Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Productive and immunological responses of broiler chicks to supplementation of different copper forms.

Two hundred and ten unsexed broiler chicks (Arbor Acres) at 7 day of age were used to study the effect of dietary supplementation of different Copper (Cu) forms i.e. inorganic (copper sulfate, CuSO4), organic (copper methionine Cu2-Met) or nano inorganic copper particles (Cu-NP) on the productive performance, hematological and biochemical constituents of blood and immune response of broiler chicks. They were randomly divided into seven dietary treatments with five replicate cages per treatment, six chicks for each. The first group was fed the basal diet without any supplementation (control); while the 2 and 3 groups were fed the same diet supplemented with 50 and 100 ppm of inorganic Cu (copper sulfate, CuSO4), respectively. The 4 and 5 groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 50 and 100 ppm of organic Cu (copper methionine Cu2-Met), respectively. The 6 and 7 groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 50 and 100 ppb of nano inorganic copper (Cu-NP), respectively. Results showed that chicks fed the basal diet supplemented with different forms of Cu had significantly better LBW, BWG, FCR, economic efficiency and production index. Both organic and nano Cu-fed groups showed significantly better productive performance traits compared with the inorganic Cu – fed groups. Supplementation of different Cu forms decreased serum levels of total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), whereas RBCs count, hemoglobin, PCV, glucose, globulin, thyroid hormones (T3-T4), immunoglobulin (IgM, IgG), and antioxidant enzymes activity (TAC– GPXGSH-SOD) were significantly increased compared with the control treatment. Additionally, Cu supplementation increased lactobacillus sp. while decreased total bacterial count (Salmonella, E. coli and Proteus) compared with the control group. In conclusion, Cu supplementation improved the growth performance, immune response and physiological status of broiler chickens. Broilers fed organic and nano Cu-supplemented diets had better growth performance and immune response than those fed inorganic copper.
Genetic variation in the IFITM locus and its phenotypic consequences

In the past few years, interferon-induced transmembrane (IFITM) proteins have been identified as important antiviral factors. The current understanding of IFITMs suggests that they localise within distinct cellular compartments from where they exert their broad antiviral role. For example, IFITM1 localises to the plasma membrane and restricts viruses that do not require endocytosis to infect host cells. In contrast, IFITM2 and IFITM3 are found in the early and late endosomes, respectively, and are potent inhibitors of viruses that depend on endosomal pathways for infection. I begin this dissertation by providing some background on the biology and function of IFITM proteins, including details of in vitro assays that have helped elucidate IFITMs role as antiviral factors. I also describe some early candidate-gene association studies that have attempted to correlate genetic variation within these genes with variation in viral restriction. I also describe how genetic association studies have been used more broadly to understand the biology underlying both infectious and non-communicable diseases. Evidence from in vitro, and in vivo work has demonstrated the IFITMs role as potent antiviral factors, however, no genome-wide association study has reported any significant associations to genetic variant in or around these genes. In Chapter 2, I explore reasons why this may be the case and calculate the coverage of IFITM genes by commercially available genotyping arrays. I show that IFITM2 and IFITM3 are amongst the 7% of all protein coding genes with less than 25% common variant (minor allele frequency > 5%) coverage across all arrays. Poor coverage of genetic variation is therefore one explanation for the lack of IFITM associations in GWAS. The lack of coverage in the genotyping arrays led me to explore other tools to capture variation in the IFITM region. I employ a targeted sequencing method using two different sequencing technologies: short-read sequencing (Illumina MiSeq)
Characterization and functional analysis of the serpin-10 gene from oak silkworm, Antheraea pernyi (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

