Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
USE OF MOLECULAR METHODS TO DETECT SHEDDING OF MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS IN CATTLE FAECES AND MILK JOSEPH MALAKALINGA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ONE HEALTH MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF SOKOINE

Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is a chronic bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis. It affects cattle and occasionally other animals and human. Several techniques exist for detection of BTB in animals. In Tanzania, Single Intradermal Comparative Tuberculin Test (SCITT) and abattoir meat inspection are the commonly used methods for screening of BTB. This study has used molecular biology method namely; RD4 Real time PCR (RD4 Rt PCR) to detect shedding M. bovis in milk and faecal samples from cattle tested by SCITT and Bovigam test. The study has also determined the detection limit of Immunomagnetic capture (IMC) and Centrifugation methods of M. bovis cells in spiked milk. A total of 63 cattle dairy form LITA farm Morogoro were tested for BTB with SCITT and Bovigam test. Faecal and milk samples were collected and RD4 Rt PCR was used to detect M. bovis DNA. BTB prevalence detected by SCITT and Bovigam was 3.1% and 3.1% respectively and BTB prevalence detected by RD4 Rt PCR in milk and faeces was 36.1% and 9.5% respectively. The kappa value between the SCITT and Bovigam was 1 and between shedding of M. bovis in milk and faeces detected using RD4 Rt PCR was 0.07. The detection limit of IMC and centrifugation coupled with Real time PCR ranges from 100 to 1 000 M. bovis cells per 500 μl milk and 10 to 100 M. bovis cells per 500 μl milk sample. High number of cattle was detected by Real time PCR to have BTB compared to SCITT or Bovigam. The confirmation of M. bovis in milk indicates potential root of transmission of M. bovis from cow to calf also to human who consume raw milk. Moreover, confirmation of M. bovis in feces indicates possible contamination of cattle carcasses during slaughter process. The study proposes that in order to improve BTB diagnosis for controlling and management of BTB, both conventional, SCITT or Bovigam and molecular methods in feces and milk need to be deployed in parallel but considering their own merits like cost and repeat access to animals.
Road Traffic Accident Characteristics in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Over the next decade, developing countries like Bangladesh will experience an alarming increase in road accidents and this will continue to remain as a serious challenge. Developing countries are experiencing a very high growth rate of vehicles, which is doubling the vehicle fleet in some countries in even five years. The complexity of the road environment with mixed traffic is another reality of road transportation in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where road planning and designs are not appropriate for mixed traffic conditions. Of particular concern are the urban intersections where differential approach speed is a major problem. The heterogeneity of traffic exceeding the capacity, plying of modes with varying speed and maneuvering time make the road links as well as intersections of Dhaka even more complex. The objectives of the study are to determine the characteristics of the road traffic accidents of Dhaka city for the following parameters: a) Traffic accident trend b) Traffic Control Parameters c) Traffic Accident at Junctions d) Traffic Control and Road Dividers e) Traffic Accidents and Road Geometry. Traffic accident data for the period of year 2007-2011 were collected from the Police Stations of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) area. The data were compiled from the Police Reports accident by accident and analyzed using an MS Access based database and additionally an ArcGIS software for the selected variables. All the roadway sections and intersections of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) were considered in the study. A total number of two thousand seven hundred twenty (2720) accidents that were recorded by police during the period of year 2007-2011 were analyzed. The study revealed that a) number of accidents in Dhaka is reducing by more than ten (10) percent every year b) Sixty three percent (63%) of the accidents took place where there was no traffic control c) Only twenty nine percent (29%) of the accidents took place at intersection areas and T-junctions were found to be the most vulnerable junction type d) Seventy three percent (73%) accidents occurred on divided roadways or where only one-way traffic movement existed e) Ninety seven percent (97%) of the accidents occurred on straight road sections. Improvement of the traffic accident data collection system in Dhaka is necessary. Detailed study on under-reporting of traffic accident is also recommended.
Fe 0 . 2 O 3-δ perovskite-structured oxides doped with different contents of Ni

