Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Resource partitioning among freshwater congeneric fishes (Loricariidae: Hypostomus): trophic, spatial, and temporal dimensions

ABSTRACT Resource partitioning is essential for coexistence of phylogenetically related species in altered environments, where changes in biotopes can limit resources and change ecological strategies. We investigated resource partitioning between two congeneric catfishes (Hypostomus affinis and H. luetkeni) in three niche dimensions (trophic, spatial, and temporal) in a Neotropical reservoir. We tested the hypothesis that the use of different mesohabitats (spatial dimension) is more relevant for the coexistence of species, and that morphological differences between the species confer different advantages in the mesohabitats occupation. We evaluated species morphology, diet composition and abundance along a spatial-temporal gradient. A high dietary overlap and a low temporal variability in species abundance were found, indicating that these two dimensions play a minor role in the species distribution. However, a strong spatial segregation modulated apparently by morphological differences was observed. Hypostomus luetkeni has a larger oral disk area, and a flatter body that confer advantages in the occupation of lotics habitats, whereas H. affinis has relatively larger fins that provide more efficient displacements in lentic habitats. Spatial partitioning was the main driver modulating mechanism for the coexistence of these species and differences in the occupation of the mesohabitats probably have been amplified in this altered environment.
Quarter-Hourly Operation of Hydropower Reservoirs with Pumped Storage Plants

This paper formulates a short-term operation problem to determine the optimal quarter-hourly generation schedules of multiple hydropower reservoirs with pumped-storage plants. The model is a comprehensive one that incorporates the plant-based operating zones (PBOZ), the upper and lower bounds on hydrowide power, the hydraulic coupling, and the requirements for generating power and releasing water with a fluctuation tolerance. A new procedure that includes three key techniques makes the problem easier to solve. First, the original problem is temporally decomposed into several quarter-hourly reservoir operation subproblems by dividing the planning horizon into subhorizons. Second, the plant-based operating zones that are integer variables are separately determined with dynamic programming (DP) after solving an hourly reservoir operation problem, which also derives a target-guiding trajectory for the subproblems. Third, iteratively linearizing the constraints simplifies the problems and having nonlinear obje.
EFFECT OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF AMLA AND GRAPE SEED POWDERS ON ANTIOXIDANT STATUS IN THE SEMINAL PLASMA OF BROILER BREEDER COCKS

This study was conducted to assess the effect of dietary supplementation of amla (Emblica officinalis) and grape (Vites venifera) seed on antioxidant status in the seminal plasma of broiler breeder cocks. Twenty four PRS B2 broiler breeder cocks from 32 to 38 weeks of age were randomly divided in to four groups 1) Control: Standard broiler ration 2) Treatment - I: Broiler ration + supplementation of 1 per cent amla powder 3) Treatment - II: Broiler ration + supplementation of 1 per cent grape seed powder and 4) Treatment - IV: Broiler ration + supplementation of amla powder and grape seed powder each at 0.5 per cent level. Semen samples were collected at weekly intervals during pre treatment period (0 week), treatment period (1-4 weeks) and post-treatment period (last 2 weeks). The seminal plasma was prepared as per the method of Bruce and Baudry (1995). The results of the present study revealed that the birds supplemented with the combination of amla and grape seed powders each at 0.5 per cent level significantly improved SOD, catalase and GSH-Px activities and TBARS level in comparison with other groups.
Design, characterization, and experimental use of the second generation MEMS acoustic emission device

We describe the design, fabrication, testing and application (in structural experiments) of our 2004 (second generation) MEMS device, designed for acoustic emission sensing based upon experiments with our 2002 (first generation) device. Both devices feature a suite of resonant-type transducers in the frequency range between 100 kHz and 1 MHz. The 2002 device was designed to operate in an evacuated housing because of high squeeze film damping, as confirmed in our earlier experiments. In additional studies involving the 2002 device, experimental simulation of acoustic emissions in a steel plate, using pencil lead break or ball impact loading, showed that the transducers in the frequency range of 100 kHz-500 kHz presented clearer output signals than the transducers with frequencies higher than 500 kHz. Using the knowledge gained from the 2002 device, we designed and fabricated our second generation device in 2004 using the multi-user polysilicon surface micromachining (MUMPs) process. The 2004 device has 7 independent capacitive type transducers, compared to 18 independent transducers in the 2002 device, including 6 piston type transducers in the frequency range of 100 kHz to 500 kHz and 1 piston type transducer at 1 MHz to capture high frequency information. Piston type transducers developed in our research have two uncoupled modes so that twofold information can be acquired from a single transducer. In addition, the piston shape helps to reduce residual stress effect of surface micromachining process. The center to center distance between etch holes in the vibrating plate was reduced from 30 μm to 13 μm, in order to reduce squeeze film damping. As a result, the Q factor under atmospheric pressure for the 100 kHz transducer was increased to 2.37 from 0.18, and therefore the vacuum housing has been eliminated from the 2004 device. Sensitivities of transducers were also increased, by enlarging transducer area, in order to capture significant small amplitude acoustic emission events. The average individual transducer area in the 2004 device was increased to 6.97 mm2 as compared to 2.51 mm2 in the 2002 device. In this paper, we report the new experimental results on the characterization of the 2004 device and compare them with analytical results. We show improvements in sensitivity as measured by capacitance and as measured by pencil lead break experiments. Improvement in damping is also evaluated by admittance measurement in atmosphere. Pencil lead break experiments also show that transducers can operate in atmospheric pressure. Finally, we apply the device to acoustic emission experiments on crack propagation in a steel beam specimen, precracked in fatigue, in a four-point bending test.
Vietnamese migrants are as tall as they want to be

