Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of in situ techniques to determine indigestible components in the feed and feces of cattle receiving supplemental condensed tannins.

Reliable assessments of indigestible dietary components are required when using internal markers to estimate diet digestibility and determine the potentially digestible portion of the fiber. The lack of a standardized methodology and understanding of how antinutritional factors influence indigestible residues can result in erroneous estimates with inconsistent variation across trials and among studies. Previous studies have detailed suitable bag porosity and sample size (SS) with incubation length (IL) varying from 96 to 504 h, with many assuming that 288-h IL yields truly indigestible components. Recent studies have primarily investigated the variation that exists among feedstuffs, but most have failed to account for possible effects of secondary compounds. Using two similar concentrate diets, one of which contained supplemental condensed tannins (CT), we investigated the effect of bag type (BT; 10 and 25 μm), SS (20 and 40 mg/cm2), and IL (288 and 576 h) on in situ indigestible dry matter (iDM) and neutral detergent fiber (iNDF) residues of feed and feces, and resultant DM and NDF digestibilities. There were no three-way interactions (P > 0.05), but two-way interactions were present for iDM and iNDF residues with BT × SS influencing the control (no CT) ration (P < 0.01), SS × IL impacting feed containing CT (P < 0.01), and BT × IL affecting both feedstuffs (P ≤ 0.01). For the control diet, only BT × SS affected DM and NDF digestibilities. Whereas, the CT diet did not demonstrate any significant interactions for digestibilities. Values of iDM were largely influenced by contamination that varied greatly based on intrinsic factors associated with the bag and incubation duration. The presence of CT influenced iDM and iNDF to varying degrees due to possible trapping of CT-substrate complexes. For the control diet, the use of 25-μm bags resulted in lower fecal recoveries relative to the 10-μm (P < 0.01). However, there appears to be a dynamic relationship among BT, SS, and IL within respective diets and sample types that can impact indigestible components and resultant digestibility estimates. Based upon simulations from these data, the sample size required to attain 90% power when utilizing two incubation animals exceeds the triplicate and quadruplicate replications commonly utilized. Further emphasizing the necessity for a more complete understanding of incubation dynamics in order to design biologically and statistically valid investigations.
Patient and scanner-specific variable acquisition times for whole-body PET/CT imaging

Image quality in positron emission tomography (PET) is limited by the number of detected photons. Heavier patients present higher photon attenuation levels, thus increasing image noise. In this work, we propose a new method that uses the combined patient attenuation/system matrix together with a tracer uptake prediction model to optimize scan times for different bed positions in whole body scans. Our main goal is to achieve consistent noise levels across patients and anatomical regions. We propose to optimize scan times for individual bed positions, for patients of any size, based on the scanner sensitivity and patient-specific attenuation. Variable scan times for every bed position were determined by combining the system matrix, derived from the computed tomography (CT) and the scanner-specific geometric sensitivity profiles, and estimations of the global tracer uptake for each patient. The method was validated with anthropomorphic phantoms and whole-body patient 18F-FDG PET/CT scans, where variable and fixed times were compared. Phantom experiments showed that the proposed method was successful in keeping noise level constant for different attenuation setups. In real patients, image noise variability was reduced to less than one-half compared with conventional fixed-time scans at the expense of a four-fold increase in scan times between the biggest and smallest patients. Our method can homogenize image quality not only across patients of different sizes but also across different bed positions of the same patient.
Gastro-esophageal reflux after laparoscopic gastrostomy placement in children.

