Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The costs and benefits of sunflower pollen diet on bumble bee colony disease and health

Pathogen transmission between domesticated and wild host species has important implications for community ecology, agriculture, and wildlife conservation. Bumble bees provide valuable pollination services that are vital for both wildflowers and agricultural production. Intense concerns about pathogen spillover from commercial bumble bees to wild bee populations, and the potential harmful effects of pathogen spillback to commercial bees, has stimulated a need for practical strategies that effectively manage bumble bee infectious diseases. Here, we assessed the costs and benefits of a medicinal sunflower pollen diet (Helianthus annuus) on whole-colony bumble bee disease and performance using commercial colonies of the common eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens, and its protozoan pathogen, Crithidia bombi (Trypanosomatida). We first found that a 1:1 mixture of sunflower combined with wildflower pollen reduced C. bombi infection prevalence and intensity within individual B. impatiens workers by nearly 4-fold and 12-fold, respectively, relative to wildflower pollen. At the colony level, a 1:1 mixture of sunflower and wildflower pollen reduced C. bombi infection prevalence by 11% averaged over a 10week period and infection intensity by 30% relative to wildflower pollen. Colony performance was similar between pollen diets and infection treatments, including the number of workers and immatures produced, and size and weight of workers, drones, and queens. Infection significantly reduced the probability of queen production in colonies fed a pure wildflower pollen diet, but not colonies fed a mixed sunflower pollen diet, suggesting that the medicinal benefits of a mixed sunflower pollen diet can reverse the negative effects of infection on reproductive success. This study provides evidence that sunflower pollen as part of a mixed pollen diet can reduce infection in individual bees and whole colonies with no significant nutritional trade-offs for colony worker production and most aspects of colony reproduction. A supplemental mixed sunflower pollen diet may provide a simple and effective solution to reduce disease and improve the health of economically and ecologically important pollinators.
Improved thermoelectric performance in n-type flexible Bi2Se3+x/PVDF composite films

Bismuth selenide materials (Bi 2 Se 3 ) have high performance around room temperature, demonstrating potential in thermoelectric applications. Presently, most vacuum preparation techniques used to fabricate the film materials, such as magnetron sputtering and molecular beam epitaxy, usually require complex and expensive equipment. This limits the practical applications of flexible thermoelectric films. Here, we prepared Bi 2 Se 3+x nanoplate/ polyvinylidene fluoride composite films with good flexibility using a facile chemical reaction method. Their thermoelectric performance and microstructures were systematically studied. The composite films exhibit a highly preferred orientation along (015). The carrier concentration and mobility were optimized by adding excessive element Se, eventually leading to an improvement in thermoelectric performance. The optimized power factor is 5.2 μ W/K 2 m at 300 K. Furthermore, the performance remains stable after 2500 bending cycles at a radius of 1 cm, suggesting promising applications in wearable/portable electronics.
A Syringe-Based and Centrifugation-Free DNA Extraction Procedure for the Rapid Detection of Bacteria

Several bacteria are known to cause food poisoning; therefore, diagnostic systems that detect bacteria are essential. Nucleic acid-based testing methods that involve polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification are of great interest due to their high sensitivity and specificity. Herein, we developed a syringe-based one-step DNA extraction device that streamlines the extraction of genomic DNA (gDNA) from bacteria within 2 min, enabling versatile application of nucleic acid-based testing in the field. Notably, the bolt-nut structured case coupled with the syringe enables control of the volume of solution dispensed for enabling DNA extraction without the need for bulky centrifuge equipment. Using the proposed system, the gDNA of a model bacterium, Escherichia coli, was extracted at a good quantity and quality and amplified via PCR. The DNA extracted was comparable to that extracted via a centrifugation-based procedure. In addition, bacteria that were artificially spiked in common samples, including a work cloth, a work bench, and meat, were successfully detected with high accuracy.
INTEGRATED REPORTING AND PERFORMANCE. A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

This paper consists of an analysis of scientific works with respect to the subject of integrated reporting and its connection with the performance topic. Integrated reporting, implemented by the International Integrated Reporting Council, represents a strategic communication regarding various resources of the organizations, their relationship with all stakeholders and their capitals (financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural capital) created over time. This new form of reporting is adopted by different organizations in many countries nowadays, yet there are some inconsistencies, especially in terms of insufficient clarification of the concept, both conceptually and procedurally (regarding the adoption of the International Framework), as well as the opportunities and real benefits of its implementation. As the number of studies on integrated reporting in the last decade also substantially increased, while many evidences find themselves in conflict, it raises the need to highlight the main common subjects related to this theme. Thus, by means of bibliometric analysis, this study qualitatively analyses 262 references from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection Database, while addressing the research tools provided by the VOSviewer similarities visualization program and screening the existing specialty literature. The focus of the study is on co-occurrence of keywords, co-authorship and co-citation in the research field of integrated reporting and its performance and it reflects the most common concepts associated with these terms and the authors, organizations and countries that researched these themes. The results of the study revealed the large areas in which integrated reporting exerts its influence and the implications in both the social and the economic sphere, while highlighting the need of a long term organizational change with this respect.
A deep web data extraction model for web mining: a review

