Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IMPACT OF VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENTATION BEFORE AND DURING EARLY EGG PRODUCTION ON LAYING HEN PERFORMANCE

The effects of dietary vitamin A (Vit. A) supplementation before and during early egg production on productive performance, egg quality, and economical efficiency of Lohmann brown laying hens were studied. In this experiment, a total number of 375 hens 16 wks of age were fed a basal diet supplemented with 10,000 (control); 20,000, 30,000; 40,000 or 50,000 IU Vit. A/kg diet. Each dietary treatment was randomly divided to 5 replicates with 15 birds each. Water and feed in mash form were offered adlibitum, under a total of 16 hrslight/day regimen during the experimental period. Birds were reared in clean batteries under similar conditions up to 30wks of age. The results indicated that egg production, egg mass and feed conversion ratio (FCR) significantly improved (p<0.05) with vitamin A supplementation. Groups received 30,000; 40,000 or 50,000 IU Vit. A/kg diet showed improvement egg production% at peak production period compared with groups received which 10,000 or 20,000 IU Vit. A/kg. Neither external nor internal egg quality parameters were affected by Vit. A supplementation except yolk index that was significantly decreased with increasing Vit. A level in the diet. Hens received 20000 IU Vit. A/kg diet showed the better relative economical efficiency compared those received the other levels. It could be concluded that, although the supplementation of 50000 IU Vit. A/kg diets before and during the early egg production improved laying hen performance, the hens received 20000 IU Vit. A/kg diet showed the better relative economical efficiency. Key word: Vitamin A – Performance – Laying hens.
Improved MSER Pedestrian Detection Algorithm based on TOF Camera

To solve the problems existing in the traditional pedestrian detection methods, such as the complexity of pedestrians wearing clothes and the change of light leading to the decrease of detection accuracy, this paper proposes an MSER pedestrian detection algorithm combined with D-NP (Double Nine-Grid). The algorithm utilizes the characteristics of high pixels of TOF (Time Of Flight) cameras and the adaptability of MSER (Maximally Stable Extreme Regions). Firstly, the depth image is subjected to hole patching, and median filtering and morphological operations are used for preprocessing. Then the MSER algorithm combined with D-NP is used to segment the image to extract candidate head regions. Finally, We perform experiments on our dataset, and the detection recognition rate of this algorithm reaches 97.26%, which can effectively reduce the impact of light, and has a good detection performance for pedestrians carrying backpacks, hats and other complex scenes.
High-throughput microfluidic characterization of erythrocyte shape and mechanical variability

The motion of red blood cells (RBCs) in microchannels is important for microvascular blood flow and biomedical applications such as blood analysis in microfluidics. The current understanding of the complexity of RBC shapes and dynamics in microchannels is mainly based on several simulation studies, but there are a few systematic experimental investigations. Here, we present a combined study, which systematically characterizes RBC behavior for a wide range of flow rates and channel sizes. Even though simulations and experiments generally show good agreement, experimental observations demonstrate that there is no single well-defined RBC state for fixed flow conditions, but rather a broad distribution of states. This result can be attributed to the inherent variability in RBC mechanical properties, which is confirmed by a model that takes the variation in RBC shear elasticity into account. This represents a significant step toward a quantitative connection between RBC behavior in microfluidic devices and their mechanical properties, which is essential for a high-throughput characterization of diseased cells. Significance Statement The ability to change shape is crucial for the proper functioning of red blood cells under harsh conditions in the microvasculature, since their shapes strongly affect the flow behavior of whole blood. Our results from simulations and systematic experiments reveal the shapes and dynamics of red blood cells for different flow conditions and channel dimensions, generally in good agreement. However, in the experiments, cells do not exhibit a single well-defined shape for fixed flow conditions. We show that this distribution of shapes can be attributed to the variability in mechanical properties of red blood cells.
MANNHEIMIA HAEMOLYTICA LEUKOTOXIN - HOST CELL RECEPTOR INTERACTIONS

