Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feather Damage Monitoring System Using RGB-Depth-Thermal Model for Chickens

Simple Summary Feather coverage reflects the production efficiency and animal welfare of poultry. Monitoring the feather-cover condition of chickens is of great significance. Infrared thermography can be used to evaluate the probable existence of inflammatory or tissue damage processes due to the variation in skin temperature, which can be used to objectively determine the depth of the feather damage. In this study, a 3D reconstruction pipeline of chicken monitoring was developed, with color, depth and thermal information for the comprehensive feather damage monitoring of chickens. The results demonstrated that the proposed method can better assess the feather damage compared to a 2D color image or thermal infrared image. The depth of chicken feather damage can be assessed by the 3D model. The method provided ideas for automation and intelligent feather-damage monitoring in poultry farming. Abstract Feather damage is a continuous health and welfare challenge among laying hens. Infrared thermography is a tool that can evaluate the changes in the surface temperature, derived from an inflammatory process that would make it possible to objectively determine the depth of the damage to the dermis. Therefore, the objective of this article was to develop an approach to feather damage assessment based on visible light and infrared thermography. Fusing information obtained from these two bands can highlight their strengths, which is more evident in the assessment of feather damage. A novel pipeline was proposed to reconstruct the RGB-Depth-Thermal maps of the chicken using binocular color cameras and a thermal infrared camera. The process of stereo matching based on binocular color images allowed for a depth image to be obtained. Then, a heterogeneous image registration method was presented to achieve image alignment between thermal infrared and color images so that the thermal infrared image was also aligned with the depth image. The chicken image was segmented from the background using a deep learning-based network based on the color and depth images. Four kinds of images, namely, color, depth, thermal and mask, were utilized as inputs to reconstruct the 3D model of a chicken with RGB-Depth-Thermal maps. The depth of feather damage can be better assessed with the proposed model compared to the 2D thermal infrared image or color image during both day and night, which provided a reference for further research in poultry farming.
A Bayesian Approach to Hybrid Splines Non-Parametric Regression

A Bayesian approach is considered to estimate the number of basis functions and the smoothing parameter of the hybrid splines non-parametric regression procedure. The method used to obtain the estimate of the regression curve and its Bayesian confidence intervals is based on the reversible jump MCMC (Green 1995). Illustrations with simulated data are provided and show good performance of the proposed approach over the existing methods.
Adverse Events of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Based Therapies for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Prospective Clinical Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the incidence and spectrum of adverse events in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) or ICI-based combinations. Summary: The study protocol was prospectively registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022319255). We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for published clinical trials from database inception to April 22, 2022. Studies that included at least one group of unresectable HCC patients treated with ICIs or ICI-based combinations and reported the incidence or spectrum of treatment-related adverse events (trAEs) or immune-related adverse events (irAEs) were eligible. The incidence and spectra of all-grade and grade ≥3 trAEs were the primary outcomes. The profiles of irAEs, the incidence of trAEs leading to treatment discontinuation, and treatment-related mortalities were additional outcomes. We applied random-effects models to pool the incidence and spectra of adverse events. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression were performed. The literature search identified 2,464 records. Twenty studies (4,146 participants with HCC) met the eligibility criteria. The pooled incidences of all-grade trAEs, grade ≥3 trAEs, all-grade irAEs, and grade ≥3 irAEs were 80.1% (95% CI: 73.8–85.2), 35.4% (95% CI: 27.2–44.6), 31.1% (95% CI: 21.0–43.5), and 6.6% (95% CI: 3.6–11.8), respectively. ICIs plus oral targeted agents (all-grade OR = 17.07, 95% CI: 6.05–48.16, p < 0.001; grade ≥3 OR = 9.35, 95% CI: 4.53–19.29, p < 0.001) and ICIs plus intravenous targeted agents (all-grade OR = 4.91, 95% CI: 1.80–13.42, p = 0.003; grade ≥3 OR = 4.21, 95% CI: 1.42–12.48, p = 0.012) were associated with increased trAEs compared with monotherapy. The all-grade trAEs with the highest pooled incidences were reactive capillary endothelial proliferation (49.2%, 95% CI: 26.3–72.3), neutropenia (34.6%, 95% CI: 17.1–57.5), and proteinuria (32.8%, 95% CI: 19.8–49.2). The grade ≥3 trAEs with the highest pooled incidences were hypertension (11.1%, 95% CI: 4.0–29.0), neutropenia (10.5%, 95% CI: 7.0–15.4), and increased aspartate aminotransferase (7.7%, 95% CI: 6.3–9.4). The pooled incidence of trAEs leading to treatment discontinuation was 8.0% (95% CI: 6.0–10.5), and the overall incidence of treatment-related mortalities was 1.1%. Key Messages: This study comprehensively summarized the incidence and spectrum of trAEs in unresectable HCC patients receiving ICIs or ICI-based combinations in clinical trials. The results from this study will provide a useful reference to guide clinical practice.
Ste20‐like kinase activity promotes meiotic resumption and spindle microtubule stability in mouse oocytes

