Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Algae: Critical Sources of Very Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are divided into n-3 and n-6 classes, are essential for good health in humans and many animals. They are metabolised to lipid mediators, such as eicosanoids, resolvins and protectins. Increasing interest has been paid to the 20 or 22 carbon very long chain PUFAs, since these compounds can be used to form lipid mediators and, thus, avoid inefficient formation of dietary plant PUFAs. The ultimate sources of very long chain PUFAs are algae, which are consumed by fish and then by humans. In this review, I describe the biosynthesis of very long chain PUFAs by algae and how this synthesis can be manipulated for commercial purposes. Ultimately, the production of algal oils is critical for ecosystems worldwide, as well as for human dietary lipids.
On Formulating Pearson ’ s Chi-Squared Statistic in Two-Way Frequency Tables

The standard form of Pearson’s chi-squared statistic ignores variation due to estimating the mean vector in settings where the mean vector is not completely specified by the null hypothesis, as is the case when testing for homogeneity or independence in two-way tables. The root form of the statistic is formulated here with and without that additional variance included, resulting in somewhat different expressions.
Improved Flutter Boundary Prediction for an Isolated Two-Degree-of Freedom Airfoil

A novel method of computing the flutter boundary for an isolated airfoil based on a high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics model reveals unusual behavior in a critical transonic range. Inviscid and viscous predictions of the flutter boundary for the two airfoils examined differ substantially in this critical region and become sensitive to Mach number and grid topology due to complicated shock/boundary-layer interactions. Computational fluid dynamics predictions of the flutter boundary for a NACA 0012 section airfoil are also compared with previous experimental results.
THE DIET OF THE CAVE SPIDER META MENARDI (LATREILLE 1804) (ARANEAE, TETRAGNATHIDAE)

Abstract This study investigated the range and number of prey consumed by a population of M. menardi in an abandoned mine drainage adit at Mary Tavy, on the edge of Dartmoor (Devon, UK). The adit was visited each week from October 1997 to November 1998 and any spider found feeding was interrupted and its prey removed and preserved in alcohol. Over the 13 months a total of 69 prey were recovered representing 18 taxa. While a number of flying insects used the adit as a refuge in which to over winter they formed a small percentage of the total prey consumed. Most of the prey were members of the soil or litter fauna (myriapods and slugs) that were observed walking over the surface of the adit walls.
Predicting College Agriculture Students' Academic Performance and Retention: A Trend Study.

Universities across the nation have established criteria in the selection of students for admission. This correlational study was conducted to determine predictors of academic performance and retention of freshmen in a college of agriculture. Freshmen enrolled in a college-wide learning and development course in the fall of 1997 (n=245) and 1998 (n=195) at the University of Missouri participated. The following admission criteria were investigated as possible predictors of academic performance and retention: ACT examination, high school core grade point average (GPA), and high school class rank. In addition, students' preferred learning styles were investigated as a possible predictor of academic performance and retention. Regression analysis was utilized to account for the variance in students' cumulative GPA at the completion of the freshman academic year. Step-wise discriminant analysis was performed to build a predictive model that could determine whether a linear combination of learning style, ACT score, high school class rank, and high school core GPA could be used to predict student enrollment status for the fall semester of the sophomore year. Learners preferring a field-independent learning style exhibited a tendency for greater academic performance than did their field-dependent peers in the first year of college. The best predictor of academic performance during the first year of college for 1997 freshman was a combination of their high school core GPA and ACT score. However, high school core GPA alone was the best predictor of college academic performance for freshman who began their college career in 1998. Furthermore, learning style was not a predictor of students' academic performance during their first year of enrollment in a college of agriculture. Only the traditional university admission variable of high school core GPA was successful in predicting students' first year cumulative GPA. In the current study, the traditional criteria used for college admission was found to have limited value in predicting agriculture students' retention. The study raises questions regarding the effectiveness of current college admission variables as predictors of agriculture students' academic performance and retention. (Contains 24 references.) (Author/MM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Predicting College Agriculture Students' Academic Performance and Retention: A Trend Study Bryan L. Garton James E. Dyer Brad 0. King Anna L. Ball University of Missouri U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) U This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. U Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
FILO ADJUSTMENT OF VISUAL INFORMATION FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE

