Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of dietary carbohydrate and of intestinal microflora on excretion of endogenous amino acids by poultry.

The effects of dietary carbohydrate and of intestinal microflora on excretion of endogenous amino acids by poultry were investigated. Excretion of endogenous amino acids was compared among fasted roosters, intact roosters fed low- or high-fiber, N-free diets, and surgically-modified (SM) roosters fed a low-fiber, N-free diet. The low-fiber diet contained 50% corn starch, 45% glucose, and 5% cellulose, whereas the high-fiber diet contained 25% each of corn starch, glucose, and raw potato starch, 17.5% cellulose, and 7.5% pectin. Digesta were obtained from the terminal ileum of SM roosters to eliminate effects of the microflora in the large intestine and ceca. The roosters were force-fed 60 g of the appropriate diet (30 g at the initiation of the trial followed by an additional 30 g 6 hours later). Excreta or digesta and urine were collected quantitatively for 48 hr after the first force-feeding. Roosters fed the high-fiber diet excreted substantially more (P less than .05) amino acids than did fasted roosters or roosters fed a low-fiber diet. Excreta from roosters fed the high-fiber diet contained higher (P less than .05) levels of alanine and aspartic acid than excreta from fasted or digesta from SM roosters, indicating substantial microbial synthesis of amino acids in the gut. In contrast, amino acid composition of excreta from fasted and intact roosters fed the low-fiber diet was similar to that of digesta from SM roosters, suggesting less microbial influence. Excretion of glucosamine plus galactosamine by SM roosters was approximately twice that of intact roosters fed the same diet. Glycine was the most abundant amino acid in digesta of SM roosters. Results of this study indicate that dietary carbohydrate substantially affects excretion of endogenous amino acids by poultry and that fasted birds may not provide an accurate estimate of endogenous amino acid excretion for birds fed high-fiber feedstuffs in amino acid digestibility trials.
The effect of airsacculitis on bird weights, uniformity, fecal contamination, processing errors, and populations of Campylobacter spp. and Escherichia coli.

A study was conducted to determine if the presence of airsacculitis in broiler chickens contributes to loss of saleable yield, lack of uniformity, fecal contamination, processing errors, and increases in populations of pathogenic and indicator bacteria. In a commercial processing facility, groups of carcasses from airsacculitis (AS)-positive (ASP) and airsacculitis-negative (ASN) flocks were selected from the line and weighed, evaluated for cut or torn areas on the digestive tracts, and assessed for Campylobacter and Escherichia coli counts. Additionally, fecal contamination was monitored and recorded. The presence of AS reduced (P < or = 0.05) carcass weight averages in two of five repetitions. Although not significantly different in repetitions 1, 4, and 5, the means were higher for ASN flocks. The net loss averaged over five repetitions was 84 g/carcass, equating to a loss of 14,686.9 k (32,379 lb) of chicken meat for one growout house per year as the result of AS infection. ASP carcasses had higher (P < or = 0.05) fecal contamination in four of five repetitions. The number of total digestive tract cuts or tears were much higher on ASP carcasses at 42, 49, 37, 60, and 59% as compared to 14, 12, 17, 24, and 16% for ASN carcasses in repetitions 1 to 5, respectively. In three of the five replications, the presence of AS in the flocks increased (P < or = 0.05) the number of Campylobacter recovered from broiler carcasses. Hence, there appears to be a relationship between the presence of AS and Campylobacter-positive carcasses. Escherichia coli counts for ASP flocks were significantly higher than ASN flocks in repetitions 1 and 3. In repetition 5, E. coli numbers were significantly lower for the AS flock. These data differ from previous unpublished data from two separate pilot studies that demonstrated that E. coli counts for ASP flocks are significantly higher than ASN flocks. This difference may be attributed to the fact that in the pilot studies visibly infected carcasses were sampled, and in this study healthy birds that had passed inspection were sampled within an ASP flock. Because flocks of chickens showing signs of AS have lower weights, more fecal contamination, more processing errors, and higher levels of Campylobacter spp. , broiler companies should emphasize control of AS in the flocks as a means of preventing subsequent food-borne bacterial infection.
Reflection removal based on gradient constraints