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Ba0.5Sr0. 5(Co0.8Fe0.2)1-XNiXO3-δ with X=0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 15, 20, and 25 mol% have been systematically investigated. The porosity increases from 4.0% to 17% with increasing the content of Ni doping from 0 to 25 mol%. Meanwhile, the grain size decreases from 22.5 to 5 μm. All the samples are indexed to be a single cubic phase when the Ni doping content is below 25 mol%. Otherwise, secondary phases (NiO) are found along grain boundaries and inside grains. Hardness and Young’s modulus first increase with increasing the content of Ni doping from 0 to 8 mol% and then both decrease with the further increase in the content of Ni doping. The fracture toughness increases with increasing the content of Ni doping from 0 to 20 mol%. However, it decreases with further increasing the content of Ni doping due to the increase in porosity. Unmarked Manuscript Copy Click here to view linked References
A Penta-Band Planar Inverted-F Antenna for Mobile Phone Application Using LC-Tank-Stacked Network

In this paper, a penta-band antenna design using matching network for mobile phone application is proposed. This design is composed of a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) and a LC- tank-stacked network. The LC-tank-stacked network consists of two pairs of stacked chip-LC tank, which combine in parallel with the microstrip line feeding to the antenna. The PIFA can excite dual bands, and each pair of chipLC tanks can effectively widen the lower and upper bandwidth, respectively. According to measured results, the bandwidth can cover 824-960 MHz/1710-2170 MHz band for WWAN application (VSWR = 3 : 1). The peak antenna gain is better than 0.5 dBi and 3.4 dBi for lower and upper operating band, respectively. And the measured radiation efficiency is about 40-60% and 40-70% for lower and upper operating band, respectively.
Standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids from several cereal grains and protein-rich feedstuffs in broiler chickens at the age of 30 days.

The standardized ileal amino acid (AA) digestibility (SID) of 3 cereals: wheat, barley and maize; 3 feeds with a medium protein content: faba beans, field pea and full-fat rape seeds; and 4 byproducts: solvent-extracted rapeseed meal (RSM), rapeseed expeller cake (RSC), maize distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and soyabean meal (SBM) was measured in 30-day-old broiler chickens. Digestibility values were determined with the direct method using semi-synthetic diets containing Cr2O3 as an indigestible marker. Each diet was offered ad libitum for 5 days to 4 replicate cages of 6 broilers and the ileal contents were collected by the slaughter method. A protein-free diet was fed to assess ileal endogenous AA losses (IEAA). These IEAA values were used to obtain SID coefficients for each of the tested ingredients. Considering the SID values of 14 of the most important AA, the test ingredients were ranked as follows. Within cereal grains: maize > wheat > barley. The exception was the SID of cysteine in maize which was lower compared with that in wheat. Within native seeds: faba beans = peas > rape seeds. However, the SID of methionine was greater in rape as compared with legume seeds. Within by-product feeds: SBM > RSC > RSM > DDGS. However, SID values for valine, phenylalanine and serine in DDGS were comparable to those obtained for SBM and higher than in the two rapeseed products.
Investigation of Leaching Kinetics of Smithsonite Ore

The leaching kinetics of smithsonite ore in acetic acid solutions, an environmental friend, and natural reagent was investigated. The influence of parameters such as reaction temperature, particle size, solid-liquid ratio and acid concentration was studied in order to reveal the leaching kinetics of smithsonite ore. In this study, experimental and statistical methods were carried out in order to analyze the kinetics data to investigate a kinetics model which describes the dissolution. The results indicate that the unreacted shrinking core model for fluid-solid heterogeneous reactions was favorable for the leaching process. The apparent activation energy of the leaching process was found as 74 kJ/ mol. It was determined that the leaching rate of smithsonite was controlled by the chemical reaction below.
Effect of stocking density on deviation from bilateral symmetry and slaughter weight in broilers.