Visual impairment is a common eye disease that can occurs at any age. There are five main impairments but also a lot of different subtypes of impairments. Visual impairment could happen because some kind of ill in the eye, therefore retina is damaged and eye can’t function properly. In the most cases, those impairments can be enhanced with some medical aids and nowadays scientists trying to develop medical software’s that will help even better. Technology is growing fast and it is possible to develop enhancement software that can test some low vision diseases. Software’s can show how visual impaired people see which will be shown with foveal algorithm and also tested. With that software it is understandable how to design enhancement software’s to enhance vision of visual impaired people. In this master thesis is developed edge detector similar to Canny edge detector which will filter image to binary image with edges. This thesis will also give a convolution algorithm which is primitive operation for image processing. The aim of this work is to test algorithms for image enhancement with different values in the algorithm and to test those algorithms on the different accelerators that could be used for medical aids. The results of this research can show advantages and disadvantages of equipment that is used and also can indicate how to approach in the future work. This paper would provide general understanding of low vision and an overview of low vision enhancement approaches that could be still researched in the future.
Application of Kirchhoff approximation in iterative multiparameter elastic waveform inversion

Summary Elastic Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) is an iterative method that simultaneously uses seismic travel time and amplitude to recover subsurface elastic properties. This work is intended to reduce the computational cost associated with Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) forward modeling and Reverse Time Migration (RTM)-based techniques used in FWI method. Therefore, we propose a method which makes use of prestack time migrations (PSTM) of multicomponent data and associated inversion in an iterative scheme. In this study, the gradient function of reflection impedance from formation boundary is obtained using transformation of volume integral inversion strategy of Tarantola (1986) into the surface integral Kirchhoff approximation.
Expression of recombinant porcine lactoferrin N-lobe in Pichia methanolica and its antibacterial activity

Lactoferrin is a multifunctional, iron-binding glycoprotein found in physiological fluids of mammals. Many functions of lactoferrin are thought to be involved in the N-lobe. In the present study, a gene encoding the N-lobe of porcine lactoferrin was cloned and expressed in Pichia methanolica. The gene contains 1038 bp, an “AGG” codon between 1039-1041bp in the PLF gene was replaced with a “TAA” stop codon through primer design and PCR. The sequencing results were aligned with the sequence (Genbank, L77887), indicating that the homology between these two sequences was 99%. The porcine lactoferrin N-lobe (PLfN) was expressed successfully in Pichia methanolica, and was secreted into the culture medium. The protein translated from the new ORF contained 346 amino acid residues, including a 17-amino acid signal peptide, its MW was approximately 42 kD, and it possessed antibacterial activity toward Escherichia coli ATCC25922. The method established in our study will pave the way for efficient industrial production of recombinant PLfN on a large scale for future utilization of this protein as a feed additive.
Comparative Characteristics of the Home Ranges of Domestic and Wild Animals in Arid and Semi-Arid Afro-Eurasian Watering Places as Hot Spots for Pasture Degradation (DESERT TECHNOLOGY 11 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE)

In this study, we investigated home range of wildlife and livestock that graze on pastures in Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and Tibet) and Sudan. In order to clarify the animal home range, the daily movement of domestic and wild animals was tracked using GPS (Global Positioning System) collars and ARGOS satellite transmitters. The home range of sheep, goats and horses was investigated in Mongolia and China; those of camels, donkeys and goats in Sudan; migration of Tibetan antelope (Chiru, Pantholops hodgsoni) in Tibet; and home range of the Brandt vole (Microtus brandti) in Mongolia. The home ranges of sheep and goats in nomadic Mongolian family are simple, elongated in shape and possess almost no track intersections. The daily routes possess the same pattern, but pass in different places and do not overlay the previous. Those of sheep and goats in settled nomad families in Inner Mongolia differ in shape, have multiple overlays and tend to cross previous paths. Grazing inside fenced pasture causes this pattern; grazing velocity and total distances are higher than that of Mongolian livestock. In Mongolia, surroundings of livestock watering sites are heavily degenerated in a range of 1 km radius. Pasture degradation attracts rodent species, Microtus brandti, to those sites. Analysis of the habitat selection by this rodent on Maximum Entropy Model showed that habitat most preferred by voles are degraded grasslands along roads, ger (tent-type movable house) and watering sites with percent contribution varying from 5.5 to 47.9, and permutation importance of 25.1; 48.7 and 20.9, respectively. We suggest that in conditions of arid and sub-arid land, the livestock and wild animal’s concentration around water sources may cause progressing degradation of pasture and desertification.
How does carrier status for recessive disorders influence reproductive decisions? A systematic review of the literature

ABSTRACT Introduction: Carrier screening for recessive disorders is undertaken by prospective parents to inform their reproductive decisions. With the growing availability of affordable and comprehensive expanded carrier screening (ECS), it is expected that carrier screening will become a standard practice in the future. However, the impact of positive carrier screening results on the reproductive decisions of at-risk couples (ARCs) remains underexplored. Areas covered: We performed a systematic literature review to identify peer-reviewed publications describing the reproductive decisions of ARCs. Our search identified 19 relevant publications spanning the period 1994–2018. By synthesizing available evidence, we found that most ARCs chose to prevent the birth of an affected child and the decision to utilize preventive reproductive options was strongly influenced by the clinical nature of a disorder. However, there was also some heterogeneity in reproductive decisions within the same recessive disorders, suggesting that choices of ARCs can be influenced by factors other than the clinical nature of a disorder. Expert opinion: ECS is becoming increasingly common, which will result in the routine identification of many ARCs. Reproductive decision-making by ARCs is a complex and emotionally challenging process, highlighting the critical role of genetic counseling in the care for these potentially vulnerable patients.
High Clinical Value of Liquid Biopsy to Detect Circulating Tumor Cells and Tumor Exosomes in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Patients Eligible for Up-Front Surgery