by Sudarvili Shanthalingam, Ph.D. Washington State University May 2010 Chair: Subramaniam Srikumaran Mannheimia haemolytica is the primary bacterial pathogen of bovine pneumonic pasteurellosis, an economically important disease of cattle worldwide. Leukotoxin (Lkt) produced by M. haemolytica is the major virulence factor of this organism. The cytolytic activity of Lkt is specific for ruminant leukocytes. Lkt utilizes CD18, the β subunit of β2-integrins, as its receptor on ruminant leukocytes. Previously, our laboratory mapped the Lkt-binding domain to lie between amino acids (aa) 1-291 of CD18. Therefore, the next logical step was to identify the precise Lkt binding site within this domain and to determine whether co-administration of CD18 peptide analogs would inhibit / mitigate M. haemolytica-caused lung injury. In this study, by using synthetic peptides spanning aa1-291 of bovine CD18 in Lkt-induced cytolysis assays, the precise binding site of Lkt was mapped to aa 5-17 of ruminant CD18. Surprisingly, all the aa of this peptide belong to the predicted signal peptide of CD18. This observation led to the finding that the signal peptide of ruminant CD18 is not cleaved, and that the intact signal peptide renders ruminants susceptible to M. haemolytica Lkt. Site-directed mutagenesis of a single aa in the signal peptide resulted in the cleavage of signal peptide and abrogation of Lkt-induced cytolysis of target cells. This finding indicates that engineering cattle
Effects of burning and weed control on vegetation cover and soil organic matter compartments in the Brazilian Amazon

Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar los efectos de la quema y el control manual de especies invasoras sobre la cubierta vegetal y la distribución de la materia orgánica en la capa superficial de un Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo cubierto de la gramínea Urochloa brizantha. Los muestreos se hicieron en cinco sitios de la pastura y en un área de bosque. Las muestras de suelo fueron recolectadas entre 0 y 5 cm de profundidad en el suelo para determinar la respiración acumulada, el carbono de la biomasa microbiana (CBM), la materia orgánica leve, el carbono orgánico total (COT), el carbono soluble en agua y la relación CBM:COT. Se identificaron tres tipos de cobertura con la gramínea: (1) grupo I con 33.5% de suelo descubierto, (2) grupo 2 con 90% de cobertura y (3) grupo 3 con 53.4% de cobertura de especies invasoras. El valor más alto de COT se encontró en bosque (36.52 g/kg). El valor acumulado más alto de la respiración en el suelo se observó en el grupo 3 (2.6 mg/kg) y las relaciones CBM:COT más altas en el bosque y el grupo 3 (0.0138 y 0.0156, respectivamente). El valor más alto de carbono soluble en agua se observó en el bosque (21.08 mg/kg). No se encontraron diferencias en CBM y materia orgánica leve. Por tanto, el alto porcentaje de cobertura de U. brizantha favorece altos valores de COT y de carbono soluble en agua. La mayor diversidad de especies en la gramínea favoreció una mayor diversidad de la materia orgánica en el suelo y aumentó la actividad microbiana.
Energy Consumption of the Electric Vehicle and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle for Different Driving Cases

In this paper, the electric vehicle (EV) and internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) are compared for different driving cases. The EV exhibits a lower powertrain efficiency when driven on the aggressive driving cycle than when driven on the moderate cycle. In particular, EV powertrain efficiency is low when the battery state of charge (SOC) is low, but ICEV efficiency increases when the driving cycle changes from the moderate cycle to the aggressive cycle. Based on these results, attempts can be made to increase EV powertrain efficiency. EV charging before the battery power drops to a low charging state can reduce energy consumption by 2.7% for an urban area. Furthermore, ECO driving has a more significant effect on EVs than
Kinetics laws as the base for mathematical simulation of microwave vacuum drying process

