of Lex antigen in Schistosoma japonicum and S.haematobium and immune responses to Lex in infected animals: lack of Lex expression in other trematodes and nematodes.

Adults of the human parasitic trematode Schistosoma mansoni, which causes hepatosplenic/intestinal complications in humans, synthesize glycoconjugates containing the Lewis x (Lex) Galbeta1-->4(Fucalpha1-->3)GlcNAcbeta1-->R, but not sialyl Lewis x (sLex), antigen. We now report on our analyses of Lexand sLexexpression in S.haematobium and S.japonicum, which are two other major species of human schistosomes that cause disease, and the possible autoimmunity to these antigens in infected individuals. Antigen expression was evaluated by both ELISA and Western blot analyses of detergent extracts of parasites using monoclonal antibodies. Several high molecular weight glycoproteins in both S. haematobium and S. japonicum contain the Lexantigen, but no sialyl Lexantigen was detected. In addition, sera from humans and rodents infected with S.haematobium and S.japonicum contain antibodies reactive with Lex. These results led us to investigate whether Lexantigens are expressed in other helminths, including the parasitic trematode Fasciola hepatica , the parasitic nematode Dirofilaria immitis (dog heartworm), the ruminant nematode Haemonchus contortus , and the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans . Neither Lexnor sialyl-Lexis detectable in these other helminths. Furthermore, none of the helminths, including schistosomes, express Lea, Leb, Ley, or the H-type 1 antigen. However, several glycoproteins from all helminths analyzed are bound by Lotus tetragonolobus agglutinin , which binds Fucalpha1-->3GlcNAc, and Wisteria floribunda agglutinin, which binds GalNAcbeta1-->4GlcNAc (lacdiNAc or LDN). Thus, schistosomes may be unique among helminths in expressing the Lexantigen, whereas many different helminths may express alpha1,3-fucosylated glycans and the LDN motif.
Labor Force Participation in a Sample of Substance Users

This paper reviews the microeconomic theory underlying the work/leisure tradeoff and how this tradeoff may be manifested among substance users. The effects of drug use, demographic factors, and income factors on the probability of labor force participation are analyzed in a sample of 687 male and 327 female drug users. The decision not to seek employment appears to be associated primarily with non-job-related sources of income (including illegal sources).
Noncontact multiple targets vital sign detection based on VMD algorithm

In recent years, biomedical radar technology has attracted great interest in various fields. Comparing with single target scenario, multiple vital sign detection is a more challenging task. In this paper, a novel noncontact multiple targets vital sign detection method using ultra-wideband (UWB) radar system has been proposed. Utilizing Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) algorithm, the respiration signals of different targets can be decomposed into different sub-signals when multiple targets located at the same distance. Therefore, time-varying respiration rates can be tracked accurately via Hilbert transform. Various experiments have demonstrated that vital sign of two targets, even up to four targets can be detected and distinguished clearly, which exhibit the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method in indoor application.
Vector control of LNG marine propulsion motor based on improved EKF

The vector control of LNG marine propulsion motor based on improved EKF is proposed for the problem of frequency operation of the controller which caused by the unknown external load disturbance that acting in the LNG marine propulsion motor system. The periodic torque ripples are reduced by introducing the speed error compensation based on improved EKF into the update algorithm of the vector control by utilizing the previous error data and error changing trend, and the results were compared with the traditional EKF vector control. It shows that the torque ripples of propulsion motor were minimized, the state observer accuracy and robustness performance of the LNG control system was improved.
Stretching Domain Adaptation: How far is too far?