Ste20‐like kinase (SLK) is involved in cell proliferation and migration in somatic cells. This study aims to explore SLK expression and function in mouse oocyte meiosis. Western blot, immunofluorescence, Co‐immunoprecipitation, drug treatment, cRNA construct and in vitro transcription, microinjection of morpholino oilgo (MO) and cRNA were performed in oocytes. High and stable protein expression of SLK was detected in mouse oocyte meiosis, with dynamic distribution in the nucleus, chromosomes and spindle apparatus. SLK phosphorylation emerges around meiotic resumption and reaches a peak during metaphase I (MI) and metaphase II. SLK knockdown with MO or expression of kinase‐dead SLK K63R dramatically delays meiotic resumption due to sequentially suppressed phosphorylation of Polo‐like kinase 1 (Plk1) and cell division cycle 25C (CDC25C) and dephosphorylation of cyclin‐dependent kinase 1 (CDK1). SLK depletion promotes ubiquitination‐mediated degradation of paxillin, an antagonist to α‐tubulin deacetylation, and thus destroys spindle assembly and chromosome alignment; these phenotypes can be substantially rescued by exogenous expression of SLK kinase active fragment. Additionally, exogenous SLK effectively promotes meiotic progression and spindle assembly in aging oocytes with reduced SLK. Collectively, this study reveals SLK is required for meiotic resumption and spindle assembly in mouse oocyte meiosis.
Characterizing Speech Sound Productions in Bilingual Speakers of Jamaican Creole and English: Application of Durational Acoustic Methods.

PURPOSE This study examined the speech acoustic characteristics of Jamaican Creole (JC) and English in bilingual preschoolers and adults using acoustic duration measures. The aims were to determine if, for JC and English, (a) child and adult acoustic duration characteristics differ, (b) differences occur in preschoolers' duration patterns based on the language spoken, and (c) relationships exist between the preschoolers' personal contextual factors (i.e., age, sex, and percentage of language [%language] exposure and use) and acoustic duration. METHOD Data for this cross-sectional study were collected in Kingston, Jamaica, and New York City, New York, United States, during 2013-2019. Participants included typically developing simultaneous bilingual preschoolers (n = 120, ages 3;4-5;11 [years;months]) and adults (n = 15, ages 19;0-54;4) from the same linguistic community. Audio recordings of single-word productions of JC and English were collected through elicited picture-based tasks and used for acoustic analysis. Durational features (voice onset time [VOT], vowel duration, whole-word duration, and the proportion of vowel to whole-word duration) were measured using Praat, a speech analysis software program. RESULTS JC-English-speaking children demonstrated developing speech motor control through differences in durational patterns compared with adults, including VOT for voiced plosives. Children's VOT, vowel duration, and whole-word duration were produced similarly across JC and English. The contextual factor %language use was predictive of vowel and whole-word duration in English. CONCLUSIONS The findings from this study contribute to a foundation of understanding typical bilingual speech characteristics and motor development as well as schema in JC-English speakers. In particular, minimal acoustic duration differences were observed across the post-Creole continuum, a feature that may be attributed to the JC-English bilingual environment. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21760469.
Algal blooms -a source of oil for biodiesel