The World Wide Web has become a large pool of information. Extracting structured data from a published web pages has drawn attention in the last decade. The process of web data extraction (WDE) has many challenges, dueto variety of web data and the unstructured data from hypertext mark up language (HTML) files. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of current web data extraction techniques, in termsof extracted quality data. This paper focuses on study for data extraction using wrapper approaches and compares each other to identify the best approach to extract data from online sites. To observe the efficiency of the proposed model, we compare the performance of data extraction by single web page extraction with different models such as document object model (DOM), wrapper using hybrid dom and json (WHDJ), wrapper extraction of image using DOM and JSON (WEIDJ) and WEIDJ (no-rules). Finally, the experimentations proved that WEIDJ can extract data fastest and low time consuming compared to other proposed method.
Knockout of PKC θ gene attenuates oleic acid-induced acute lung injury via reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress

Objective(s): Acute respiratory distress syndrome resulting from acute lung injury has become a momentous clinical concern because of high morbidity and mortality in discharged patients with pulmonary and nonpulmonary diseases. This study aimed to explore the effect of protein kinase C (PKC) θ gene knockout on acute lung injury. Materials and Methods: Wt and PKC θ gene knockout mice were intravenously injected with oleic acid to induce acute lung injury. Pulmonary capillary permeability was assessed via measuring lung wet/dry weight ratio and level of protein in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Histological changes were used to examine acute lung injury. Malondialdehyde (MDA) level, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in serum, together with inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), were determined. Furthermore, the expressions of heme oxygenase (HO)-1, nuclear factor kappa B (NF κB), and inhibitor of NF-κB alpha (IκB α) were detected in the lungs. Results: PKC θ gene knockout decreased lung wet/dry weight ratio, reduced levels of MDA, IL-6, and TNF-α in serum together with level of protein in BALF. Furthermore, PKC θ gene knockout increased the activities of SOD. Knockout of PKC θ was also observed to increase expression of HO-1 and reduce levels of p-NF κB and p-IKB α in the lungs. Conclusion: These results suggest that PKC θ gene knockout attenuates oleic acid-induced acute lung injury via improving oxidative stress and inflammation.
Timely Loss Recognition Helps Nothing

This paper digests the relationship between the manipulation of losses and price reversals in the Chinese stock market. Timely loss recognition is involved in detecting the manipulation of losses, while price reversals are investigated by momentum profit. In addition, two-way sorting momentum portfolios are employed to connect manipulating losses with price reversals. Companies with low timely loss recognition aggressively manipulate their losses, and our results indicate that they generate much more significantly negative momentum profits. As a consequence, they cannot build up any immunity against reversal risks and encounter much higher reversal risks than other companies. Such findings still hold after the risk adjustments using asset pricing models come into play and when controlling for the calendar effect. This research indeed suggests that investors should exercise caution when dealing with companies whose financial information is too positive. Such companies may dress up their financial reports, thereby significantly increasing the risks associated with price reversals.
Swedish social workers’ experiences of technostress

ABSTRACT This article examines the factors explaining whether or not Swedish social workers experience technostress, and highlights examples of situations when social workers experience it. The article draws on a web survey (N = 523) via a quantitative analysis of responses and a qualitative analysis of answers to an open-ended question. Approximately one-third of social workers surveyed experienced technostress either often or quite often. The binary logistic regression analysis shows that technostress is mostly a question of social workers already exposed to high workloads and high levels of general job stress. Also, the feeling of not being able to leave the job at the end of the day correlates positively with technostress. Malfunctioning technology, duplication of work, email ‘bombs’, information overload, and the fact that technology tends to set the terms of the social work, instead of the opposite, were some of the examples of situations where Swedish social workers experienced technostress. These results suggest that technology risks add new ‘invisible’ work tasks that are time-consuming. One possible explanation why so many social workers experienced technostress is that the technology that has been implemented has increased the workload instead of decreasing it and that there is a lack of procedures, strategies, and sometimes even skills to manage the technology. The results provide useful insights for social work practice concerning how social workers experience technostress. Going forward, technostress as a working environment problem should be included in systematic management of the work environment.
Sexual size dimorphism and male reproductive traits vary across populations of a tropical rainforest dung beetle species (Onthophagus babirussa)