While deep learning has led to significant advances in visual recognition over the past few years, such advances often require a lot of annotated data. While unsupervised domain adaptation has emerged as an alternative approach that doesn't require as much annotated data, prior evaluations of domain adaptation have been limited to relatively simple datasets. This work pushes the state of the art in unsupervised domain adaptation through an in depth evaluation of AlexNet, DenseNet and Residual Transfer Networks (RTN) on multimodal benchmark datasets that shows and identifies which layers more effectively transfer features across different domains. We also modify the existing RTN architecture and propose a novel domain adaptation architecture called "Deep MagNet" that combines Deep Convolutional Blocks with multiple Maximum Mean Discrepancy losses. Our experiments show quantitative and qualitative improvements in performance of our method on benchmarking datasets for complex data domains.
Elevation of endogenous anandamide impairs LTP, learning, and memory through CB1 receptor signaling in mice

In rodents, many exogenous and endogenous cannabinoids, such as anandamide (AEA) and 2‐arachidonyl glycerol (2‐AG), have been shown to play an important role in certain hippocampal memory processes. However, the mechanisms by which endogenous AEA regulate this processes are not well understood. Here the effects of AEA on long‐term potentiation (LTP), hippocampal‐dependent learning and memory tasks, pERK1/2, pCaMKIV, and pCREB signaling events in both cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R) wild‐type (WT) and knockout (KO) mice were assessed following administration of URB597, an inhibitor of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). Acute administration of URB597 enhanced AEA levels without affecting the levels of 2‐AG or CB1R in the hippocampus and neocortex as compared to vehicle. In hippocampal slices, URB597 impaired LTP in CB1R WT but not in KO littermates. URB597 impaired object recognition, spontaneous alternation and spatial memory in the Y‐maze test in CB1R WT mice but not in KO mice. Furthermore, URB597 enhanced ERK phosphorylation in WT without affecting total ERK levels in WT or KO mice. URB597 impaired CaMKIV and CREB phosphorylation in WT but not in KO mice. CB1R KO mice have a lower pCaMKIV/CaMKIV ratio and higher pCREB/CREB ratio as compared to WT littermates. Our results indicate that pharmacologically elevated AEA impair LTP, learning and memory and inhibit CaMKIV and CREB phosphorylation, via the activation of CB1Rs. Collectively, these findings also suggest that pharmacological elevation of AEA beyond normal concentrations is also detrimental for the underlying physiological responses. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Anti-Human Leukocyte Antigen Antibodies are Associated with Restenosis after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy

Background. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to palliate cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) has been associated with high restenosis rates, possibly related to increased inflammation associated with this disease. Whether markers of immunologic rejection are associated with restenosis in this population is unknown. The goal of the study was to determine the predictors of restenosis after PCI for CAV. Methods. Records were reviewed retrospectively from a single, high-volume cardiac transplant center. Clinical, angiographic, and immunologic data were collected on all patients postorthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) that had subsequent PCI. Restenosis was defined as greater than 50% stenosis at the previous intervention site. Results. PCI was successfully performed on 62 de novo lesions in 40 patients an average of 6.8±3.9 years after OHT. Angiographic follow-up data was available for 79%, with an average follow-up of 1.54±1.22 years. The 1-year restenosis rate was 49% (64% for balloon percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and 33% for coronary stenting [P=0.09 for difference]). The frequency of immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibody to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I antigen was highly associated with risk of restenosis (hazard ratio [HR] 11.33, P=0.01). Greater stenosis severity and smaller target vessel diameter were also predictors of restenosis as in the nontransplant population. Conclusions. The findings suggest that in patients postPCI for CAV, humoral allo-immunity may contribute to restenosis and that IgG antibodies to MHC class I antigen may help predict the risk of restenosis after PCI in this population.
Defining pastoral care for older people in residential care

Abstract The concept and definition of pastoral care in aged care remains ambiguous. This paper reports on the defining characteristics and meaning of pastoral care from the perspective of older recipients, their family members and pastoral care workers. Using a qualitative descriptive approach semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 pastoral care workers and 11 older people. Transcribed data were analysed using NVivo software and coded for emerging themes. The defining characteristics of pastoral care that emerged from analysis of transcribed interviews were: a trusting relationship, spiritual support, emotional support and practical support. Findings also portray the role of the pastoral care worker as spiritual guide, confidante, and emotional and practical supporter acting within a trusting relationship. Future studies should confirm these results by exploring the perceptions of experts in the field of pastoral care.
Sex Ratio of Bovine Embryos and Calves Originating from the Left and Right Ovaries1