OBJECTIVES Gastrostomy placement is frequently performed in pediatric patients who require long-term enteral tube feeding. Evidence on the influence of gastrostomy placement on gastro-oesophageal reflux disease has been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of gastrostomy on gastro-oesophageal reflux. METHODS A prospective, longitudinal cohort study was performed including 50 patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrostomy between May 2012 and April 2014. Before and 3 months after surgery 24-hour multichannel intraluminal impedance pH monitoring was performed and caregivers filled out reflux symptom questionnaires. RESULTS Gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms were present in a comparable number of patients before (44%) and after gastrostomy placement (40%; P = 0.73). Twenty-five of the patients (50%) underwent both the preoperative and postoperative tests and were included in impedance-pH analysis. Acid exposure time (percentage of time with pH below 4) did not change significantly after gastrostomy placement: from 6.2% (3.0-18.1) to 6.1% (2.6-14.9). The number of reflux episodes did not significantly change, for either liquid [mean difference 4.3 (-4.5 to 13.2)] or mixed liquid-gas reflux [mean difference 2.0 (-9.3 to 13.3)]. Before gastrostomy placement, 18 out of 25 patients had pathological reflux (72%) on pH-impedance measurement. In 4 patients, pathological reflux dissolved, whereas 4 patients newly developed pathological reflux. A low preoperative weight-for-height percentile was associated with increased acid exposure after gastrostomy placement. CONCLUSIONS Overall, gastrostomy placement was not associated with an increase in acid exposure on 24-hour multichannel intraluminal impedance pH monitoring. Similarly, the prevalence of gastro-oesophageal reflux-related symptoms did not change after gastrostomy.
Soil property estimates for Tunisia derived from SOTER and WISE (SOTWIS-Tunisia, ver. 1.0)

This datasets describes a harmonized set of soil property estimates for Tunisia. It has been derived from the 1:1 million scale Soil and Terrain Database for the country (SOTER_TN, ver. 1.0) and the ISRIC-WISE soil profile database, using standardized taxonomy-based pedotransfer (taxotransfer) procedures. The land surface of Tunisia, covering some 164,150 km2, has been characterized in SOTER_TN . using 250 unique SOTER units. Each map unit consists of up to four different soil components. In so far as possible, each soil component has been characterized by a regionally representative profile, selected and classified by national soil experts (see Dijkshoorn et al. 2008). Conversely, in the absence of any measured legacy data, soil components were characterized using synthetic profiles for which only the FAO-Unesco (1988) classification is known. Soil components in SOTER_TN have been characterized using 100 profiles of which 44 are synthetic. The latter represent some 59 per cent of the territory. Comprehensive sets of measured attribute data are not available for most of the measured profiles (56) collated in SOTER_TN, as these were not considered in the source materials. Consequently, to permit modelling, gaps in the soil analytical data have been filled using consistent taxotransfer procedures. Modal soil property estimates necessary to populate the taxotransfer procedure were derived from statistical analyses of soil profiles held in the ISRIC-WISE database ― the current taxotransfer procedure only considers profiles in WISE that: (a) have FAO soil unit names identical to those mapped for Tunisia in SOTER, and (b) originate from regions having similar Koppen climate zones (n= 3566). Property estimates are presented for 18 soil variables by soil unit for fixed depth intervals of 0.2 m to 1 m depth: organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH(H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, base saturation, effective CEC, aluminium saturation, CaCO3 content, gypsum content, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity (ECe), bulk density, content of sand, silt and clay, content of coarse fragments (> 2 mm), and volumetric water content (-33 kPa to -1.5 MPa). These attributes have been identified as being useful for agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil carbon stocks and change, and studies of global environmental change. The soil property estimates can be linked to the spatial data (map), using GIS, through the unique SOTER-unit code; database applications should consider the full map unit composition and depth range. The derived data presented here may be used for exploratory assessments at national scale or broader (< 1:1 000 000). They should be seen as best estimates based on the current, still limited, selection of soil profiles in SOTER_TN and data clustering procedure ― the type of taxotransfer rules used to fill gaps in the measured data has been flagged to provide an indication of confidence in the derived data.
Knockout of P2rx7 purinergic receptor attenuates cyst growth in a rat model of ARPKD.