The process of drying food is extremely complex. Therefore, the mathematical modeling of the process needs high requirements. The combination of approaches in modeling is of practical interest. On the one hand, analytical solutions based on the application of physical laws or phenomenological equations are used. On the other hand, experimental identification of the relationship between temperature and body moisture, which is considered as a peculiar characteristic of heat and mass transfer for each material. It is proposed to consider vacuum microwave drying from the standpoint of physical chemistry as a quasitopochemical heterogeneous reaction and perform mathematical modeling of this process based on the laws of chemical kinetics.
Research on Monitoring of Coal Mine Shaft Deformation Based on Fiber Grating Technology

As one of the most important production resources, coal has a huge demand. China is the country with the largest amount of coal mining and export in the world. Coal mines are widely distributed throughout the country. A large number of coal mines have a long service life and damage accidents occur from time to time. Affecting the daily production of the mine, not only caused a lot of economic losses, but also hidden dangers of safety accidents. The optical fiber method applied to the deformation monitoring of the mine shaft can better adapt to the complex working environment under the mine, which is the current trend of scientific and technological development and also meets the requirements of the modernization and information industry.
Wingless promotes JNK/MMPs positive feedback loop mediate tumour microtubes expansion, glioma progression and neurodegeneration

Glial cells display a network of projections (cytonemes) which mediate cell to cell communication. Under pathological conditions like glioblastoma (GB), cytonemes transform into ultra-long tumour microtubes (TMs). These filopodia infiltrate through the brain, enwrap neurons and deplete wingless (Wg)/WNT, as a consequence GB progress and neurons undergo synapse loss and degeneration. Thus TMs emerge as a central cellular feature of GB which correlates with a poor prognosis in patients and animal models. Here we describe in a Drosophila model for GB the molecular mechanisms behind TMs production, infiltration and maintenance. Glial cells are initially transformed into malignant GB upon EGFR and PI3K pathways constitutive activation, afterwards GB cells establish a positive feedback loop including Wg signalling, JNK and matrix metalloproteases (MMP). In order, Frizzled1 mediates Wg signalling upregulation which activates JNK in GB. As a consequence, MMPs are upregulated and facilitate TMs infiltration in the brain, hence GB TMs network expands and mediate further wingless depletion to close the loop.
Investigation of Small Hydropower Potential of River Oshin in Kwara State, North Central, Nigeria

This paper presents the investigation of hydropower potential of river Oshin via Babaloma in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, North Central, Nigeria. The inhabitants of the study area which is a cluster of three off-grid rural communities: Sangotayo, Budo Umoru and Idi Isin lack access to electrical energy despite the huge potential for renewable energy resources most especially, the hydropower potential. Water velocity of the river was measured using Flow Probe FP211 model. The measured water velocity was converted to discharge using relationship between the channel geometry and velocity. Relationship between measured discharge and water level was used to develop rating equation for the river. Net head was estimated using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) embedded in ArcGIS (ArcMap 10.3) software. The results revealed that the average water level and discharge were high in the month of May through November with discharges varying between 3.48 to 11.90 m3/s while water levels ranged between 0.79 to 1.84 m. The relationship between the water level and discharge revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.99 with positive upward trend. The design flow of 4.63 m3/s was determined from the flow duration curve (FDC) while the net head was estimated as 7.62 m. The hydropower potential of the river at the sub-basin 9 was estimated as 363.36 kW which is in the range of mini hydropower plants (MHP). Annual energy generation from the river is estimated as 2624482.08kWh. The estimated hydropower potential can satisfy the present and future electricity needs of the inhabitants of the cluster of the three rural communities under consideration.
Measuring hospital spatial wingspan by using a discrete choice model with utility-threshold

Policy makers increasingly rely on hospital competition to incentivize patients to choose high-value care. Travel distance is one of the most important drivers of patients’ decision. The paper presents a method to numerically measure, for a given hospital, the distance beyond which no patient is expected to choose the hospital for treatment by using a new approach in discrete choice models. To illustrate, we compared 3 hospitals attractiveness related to this distance for asthma patients admissions in 2009 in Herault (France), showing, as expected, CHU Montpellier is the one with the most important spatial wingspan. For estimation, Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) methods are used.
Effects of gene multiplication on flowering time regulation in spring and winter varieties of Brassica napus