An asymmetric distribution of the sexes within the left and right uterine horns has been described in multiple species. A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the sex ratio (% male) of calves gestated in the left and right uterine horns, as well as the sex ratio of embryos originating from the left and right ovaries of cattle. The sex ratio of calves gestated in the right uterine horn of naturally mated cows was significantly higher compared with the sex ratio of calves gestated in the left uterine horn. In addition, the sex ratio of the left and right uterine horns differed significantly from parity. The sex ratio of embryo transfer calves born following transfer to the left and right uterine horns was not significantly different. Additionally, the proportion of male embryos collected from the right uterine horns was significantly greater than from the left uterine horns of superovulated cows. The sex ratio of embryos collected from the left and right uterine horns of unilaterally ovariectomized cows was not significantly different. However, more female than male embryos were produced when left ovary oocytes fertilized in vitro. In conclusion, the results of these experiments demonstrate that a significantly greater proportion of males are gestated in the right uterine horn of cattle and a greater proportion of females in the left. Additionally, the data indicate that sex-specific selection pressure may be applied to embryos by ovarian factors rather than by the uterine environment.
Electronic health records: Is the evidence base any use?

Information-technology policies in many countries are full of aspirational statements and not generally based on the available evidence. This paper aims to contribute to a proper discussion of the evidence on electronic health records (EHR). The paper describes the methods we used in a review of the impact of EHR on clinical work and administration, summarizes our findings, and discusses their relevance in the context of policy makers' information requirements. We argue that the literature has, to date, largely failed to deliver usable findings.
A Study of Teachers’ Perceptions of Involvement in Decision Making within Secondary Schools in Cameroon

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which secondary grammar school principals share school leadership with teachers. Shared leadership was conceptualized as participatory decision making. Using a questionnaire developed from the related and conceptual literature, data were collected from 300 teachers and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 for windows. The results of the data analysis were reported using descriptive statistics, more specifically frequencies, percentages, and means. Overall, of the nineteen items designed to capture teachers’ perceptions of shared leadership in secondary grammar schools, only six (31.57%) of them had means equal to or above the cut-off point of 3.00. In other words, for the most part principals do not adequately share leadership with teachers. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to guide policy and practice. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2016. v6n2p165
Intake, digestibility, and nitrogen retention by sheep supplemented with warm-season legume hays or soybean meal.

The increasing cost of feed supplements necessitates evaluation of alternatives for ruminant livestock grazing poor quality warm-season grasses. This study determined how supplementing bahiagrass hay (Paspalum notatum Flügge cv. Pensacola) with soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ] meal or warm-season legume hays affected intake, digestibility, and N utilization by lambs. Dorper x Katadhin crossbred lambs (30.6 +/- 5.5 kg; n = 42) were fed bahiagrass hay (73.8% NDF, 8.1% CP) for ad libitum intake and supplemented with nothing (control), soybean meal, or hays of annual peanut [Arachis hypogaea (L.) cv. Florida MDR98; 46.2% NDF, 14.7% CP], cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. cv. Iron clay; 62.2% NDF, 11.7% CP], perennial peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth. cv. Florigraze; 43.3% NDF, 15.2% CP), pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. cv. GA-2; 78.6% NDF, 12.2% CP], or soybean (cv. Pioneer 97B52; 59.0% NDF, 13.5% CP). Legume hays were supplemented at 50% of total diet DM, and soybean meal was supplemented at a level (4.25% of diet DM) that matched the average dietary CP content (10.8%) of the legume hay-supplemented diets. The cowpea, pigeonpea, and soybean were harvested at respective maturities that maximized DM yield and nutritive value, and the peanuts were first cuttings. Diets were fed to 6 lambs per treatment for 2 consecutive 21-d periods. Supplementation with hays of annual and perennial peanut, cowpea, and soybean increased (P < 0.01) DMI vs. control, but apparent DM digestibility was only increased (P = 0.03) by supplementation with annual or perennial peanut hay. Compared with the control, N intake, digestibility, and retention were increased (P < 0.01) by supplementation with legume hay or soybean meal. Responses were greatest when annual or perennial peanut hays were fed. Ruminal ammonia concentration was increased (P < 0.01) by all legume hay supplements vs. the control. Microbial N synthesis and ruminally degraded OM were increased (P = 0.03) by perennial and annual peanut hay supplementation, but efficiency of microbial synthesis was not different (P = 0.52) among diets. Unlike other supplements, annual and perennial peanut hays increased DM and N intake and digestibility and improved microbial N synthesis; therefore, they were the best supplements for the bahiagrass hay under the conditions of this study.
Predicting reader response in narrative