When shooting through a glass window, a foreground scene may be reflected in the captured image. The elimination of this reflection is useful for protecting the privacy of surrounding people, improving image recognition accuracy in robot vision, etc. In this paper, we propose a reflection-removal method based on sparse/no-sparse gradient regularizations with gradient constraints. Experimental results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed method when applied to several real images containing reflections.
Promoting social networks among Computer Science students

The main scientific aim of this study was to investigate how Computer Science students regarded their social networks among study colleagues. The study was conducted at the Research Lab for Educational Technologies (University of Vienna) in order to find connecting factors for improving students' networks by means of curricular design as well as in single courses. Social Networks drawings and accompanying detailed descriptions provided by students were analyzed according to network analysis measures and set into relation with qualitative content analyses. Additionally qualitative interviews on how course instructors can foster social networks among students were conducted. Empirical results show that university courses provide good opportunities to build networks among students. As expected, students are more likely to experience a supporting network if they have more contacts as well as stronger ties to those colleagues. Furthermore, our results clearly indicate that virtual communication via e- mail or chat plays a significant role in maintaining contacts among study colleagues. Finally, there is reflected the influence of students' habits to communicate via new media upon their social networks as well as upon the didactical concept of university courses.
Multisensory Temporal Integration in Autism Spectrum Disorders

The new DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) include sensory disturbances in addition to the well-established language, communication, and social deficits. One sensory disturbance seen in ASD is an impaired ability to integrate multisensory information into a unified percept. This may arise from an underlying impairment in which individuals with ASD have difficulty perceiving the temporal relationship between cross-modal inputs, an important cue for multisensory integration. Such impairments in multisensory processing may cascade into higher-level deficits, impairing day-to-day functioning on tasks, such as speech perception. To investigate multisensory temporal processing deficits in ASD and their links to speech processing, the current study mapped performance on a number of multisensory temporal tasks (with both simple and complex stimuli) onto the ability of individuals with ASD to perceptually bind audiovisual speech signals. High-functioning children with ASD were compared with a group of typically developing children. Performance on the multisensory temporal tasks varied with stimulus complexity for both groups; less precise temporal processing was observed with increasing stimulus complexity. Notably, individuals with ASD showed a speech-specific deficit in multisensory temporal processing. Most importantly, the strength of perceptual binding of audiovisual speech observed in individuals with ASD was strongly related to their low-level multisensory temporal processing abilities. Collectively, the results represent the first to illustrate links between multisensory temporal function and speech processing in ASD, strongly suggesting that deficits in low-level sensory processing may cascade into higher-order domains, such as language and communication.
The role of omadacycline in skin and soft tissue infections

Purpose of review Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are among the most frequent infections, contributing to significant morbidity and healthcare costs. Although numerous antibiotics are available for this indication, several medical needs remain unmet, especially for treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or mixed infections. This review summarizes the results achieved in the development of omadacycline, a new aminomethylcycline, which could have useful properties for the treatment of SSTIs. Recent findings The antimicrobial activity of omadacycline against the micro-organisms most frequently cultured in SSTIs has been confirmed in worldwide panels of clinical isolates, including MRSA, Gram-negative aerobes and some anaerobes. Pharmacokinetic data demonstrate interesting characteristics, allowing intravenous and oral administration. The Phase 3 OASIS-1 trial assessed the clinical efficacy and safety of omadacycline versus linezolid in SSTIs and demonstrated noninferiority and a good safety profile especially with regard to gastrointestinal effects. Analyses of subgroups of patients from this trial showed similar activity to that of the comparator drug, good safety and no dosage adjustments for age, sex or hepatic or renal impairment. Summary Because of its microbiological activities and pharmacokinetic profile, omadacycline may be particularly suitable for the treatment of SSTIs, whether managed in hospital or on an outpatient basis.
The activity of thalamic nucleus reuniens is critical for memory retrieval, but not essential for the early phase of “off-line” consolidation

