Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Isoflurane Anesthesia on the Hematologic Values of Rehabilitated Wild Owls

Abstract: Isoflurane anesthesia is commonly used for owls when they are being rehabilitated to minimize stress during treatments and procedures, as well as to ensure caretaker safety. However, the effects of isoflurane anesthesia on the hematologic response of owls are not known. To investigate the effects of isoflurane anesthesia on the hematology of owls, 3 phases of investigation were performed on the subject animals: 1) single, short manual- versus single, short isoflurane-restraint episodes (n = 12; 38%); 2) a single, prolonged isoflurane episode (n = 10; 31%); and 3) serial, short isoflurane episodes (n = 10; 31%). All owls were classified as adult, and the sex for most individuals was unknown. Twelve owls (38%) were included in phase 1: 5 great horned owls (Bubo virginianus; 42%), 2 eastern screech owls (Megascops asio; 17%), and 5 barred owls (Strix varia; 42%). A separate cohort of 10 novel owls (31%) were selected for inclusion in both phases 2 and 3: 4 great horned owls (40%), 2 eastern screech owls (20%), 2 barred owls (20%), 1 barn owl (Tyto alba; 10%), and 1 snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus; 10%). For each anesthetic episode, blood was collected within 3 minutes of capture and in 15-minute intervals according to the duration of the procedure. Phase 2 had additional blood collections with the patient awake at 2 and 24 hours after time 0 blood collection, whereas phase 3 had an additional blood collection at 24 hours after time 0 blood collection. Hematologic analyses included packed cell volume, total solids, total white blood cell count, heterophil to lymphocyte ratio, and absolute heterophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, and basophil counts. Total white blood cell count decreased significantly during phase 1; packed cell volume decreased significantly during phases 2 and 3; total solids decreased significantly in phase 2; phase 2 demonstrated a lymphopenia with a concurrent decrease in the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio; and phase 3 demonstrated a heteropenia and significant changes in the eosinophil count. All hematologic changes noted in the study were within appropriate reference intervals for the owls but do suggest that there are physiologic consequences of restraining and anesthetizing these avian patients.
Restorative occupational therapy for adolescents with chronic kidney disease

Occupational therapy is demonstrated to improve quality of life and enable rehabilitation of patients with various chronic diseases. However, their role in managing children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains unclear. Twelve adolescents with CKD managed at a single center in Hong Kong participated in a 4-weeks occupational lifestyle redesign program (OLSRP) comprising 8 sessions of self-initiated individualized activity plans, led by two occupational therapists. Two surveys, the self-management inventory and Chinese version of General Self-efficacy Scale, administered at initiation and end of OLSRP, were used to examine its impact on competence, confidence and self-efficacy scores. Following OLSRP, 91.7% and 75% of 12 adolescents showed significant improvements in composite scores of both scales, with significant increments in self-management concerning disease, social and collaborative skills, diet, proper schedule, medication intake and acceptance of their disease, and problem solving and confidence.
Transcranial Doppler ultrasound for the brain

Applications of transcranial Doppler TCD being non‐invasive is touted as an alternative to four‐vessel angiography for monitoring vasospasm, stenosis, stroke and cerebral circulatory arrest. TCD identifies middle cerebral artery and basilar artery vasospasm with high degree of sensitivity and specificity. It is also highly predictive in the detection of proximal anterior circulation. It is 100% specific and 96% sensitive in diagnosing brain death. [5]
Salmonella Effector SteA Suppresses Proinflammatory Responses of the Host by Interfering With IκB Degradation

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is known to cause its virulence by secreting various effector proteins directly into the host cytoplasm via two distinct type III secretion systems (T3SS-1 and T3SS-2). Generally, T3SS-1-delivered effectors help Salmonella Typhimurium in the early phases of infection including invasion and immune modulation of the host cells, whereas T3SS-2 effectors mainly help in the survival of Salmonella Typhimurium within the host cells including maintenance of Salmonella-containing vacuole, replication of the bacteria, and dissemination. Some of the effectors are secreted via both T3SS-1 and T3SS-2, suggesting their role in distinct phases of infection of host cells. SteA is such an effector that is secreted by both T3SS-1 and T3SS-2. It has been shown to control the membrane dynamics of the Salmonella-containing vacuole within the host cells in the late phases of infection. In this manuscript, toward characterizing the T3SS-1 function of SteA, we found that SteA suppresses inflammatory responses of the host by interfering with the nuclear factor kappa B pathway. Our initial observation showed that the mice infected with steA-deleted Salmonella Typhimurium (ΔsteA) died earlier compared to the wild-type bacteria due to heightened immune responses, which indicated that SteA might suppress immune responses. Furthermore, our study revealed that SteA suppresses immune responses in macrophages by interfering with the degradation of IκB, the inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B. SteA suppresses the ubiquitination and hence degradation of IκB by acting on Cullin-1 of the Skp-1, Cullin-1, F-box (SCF)-E3 ligase complex. Our study revealed that SteA suppresses a key step necessary for E3 ligase activation, i.e., neddylation of Cullin-1 by interfering with dissociation of its inhibitor Cand-1.
Tensiomyography Derived Parameters Reflect Skeletal Muscle Architectural Adaptations Following 6-Weeks of Lower Body Resistance Training