The severity of polycystic kidney diseases depends on the counterbalancing of genetic predisposition and environmental factors exerting permissive or protective influence on cyst development. One poorly characterized phenomenon in the cystic epithelium is abnormal purinergic signaling. Earlier experimental studies revealed high importance of the ionotropic P2X receptors (particularly, P2X7) in the pathophysiology of the cyst wall. To study mechanisms of P2X7 involvement in cyst growth and the aspects of targeting these receptors in PKD treatment we performed a CRISPR/SpCas9-mediated global knockout of the P2rx7 gene in PCK rats, a model of autosomal recessive PKD (ARPKD). A single base insertion in exon 2 of the P2rx7 gene leads to lack of P2X7 protein in the renal tissues of homozygous mutant animals that did not affect their viability or renal excretory function. However, PCK.P2rx7-/- rats demonstrated slower cyst growth (but not formation of new cysts) in comparison to heterozygous and PCK.P2rx7+/+ littermates. P2X7 receptors are known to activate pannexin-1, a plasma channel capable of releasing ATP, and we here found that pannexin-1 expression in cystic epithelium is significantly higher than in non-dilated tubules. P2X7 deficiency reduces renal pannexin-1 protein expression and daily urinary ATP excretion. Patch-clamp analysis revealed that lack of P2X7 increases ENaC activity in renal tissues and restores impaired channel activity in cysts. Interpretation of our current data in the context of earlier studies strongly suggest that P2X7 contributes to cyst growth by increasing pannexin-1-dependent pathogenic ATP release into the lumen and reduction of sodium reabsorption across the cyst walls.
Potential Association Between Perioperative Fluid Management and Occurrence of Postoperative Ileus.

BACKGROUND Postoperative ileus remains an issue after colorectal surgery delaying recovery and increasing the length of hospital stay and costs. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of perioperative fluid management on ileus occurrence after colorectal surgery within a fully implemented enhanced recovery pathway. DESIGN This was a retrospective cohort study of a prospectively maintained institutional database. SETTINGS The study was conducted at a tertiary academic facility with fully implemented standardized enhanced recovery pathway over the entire study period. PATIENTS All of the consecutive elective major colorectal resections for benign or malign indications between 2011 and 2016 were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Postoperative ileus was defined as the need for nasogastric tube reinsertion. Perioperative fluid management and surgical outcome were compared between patients presenting with ileus and those without. Potential risk factors for ileus were identified through multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS Postoperative ileus occurred in 377 (9%) of 4205 included patients at day 4 (interquartile range, 2-5 d). Intraoperatively, ileus patients received 3.2 ± 2.6 L of fluids, whereas the remaining patients received 2.5 ± 1.7 L (p < 0.001). Weight gain was 3.8 ± 7.1 kg in ileus patients versus 3.0 ± 6.6 kg (p = 0.272) in the remaining patients at postoperative day 1, 4.4 ± 6.5 kg versus 3.1 ± 7.0 kg (p = 0.028) at postoperative day 2, and 1.8 ± 6.0 kg versus 0.0 ± 6.0 kg at discharge (p = 0.002). The multivariable model including all significant (p < 0.05) demographic, fluid management-related, and surgical parameters retained postoperative day 0 fluids of >3 L (OR = 1.65 (95% CI, 1.13-2.41); p = 0.009), postoperative day 2 weight gain of >2.5 kg (OR = 1.49 (95% CI, 1.01-2.21); p = 0.048), and occurrence of postoperative complications (OR = 2.00 (95% CI, 1.39-2.90); p < 0.001) as independent risk factors for ileus. LIMITATIONS This study was limited by its retrospective design. Fluid management depends on patient-, disease-, and surgery-related factors and cannot be generalized and extrapolated. CONCLUSIONS Fluid overload and occurrence of postoperative complications were independent risk factors for postoperative ileus. This calls for action to keep perioperative fluids below suggested thresholds. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww. com/DCR/B54.
Evaluation of Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers for Early Phase Clinical Trials of Steatohepatitis in Adolescents.