Purpose: Expediting the diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) would benefit care management, especially for the start of treatments requiring histological evidence. This study evaluated the combined diagnostic performance of circulating biomarkers obtained by peripheral and portal blood liquid biopsy in patients with resectable PDAC. Experimental design: Liquid biopsies were performed in a prospective translational clinical trial (PANC-CTC #NCT03032913) including 22 patients with resectable PDAC and 28 noncancer controls from February to November 2017. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were detected using the CellSearch® method or after RosetteSep® enrichment combined with CRISPR/Cas9-improved KRAS mutant alleles quantification by droplet digital PCR. CD63 bead-coupled Glypican-1 (GPC1)-positive exosomes were quantified by flow cytometry. Results: Liquid biopsies were positive in 7/22 (32%), 13/22 (59%), and 14/22 (64%) patients with CellSearch® or RosetteSep®-based CTC detection or GPC1-positive exosomes, respectively, in peripheral and/or portal blood. Liquid biopsy performance was improved in portal blood only with CellSearch®, reaching 45% of PDAC identification (5/11) versus 10% (2/22) in peripheral blood. Importantly, combining CTC and GPC1-positive-exosome detection displayed 100% of sensitivity and 80% of specificity, with a negative predictive value of 100%. High levels of GPC1+-exosomes and/or CTC presence were significantly correlated with progression-free survival and with overall survival when CTC clusters were found. Conclusion: This study is the first to evaluate combined CTC and exosome detection to diagnose resectable pancreatic cancers. Liquid biopsy combining several biomarkers could provide a rapid, reliable, noninvasive decision-making tool in early, potentially curable pancreatic cancer. Moreover, the prognostic value could select patients eligible for neoadjuvant treatment before surgery. This exploratory study deserves further validation.
Monocular Three-dimensional Self-calibrating Surface Reconstruction using Digital Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry, which has significantly matured throughout the years, is an optical technique to accurately measure the depth of spatial points from their images. In this paper, a self-calibrating measurement technique based on photogrammery is presented. A digital camera with zoom lenses is used to capture images of the investigated object. The image sequence is then transferred to a Matlab® code to detect the interest points, then to compute the 3-D coordinates of those interest points and the camera poses by matrix factorization operation. Neither calibration object nor a priori information of the camera is needed. The proposed 3-D reconstruction technique is proved able to measure the 3-D shapes of various surfaces with the error of 1 part in 1000 of their sizes.
Residual-Based Simpler Block GMRES for Nonsymmetric Linear Systems with Multiple Right-Hand Sides

We propose in this paper a residual-based simpler block GMRES method for solving a system of linear algebraic equations with multiple right-hand sides. We show that this method is mathematically equivalent to the block GMRES method and thus equivalent to the simpler block GMRES method. Moreover, it is shown that the residual-based method is numerically more stable than the simpler block GMRES method. Based on the deflation strategy proposed by Calandra et al. (2013), we derive a deflation strategy to detect the possible linear dependence of the residuals and a near rank deficiency occurring in the block Arnoldi procedure. Numerical experiments are conducted to illustrate the performance of the new method.
Wetlands for Wellbeing: Piloting a Nature-Based Health Intervention for the Management of Anxiety and Depression

Nature-based health interventions (NBIs) for the treatment of poor mental health are becoming increasingly common, yet evidence to support their effectiveness is lacking. We conduct a pilot study of a six-week intervention, aiming to engage individuals with wetland nature for the treatment of anxiety and/or depression. We employed a mixed methods design, using questionnaires, focus groups and semi-structured interviews to evaluate the intervention from the perspective of participants (n = 16) and healthcare professionals (n = 2). Results demonstrate significant improvements in mental health across a range of indicators, including mental wellbeing (Warwick and Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale), anxiety (Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7), stress (Perceived Stress Scale) and emotional wellbeing (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule). Participants and healthcare professionals cited additional outcomes including improved physical health and reduced social isolation. The wetland site provided a sense of escape from participants’ everyday environments, facilitating relaxation and reductions in stress. Wetland staff knowledge of the natural world, transportation and group organisation also played a considerable role in the intervention’s success. These aspects should be considered in future and existing NBIs to maximise benefits to participants. We propose NBIs based in wetlands are an effective therapy option for individuals diagnosed with anxiety and/or depression.
Incorporation of small extracellular vesicles in sodium alginate hydrogel as a novel therapeutic strategy for myocardial infarction