Brassica napus (oilseed rape) is an economically important crop species that exhibits considerable varietal diﬀerences in ﬂowering behaviour. Eﬀorts to translate knowledge of ﬂowering time control from model species are complicated by the evolutionary history of the crop. Whole genome duplication events have resulted in multiple copies of genes being present in the B. napus genome. A better understanding of the roles additional gene copies play during the ﬂoral transition would aid predictive models in directing future breeding eﬀorts. As a ﬁrst step towards unravelling the regulatory network underlying the ﬂoral transition in the crop, a transcriptomic time series was conducted and used to investigate gene expression during the ﬂoral transition. Expression diﬀerences between homologous ﬂowering time genes indicated that duplicated genes occupy separate locations in the gene regulatory network. This suggests the complexity of the regulatory network is vastly increased in B. napus relative to model species, and that the duplicated genes are likely to have diﬀerent roles during the ﬂoral transition. Duplicated genes were observed to diverge in diﬀerent ways. Loss of regulatory elements surrounding certain B. napus TFL1 homologues correlated with expression changes, highlighting the importance of cis-regulatory elements in the evolution of gene function. Sequence diﬀerences between B. napus FD homologues were found to alter the predicted dimerization aﬃnities of the proteins. Expression variation between B. napus FLC homologues suggests only some confer a vernalization response, revealing these genes have diverged to have altered sensitivity to cold. The ﬁnding that multiple homologues of the same ﬂowering time gene in B. napus are expressed but show diﬀerent expression dynamics reveals that the ﬂoral regulatory network from model species cannot be directly translated, but will require modiﬁcation. This added complexity likely contributes to the developmental and genetic plasticity that has been exploited in this important crop.
Global of Foreign Language The deductive and inductive instructional approach controversy in Eswatini context

This study compared deductive and inductive approaches of teaching tenses to secondary school learners. The aim of this study was to test the efficiency of the two instructional approaches of teaching tenses by observing learners’ performance. Sixty participants (37 female and 23 male), learning English in the Kingdom of Eswatini, participated in this quasi-experimental study. Convenience sampling was used to select participants who were randomly assigned to two control groups. The independent var iable was ‘teaching method,’ with two levels: deductive versus inductive. The dependent variables were participants’ achievement scores derived from the pre -test and post-test. The independent t -test and the dependent t -test were used to analyse data. The results revealed that there was no significant difference between the deductive and inductive approaches in teaching tenses,although each method was effective in isolation. Based on the findings, this study recommends an integration of the two approaches in the teaching of tenses.
In vitro gas production of legume Bauhinia purpurea, Cassia alata and Macroptilium atropurpureum

Legume is feed commodity for livestock which is widely available in tropical country. The availability of tree legumes does not depend on seasons. However, the quality of legumes is varied, requiring information on nutrient composition. This study aimed to evaluate total gas production in several legume types (tree, clump, creep) in vitro. This study was conducted from January 2018 until April 2018 at Nutrition Laboratory, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia. All samples were determined for proximate analysis, Van Soest fiber fractions, i.e. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), Acid detergent fiber (ADF), Acid detergent lignin (ADL) and total gas production in vitro. There were three tropical legumes tested in this study, i.e. (1) Bauhinia purpurea (BP), (2) Cassia alata (CA), (3) Macroptilium atropurpureum (MA). Randomized Block Design (3 treatments × 3 replicates) was used to analyse data. Data were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and continued with Duncan Test if there was a significant difference. The data showed that Bauhinia purpurea produced the highest total gas production 27.83 mL (P < 0.05) at 24 h of incubation time. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between total gas production of three legumes at 48 h of incubation time (P > 0.05).
Research Article Genetic diversity of three indigenous pig breeds in Colombia