Measurement of muscle specific contractile properties in response to resistance training (RT) can provide practitioners valuable information regarding physiological status of individuals. Field based measurements of such contractile properties within specific muscle groups, could be beneficial when monitoring efficacy of training or rehabilitation interventions. Tensiomyography (TMG) quantifies contractile properties of individual muscles via an electrically stimulated twitch contraction and may serve as a viable option in the aforementioned applications. Thus, aims of this study were; (i) to investigate the potential use of TMG to quantify training adaptations and differences, in response to exercise specific lower limb RT; and (ii) investigate any associations between TMG parameters and accompanying muscle architectural measures. Non-resistance trained male participants (n = 33) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 single-exercise intervention groups (n = 11 per group); back squat (BS), deadlift (DL), or hip thrust (HT). Participants completed a 6-week linearized training program (2× per week), where the assigned exercise was the sole method of lower body training. Pre- and post-intervention testing of maximal dynamic strength was assessed by one repetition maximum (1RM) of BS, DL, and HT. Radial muscle belly displacement (Dm) and contraction time (Tc) were obtained via TMG from the rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL) pre- and post-intervention, alongside muscle architectural measures (pennation angle and muscle thickness). All three groups displayed significant increases all 1RM strength tests (p < 0.001; pη2 = 0.677–0.753). Strength increases were accompanied by significant overall increases in RF muscle thickness (p < 0.001, pη2 = 0.969), and pennation angle (p = 0.007, pη2 = 0.220). Additionally, an overall reduction in RF Dm (p < 0.001, pη2 = 0.427) was observed. Significant negative relationships were observed between RF Dm and pennation angle (p = 0.003, r = −0.36), and with RF Dm and muscle thickness (p < 0.001, r = −0.50). These findings indicate that TMG is able to detect improved contractile properties, alongside improvements in muscle function within an untrained population. Furthermore, the observed associations between Dm and muscle architecture suggest that TMG contractile property assessments could be used to obtain information on muscle geometry.
Mileage Extraction From Odometer Pictures for Automating Auto Insurance Processes

For an insurance company is a priority to supply customers with an easy and streamlined way to provide all the information needed when reporting a claim or asking for a quote. An simple and efficient process to do so improves customer experience, reduces human error and accelerates the information collection process. An accurate mileage reading is a key piece of information that is relevant for auto insurance quotes and claims processing. The vehicle mileage can be combined with the License Plate number and the Vehicle Identification Number(VIN) to get a complete overview of the information needed for many insurance processes and workflows. In this paper, we describe a novel solution for extracting vehicle mileage from odometer images taken by mobile devices. There are many available low-cost commercial solutions for both License plate recognition and VIN recognition from images, however, to the best of our knowledge, this is not existing commercial solutions for odometer mileage extraction from images. Our proposed system mainly consists of two parts: (a) identifying the odometer display and, (b) extracting characters inside the display. We leverage existing state-of-the-art object detection deep learning architectures to solve each part and design a post-processing algorithm to identify mileage from the extracted characters. We tested empirically our proposed system in unseen odometer images taken in the wild. We achieve satisfactory performance that meets the requirements needed for real-life applications in the insurance industry.
DeepEmSat: Deep Emulation for Satellite Data Mining

The growing volume of Earth science data available from climate simulations and satellite remote sensing offers unprecedented opportunity for scientific insight, while also presenting computational challenges. One potential area of impact is atmospheric correction, where physics-based numerical models retrieve surface reflectance information from top of atmosphere observations, and are too computationally intensive to be run in real time. Machine learning methods have demonstrated potential as fast statistical models for expensive simulations and for extracting credible insights from complex datasets. Here, we develop DeepEmSat: a deep learning emulator approach for atmospheric correction, and offer comparison against physics-based models to support the hypothesis that deep learning can make a contribution to the efficient processing of satellite images.
A Glyphosate Pulse to Brackish Long-Term Microcosms Has a Greater Impact on the Microbial Diversity and Abundance of Planktonic Than of Biofilm Assemblages