Serpin is a broadly distributed superfamily of proteins that have a crucial role in regulating various immune reactions. Herein we identified a serpin-10 gene from Antheraea pernyi that encodes a 1557 amino acid residue protein with a predicted molecular weight of 58.76 kDa. Recombinant Apserpin-10 protein was expressed in a prokaryotic expression system (Escherichia coli) and the purified protein was used to prepare rabbit anti-Apserpin-10 polyclonal antibodies. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis indicate that Apserpin-10 was transcribed in all the tissues examined, including haemolymph, malpighian tubules, fat body, silk gland, integument and mid gut; the greatest expression level of Apserpin-10 was recorded in the fat body and haemocytes. The comparison of different developmental stages showed that Apserpin-10 transcript level was highest in 5th instar larvae, while the lowest expression was recorded at the egg stage. We also investigated the expression patterns of Apserpin-10 in fat body and haemocyte samples, following administration of heat-inactivated gram-positive bacteria (Micrococcus luteus), gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli), a fungus (Beauveria bassiana) and virus (nuclear polyhedrosis virus, NPV). A substantial up-regulation of Apserpin-10 expression was recorded following pathogen challenge in both the tissues tested. Further the knock down of Apserpin-10 led to down regulation of antimicrobial peptide genes. Altogether, our results indicate that Apserpin-10 is involved in the innate immunity of A. pernyi.
High Purge Volume Sampling—A New Paradigm for Subslab Soil Gas Monitoring

Subslab soil gas sampling and analysis is a common line of evidence for assessing human health risks associated with subsurface vapor intrusion to indoor air for volatile organic compounds; however, conventional subslab sampling methods have generated data that show substantial spatial and temporal variability, which often makes the interpretation difficult. A new method of monitoring has been developed and tested that is based on a concept of integrating samples over a large volume of soil gas extracted from beneath the floor slab of a building to provide a spatially averaged subslab concentration. Regular field screening is also conducted to assess the trend of concentration as a function of the volume removed to provide insight into the spatial distribution of vapors at progressive distances away from the point of extraction. This approach minimizes the risk of failing to identify the areas of elevated soil vapor concentrations that may exist between discrete sample locations, and can provide information covering large buildings with fewer holes drilled through the floor. The new method also involves monitoring the extraction flow rate and transient vacuum response for mathematical analysis to help interpret the vapor concentration data and to support an optimal design for any subslab venting system that may be needed.
Use of microsatellite markers to assess the competitive ability of nontoxigenic Aspergillus flavus strains in studies on biocontrol of aflatoxins in maize in Thailand

ABSTRACT Many nontoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus have been used in studies on biocontrol by competitive exclusion, but assessing their competitive ability is difficult. This paper reports on the use of a microsatellite marker technique for assessing competitiveness. The chosen microsatellite markers were able to differentiate, at an individual level, between the four biocontrol strains used in a study on the biocontrol of aflatoxins in maize in Thailand. The microsatellite markers were then used to determine which of the four biocontrol strains used were identical with 86 nontoxigenic strains of A. flavus taken from dried maize samples produced in that study. Fifty-one of the 86 strains (59%) were identified as one of the four biocontrol strains, with another four likely to be so. Analysis of microsatellites in A. flavus strains taken from dried samples at the conclusion of a field trial was shown to be of value in understanding the competitive ability of the specific strains used for biocontrol. This method provides an objective assessment of the competitiveness of biocontrol strains.
Improving germination conditions of somatic embryos derived from radicle explants of Moroccan olive cultivar Dahbia

Somatic embryogenesis of Dahbia cultivar, a Moroccan olive tree, was induced on zygotic radicles explants according to a pre-established protocol for this olive cultivar. In fact, 19.6 % of explants turned into embryogenic callus which developed globular somatic embryos. These were then cultured under some conditions to induce their “germination”. The best response was occurred when globular somatic embryos were cultured on Olive Cyclic Embryogenesis free-hormone medium supplemented with sucrose (20g/L) and Activated Charcoal (1g/L) for three months under light (16h photoperiod). However, the conversion into plantlets remains hard to obtain; the best conversion percentage was 25%.
Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Perceptual Biases Regarding Sustainable Food Consumption: Negative Footprint Illusion