Zungo (ZU), San Pedreño (SP) and Casco de Mula (CM) are Colombian indigenous pig breeds originated from European populations that are well adapted to tropical conditions. These breeds have a great potential to be used in pure and crossbred schemes due to their high reproductive performance and resistance to tropical diseases. We investigated the genetic diversity and genetic structure of these pig breeds using microsatellite molecular markers. Fifty-five ZU, SP and CM animals were genotyped for 10 microsatellites using capillary electrophoresis. The average number of alleles per marker ranged from 5.56±1.88 in ZU to 6.70±1.64 in SP. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.68±0.05 in ZU to 0.74±0.03 in SP. Polymorphic information content was high for most of the microsatellites in all breeds. Inbreeding coefficient (FIS) values were low for all microsatellites, with an average of 0.035±0.037. Higher average values closer to and above 0.1 were observed for the fixation index of the global population (FIT) (0.131±0.041) and the coefficient of relatedness between individuals from different populations (FST) (0.099±0.013). Principal components and structure analyses showed a high level of clustering per breed and very low admixture levels between them. The panel of markers used in this study proved to be useful to investigate genetic diversity and pedigree relationships in pig populations. The Colombian pig breeds that we evaluated had a high genetic variability and a well-
Design of Service-Dominant Business Models for a Digital World

Citation for published version (APA): Grefen, P. W. P. J., & Türetken, O. (2020). Design of Service-Dominant Business Models for a Digital World. In S. Dustdar (Ed.), Advanced Information Systems Engineering: 32nd International Conference, CAiSE 2020 Grenoble, France, June 8–12, 2020 Proceedings (pp. 563-565). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science ; Vol. 12127). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49435-3
Seed germination and invasion success of Poa annua L. in Antarctica

One of the first steps to successful invasion of plant species that reproduce sexually is seed germination, which may be highly influenced by climatic conditions. We studied Poa annua, a cosmopolitan species found across all climatic zones and the only alien species that has successfully colonized the Antarctic. Our research questions were: (i) if harsh polar conditions restrict seed germination of P. annua and (ii) if the germination capacity of the Antarctic population of the species is due to high germination aptitude in the source population. We compared germination of seeds collected from eight populations around the world (maritime Antarctica, S Chile, W Argentina and E Argentina, NE USA, SW Croatia, C Poland and S Poland). We followed germination of seeds collected in the field and acquired from plants cultivated under unified optimal conditions. We found significant differences between populations in germination characteristics of seeds collected in the field. These could be associated with seed ripening in different locations. Seeds obtained under favorable conditions differed in stratification requirements. The germination potential of the Antarctic population is lowered by unfavorable polar conditions impacting seed maturation. Thus, the species’ invasion in the Antarctic seems highly restricted by the harsh environment. Environmental unsuitability may restrict invasions of other species in the same way potentially. However, this environmental barrier protecting Antarctica from invasions may be broken under a climate warming scenario.
The Microbiome of Temporal Arteries

Objective: A role for microorganisms in giant cell arteritis (GCA) has long been suspected. We describe the microbiomes of temporal arteries from patients with GCA and controls. Methods: Temporal artery biopsies from patients suspected to have GCA were collected under aseptic conditions and snap-frozen. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and long-read 16S rRNA-gene sequencing was used to examine microbiomes of temporal arteries. Taxonomic classification of bacterial sequences was performed to the genus level and relative abundances were calculated. Microbiome differential abundances were analyzed by principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) with comparative Unifrac distances and predicted functional profiling using PICRUSt. Results: Forty-seven patients, including 9 with biopsy-positive GCA, 15 with biopsy-negative GCA and 23 controls without GCA, were enrolled. FISH for bacterial DNA revealed signal in the arterial media. Beta, but not alpha, diversity differed between GCA and control temporal arteries (P = 0.042). Importantly, there were no significant differences between biopsy-positive and biopsy-negative GCA (P > 0.99). The largest differential abundances seen between GCA and non-GCA temporal arteries included Proteobacteria (P), Bifidobacterium (g), Parasutterella (g), and Granulicatella (g) [Log 2-fold change ≥ 4]. Conclusion: Temporal arteries are not sterile, but rather are inhabited by a community of bacteria. We have demonstrated that there are microbiomic differences between GCA and non-GCA temporal arteries, but not between biopsy-positive and biopsy-negative GCA.