Algal biomass is good source of oils and it can be used for producing biodiesel. The present work is a study of biodiesel production from the algal blooms. Microcystis species was isolated from the blooms and cultured in BG-11 medium. The biodiesel was extracted using alkali catalyzed transesterification method. The trans esterified oil was collected and subjected to GC MS analysis. The FAME profiles showed the presence of unsaturated fatty acids which confirms the presence of biodiesel. The extracted biodiesel was also characterized for the physical properties like fatty acid value, saponification value, iodine value, cetane number, kinematic viscosity, pour point and cloud point. SAARC J. Agric. , 20(2): 273-281 (2022)
A two-dimensional simulation of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability with magnetic shear

The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is a mechanism for transport of mass and momentum from the solar wind to the magnetosphere. Using a two-dimensional compressional MHD simulation, we explore the mass and momentum transport at the boundary for different magnetic field configurations corresponding to the flank low-latitude boundary layer. We used data taken from Phan and Paschmann [1996] and Paschmann et al. [1993] to better approximate the density and magnetic field structure of the boundary layer for low- and high-shear magnetic fields. We found that mass transport was the largest for the low-shear magnetic field configuration where the magnetic field in the magnetosheath was almost parallel to the magnetospheric magnetic field. The largest momentum transport occurred for cases where the magnetic field in the magnetosheath was parallel or antiparallel to the magnetospheric magnetic field.
Discovery of a new polymorph of clotrimazole through melt crystallization: Understanding nucleation and growth kinetics.

Clotrimazole (CMZ) is a classical antifungal drug for studying crystallization. In this study, a new CMZ polymorph (Form 2) was discovered during the process of nucleation and growth rate determination in the melt. High-quality single crystals were grown from melt microdroplets to determine the crystal structure by x-ray diffraction. Form 2 is metastable and exhibits a disordered structure. The crystal nucleation and growth kinetics of the two CMZ polymorphs were systematically measured. Form 2 nucleates and grows faster than the existing form (Form 1). The maximum nucleation rate of Forms 1 and 2 was observed at 50 °C (1.07 Tg). The summary of the maximum nucleation rate temperature of CMZ and the other six organic compounds indicates that nucleation near Tg in the supercooled liquid is a useful approach to discovering new polymorphs. This study is relevant for the discovering new drug polymorphs through an understanding of nucleation and growth kinetics during melt crystallization.
FD-SOI-Based Pixel With Real-Time Frame Difference for Motion Extraction and Image Preprocessing

A frame differencing pixel (FDP) design based on fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technology is presented, demonstrating the capability of the FDP to perform pixel-level real-time frame difference (FD) for motion extraction and image preprocessing. The photo charges are collected by the diode under the buried oxide (BOX) and sensed by the MOSFET above. The capacitance of the BOX is used to generate the FD signal without incurring more area costs. TCAD simulations of the FD-SOI FDP were performed to help the analysis. An optimal pixel design model was developed to describe the relationship between noise performance and area allocation. According to the simulation results, the FDP could achieve light sensitivity of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$25.6 ~\mu \text{A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/(<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{J}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/cm2) and a differential signal-to-noise ratio of 35 dB with a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4 ~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> pixel pitch and 76% fill factor.
Characterization of porosity in lack of fusion pores in selective laser melting using the wavefunction

Selective laser melting (SLM) is used extensively in the manufacture of components for both production and domestic applications. However, the lack of fusion pores is one of the most common defects in the SLM process, affecting the performance and life of the part and hindering the development of the SLM process. Meanwhile, the defects are particularly sensitive to changes in SLM process parameters. The micro-selective laser melting (μ SLM) model was established by molecular dynamics simulation, and the lack of fusion pores in the melt pool was analyzed by a multifunctional wavefunction analyzer to understand the difference of the porosities under different processes. The results show that both laser power and scanning speed can prolong the existence time of the melt pool by changing the input energy density. The melted powder has more time to fill the lack of fusion pores, thus reducing the porosity. The larger scanning spacing hinders the combination of adjacent melt pools, leading to an increase in porosity. Reducing scanning spacing will lead to sintering or remelting, thus improving the bonding quality of adjacent melt pools and effectively reducing porosity.
Multi-Criteria Coordinated Electric Vehicle-Drone Hybrid Delivery Service Planning