Global warming presents a threat for human and nature systems. For a few decades, sustainable food consumption behaviors have been considered remarkable to protect environmental sources. Changes in food consumption behaviors can benefit in improving environmental quality. While consumers are trying to reduce their environmental impact, it is needed to study what consumers think about the environmental impact of their consumption preferences. Earlier studies reported that sustainable conditions can bias judgments, since when an unsustainable plus a sustainable condition is thought as less environmentally impactful than the sustainable condition alone called “negative footprint illusion”. In line with this, the current study aimed to examine negative footprint perceptual biases regarding sustainable food consumption. A within-subjects design was used with a total of 165 pre-service teachers studying at the department of science education in a mid-sized university in Turkey. Data were collected through a series of scales developed by Gorissen and Weijters (2016). The scales include three-meal menu food types including ‘standard menu condition’, ‘sustainable-addition condition’, and ‘unsustainable-addition condition’. Participants were asked to evaluate the environmental impact of these menu conditions independently. The results of the study indicated that the participants believed that ‘sustainable-addition condition’ has a lower environmental impact than ‘standard menu condition’, even though ‘sustainable-addition condition’ indicates higher environmental impact- indicating a negative footprint illusion. It can be concluded that pre-service science teachers have perceptual biases related to sustainable food consumption even when they have enough knowledge related to environmental issues.
Biogeochemistry of Household Dust Samples Collected from Private Homes of a Portuguese Industrial City

The main objectives of the present study were to (i) investigate the effects of mineralogy and solid-phase distribution on element bioaccessibility and (ii) perform a risk assessment to calculate the risks to human health via the ingestion pathway. Multiple discriminant analysis showed that the dust chemistry discriminates between indoor and outdoor samples. The solid-phase distribution of the elements in indoor dust indicated that a large proportion of zinc, nickel, lead, copper, and cobalt is associated with an aluminum oxy-hydroxides component, formed by the weathering of aluminum silicates. This component, which seems to influence the mobility of many trace elements, was identified for a group of indoor dust samples that probably had a considerable contribution from outdoor dust. An iron oxide component consisted of the highest percentage of chromium, arsenic, antimony, and tin, indicating low mobility for these elements. The bioaccessible fraction in the stomach phase from the unified BARGE method was generally high in zinc, cadmium, and lead and low in nickel, cobalt, copper, chromium, and antimony. Unlike other potentially toxic elements, copper and nickel associated with aluminum oxy-hydroxides and calcium carbonates were not extracted by the stomach solutions. These trace elements possibly form stable complexes with gastric fluid constituents such as pepsin and amino acid. Lead had a hazard quotient >1, which indicates the risk of non-carcinogenic health effects, especially for children.
Damage Identification Analyses of a Historic Masonry Structure in T-F Domain

Fatih mosque, a landmark structure in Istanbul, has suffered structural damage during 1999 Kocaeli earthquake. Using spectral, time-domain (OKID/ERA for SISO and MIMO models) and T-F domain ( WT, HHT ) techniques on ambient vibrations, damage identification has been performed. Results of parametric and spectral analyses indicate close global peaks. Northwest arch ( O 3 ) that was expected to move in harmony with other arches cannot display such a consistent behavior and produces additional local frequency at 24Hz due to disintegrated stones around the crown. Southeast arch ( O 1 ) also has comparable damage producing another locality at 38Hz. Extending linear approaches into nonl inear-nonstationary methods, WT and HHT improved the results in the temporal-frequency energy distribution. Estimated individual and global structural behavior are consistent with visually inspected damage states for O 3 and O 1 . On a global scale, damage additionally generates significant nonstationarity. D ecompositions in WT and HHT show the capability of identifying nonlinear-nonstationary process hidden in the data. T-F analysis detects and localizes any anomalous system behavior and can adequately capture the dynamical behavior of damage in any instrumented part of the structure at any particular time epoch. For historical masonry structures with vulnerable components like large central dome and arches that have low redundancy, there is a need to develop automatic signal/image processing through image processing, machine vision, and pattern recognition for early diagnosis and prognosis for warning of gradually emerging structural degradations.
Water availability drives gradients of tree diversity, structure and functional traits in the Atlantic–Cerrado–Caatinga transition, Brazil