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of t wo different stocking densities (11 birds / m 2 and 17 birds / m 2 ) on deviation from bilateral symmetry in broiler chickens. For this purpose, the weekly body weight, left and right shank length, shank width, wing length, face width and face length of the same birds were measured on from 7 th to 42 nd days of age. Repeated measurements analysis of variance was used to investigate the effect of stocking densities and ages (week) on relative asymmetry. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the most important morphological character influencing the deviation from ideal slaughter weight of 1800 g. The overall relative asymmetry mean for shank width was significantly greater in control group (2.42±0.41) than in treatment group (1.87±0.43). The results of binary logisti c regression analysis showed that only increase in difference of width in left and right shank caused significant change (p=0.0148) in slaughter weight. In this study, the deviation from the bilateral symmetry was mostly found in fluctuating asymmetry for the measured characters in treatment group (11 birds per m 2 ), and the low fluctuating asymmetry level was generally indicated higher welfare level and lower developmental instability for this group than that of the control group (17 birds per m 2 ). Stocking density can be stated as one of the most important
Lost in Translation: Allometric scaling of bioactive dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids

ABSTRACT Background: Experimental animal models are the primary tool to test nutritional intervention strategies for health promotion and prevention and/or treatment of human diseases. These kinds of experiments test hypotheses that otherwise could not be done in humans. These models generate data important for pre-clinical screening purposes; however, their ability to predict human responses has been disappointing, particularly when it comes to dietary n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Many times, it is difficult to recapitulate the data as a result of diet between pre-clinical experiments and clinical trials, in part, because we lack fundamental understanding as to how to effectively translate diet between species. The diets in experiments using rodent models are preferentially designed to generate positive results (i.e., perform a dose response and pick the dose that works) with little thought on applicability to humans. As such, the levels of n-3 and n-6 PUFA used in rodent diets are typically on the extreme and rarely justified. A search of the literature reveals no guidelines establishing appropriate levels for the use of PUFA in rodent diets, although extrapolation to human conditions is quite common despite being inappropriate. The goal of this paper is to examine allometric scaling models between species for dietary PUFA using similar endpoints with the hypothesis that equivalent physiological changes in rodents and humans support the mathematical model. Keywords: , alpha-linolenic acid, allometric scaling, arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, linoleic acid, n-6, n-3, plasma fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids
Signed real measure of regular languages for discrete-event automata

This paper presents the concept and formulation of a signed real measure of regular languages for analysis of discrete-event supervisory control systems. The measure is constructed based upon the principles of language theory and real analysis for quantitative evaluation and comparison of the controlled behaviour for discrete-event automata. The marked (i.e. accepted) states of finite-state automata are classified in different categories such that the event strings terminating at good and bad marked states have positive and negative measures, respectively. In this setting, a controlled language attempts to disable as many bad strings as possible and as few good strings as possible. Different supervisors may achieve this goal in different ways and generate a partially ordered set of controlled languages. The language measure creates a total ordering on the performance of the controlled languages, which provides a precise quantitative comparison of the controlled plant behaviour under different supervisors. Total variation of the language measure serves as a metric for the space of sublanguages of the regular language.
PROPERTY OWNERS IN AUSTRALIA: A SNAPSHOT

Property represents more than half of all household assets in Australia and its share has been rising in recent years. Since most property purchases require debt financing because of the size of the purchase, property makes up a large part of both sides of households’ balance sheets. This paper uses household-level data to examine what determines the ownership of residential property and the holding of property debt by households in Australia. We examine these decisions for both owner-occupied and investment property. The results suggest that the household’s age, composition, income and wealth are important factors determining property ownership and gearing decisions. Income and wealth are found to be more influential in determining the value of property owned, while the household’s age is more influential in determining the gearing. Household composition is important for decisions on owner-occupied property, but has a limited influence on investment property decisions.
Analytic Design of a Fuzzy Control for Mechanical Systems