According to recent works, a coordinated delivery strategy in which terrestrial and aerial electric vehicles work together effectively improves delivery throughput and energy efficiency. However, most research on logistics and transportation focuses on delivery performance and does not care about energy efficiency, with three main limitations: 1. Most of these works ignore geographic information along the delivery route, while road slope is one of the most critical energy consumption components. 2. Vehicle and drone power consumption models are simplified as driving mileage, while the delivery time is a significant concern. 3. The battery model is simplified as a linear model even though practical batteries have non-linearity properties. This work proposes a framework to provide energy- and time-efficient delivery schedules with a hybrid delivery service with terrestrial and aerial electric vehicles. We first implement accurate electric van and drone power models and a battery model based on manufacturers' system specifications and experimental data. Then, we propose a heuristic delivery scheduling algorithm to determine the electric van and drone delivery schedule. We also introduce various cost functions to evaluate the delivery scheduling results regarding time, energy, the weighted sum of time and energy, and the economic model. The proposed framework is validated on randomly implemented delivery missions and delivery scenarios in existing cities. Results indicate that the coordinated delivery saves delivery costs up to 27.25% in terms of the economic model compared with the electric van-only delivery schedule.
Modulation of Inula racemosa Hook Extract on Cardioprotection by Ischemic Preconditioning in Hyperlipidaemic Rats

Objectives Hyperlipidemia (HL) is a major cause of ischemic heart diseases. The size-limiting effect of ischemic preconditioning (IPC), a cardioprotective phenomenon, is reduced in HL, possibly because of the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP). The objective of this study is to see what effect pretreatment with Inula racemosa Hook root extract (IrA) had on IPC-mediated cardioprotection on HL Wistar rat hearts. An isolated rat heart was mounted on the Langendorff heart array, and then ischemia reperfusion (I/R) and IPC cycles were performed. Atractyloside (Atr) is an MPTP opener. Methods The animals were divided into ten groups, each consisting of six rats (n = 6), to investigate the modulation of I. racemosa Hook extract on cardioprotection by IPC in HL hearts Sham control, I/R Control, IPC control, I/R + HL, I/R + IrA + HL, IPC + HL, IPC + NS + HL, IPC + IrA+ HL, IPC + Atr + oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, integrity, and hemodynamic parameters are evaluated for each group. Results The present experimental data show that pretreatment with IrA reduced the LDH, CK-MB, size of myocardial infarction, content of cardiac collagen, and ventricular fibrillation in all groups of HL rat hearts. This pretreatment also reduced the oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Inhibition of MPTP opening by Atr diminished the effect of IrA on IPC-mediated cardioprotection in HL rats. Conclusion The study findings indicate that pretreatment with IrA e restores IPC-mediated cardioprotection in HL rats by inhibiting the MPTP opening.
Submillimeter CO observations of warm gas around T Tauri stars