The widespread herbicide glyphosate has been detected in aquatic coastal zones of the southern Baltic Sea. We monitored community dynamics in glyphosate-impacted chemostats for 20 weeks to evaluate the potential impact of the herbicide on free-living and biofilm-associated bacterial community assemblages in a brackish ecosystem. A HPLC-MS/MS method was developed to measure glyphosate, aminomethylphosphonic acid and sarcosine concentrations within a brackish matrix. These concentrations were analyzed weekly, together with prokaryotic succession, determined by total cell counts and next generation 16S rRNA (gene) amplicon sequencing. Shotgun metagenomics provided insights into the glyphosate degradation potential of the microbial communities. Temporal increases in total cell counts, bacterial diversity and the abundances of distinct bacterial operational taxonomic units were identified in the water column. Biofilm communities proved to be less affected than pelagic ones, but their responses were of longer duration. The increase of gox and thiO gene and the phn operon gene abundance indicated glyphosate degradation by first the aminomethylphosphonic acid pathway and possible subsequently by cleaving the C-P bond. However, although glyphosate concentrations were reduced by 99 %, 1 µM of the herbicide remained until the end of the experiment. Thus, when present at low concentrations, glyphosate may evade bacterial degradation and persist in Baltic Sea waters.
Robust Low Friction Antibiotic Coating of Urethral Catheters Using a Catechol-Functionalized Polymeric Hydrogel Film

Indwelling urethral catheters are widely used in hospitalized patients however they are associated with bacterial infection and biofilm formation due to the suboptimal surface properties of the elastic materials used for the catheters. Although there are several antibacterial coating technologies to modify the surface properties of the catheter including hydrophilic polymeric coating, the risk of infection is still high given the absence of reactive functional groups on the surface of elastomers. In this study, we describe the use of catechol-functionalized hydrophilic polymers and explore strategies to create antibacterial hydrogel coatings. Three different types of catechol-functionalized polymers, chitosan, hyaluronic acid, and human serum albumin were synthesized and deposited using simple dip-coating method. All of the tested polymers could coat different types of elastomers widely used for urethral catheters independent to the surface properties, and the thickness of the coating could be controlled by the number of depositions. The coating formed stable water-containing lubricant surface beneficial as a physical repellant of microbial attachment. In addition, the coating could be combined with additional antibacterial agents such as silver nanoparticles to maximize the antibacterial effect on the surface of urethral catheter materials.
The Introduced Fanworm, Sabella spallanzanii, Alters Soft Sediment Macrofauna and Bacterial Communities

The Mediterranean fanworm, Sabella spallanzanii, is an introduced and established “unwanted species” in New Zealand, subject to nationwide targeted surveillance in port, marina, urban and natural environments. S. spallanzanii has the potential to change soft-sediment benthic habitats due to the physical presence of the fanworm’s tube and associated biological activities, particularly suspension feeding and bio-deposition. A 6-month field experiment was conducted to investigate the impacts of S. spallanzanii on existing communities within invaded soft-sediment habitats. Macrofaunal communities were assessed using traditional sampling and taxonomy while microbial and eukaryotic communities were characterised using metabarcoding of 16S and 18S ribosomal genes, respectively. Live and mimic S. spallanzanii were transplanted at different densities (10 - 50 individuals per m2) into experimental plots with existing assemblages, to test for potential biological and/or physical effects on benthic communities. Analyses revealed consistent, significant differences in macrofaunal, eukaryote and bacterial assemblages in the presence of live S. spallanzanii and mimics, indicating that these effects are brought about by biological and physical functions associated with the worms. The presence of S. spallanzanii did not alter total abundance and taxa richness of benthic assemblages but resulted in compositional differences. Changes in the structure of native benthic communities, as indicate by this study, can potentially impact functioning of soft-sediment habitats, through alterations to nutrient cycling, bioturbation and benthic-pelagic coupling. Quantitative measurements of impacts are crucial to understand the trajectory of marine invasions, their roles in re-structuring communities, and to guide management efforts.
Light Control of Salt-Induced Proline Accumulation Is Mediated by ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 in Arabidopsis