In this paper an alternative approach for the design of a fuzzy controller is proposed. Fuzzy controllers have been successfully adopted for nonlinear plants but their design is based on human experience because it does not exists a well defined general theory to handle them. To this aim multi-values logic is introduced and, starting from a classical control law, fuzzy sets and fuzzy rules are derived in order to control a nonlinear second order damped oscillator. Since this model strictly resembles that one of a car suspension, the presented control can be very useful for automotive applications. Key-Words: Fuzzy Logic, Many-Valued Logic, Fuzzy Controllers, Mechanical Suspension, Nonlinear Systems.
An Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Logistics Performance and Education

Logistics occupations require skills that involve blue- and white-collar activities and different levels of educational skills. With the increase in global trade and competition, the varying skills necessary for different parts of the logistics sector have attracted attention. In this regard, this empirical study examines the relationship between logistics performance indicators and education assessment scores and identifies associations. The presented results, by using canonical correlation analysis, indicate that certain education assessment scores contribute more to improving logistics performance than do other variables. The variables that influence logistics performance are also highlighted.
Title A Dynamical Threshold for Cardiac Delayed Afterdepolarization-Mediated Triggered Activity Permalink

Ventricular myocytes are excitable cells whose voltage threshold for action potential (AP) excitation is ~ 60 mV at which INa is activated to give rise to a fast upstroke. Therefore, for a short stimulus pulse to elicit an AP, a stronger stimulus is needed if the resting potential lies further away from the INa threshold, such as in hypokalemia. However, for an AP elicited by a long duration stimulus or a diastolic spontaneous calcium release, we observed that the stimulus needed was lower in hypokalemia than in normokalemia in both computer simulations and experiments of rabbit ventricular myocytes. This observation provides insight into why hypokalemia promotes calcium-mediated triggered activity, despite the resting potential lying further away from the INa threshold. To understand the underlying mechanisms, we performed bifurcation analyses and demonstrated that there is a dynamical threshold, resulting from a saddle-node bifurcation mainly determined by IK1 and INCX. This threshold is close to the voltage at which IK1 is maximum, and lower than the INa threshold. After exceeding this dynamical threshold, the membrane voltage will automatically depolarize above the INa threshold due to the large negative slope of the IK1-V curve. This dynamical threshold becomes much lower in hypokalemia, especially with respect to calcium, as predicted by our theory. Because of the saddle-node bifurcation, the system can automatically depolarize even in the absence of INa to voltages higher than the ICa,L threshold, allowing for triggered APs in single myocytes with complete INa block. However, because INa is important for AP propagation in tissue, blocking INa can still suppress premature ventricular excitations in cardiac tissue caused by calcium-mediated triggered activity. This suppression is more effective in normokalemia than in hypokalemia due to the difference in dynamical thresholds.
Phase-space representation of a non-Hermitian system with PT symmetry

We present a phase space study of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry based on the Wigner distribution function. For an arbitrary complex potential, we derive a generalized continuity equation for the Wigner function flow and calculate the related circulation values. Studying vicinity of an exceptional point, we show that a $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phase transition from an unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry phase to a broken one is a second-order phase transition.
Alteration of Triassic carbonates in the Buda Mountains —a hydrothermal model

Abstract Large, irregular volumes of altered, friable Triassic dolomite with poorly recognizable depositional fabrics crop out in the Buda Mountains, Hungary. These rock volumes are characterized by powder-like, chalky, soft, whitish gray microporous carbonates, referred to as “pulverized dolomite”. This is interpreted as the result of corrosion of carbonates along microfractures. The pulverized dolomite is commonly associated with silica and clay cementation (“silicification”) and “mineralization” of ironrich minerals, barite, sphalerite, galena, fluorite, calcite, dolomite and others, clearly pointing out hydrothermal Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) conditions. The pulverization, silicification and mineralization are considered to be a diagenetic facies association (PSM facies). Tectonic shear corridors played an important role in the development of PSM facies as carriers of hydrothermal fluids, but the geometry of the altered units is very irregular and cross-cuts different Triassic depositional facies i.
Microsatellite markers linked to powdery mildew resistance locus in watermelon.