OBJECTIVES Early-phase pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) clinical trials are designed with non-invasive parameters to assess potential efficacy. Increasingly, these parameters include MRI-derived proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and MR elastography (MRE)-derived shear stiffness as biomarkers of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis, respectively. Understanding fluctuations in these measures is essential for calculating trial sample sizes, interpreting results, and planning clinical drug trials in children with NAFLD. Lack of such data in children comprises a critical knowledge gap. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to assess whole-liver MRI-PDFF change in adolescents with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) over 12 weeks. METHODS Adolescents 12-19 years with biopsy-proven NASH undergoing standard-of-care treatment were enrolled. Baseline and week-12 assessments of anthropometrics, transaminases, MRI-PDFF, and MRE-stiffness were obtained. RESULTS Fifteen adolescents were included (mean age 15.7 [SD 2.9] years). Hepatic MRI-PDFF was stable over 12 weeks (mean absolute change -0.8%, p = 0.24). Correlation between baseline and week-12 values of MRI-PDFF was high (ICC = 0.97, 95% CI 0.90 - 0.99). MRE-stiffness was stable (mean percentage change 2.7%, p = 0.44); correlation between baseline and week-12 values was moderate (ICC = 0.47; 95% CI: 0, 0.79). Changes in weight, BMI, and aminotransferases were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS In adolescents with NASH, fluctuations in hepatic MRI-PDFF and MRE-stiffness over 12 weeks of standard-of-care were small. These data on the natural fluctuations in quantitative imaging biomarkers can serve as a reference for interventional trials in pediatric NASH and inform the interpretation and planning of clinical trials.
Early Maternal Sensitivity and Teacher-Student Relationship Quality Across Grade School: Enduring or Transient Associations?

Although teacher-student relationships are assumed to in part reflect early caregiving quality, their social provisions also undergo notable normative change over the course of primary school, shifting from a secure base for social exploration to an instrumental relationship centered on achieving academic goals. This report leveraged prospective, longitudinal data from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,306, 52% male, 77% White/non-Hispanic) to investigate whether the association between early caregiving and subsequent teacher-student relationship quality remains stable or diminishes in magnitude over time. Associations between early maternal sensitivity and teacher-student closeness faded from Kindergarten to Grade 6. In contrast, associations between early caregiving and teacher-student conflict endured and were partially accounted for by child externalizing problems.
IgG from atopic dermatitis patients induces non‐atopic infant thymic invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells to produce IL‐4, IL‐17, and IL‐10

Atopic dermatitis (AD) pathogenesis still needs to be elucidated, but invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell involvement was already described by several groups. Our group has demonstrated that IgG antibodies purified from AD patients can modulate cytokine production by thymic T cells. Here we aimed to investigate if IgG from AD patients can modulate infant non‐atopic thymic iNKT cells cytokine production in order to collaborate with the elucidation of AD development in infancy.
Rover Relative Localization Testing in Martian Relevant Environment

In this work we describe a relative localization algorithm developed to estimate the position and the attitude (roll, pitch and heading angle) of a rover on the surface of Mars. The algorithm is designed to operate on a ground control center and to exploit all the computational power which is not available on the on-board computer and it serves to refine the rover’s telemetry data. The input consists of a set of stereo-images captured by the rover during operations and separated by at least 1 m apart from each other; limitations in the number of downlinked images, due to the variable and reduced bandwidth, has been a driver for the design.The performances of the algorithm in term of accuracy have been tested by capturing a series of stereo-images in a representative martian environment, the ALTEC Mars Terrain Simulator, with a half-scale version of the ExoMars rover, called ExoMars Testing Rover (ExoTeR, property of ESA, European Space Agency). The ground truth was given by a motion capture system. We demonstrate the algorithm capability to estimate the rover pose even in case of significant camera shifts.
Harmonic Suppressed Wilkinson Power Divider with Filtering Characteristic for GSM Application