Plants have to adapt their metabolism to constantly changing environmental conditions, among which the availability of light and water is crucial in determining growth and development. Proline accumulation is one of the sensitive metabolic responses to extreme conditions; it is triggered by salinity or drought and is regulated by light. Here we show that red and blue but not far-red light is essential for salt-induced proline accumulation, upregulation of Δ1-PYRROLINE-5-CARBOXYLATE SYNTHASE 1 (P5CS1) and downregulation of PROLINE DEHYDROGENASE 1 (PDH1) genes, which control proline biosynthetic and catabolic pathways, respectively. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that the transcription factor ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5) binds to G-box and C-box elements of P5CS1 and a C-box motif of PDH1. Salt-induced proline accumulation and P5CS1 expression were reduced in the hy5hyh double mutant, suggesting that HY5 promotes proline biosynthesis through connecting light and stress signals. Our results improve our understanding on interactions between stress and light signals, confirming HY5 as a key regulator in proline metabolism.
The Dual Role of HLA-C in Tolerance and Immunity at the Maternal-Fetal Interface

To establish a healthy pregnancy, maternal immune cells must tolerate fetal allo-antigens and remain competent to respond to infections both systemically and in placental tissues. Extravillous trophoblasts (EVT) are the most invasive cells of extra-embryonic origin to invade uterine tissues and express polymorphic Human Leucocyte Antigen-C (HLA-C) of both maternal and paternal origin. Thus, HLA-C is a key molecule that can elicit allogeneic immune responses by maternal T and NK cells and for which maternal-fetal immune tolerance needs to be established. HLA-C is also the only classical MHC molecule expressed by EVT that can present a wide variety of peptides to maternal memory T cells and establish protective immunity. The expression of paternal HLA-C by EVT provides a target for maternal NK and T cells, whereas HLA-C expression levels may influence how this response is shaped. This dual function of HLA-C requires tight transcriptional regulation of its expression to balance induction of tolerance and immunity. Here, we critically review new insights into: (i) the mechanisms controlling expression of HLA-C by EVT, (ii) the mechanisms by which decidual NK cells, effector T cells and regulatory T cells recognize HLA-C allo-antigens, and (iii) immune recognition of pathogen derived antigens in context of HLA-C.
A Network of Bursting Neurons for Temporal Association

We propose a network which has the ability to retrieve not only a sequence of patterns but also their rhythms. The network is a deterministic system in which neither delay nor noise is required. The elements constituting the network are bursting neurons modelled in a relatively simple way. In the retrieval process, the network at first exhibits a retrieval pattern for a finite time. It is then followed by a period in which all neurons are quiescent until the network switches to the next retrieval pattern. The duration of each pattern and the duration of each resting period can be independently adjusted to an arbitrary length. We confirm the excellent retrieval performance of the network by numerical simulation.
Research article EVALUATION OF SIRES USING ANIMAL MODELS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF FIRST LACTATION AND LIFE TIME PRODUCTION TRAITS IN MURRAH BUFFALOES

The data spread over the period of 25 years for the present study. Data were obtained from the history sheets of 1312 Murrah buffaloes maintained at four military dairy farms of northern India viz. Ambala, Agra, Lucknow and Bareilly. The sires were evaluated for WFC, AFC, FDP, FCI, FSP, FLMY, HLMY and FLP traits. The sires have been evaluated and ranked on the basis of solutions obtained through univariate and multivariate REML using animal model and BLUP value for sire effects under model 8. Less than half of the sires were superior to the population mean under BLUP1, BLUP2 and BLUP3. The superiority of the best sire (as per cent of the raw mean) were 8 % for the reproduction traits under BLUP1 but above 15% under BLUP2 and around 10% under BLUP3, for FLMY and HLMY, this superiority was around 11, 7 and 9% respectively. The responding values under BLUP1, were 19, 15 and 15% under BLUP2, 18, 14 and 6% under BLUP3. It was observed that top ranking sire for AFC (i.e. M-140) was same under BLUP1, BLUP2 and BLUP3 for FLMY (i.e. M-143) was same in BLUP 1 and BLUP2. In BLUP2 and BLUP3, around 50% animals were superior to the population mean for reproduction and production traits. The superiority of the best animal (as per cent of the raw means was above 13% under BLUP2 and BLUP3) for reproduction traits except WFC. But there values were 31, 18 and 21% (BLUP2) and 33, 23 and 25% (BLUP3) for FLMY, HLMY and FLP respectively. Rank correlation under different methods were highly significant and ranged from 0.697 (between model 8 and multivariate animal model for first lactation period) to 0.999 (between model 8 and unuvariate animal model for first service period). Rank correlations were above 0.973 for all the traits when sires were ranked by model 8 and univariate animal model. The rank correlations among methods with in traits were though highly significant (P<0.01), yet not perfect, revealed that the ranking of sires by different methods were not similar. The rank correlations among traits within method were low than among methods within traits within the method. From these results, it was observed that the range of sire effect, per cent sire superior to population mean and superiority of best sire/animal was more under BLUP1 and BLUP3 than BLUP1. Therefore, REML using animal model could be used to evaluate the animals along with their sires and dams.