Background Members of the same social group tent to have the same body height. Migrants tend to adjust in height to their host communities. Objectives Social-Economic-Political-Emotional (SEPE) factors influence growth. We hypothesized that Vietnamese young adult migrants in Germany (1) are taller than their parents, (2) are as tall as their German peers, and (3) are as tall as predicted by height expectation at age 13 years. Sample and Methods The study was conducted in 30 male and 54 female Vietnamese migrants (mean age 26.23 years. SD=4.96) in Germany in 2020. Information on age, sex, body height, school and education, job, height and ethnicity of best friend, migration history and cultural identification, parental height and education, and recalled information on their personal height expectations at age 13 years were obtained by questionnaire. The data were analyzed by St. Nicolas House Analysis (SNHA) and multiple regression. Results Vietnamese young adults are taller than their parents (females 3.85cm, males 7.44cm), but do not fully attain height of their German peers. The body height is positively associated with the height of best friend (p < 0.001), the height expectation at age 13 year (p < 0.001), and father height (p=0.001). Conclusion Body height of Vietnamese migrants in Germany reflects competitive growth and strategic growth adjustments. The magnitude of this intergenerational trend supports the concept that human growth depends on Social-Economic-Political-Emotional (SEPE) factors.
Reply on RC1

A > The anthropogenic emission inputs have been temporally disaggregated using factors included in the CHIMERE pre-processor “emisurf2016”. These coefficients are divided by emission sector and permit to save the total mass of the original emissions (provided in the emission inventories) but to divide this total according to the diurnal variation. This system, largely used in atmospheric chemistry modelling, permit to allocate e.g., more emissions from road transport in the peak of the morning and afternoon rush hours than in the other hours of the day preserving the original total value of the emissions. A New line highlighting this aspect has been added at 233-234.
Does Exposure to High Job Demands, Low Decision Authority, or Workplace Violence Mediate the Association between Employment in the Health and Social Care Industry and Register-Based Sickness Absence? A Longitudinal Study of a Swedish Cohort

Background: The aim of this paper was to investigate if job demands, decision authority, and workplace violence mediate the association between employment in the health and social care industry and register-based sickness absence. Methods: Participants from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health who responded to questionnaires in 2006–2016 (n = 3951) were included. Multilevel autoregressive cross-lagged mediation models were fitted to the data. Employment in the health and social care industry at one time point was used as the predictor variable and register-based sickness absence >14 days as the outcome variable. Self-reported levels of job demands, decision authority, and exposure to workplace violence from the first time point were used as mediating variables. Results: The direct path between employment in the health and social care industry and sickness absence >14 days was, while adjusting for the reverse path, 0.032, p = 0.002. The indirect effect mediated by low decision authority was 0.002, p = 0.006 and the one mediated by exposure to workplace violence was 0.008, p = 0.002. High job demands were not found to mediate the association. Conclusion: Workplace violence and low decision authority may, to a small extent, mediate the association between employment in the health and social care industry and sickness absence.
Interpolated finite impulse response filters

A new approach to implement computationally efficient finite impulse response (FIR) digital filters is presented. The filter structure is a cascade of two sections. The first section generates a sparse set of impulse response samples and the other section generates the remaining samples by using interpolation. The method can be used to implement most practical FIR filters with significant savings in the number of arithmetic operations. Typically 1/2 to 1/8 of the number of multipliers and adders of conventional FIR filters are required in the implementation. The saving is achieved both in the linear phase and the non-linear phase cases. In addition, the new implementation gives smaller coefficient sensitivities and better roundoff noise properties than conventional implementations.
Reduction of Artifacts in Capacitive Electrocardiogram Signals of Driving Subjects