Spatial navigation depends on the hippocampal function, but also requires bidirectional interactions between the hippocampus (HPC) and the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The cross-regional communication is typically regulated by critical nodes of a distributed brain network. The thalamic nucleus reuniens (RE) is reciprocally connected to both HPC and PFC and may coordinate the information flow within the HPC–PFC pathway. Here we examined if RE activity contributes to the spatial memory consolidation. Rats were trained to find reward following a complex trajectory on a crossword-like maze. Immediately after each of the five daily learning sessions the RE was reversibly inactivated by local injection of muscimol. The post-training RE inactivation affected neither the spatial task acquisition nor the memory retention, which was tested after a 20-d “forgetting” period. In contrast, the RE inactivation in well-trained rats prior to the maze exposure impaired the task performance without affecting locomotion or appetitive motivation. Our results support the role of the RE in memory retrieval and/or “online” processing of spatial information, but do not provide evidence for its engagement in “off-line” processing, at least within a time window immediately following learning experience.
Filopodial-Tension Model of Convergent-Extension of Tissues

In convergent-extension (CE), a planar-polarized epithelial tissue elongates (extends) in-plane in one direction while shortening (converging) in the perpendicular in-plane direction, with the cells both elongating and intercalating along the converging axis. CE occurs during the development of most multicellular organisms. Current CE models assume cell or tissue asymmetry, but neglect the preferential filopodial activity along the convergent axis observed in many tissues. We propose a cell-based CE model based on asymmetric filopodial tension forces between cells and investigate how cell-level filopodial interactions drive tissue-level CE. The final tissue geometry depends on the balance between external rounding forces and cell-intercalation traction. Filopodial-tension CE is robust to relatively high levels of planar cell polarity misalignment and to the presence of non-active cells. Addition of a simple mechanical feedback between cells fully rescues and even improves CE of tissues with high levels of polarity misalignments. Our model extends easily to three dimensions, with either one converging and two extending axes, or two converging and one extending axes, producing distinct tissue morphologies, as observed in vivo.
Effects of sodium bicarbonate and potassium chloride drinking water supplementation. 2. Meat and carcass characteristics of broilers grown under thermoneutral and cyclic heat-stress conditions.

Two broiler trials were conducted to investigate the effect on post-mortem carcass and meat quality of NaHCO3 and KCl drinking water supplementation under thermoneutral and cyclic heat-stress climatic conditions. Water chill carcass weight change, water- and oven-cooked breast filled yields, and breast meat tenderness were measured. In Trial 1, neither environmental regimen, nor water treatments, nor their interaction was a significant (P less than .05) source of variation for the parameters measured. In Trial 2, environmental regimen was a highly significant (P less than .01) source of variability for chilled carcass weight change; the cyclic heat-stressed broiler carcasses gained more weight than the thermoneutral (control) broiler carcasses during ice-water chilling. Oven-cooked fillet yield was significantly (P less than .05) affected by environmental regimen; fillets from cyclic heat-stressed broilers had lower yields than thermoneutral (control) broiler fillets. Drinking water treatments were a significant (P less than .05) source of variation for breast meat tenderness in Trial 2. Broilers given . 5% NaHCO3 from 5 to 8 wk of age had higher shear resistance values than broilers given a combination of . 5% NaHCO3 and . 5% KCl or tap water-fed controls. Breast meat shear values were negatively correlated (P less than .05) with 8-wk broiler body weight and 5- to 8-wk gain.
Microbiological Evaluation of Edible Coated Fresh-Cut Cantaloupe