Powdery mildew ('Podosphaera xanthii') is one of the main foliar diseases that attack the watermelon ('Citrullus lanatus') and other cucurbits species. The objective of this study was to identify microsatellite markers linked to the resistance locus to powdery mildew in a F2 population of 'BRS Opara' (resistant) x 'Perola (susceptible). The parental plants, F1 and F2, were phenotyped for resistance or susceptibility to powdery mildew and 116 microsatellite markers were analyzed. Segregation data in the F2 population demonstrated that resistance powdery mildew is controlled by a single dominant gene. The microsatellites MCPI_11, CYSTSIN and BVWS02441 showed linkage the to the powdery mildew resistance gene at 2.6 cM distance. They were located on chromosome two of the watermelon genome. These markers can be used in the marker assisted selection in watermelon improvement programs and the identification of the chromosome region, in which these markers will facilitate future studies to identify the gene that confers resistance to powdery mildew in watermelon.
Fast‐decaying IP in frozen unconsolidated rocks and potentialities for its use in permafrost‐related TEM studies

We investigate the early time induced polarization (IP) phenomenon in frozen unconsolidated rocks and its association with transient electromagnetic (TEM) signals measured in northern regions. The distinguishing feature of these signals is the distortion of the monotony or sign reversals in the time range from a few tens to a few hundreds of microseconds. In simulating TEM data, the IP effects in frozen ground were attributed to the dielectric relaxation phenomenon rather than to the frequency‐dependent conductivity. This enabled us to use laboratory experimental data available in the literature on dielectric spectroscopy of frozen rocks. In our studies we focused on simulating the transient response of a coincident‐loop configuration in three simple models: (i) a homogeneous frozen earth (half‐space); (ii) a two‐layered earth with the upper layer frozen; (iii) a two‐layered earth with the upper layer unfrozen. The conductivities of both frozen and unfrozen ground were assumed to exhibit no frequency dispersion, whereas the dielectric permittivity of frozen ground was assumed to be described by the Debye model. To simplify the presentation and the comparison analysis of the synthetic data, the TEM response of a frozen polarizable earth was normalized to that of a non‐polarizable earth having the same structure and resistivities as the polarizable earth. The effect of the dielectric relaxation on a TEM signal is marked by a clearly defined minimum. Its time coordinate tmin is approximately three times larger than the dielectric relaxation time constant τ. This suggests the use of tmin for direct estimation of τ, which, in turn, is closely associated with the temperature of frozen unconsolidated rock. The ordinate of the minimum is directly proportional to the static dielectric permittivity of frozen earth. Increasing the resistivity of a frozen earth and/or decreasing the loop size results in a progressively stronger effect of the dielectric relaxation on the TEM signal. In the case of unfrozen earth, seasonal freezing is not likely to have an appreciable effect on the TEM signal. However, for the frozen earth, seasonal thawing of a near‐surface layer may result in a noticeable attenuation of the TEM signal features associated with dielectric relaxation in a frozen half‐space. Forward calculations show that the dielectric relaxation of frozen unconsolidated rocks may significantly affect the transient response of a horizontal loop laid on the ground. This conclusion is in agreement with a practical example of inversion of the TEM data measured over the permafrost.
DETECTION SHELLFISH POISONING, MARINE TOXINS, OF FOOD BY HPLC:PARALYTIC SHELLFISH POISONING.

School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China. | Department of Marine food and Biotechnology, Massawa College of Marine Science and Technology, Eritrea, Tel: +291-1-541239, Fax: +291 1 540339. | Department of Food Process Engineering, Addis Ababa, Science and technology University, P.O. Box: 16417, 1000, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Manuscript Info Abstract . Manuscript History