The development of smart cars with e-health services allows monitoring of the health condition of the driver. Driver comfort is preserved by the use of capacitive electrodes, but the recorded signal is characterized by large artifacts. This paper proposes a method for reducing artifacts from the ECG signal recorded by capacitive electrodes (cECG) in moving subjects. Two dominant artifact types are coarse and slow-changing artifacts. Slow-changing artifacts removal by classical filtering is not feasible as the spectral bands of artifacts and cECG overlap, mostly in the band from 0.5 to 15 Hz. We developed a method for artifact removal, based on estimating the fluctuation around linear trend, for both artifact types, including a condition for determining the presence of coarse artifacts. The method was validated on cECG recorded while driving, with the artifacts predominantly due to the movements, as well as on cECG recorded while lying, where the movements were performed according to a predefined protocol. The proposed method eliminates 96% to 100% of the coarse artifacts, while the slow-changing artifacts are completely reduced for the recorded cECG signals larger than 0.3 V. The obtained results are in accordance with the opinion of medical experts. The method is intended for reliable extraction of cardiovascular parameters to monitor driver fatigue status.
Acetyl-CoA production by specific metabolites promotes cardiac repair after myocardial infarction via histone acetylation

Myocardial infarction (MI) is accompanied by severe energy deprivation and extensive epigenetic changes. However, how energy metabolism and chromatin modifications are interlinked during MI and heart repair has been poorly explored. Here, we examined the effect of different carbon sources that are involved in the major metabolic pathways of acetyl-CoA synthesis on myocardial infarction and found that elevation of acetyl-CoA by sodium octanoate (8C) significantly improved heart function in ischemia reperfusion (I/R) rats. Mechanistically, 8C reduced I/R injury by promoting histone acetylation which in turn activated the expression of antioxidant genes and inhibited cardiomyocyte (CM) apoptosis. Furthermore, we elucidated that 8C-promoted histone acetylation and heart repair were carried out by metabolic enzyme medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) and histone acetyltransferase Kat2a, suggesting that 8C dramatically improves cardiac function mainly through metabolic acetyl-CoA-mediated histone acetylation. Therefore, our study uncovers an interlinked metabolic/epigenetic network comprising 8C, acetyl-CoA, MCAD, and Kat2a to combat heart injury.
Battery energy storage for frequency regulation in an island power system

Large battery energy storage (BES) facilities may provide significant dynamic operation benefits for electric utilities. One area in which a BES facility could be useful is the frequency regulation requirement. This feature is significantly important for island power systems. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the effects of a 30 MW battery on the frequency regulation in the Israeli isolated power system. The study was performed on a single area model representing the whole power system and containing a first order transfer function that represented the BES performance. >
Scour Effect on Bridge and Vehicle Responses under Bridge–Vehicle–Wave Interaction

AbstractBridge scour is a major cause of bridge failures and has emerged as a significant concern for bridge engineers. Most studies focus on the scour mechanism, modeling, detecting and monitoring, and countermeasures. To detect or monitor the scour, the scour effect on the response and feature change of the bridge structure should be studied first to choose an effective measurement. Currently, very few studies have been performed on the scour consequences. Therefore, the present study investigated the scour effect on the responses of the entire bridge, including the superstructure and substructure, and even the responses of vehicles traveling on the bridge, which in turn could be used to detect or monitor the scour of foundations. A field bridge with scour history was adopted, and the bridge–vehicle–wave interaction was considered. First, the soil model, scour model, and wave loads were created. The free vibrations and dynamic analyses under wave loads were then conducted on a single pile and pile group.
Issues Relating to the Creation of a Central Database to Support Statistical Property Valuations