This paper presents a filtering Wilkinson Power Divider (WPD) with harmonic suppression. The proposed power divider composed of a coupled line, defected ground structure (DGS), and split ring resonator (SRR). Filtering characteristic of the PD is obtained by replacing the quarter wavelength of conventional WPD with coupled line along with DGS. In addition to this 3rd order harmonic is suppressed due to SRR loaded at input port. The proposed WPD provides an equal power division (-3.2±0.1dB) at the output ports with respect to 1.8GHz (GSM band) frequency. The |S11| and |S23| are found to be better than 15dB and 20dB at operating frequency.
Automatic Real-Time Mining Software Process Activities From SVN Logs Using a Naive Bayes Classifier

The abundance of event data in current software configuration management systems makes it possible to discover software process models automatically by using actual observed behavior. However, traditional process mining algorithms cannot be applied to event logs recorded in software configuration management (SCM) systems, such as SVN, because of missing activity attributes. To address this problem, a software process activity classifier is proposed to build event-activity mapping relationships from software development event streams, revealing activity attributes and associating the activity to the original SVN log. The proposed approach extracts activity from the SVN log based on semantic features and introduces a novel technique based on a naive Bayes approach to associate event activities dynamically. The approach has been applied to two real-world software development process logs, ArgoUML and jEdit, consisting of more than 80,000 events, covering development information from 1998 to 2015. With the application of our approach to such data, activities can be extracted from event logs and a classifier can be constructed for adding activity attributes to new events. The results of the classification are evaluated in terms of precision rate, recall rate, and the F-measure. Overall, two real-world software development process logs are used to validate the method, and the experimental results show that the approach can mine software process activities from SVN log events automatically and in real-time.
Physical-Layer Security and Privacy for Vehicle-to-Everything

Vehicular communications in intelligent transportation systems promise to improve traffic efficiency, road utilization, and safety. Achieving secure vehicular communications is vital for the deployment of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) applications. This article provides a comprehensive overview of physical-layer security (PLS) strategies employed for V2X. By exploiting the randomness and the physical characteristics of wireless channels, PLS offers reliable solutions against eavesdropper attacks as complementary approaches to cryptographic techniques. We give a brief introduction to the architecture and characteristics of V2X networks. Then the fundamental principles of PLS technology are proposed, followed by security threats in V2X. Additionally, we discuss some open issues and challenges for future research. Finally, we investigate a case study where different challenges and technologies coexist in one V2X scenario.
A Novel Mutating PSO Based Solution For Inverse Kinematic Analysis Of Multi Degree-Of-Freedom Robot Manipulators

A novel mutating particle swarm based optimization (MuPSO) technique for solving inverse kinematic problems of robot manipulators was proposed. The parameters of the standard PSO (SPSO) were found to produce non-converging solutions, so the parameters were modified to accommodate the complex structure of robotic inverse kinematic problems. The new parameters were also made adaptive, changing non-linearly with time. A forced mutation function was introduced capable of pushing the algorithm out of stagnation (at local optima). A mathematical model for multi degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot inverse kinematics and the proposed MuPSO was developed, the mechanism and condition for mutation were also expressly defined. The new MuPSO algorithm was found to efficiently derive solutions for complex inverse Kinematic problems and satisfactorily break out of stagnation. It was compared with a previously proposed algorithm and was found to completely dominate that solution.
A Task-Priority Coordinated Motion Planner Combined with Visual Servo for Mobile Manipulator*

Mobile manipulators are increasingly used for material handling in industrial environment. In order to improve efficiency, coordinated motion of the mobile base and manipulator is necessary. However, reasonable motion planning and accurate sensor feedback are required to get the pose of the target object and compensate positioning error of the mobile base. In this paper, we propose a task-priority coordinated motion planner combined with visual servo for mobile manipulator. The trajectory of the end effector is generated by visual servo online and treated as the basic task. Constraint task is the trajectory of the mobile base. Experiments show that both the basic task and constraint task are satisfied well in the motion planner. Compared to strategy that manipulator grasps when the base is fixed, in the proposed resolution, the manipulator can grasp target object while the base moving effectively.