This paper sketches a theory of how readers (or users, or players, or viewers) respond to narratives. Such a theory can be useful for developing evaluation functions to allow for narrative outcomes that have maximum impact at particular times on the reader. The reader's response is viewed in terms of character evaluations, namely judgments of sympathy or antipathy for the agent involved in that outcome. Character development is computed in terms of transitions in reader evaluations for an agent over the time course of the narrative. To formally model character evaluations, we begin with a representation of the narrative fabula in terms of the events, their participant roles, and their temporal relations. This representation is implemented on a corpus of narratives with existing tools and standards. Reader evaluations are annotated on events in the fabula. Once high reliability in human character evaluations has been proven, a character evaluation tagger will be trained on these evaluations.
Effects of Ulmus davidiana planch on mineralization, bone morphogenetic protein-2, alkaline phosphatase, type I collagen, and collagenase-1 in bone cells

SummaryUlmus davidiana Planch (Ulmaceae) (UD) long has been known to have anti-inflammatory and protective effects on damaged tissue, inflammation, and bone among other functions. The herbal medicine also is being used in Oriental medicine to treat osteoporosis. In a preliminary study, treatment of osteoclasts containing long bone cells with the water extract of UD bark prevented the intracellular maturation of cathepsin K (cat K), and thus, it was considered that UD is a pro-drug of a potent bone-resorption inhibitor. To further clarify the role of UD in ossification, we investigated the effects of UD on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblastic cell lines in vitro. In this study, we assessed the effects of UD on osteoblastic differentiation in nontransformed osteoblastic cells (MC3T3-E1) and rat bone marrow cells. UD enhanced alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mineralization in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. This stimulatory effect of the UD was observed at relatively low doses (significant at 5–50 μg/ml and maximal at 50 μg/ml). Northern blot analysis showed that UD (100 μg/ml) increases in bone morphogenic protein-2 as well as ALP mRNA concentrations in MC3T3-E1 cells. UD slightly increased in type I collagen mRNA abundance throughout the culture period, whereas it markedly inhibited the gene expression of collagenase-1 between days 15 and 20 of culture. These results indicate that UD has anabolic effects on bone through the promotion of osteoblastic differentiation, suggesting that is could be used for the treatment of common metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis.
Kinematic Analysis of Hip and Knee Angles During Landing after Imagery in Female Athletes

Abstract Sarafrazi, S, Bt Abdulah, RT, and Amiri-Khorasani, M. Kinematics analysis of hip and knee angles during landing after imagery in female athletes. J Strength Cond Res 26(9): 2356–2363, 2012—In sport settings, imagery is regarded as one of the most popular and effective techniques to enhance the learning strategies and performance of skills. However, its effect on the correction of improper technique such as landing, which causes injury, is not clear. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of imagery on knee and hip flexion angle during jump landing in women. The landing motions were captured from 40 female physical education students (height: 166.05 ± 7.52 cm; mass: 55.75 ± 9.23 kg; age: 20.45 ± 1.66 years) using a 3-dimensional technique at 60 Hz by 3 video cameras. There was a significant difference between no imagery (27.04 ± 2.40°) and imagery (22.98 ± 1.95°) on knee valgus angle, and also, there was a significant difference between no imagery (44.88 ± 13.46°) and imagery (62.35 ± 8.34°) on the knee flexion angle (p ⩽ 0.001). There is, in addition, a significant difference between the effect of no imagery (28.60 ± 4.88°) and imagery (39.73 ± 7.29°) on hip flexion angle (p ⩽ 0.001). It seems that imagery can be used to correct motions and movements. Based on this finding, we concluded that imagery, probably, can be used as a training strategy to change athletic motion; however, the authors suggest further investigation into the efficacy of imagery in the prevention of anterior cruciate ligament injury.