We report the first observations of T Tauri stars (T-, HL-, DG-, RY-, and GG-Tau) in the 12 CO (6-5) line. The observations trace the dynamics of warm (T≥60 K) and dense (≥10 5 cm −3 ) gas on a scale below 10″. The CO submillimeter emission probably originates in shocks where a stellar wind interacts with a high column density of molecular material close to the star. Additional 12 CO (3-2) and C 18 O (2-1) data show that the spatial distributions and line widths in T-Tau and HL-Tau are not consistent with Keplerian rotation or residual infall but can be explained by warm, dense, slowly outflowing material
Development of PEGylated PLGA Nanoparticles Co-Loaded with Bioactive Compounds: Potential Anticancer Effect on Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Objective: The incidence of breast cancer continues to rise despite decades of laboratory, epidemiological and clinical research. Breast cancer is still the leading cause of cancer death in women. Cyclin D1 is one of the most important oncoproteins associated with cancer cell proliferation and is overexpressed in more than 50% of cases. Curcumin and chrysin are plant-derived components that are believed to assist in inhibiting the viability of breast cancer cells. These agents are involved in cancer cells’ growth and reducing cyclin D1 expression. In this study, the hypothesis of combining curcumin and chrysin is applied to analyze the potential synergistic effect in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and down-regulation of cyclin D1. Furthermore, applying PLGA-PEG NPs could improve the bioavailability of free curcumin and chrysin components and at the same time increases the anti-cancer potential of this compound. Methods: PLGA-PEG NPs were synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization technique and characterized with FT-IR and FE-SEM for chemical structure and morphological characteristics, respectively. Next, curcumin and chrysin were loaded in PLGA-PEG NPs and MTT assay was performed to assess the cytotoxic effect of these agents. T-47D cells were treated with appropriate concentrations of these agents and cyclin D1 expression level was evaluated by real-time PCR. Results: The obtained results from FT-IR and FE-SEM techniques illustrated that curcumin and chrysin were efficiently encapsulated into PLGA-PEG NPs. Curcumin, chrysin, and curcumin-chrysin in free and nano-encapsulated forms exhibited an anti-cancer effect on T-47D cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, especially in a combination of free and encapsulated forms demonstrated synergistic anti-cancer effects. Compared to free form, Nano-curcumin, Nano-chrysin, and Nano-combination remarkably down-regulated cyclin D1 gene expression. (p-value < 0.05). Conclusion: Our results revealed that the curcumin-chrysin combination has a synergistic effect and the encapsulated form of this nano-component has more inhibition on cyclin D1 expression.
A multi-dimensional Vlasov-Fokker-Planck code for arbitrarily anisotropic high-energy-density plasmasa)

To study the kinetic physics of High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasmas, we have developed the parallel relativistic 2D3P Vlasov-Fokker-Planck code Oshun. The numerical scheme uses a Cartesian mesh in configuration-space and incorporates a spherical harmonic expansion of the electron distribution function in momentum-space. The expansion is truncated such that the necessary angular resolution of the distribution function is retained for a given problem. Finite collisionality causes rapid decay of the high-order harmonics, thereby providing a natural truncation mechanism for the expansion. The code has both fully explicit and implicit field-solvers and employs a linearized Fokker-Planck collision operator. Oshun has been benchmarked against well-known problems, in the highly kinetic limit to model collisionless relativistic instabilities, and in the hydrodynamic limit to recover transport coefficients. The performance of the code, its applicability, and its limitations are discussed in the context of simple.
Using Kohn-Sham density functional theory to describe charged excitations in finite systems

We use projector operators to correct the Kohn-Sham Hamiltonian of density functional theory (KS-DFT) so that, in finite systems, the resulting mean-field scheme yields virtual orbitals and energy gaps in better agreement with those predicted by quasiparticle theory. The proposed correction term is a scissorslike operator of the form $(\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{I}\ensuremath{-}\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\rho}})\ensuremath{\delta}\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}(\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{I}\ensuremath{-}\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\rho}})$, where $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{I}$ is the identity operator, $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\rho}}$ is the $N$-particle KS-DFT density matrix, and $\ensuremath{\delta}\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}$ is the difference between the $N+1$- and $N$-particle Kohn-Sham Hamiltonians. Such a term replaces the Kohn-Sham virtual orbitals of the $N$-particle system by the highest occupied molecular orbital and virtual orbitals of the system with $N+1$ particles in an attempt to mimic a true quasiparticle spectrum. The physical origin of the proposed correction is discussed and illustrated by considering a system of interacting electrons\char22{}the Moshinsky atom\char22{}where the gap can be computed exactly. A local-density approximation (LDA) is then used to evaluate $\ensuremath{\delta}\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}$ in order to compute the gaps and orbitals of a variety of small molecules to find that the approximation improves the agreement with both experiment and computationally more demanding methods. The similarity between the corrected and Hartree-Fock virtual orbitals is illustrated and the extent to which the bare LDA virtual orbitals are improved is considered.