Abstract Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) arises when natural selection and sexual selection act differently on males and females. Male‐biased SSD is rarer in insects and usually indicates strong sexual selection pressure on male body size in a species. Patterns of SSD can also vary between populations of species that are exposed to different environmental conditions, such as differing resource availability and diversity. Here, we investigate intraspecific variation in SSD as well as relative investment in precopulatory (horn length) and postcopulatory traits (sperm length and testes weight) in a tropical rainforest dung beetle Onthophagus babirussa across Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia. Overall, three out of four populations displayed significant male‐biased SSD, and SSD was greater in populations with smaller overall body size. Average male body size was similar across all populations while female body size was significantly smaller in Singapore, suggesting that the pronounced SSD may also be due to stronger sexual selection on male body size in Singapore populations. All populations showed significant investment in horns as a weapon likely used in male‐male competition, while postcopulatory traits showed no clear scaling relationship with body size, suggesting a higher priority on precopulatory sexual traits in the mating system of this species.
Measures Ensuring Security of Participants of Criminal Proceedings: International Legal Aspect

The article describes international legal positions ensuring the safety of participants in criminal proceedings. The international community has developed documents that provide states with unified and universally accepted legal provisions to regulate the statutory position of a participant in criminal proceedings. The national legislation should be brought in line with the global requirements. Generalizing the existing international legal instruments, the authors identify universal safety measures protecting participants in criminal proceedings. The protection of witnesses and victims is a guarantee of establishing the defendant’s guilt. Assistance in criminal proceedings facilitates the effective and timely collection of evidence.
Red blood cells under flow: blood rheology and effect of vascular endothelial cells on haemodynamics in vitro

Understanding rheological properties and flow behavior of human blood is the object of a large body of literature related to both biomedical and clinical field of cardiovascular disorders as well as to the development of microfluidic platforms for blood testing. Although hemorheology and haemodynamics would seem to have the potential to describe complex physiological phenomena, there is still uncertainty regarding the exact applicability to specific issues. Here, an extensive rheological characterization under both continuous and oscillatory conditions is presented, demonstrating that human blood shows a peculiar viscoelastic behavior. In particular, the viscous character prevails over the elastic one even if the latter gives a significant contribution to the mechanical spectra. In addition, the effects of increasing red blood cells (RBC) volume fraction and of the addition of dextran, an aggregating agent, has been studied, showing a gel-like response. Regarding haemodynamics, blood flow in human body shows uncommon phenomena compared to other fluids. In vitro models that mimic human vasculature and the study of the interaction between endothelial cells and RBC are the main topics which have not been deeper investigated. Moreover, the properties and the role of endothelial glycocalyx (GCX), a negatively charged hairy layer of proteoglycans and glycoproteins located on the inner surface of the vascular endothelium, is far from being fully elucidated. In this work, the study of blood flow in microchannels lined with endothelial cells, including the GCX, has been proposed. Microchannels dimensions and flow conditions have been chosen to mimic big arterioles and venules regions. Velocity profiles of RBC in endothelialized microchannel have been compared with bare ones, suggesting a marginal role of the endothelial layer. Moreover, the electronegativity of endothelial GCX seems not to influence RBC flow. A case study that uses the mentioned approach is addressed to the analysis of malaria infected RBC by Plasmodium falciparum parasite. Indeed, the pathogenicity of Plasmodium parasite results from its ability to adhere to endothelium during its life cycle, preventing removal by the spleen. Preliminary results regarding dynamics of a single RBC are in good agreement with previous numerical simulation works, while the cytoadhesion has shown that both healthy and infected RBC adhere on endothelial cells. These findings could be useful for a deep understanding of the human blood flow behavior. In particular, viscoelastic characterization could help in elucidating the role of hemorheological alteration in pathologies such as myocardial infarction, hypertension, and diabetes. On the other hand, RBC-endothelial cell flow assay can serve as starting point to design blood-on-chip platforms aimed to study drug transport in blood stream.
Online Learning Communities in Teachers’ Professional Development: A Systematic Review