Aims Climate and soil are among the most important factors determining variation in tree communities, but their effects have not been thoroughly elucidated to date for many vegetation features. In this study, we evaluate how climate and soil gradients affect gradients of vegetation composition, species diversity and dominance, structure and functional traits (seed mass and wood density) using over 327 000 trees in 158 sites distributed along environmental gradients in the transitions among the Atlantic forest, Cerrado and Caatinga in Minas Gerais State (MG), Brazil (nearly 600 000 km 2). Methods Gradients in species, genus and family abundance in addition to basal area, stem density, species diversity (Fisher's alpha), dominance percentage, seed mass and wood density were correlated using multiple regressions with environmental variables, as summarized in four principal component analysis axes (two climatic - precipitation seasonality and temperature range - and two edaphic - soil fertility and soil moisture). Additionally, ordinary kriging maps were used to better illustrate the gradients. Important Findings Multiple regression models indicate that all variables but dominance percentage were affected by one or more of the environmental gradients, but the average R 2 was low (26.25%). Kriging maps reinforced the patterns observed in the regression models. Precipitation seasonality and soil moisture gradients were the most important gradients affecting vegetation features. This finding suggests that water availability is an important determinant of vegetation features in these vegetation transitions.
Shell dimension-weight relationships in the blood cockle Larkinia grandis (Bivalvia: Arcidae) on the southeastern coast of the Gulf of California

espanolEl berberecho "Larkinia grandis" es un recurso comercialmente importante en el golfo de California, pero hay poca informacion disponible acerca de esta especie. En este estudio, se evaluaron las interacciones entre el peso corporal (BW) y la longitud (SL), la altura (SH) y el ancho (SW) de la concha en una poblacion de L. grandis en el golfo de California, Mexico. Se recolectaron a mano 80 berberechos mensualmente, desde agosto de 2017 hasta julio de 2018, de cerca y/o debajo de los arboles de mangle, en la costa sureste del golfo de California. El intervalo de medidas de las conchas (SL = 142.00–44.57 mm, SH = 85.50–31.15 mm, SW = 76.56–32.03 mm) indica que la poblacion muestreada estaba dominada por especimenes adultos. Solo el coeficiente de variacion para BW exhibio alta dispersion (23%–45%). Las relaciones potenciales de BW con SL, SH y SW no fueron lineales. La interaccion mas fuerte se encontro entre BW y SW (R² = 0.934); la relacion BW–SW describio mejor el crecimiento de este arcido. Todas las relaciones entre la dimension y el peso de la concha fueron significativas (P ≤ 0.05), lo cual indica tanto crecimiento alometrico negativo (SL–SW y SH–SW) como positivo (SL–SH, BW–SL, BW–SH y BW–SW). Los valores de b oscilaron entre 0.8950, para la relacion LogSH–LogSW, y 2.6240, para la interaccion LogBW–LogSH. Esta informacion preliminar es util para desarrollar estrategias de conservacion y explotacion sostenible para esta especie de importancia economica en la region estudiada. EnglishThe blood cockle "Larkinia grandis" is a commercially important resource in the Gulf of California, but little information is available on this species. In this study, the interactions between body weight (BW) and shell length (SL), height (SH), and width ( SW) were evaluated in a L. grandis population in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Eighty cockles were hand-picked monthly from August 2017 to July 2018 near and/or under mangrove trees on the southeastern coast of the Gulf of California. The range of shell measurements (SL = 14 2.00–44.57 mm, SH = 85.50–31.15 mm, SW = 76.56–32.03 mm) indicates that the sampled population was dominated by adult specimens. Only the coefficient of variation for BW exhibited high dispersion (23%–45%). The potential relationships between BW and SL, SH, and SW were non-linear. The strongest interaction was found between BW and SW (R² = 0.934), with the BW–SW relationship best describing the growth of this ark clam. All shell dimension–weight relationships were significant (P ≤ 0.05), indicating both negative (SL–SW and SH–SW) and positive (SL–SH, BW–SL, BW–SH, and BW–SW) allometric growth. The b values ranged from 0.8950, for the LogSH–LogSW relationship, to 2.6240, for the LogBW–LogSH interaction. This preliminary information is useful for developing conservation and sustainable exploitation strategies for this species, which is of economic importance to this region.
Factors predisposing Corymbia calophylla trees to canker disease caused by Quambalaria coyrecup