This work aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the incorporation of chitosan as an antimicrobial additive in the edible methyl cellulose coating on the microbiological quality of fresh-cut cantaloupe. Cantaloupe slices were coated with edible coating solutions after washing in chlorinated water. The coating solutions were mixtures of 3% methyl cellulose and 2% glycerol that contained 0, 1, 1.5 and 2% of chitosan respectively. The slices were drained, packed on polystyrene trays and wrapped with polyvinylchloride film. The samples were stored at 10°C for 15 days. During storage, samples including a control (cantaloupe slices without coating) were collected every five days for microbiological analysis of mesophillic aerobes, psychrotrophs, lactic acid bacteria, yeast and mold, Staphylococcus aureus, total coliforms, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. Applications of 1.5 and 2% chitosan in the methyl cellulose coating of fresh-cut cantaloupe produced a better microbiological quality in the products. Chitosan reduced the growth of mesophillic aerobe (3.3 log cfu g -1 ), psychrotrophs (3.9 log cfu g -1 ), lactic acid bacteria (3.1 log cfu g -1 ), yeasts and molds (1.1 log cfu g -1 ) and total coliform (3.8 log cfu g -1 ). Moreover, S. aureus, Salmonella sp. and E. coli were as low as <10 cfu g -1 , <10 cfu g -1 and 0 MPN g -1 , respectively.
Supporting Data Provenance in Data-Intensive Scalable Computing Systems

Debugging data processing logic in Data-Intensive Scalable Computing (DISC) systems is a difﬁcult and time consuming effort. Data provenance support is a key building block in libraries that aim to provide debugging support for data processing pipelines. In this paper we report our experience in building Titian: a data provenance system targeting the Apache Spark framework. Our focus here is to analyze the design choices and trade offs that we and others made. Ultimately, we believe there is still more work to do before reaching a widespread adoption of data provenance outside the research community.
Approaches in the treatment of Parkinson's disease: A focus on stem cell-based therapies

Although Parkinson's disease is debilitating millions of people around the globe, none of the current therapies has been able to curb the progression of the disease, laying a serious challenge before the neuroscience community. Both pharmacological as well as non-drug approaches have been proposed and extensively investigated. This works offers an extensive description of some of the new promising non-traditional approaches in the management of Parkinson's disease with a special focus on the interesting potential use of stem cell-based regenerative therapies in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. This work should be useful to many scholars involved in neurosciense, Parkinson's disease, stem cell-based therapy, and regenerative medicine.
Reduced Memory Meet-in-the-Middle Attack against the NTRU Private Key

NTRU is a public-key cryptosystem introduced at ANTS-III. The two most used techniques in attacking the NTRU private key are meet-in-the-middle attacks and lattice-basis reduction attacks. Howgrave-Graham combined both techniques in 2007 and pointed out that the largest obstacle to attacks is the memory capacity that is required for the meet-in-the-middle phase. In the present paper an algorithm is presented that applies low-memory techniques to find 'golden' collisions to Odlyzko's meet-in-the-middle attack against the NTRU private key. Several aspects of NTRU secret keys and the algorithm are analysed. The running time of the algorithm with a maximum storage capacity of w is estimated and experimentally verified. Experiments indicate that decreasing the storage capacity w by a factor 1 < c < √w increases the running time by a factor √c.
Interrelationship between phosphorus, sodium, and chloride in the diet of laying hens.