The valuation of real estate collateral is a long-established area of the lending process that is currently undergoing increasingly dynamic development and in which the use of statistical valuation methods is becoming more and more common instead of on-site valuations. The legal conditions for this have been created by amendments to European and national legislation in the past year, but for the method to be truly widely used and operational and to ensure the accuracy of the resulting valuations, access to detailed, accurate, up-to-date and regularly checked data on real estate must be also created. As the databases currently available for Hungarian real estate are very fragmented, in our study, we propose to create a central database that would provide a uniform, up-to-date set of data, by harmonising the existing separate databases. Such a database would help create a level playing field in the market and automate data transfer in a cost-effective, fast and reliable manner. This would greatly facilitate the uptake of statistical valuation methods, supporting the further spread of digitalisation, increasing banking competition, speeding up administration and reducing the cost of lending for all parties.
Dysregulated Spliceosome Gene Expression May Be a Common Process in Brains of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Alternative splicing (AS) contributes to the increased cellular and functional tissue complexity that is substantial in the brain. AS is tightly regulated because it is critical to many biological processes. Defective splicing is observed in several neurological and psychiatric disorders. While exonic mutations usually affect the splicing of an individual RNA, mutations in the splicing factors (components of spliceosome) frequently produce widespread disruption in the processing of many precursor-mRNAs. Thus, we tested the hypotheses that expression changes of spliceosome genes may be a common process and shared splicing pathways may be involved in complex polygenic brain disorders. We searched for expression changes of spliceosome-related genes (SGs) using a transcriptome database of several brain regions in 6 neurological and psychiatric disorders, namely Alzheimer’s disease, and autism spectrum, bipolar and major depressive disorder, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia. Out of 255 SGs detected in brain, 138 showed excessive, significant changes in one or more of these disorders. Dysregulation of 10 SGs was shared in 4 disorders, and they were mostly downregulated. Six associated pathways were over-represented in all 6 disorders, including the major and the minor mRNA splicing pathways and RNA metabolism. Therefore, we found that aberrations in the mRNA splicing process may be a common trajectory to many complex brain disorders involving the spliceosome complex.
Downhole Capillary Soap Injection Improves Production

Liquid loading is an ever increasing problem as gas wells age and deplete. In tight gas reservoirs, liquid loading can adversely effect well performance for 3/4 to 7/8 of a a well's 20 to 30 year life. A relatively new approach to unloading liquids had been to inject soap via a downhole capillary injection system. This approach has resulted in substantial and sustained production increases in East Texas Cotton Valley gas wells at depths of 8,500' to 11,000'. The production increases will impact both well life and reserve recovery. The East Texas Cotton Valley gas area contains 3500+ wells and it still continues to be an active development area. The capillary stainless steel 1/4-3/8' tubing is snubbed into the well inside the tubing. A downhole injection/check valve assembly is run on the end of the capillary tubing. Soap is then injected or siphoned from a chemical storage tank through filters to maintain solids-free fluids for injection. Injection can he easily maintained on a continuous basis to ensure consistent foaming action for unloading efficiency. The capillary string is easily installed and can be transferred from one well to another. In many cases the soap injection from capillary tubing has out performed the more conventional plunger lift. The injection system is also very effective in treating downhole corrosion, paraffin and scale, buildup and in dissolving salt buildup. This capillary injection system could provide a new approach to solving many oil and gas well operating problems worldwide.
Protective effects of phytomediated synthesized magnesium hydroxide nanomaterials using Monodora myristica against diabetes-associated hepatopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy in streptozotocin-exposed rat

There is recently a fast growing interest in green nanotechnology as a better approach for managing diabetes mellitus (DM) and its associated complications. This study therefore aimed at exploring the protective potentials of biogenic phytomediated magnesium-based nanoparticles using Monodora myristica seed (Mg(OH)2NP-Mm) against streptozotocin-induced diabetic hepatopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy in Wistar rats. Mg(OH)2NP-Mm was biosynthesized and characterized using standard techniques. Forty-eight (48) adult male Wistar rats weighing 150-200 g, were indiscriminately grouped into eight (8) groups of six (6) rats (n=6) each. Diabetes was induced with a low dose of streptozotocin (STZ) (55 mg/kg bw) and diabetic animals administered 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg bw Mg(OH)2NP-Mm for 21 days, while control groups received glibenclamide (5 mg/kg bw) and Mg(OH)2-STD (150 mg/kg bw), respectively. In this study, treatment with Mg(OH)2NP-Mm caused a significant (p < 0.05) improvement in fasting blood sugar (FBG), serum hepatic biomarkers (AST, ALT and ALP activities), renal clearance markers (creatinine and urea), total protein (TP) and bilirubin. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, as well as histomorphological examinations indicated a significant (p < 0.05) restoration of the hepatic, renal and brain tissues. This finding therefore, hypothesizes attenuation of redox imbalance which probably could be the basis for the protective effect demonstrated by Mg(OH)2NP-Mm in the tissues examined from STZ-induced diabetic rats.
An efficient design method of microwave oscillator circuits for minimum phase noise

In this paper, we describe a newly developed design method of high-Q microwave oscillator circuits leading to the minimum phase noise for a given transistor and resonator. The key point of the method is the maximization of the energy stored in the resonator and its transfer to the controlling input voltage port of the transistor. The proposed method has been applied to two experimental oscillators setups with pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistors (PHEMTs). A state of-the art phase noise of -50 dBc at 10-Hz offset from carrier with a 1/f/sup 3/ slope has been measured at room temperature with a 9.2 GHz oscillator. The efficiency of this design method and its ease of use represent, in our opinion, a real breakthrough in the field of low noise transistor oscillator circuit design.