A canker disease caused by the fungus Quambalaria coyrecup is devastating Corymbia calophylla trees throughout much of its native range in the southwest of Western Australia. Disease incidence is higher in remnant stands bordering cleared land such as road edges where there is greater anthropogenic disturbance. It is likely that a combination of factors is predisposing C. calophylla to canker disease: climate change, fragmentation, introduction of pathogens, leaching of fertilizers from agricultural land and changes in microclimate as a result of disturbance. These factors can have detrimental effects on concentrations of nutrients in the soil, soil composition, and communities of mycorrhizal fungi. This project examined these potential predisposing factors and how they may interact with C. calophylla along a disturbance gradient. Seventeen sites were selected. Each site consisted of a disturbance gradient of three transects: remnant stand bordering cleared land and a road, a forest edge, and the middle of intact forest. Soil was collected from ten trees along each transect and the nutrient composition was tested. This soil was used in a glasshouse experiment from which roots were harvested to test mycorrhizal composition. Results demonstrated differences in soil nutrition between the disturbed and intact forest transects. The mycorrhizal communities differed significantly among the three transects with the community along the disturbed edge having a unique community assemblage. Concentrations of soil macro- and micro-nutrients were correlated with changes in mycorrhizal communities and canker incidence along disturbed edges, as were C. calophylla stem basal area and overstory tree diversity. Soil moisture, pH and mycorrhizal species richness were also correlated with canker incidence. It is possible that the microclimate along disturbed edges is disrupting communities of mycorrhizal fungi which is altering nutrient acquisition by the trees. The combination of decreased mycorrhizal fungal richness and changes in microclimate along disturbed edges could be responsible for predisposing C. calophylla to canker disease.
Implementasi Linux Ubuntu Server 18.04 Sebagai Server Sistem Informasi Akademik Pada Sekolah Tinggi Manajemen Informatika Dan Komputer Samarinda

Implementasi Linux Ubuntu Server 18.04 Sebagai Server Sistem Informasi Akademik Pada Sekolah Tinggi Manajemen Informatika dan Komputer Samarinda. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk membangun sebuah server yang berfungsi untuk mewadahi dan menangani lalu-lintas sistem akademik dalam sebuah sistem jaringan komputer yang diimplementasikan pada platform Linux yang terkenal free , handal dan stabil. Dalam prosesnya, pembangunan dan konfigurasi server ini dilakukan dengan berdasarkan pengkajian dan penelitian menggunakan metode studi literatur pada berbagai sumber baik melalui buku maupun browsing di internet. Selain itu juga digunakan metode wawancara serta metode studi pustaka dengan Operasi Sistem Linux Ubuntu dan software Apache, MySQL, phpMyAdmin, BIND, dan DHCP Server. Dari hasil Tugas Akhir dapat disimpulkan bahwa dengan dibangunnya server berbasis Linux Ubuntu Server 18.04 ini, cukup handal untuk menjadi server sistem akademik yang ada di STMIK Samarinda
Tools and Technologies for Blind and Visually Impaired Navigation Support: A Review

The development of navigation tools for people who are visually impaired had become an important concern in the research area of assistive technologies. This paper gives a comprehensive review of different articles published in the area of navigation solutions for people who are visually impaired. Unlike other review papers, this review considers major solutions that work in both the indoor or/and outdoor environments which are based on different technology. From the review, it became clear that the navigation systems proposed for the target users lack some core features that are quite important for independent navigation. Also, there can be instances in which humanitarian conditions also have to be considered in the navigation system design. Based on these findings, a set of recommendations are also given which can be considered in the future design of navigation systems for blind and visually impaired people.