Two experiments were conducted with commercial egg production type hens to determine the effects of dietary phosphorus, sodium, and chloride levels as related to levels of plasma calcium and phosphorus, blood acid-base balance, and production characteristics. Sodium and chloride were supplied to the diet as sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid, respectively. In Experiment 1, five treatment groups were fed diets ad libitum containing . 2, . 6, 1.0, 1.4, and 1.8% total phosphorus. The remaining treatment group was fed a diet containing . 4% total phosphorus from 1400 to 2030 hr and 1.4% total phosphorus from 600 to 1100 hr. In Experiment 2, a 3 X 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was used that consisted of three levels of total phosphorus (.2, .6, and 1.4%) and four levels of added sodium (0, .06, .22, and .45%) provided by sodium bicarbonate. Three other treatment groups were fed diets containing . 36% supplemental chloride supplied by hydrochloric acid and either . 2, . 6, or 1.4% total phosphorus. Egg production was decreased in hens fed diets containing 1.8% total phosphorus. Egg specific gravity was decreased by both low and high phosphorus levels. Hens fed . 4% total phosphorus in the afternoon produced eggs with higher specific gravity as compared with hens fed 1.4% total phosphorus during the entire experiment. At 1.4% dietary phosphorus, a significant increase in specific gravity was observed when . 2 or . 8% sodium bicarbonate was added to the diet. Increasing dietary phosphorus resulted in elevated plasma phosphorus and calcium concentration. Plasma phosphorus of hens fed . 2 through 1.8% total phosphorus declined slowly from oviposition until 6 hr after oviposition and then reached a peak at 21 hr after oviposition. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Spectrum of Thyroid Dysfunction among PatientsEvaluated by Thyroid Function Tests at a Tertiary ClinicalLaboratory in Calabar, Nigeria

Background: Thyroid dysfunction is one of the common abnormalities encountered in contemporary clinical endocrinology practice. There is a fairly wide spectrum of thyroid dysfunction which can be identified by patterns of thyroid function test results. Whereas overt hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism are clinically manifest and can be distinguished by the pattern of changes in serum T4, T3 and TSH levels, subclinical thyroid dysfunctions are essentially laboratory-based diagnoses. Objective: To describe the spectrum (pattern and prevalence) of thyroid dysfunction among patients evaluated by thyroid function tests at a tertiary clinical laboratory. Method: The study was a retrospective study that was carried out by retrieving and reviewing archived thyroid function tests results stored in an electronic database of a fully-automated tertiary clinical laboratory. Results: Among the results, 68.8% indicated euthyriodism while thyroid dysfunction occurred in 31.2% of cases. The spectrum of thyroid dysfunction included: primary hyperthyroidism (13.7%), subclinical hypothyroidism (6.3%), primary hypothyroidism (4.9%), subclinical hyperthyroidism (4.1%), euthyriod sick syndrome (1.5%) and euthyriod hyperthyroxinaemia (0.3%). Primary and subclinical hyperthyroidism were more common in females while primary and subclinical hypothyroidism were more common in males. Conclusion: Thyroid dysfunction is a fairly common endocrine abnormality in our contemporary clinical practice and it occurs in a wide range of spectrum. Primary hyperthyroidism is the most common form of thyroid dysfunction in our environment with women of child-bearing age being the mostly affected.
Does Consciousness Collapse the Wave Packet

The “subjective reduction” interpretation of measurement in quantum physics proposes that the collapse of the wave-packet, associated with measurement, is due to the consciousness of human observers. A refined conceptual replication of an earlier experiment, designed and carried out to test this interpretation in the 1970s, is reported. Two improvements are introduced. First, the delay between pre-observation and final observation of the same quantum event is increased from a few microseconds in the original experiment to one second in this replication. Second, rather than using the final observers’ verbal response as the dependent variable, his early brain responses as measured by EEG are used. These early responses cover a period during which an observer is not yet conscious of an observed event. Our results support the “subjective reduction” hypothesis insofar as significant differences in the brain responses of the final observer are found, depending on whether or not the pre-observer has been looking at the quantum event (exact binomial p < 0.02). Alternative “normal” explanations are discussed and rejected. It is concluded that the present results do justify further research along these lines.
Partial pilot transmission for self-interference channel estimation in full-duplex MIMO systems

This paper proposes a partial pilot transmission method for self-interference (SI) channel estimation in full-duplex multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In the proposed partial pilot transmission method, pilots for estimating the SI channel are transmitted in part for the total transmit antennas. For the channels where the pilots are not transmitted, the previously estimated SI channels are utilized. Compared to the conventional method where pilots are transmitted for the whole transmit antennas, even if the partial pilot transmission method has the increased SI channel estimation error, the proposed pilot transmission method can achieve about a 1 bps/Hz gain in terms of the ergodic achievable rate.