OECD’nin yaptigi bir arastirma, OECD ulkelerindeki ogretmenlerin %55'inin mesleki gelisim programlarina ihtiyac duydugunu gostermektedir. Ayrica, Turkiye'de yapilan bir baska calismada, ogretmenlerin % 78'inin mesleki gelisime ihtiyac duyduklari bulunmustur. Ancak, ogretmenler mesleki gelisime ihtiyac duyduklarini belirtseler bile, bu programlara farkli nedenlerle katilamamislardir. Ogretmenler mesleki gelisim programlarina katilmalarini engelleyen faktorleri %76,3 ile finansal, %55,9 ile ders yuku ve %42,8 ile siyasi baski olarak listelemislerdir. Bu calisma da esnek bir ortam saglayan cevrimici ogrenme topluluklari bu soruna bir cozum olabilir mi sorusundan ortaya cikmistir. Bu calisma, ogretmenlerin mesleki gelisiminde cevrimici ogrenme topluluklarinin kullanilmasina yonelik literature katkida bulunmayi amaclamaktadir. Bunu nedenle bu calisma sistematik bir literatur taramasi olarak tasarlanmistir. Calismanin arastirma sorulari, cevrimici bir ogrenme toplulugu olusturmak icin kullanilan platformlarin neler oldugunu ve topluluklardaki etkilesimlerin neler oldugunu ortaya koymaya yoneliktir olusturulmustur. Ayrica, ogretmenlerin mesleki gelisimi icin olusturulan cevrimici ogrenme topluluklarindaki egilimler ve karsilasilan zorluklar da incelenmistir. Calisma, bu alanda calisan arastirmacilara ogretmenlerin mesleki gelisimlerinde cevrimici ogrenme topluluklari kullanimi hakkindaki yayinlanmis calismalari sunmayi amaclamistir. Ayrica, calisma, bu cevrimici topluluklari ogretmenlerin mesleki gelisim programlarina basariyla entegre etmek isteyenler icin bir kilavuz saglayacaktir.
Varied presentations of a mineralized styloid process in oral submucous fibrosis patients visualized on digital panoramic radiographs

Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF) is a widely prevalent, premalignant condition which adversely affects the quality of life of an individual and can warrant stringent surgical regimen for its treatment. An Elongated Styloid Process (ESP), if coexisting, can invariably impair the post-surgical mandatory physiotherapy necessary to maintain the mouth-opening achieved intraoperatively. To evaluate digital Orthopantomograms (OPGs) of patients having OSMF and to observe presentations of various combinations of calcification types and patterns of ESP in them. Patients with clinically diagnosed OSMF (Grade III and IV according to Khanna and Andrade 1995) were advised a digital OPG to measure and observe the ESP using the C.S. Imaging Software 7.0. 3.The digitized OPGs were converted into KODAK large format prints and then ESP was measured starting from the point where it is visualized to leave the tympanic plate extending upto its tip and its myriad of combinations of calcification patterns were recorded by a single observer.The presence of unilateral and bilateral elongation along with the type and pattern of calcification was effectively noted using the C.S. Imaging Software 7.0. 3. Visualization of various unique, varying patterns of ESP was noted. Sixteen such different radiological presentations were shown, captured through digital OPGs. An undetected ESP can prove to be detrimental for a patient who is recently treated for OSMF as it hinders efficient postoperative mouth opening exercises. This can easily be prevented by a simple maneuver of identifying the ESP on a digital OPG using computer aided software. The presence of assorted radiographic patterns in patients having OSMF indicate that extensive research should be directed to identify and categorize such patterns which do not conform to the past methods of classification. This study hints towards the existence of a scope to study the factors responsible for the occurrence of the varied combinations of calcification and thickness of the ESP and their clinical relevance.
Multimodal treatment strategies in Huntington’s disease

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that causes involuntary movements, emotional lability, and cognitive dysfunction. HD symptoms usually develop between ages 30 and 50, but can appear as early as 2 or as late as 80 years. Currently no neuroprotective and neurorestorative interventions are available. Early multimodal intervention in HD is only possible if the genetic diagnosis is made early. Early intervention in HD is only possible if genetic diagnosis is made at the disease onset or when mild symptoms manifest. Growing evidence and understanding of HD pathomechanism has led researchers to new therapeutic targets. Here, in this article we will talk about the multimodal treatment strategies and recent advances made in this field which can be used to target the HD pathogenesis at its most proximal level.
Combining Cluster-Based Profiling Based on Social Media Features and Association Rule Mining for Personalised Recommendations of Touristic Activities

Tourists who visit a city for the first time may find it difficult to decide on places to visit, as the amount of information in the Web about cultural and leisure activities may be large. Recommender systems address this problem by suggesting the points of interest that fit better with the user’s preferences. This paper presents a novel recommender system that leverages tweets to build user profiles, taking into account not only their personal preferences but also their travel habits. Association rules, which are mined from the previous visits of users documented on Twitter, are used to make the final recommendations of places to visit. The system has been applied to data of the city of Barcelona, and the results show that the use of the social media-based clustering procedure increases its performance according to several relevant metrics.