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have been widely used for treating myocardial infarction (MI). However, low retention and short-lived therapeutic effects are still significant challenges. This study aimed to determine whether incorporation of MSC-derived sEVs in alginate hydrogel increases their retention in the heart thereby improving therapeutic effects. Methods: The optimal sodium alginate hydrogel incorporating sEVs system was determined by its release ability of sEVs and rheology of hydrogel. Ex vivo fluorescence imaging was utilized to evaluate the retention of sEVs in the heart. Immunoregulation and effects of sEVs on angiogenesis were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. Echocardiography and Masson's trichrome staining were used to estimate cardiac function and infarct size. Results: The delivery of sEVs incorporated in alginate hydrogel (sEVs-Gel) enhanced their retention in the heart. Compared with sEVs only treatment (sEVs), sEVs-Gel treatment significantly decreased cardiac cell apoptosis and promoted the polarization of macrophages at day 3 after MI. sEVs-Gel treatment also increased scar thickness and angiogenesis at four weeks post-infarction. Measurement of cardiac function and infarct size were significantly better in the sEVs-Gel group than in the group treated with sEVs only. Conclusion: Delivery of sEVs incorporated in alginate hydrogel provides a novel approach of cell-free therapy and optimizes the therapeutic effect of sEVs for MI.
Density Forecasts with MIDAS Models

In this paper we derive a general parametric bootstrapping approach to compute density forecasts for various types of mixed-data sampling (MIDAS) regressions. We consider both classical and unrestricted MIDAS regressions with and without an autoregressive component. First, we compare the forecasting performance of the different MIDAS models in Monte Carlo simulation experiments. We find that the results in terms of point and density forecasts are coherent. Moreover, the results do not clearly indicate a superior performance of one of the models under scrutiny when the persistence of the low frequency variable is low. Some differences are instead more evident when the persistence is high, for which the ARMIDAS and the AR-U-MIDAS produce better forecasts. Second, in an empirical exercise we evaluate density forecasts for quarterly US output growth, exploiting information from typical monthly series. We find that MIDAS models applied to survey data provide accurate and timely density forecasts.
The X-ray/radio and UV luminosity expected from symbiotic systems as the progenitor of SNe Ia

We carried out a series of binary stellar evolution calculations, in which the effect of tidally enhanced wind on the evolution of WD + RG systems is incorporated. The WDs increase their mass to the Chandrasekhar mass limit, and then explode as SNe Ia. Based on the binary evolution results, we estimated the X-ray/radio (the excess UV) luminosity from the interactions between supernova ejecta and the CSM (the secondary) via some published standard models. We found that the X-ray flux may be high enough to be detected for a nearby SN Ia from a symbiotic system, while the radio flux is more likely to de detected when the companion is an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star, and for a first giant branch (FGB) companion, the radio flux is generally lower than the detection limit. For two well observed SNe Ia, 2011fe and 2014J, almost all symbiotic systems are excluded by X-ray observations, but WD + FGB systems may not be ruled out by radio observations. The excess UV luminosity resulting from the collision of supernova ejecta with the RG secondary may be high enough to be detected if the secondary fills its Roche lobe at the moment of supernova explosion. The X-ray/radio emissions are more prevalent in SNe Ia from WD + AGB systems, although SNe Ia from such systems are rare. The UV luminosity from the collision of supernova ejecta to RG secondary is high enough, but only 1 in every few hundred SNe Ia manifests the signal from the collision.
A Robust FRF-based Technique for Model Updating

Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) residues have been widely used in time to update Finite Element models [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16]. Major reasons for this is that FRFs are very sensitive to damping properties at resonance peaks, local modes influence is included and no modal analysis is required. Nevertheless, it is well known that due to their nature, the frequency responses may change its order of magnitude very rapidly for small parameter or frequency changes. This situation may cause serious discontinuities in the topology of the objective function, causing the updating strategy to diverge or to find a local non-physical minimum [5, 15, 18]. A primary tool for the correlation of FRFs is the Frequency Domain Assurance Criterion [19]. This technique introduces the concept of frequency shift between the frequency response shapes of a reference model (the experimental structure) and a perturbed model (an initial non-updated FE model). Such a concept opens the way for using residues at different frequencies. For instance, in reference [6] the residue is composed by point FRFs at anti-resonances. This paper introduces a general FRF-based model-updating technique, which is focused in using stable residues during the interactive optimization procedure. A benchmark case from the Cost F3 action is used to assess the goodness of the method compared to other well known methods.