Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monosex production of African catfish, Heterobranchus longifilis, through gynogenesis and androgenesis

This study examined the economic viability of the use of microfinance bank loan on aquaculture development in Ogun state, Nigeria. The simple random sampling technique was used in selecting eighty aquaculturists that provided the primary data used in this study. The primary data were collected with the aid of well-structured, validated and pre-tested sets of interview schedules, administered through personal interviews and observations, so as to elicit the required information from the targeted loan users and were analyzed using descriptive, budgetary analyses and profitability ratios. Results showed a mean age of 47 and 43 years for beneficiaries of microfinance bank loan and non-beneficiaries respectively, while 57.5 and 42.5% had secondary education and an average household size of 5 persons, their vast experience in fish farming (13 and 12 years) has been a facilitating factor in productivity improvement in the localities. Gross margin of N27,461.48 and N59,030.31; benefit cost ratio of 1.58:1 and 6.9:1 shows that, aquaculture was profitable and viable. Findings concluded that, aquaculture is a profitable business with a high return on investment; therefore adequate policies should be made to ensure that the interest rate is subsidized for increase in the supply of animal protein source. Key words: Economic viability, microfinance bank loan, aquaculture development, Nigeria.
Fabrication of multilayer tubular scaffolds with aligned nanofibers to guide the growth of endothelial cells

Aligned electrospun fibers used for the fabrication of tubular scaffolds possess the ability to regulate cellular alignment and relevant functional expression, with applications in tissue engineering. Despite significant progress in the fabrication of small-diameter vascular grafts (SDVGs) over the past decade, several challenges remain; one of the most problematic of these is the fabrication of aligned nanofibers for multilayer SDVGs. Furthermore, delamination between each layer is difficult to avoid during the fabrication of multilayer structures. This study introduces a new fabrication method for minute delamination four-layer tubular scaffolds (FLTSs) that consist of an interior layer with highly longitudinal aligned nanofibers, two middle layers composed of electrospun sloped and circumferentially aligned fibers, and an exterior layer comprising random fibers. These FLTSs are used to simulate the structures and functions of native blood vessels. Here, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/polycaprolactone (PCL)/polyethylene glycol (PEG) were electrospun to fabricate FLTSs or tubular scaffolds with completely random fibers layer (RLTSs). The surface wettability of the TPU/PCL/PEG tubular scaffold was tested by water contact angle analysis. In particular, compared with RLTSs, FLTSs showed excellent mechanical properties, with higher circumferential and longitudinal tensile properties. Furthermore, the high viability of the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) on the FLTSs indicated the biocompatibility of the tubular scaffolds comparing to RLTSs. The aligned and random composite structure of the FLTSs are conducive to promoting the growth of HUVECs, and the cell adhesion and proliferation on these scaffolds was found to be superior to that on RLTSs. These results demonstrate that the fabricated FLTSs have the potential for application in vascular tissue regeneration and clinical arterial replacements.
SDN enabled cloud, IoT and DCNs: A comprehensive Survey

With the advent of high performance computing and evolution of edge computing, the data centers have become the vital resources to meet the high demand of computation and storage resources. A scalable and proficient data center is the need of compute intensive and data intensive applications over cloud and IoT. Software defined networking (SDN), a growing concept that brings ease in the construction as well as in the operations of steady cloud and IoT services. The conventional networks are not capable enough to suffice the need of the hour whereas SDN offers potential techniques to achieve the goals of high performance computing over cloud. SDN has brought a paradigm shift by enabling the network to be adjustable, programmable, and reconfigurable dynamically. In this paper, a complete review on SDN enabled technologies over cloud, IoT and data center networks (DCNs) has been presented. This paper also provides insights into the future research endeavors for SDN enabled technologies.
Microscopic organisation of the oviducal gland of the holocephalan elephant fish, Callorhynchus milii

The study of chondrichthyan reproductive biology has a long history, but the structure and function of the holocephalan oviducal glands (OG) is poorly known; these organs are a vital component in the understanding of chondrichthyan life history. Histochemical techniques revealed that a fundamental zonation was evident in the OG of Callorhynchus milii, similar to most elasmobranchs. In sexually mature females, the following zones occurred (anterior to posterior): (1) club zone, periodic acid–Schiff positive (PAS+), indicating glycoprotein or any mucus substance containing neutral sugars, and Alcian blue positive, pH 2.5 (AB+), indicating the presence of sulfated and unsulfated acid glycosaminoglycans and sialoglycoproteins; (2) papillary zone (AB+); (3) baffle zone (PAS–, AB–); and (4) terminal zone (AB++). Using histological and histochemical techniques not used previously with the holocephalan group, we demonstrated that the structure and function of the OG zones were equivalent between oviparous elasmobranchs and C. milii, even though their final egg capsule morphologies differed. It was also evident that the club and papillary zones produce the egg jelly that surrounds the egg and the baffle zone formed the multilaminate egg capsule. Furthermore, the terminal zone had functions associated with sperm storage and the production of fine hairs that decorate the surface of the egg capsule.
The impact of inbreeding depression on population survival depending on demographic parameters

Inbreeding depression is a critical phenomenon for conservation of small populations, especially concerning the captive breeding of endangered animals whose effective population size may be very low. In order to manage such captive populations on a long‐term basis, assessment of the interactions between demographic and genetic parameters and their consequences on the population survival probability is essential. Therefore, we examined (1) the relative importance of initial population size and carrying capacity on the survival probability of a population, (2) the impact of a bottleneck in an already inbred population. For this purpose, a stochastic model taking into account the effect of genes responsible for inbreeding depression was built. It was concluded that the population survival probability is very sensitive to the carrying capacity. Moreover, in inbred populations, a large increase in the extinction rate results from a second bottleneck. With two founders, survival is high as long as the carrying capacity is not very small (above a few decades), whereas a second bottleneck has a dramatic effect, even when the carrying capacity approaches 100. Consequently, previous inbreeding should be considered in the case of reintroduction. Reason for reintroduction failure could be successive bottlenecks, with the associated deleterious effects of inbreeding.
AN ASSOCIATED SPECIMEN OF CARCHARODON ANGUSTIDENS (CHONDRICHTHYES, LAMNIDAE) FROM THE LATE OLIGOCENE OF NEW ZEALAND, WITH COMMENTS ON CARCHARODON INTERRELATIONSHIPS

Abstract An associated specimen of the large fossil lamnid shark Carcharodon angustidens from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand's South Island preserves approximately 165 teeth, and 32 vertebral centra, making it one of the most complete Tertiary lamnids recovered to date, and the most complete fossil shark known from New Zealand. The well-preserved dentition allows for a more thorough description and revised interpretation of the dental morphology of this relatively poorly known species, and the partial vertebral column permits the unequivocal relating of teeth and centra for this taxon. Based on dental and vertebral morphology, C. angustidens is here considered to be properly assigned to the genus Carcharodon, which also includes several other “great-toothed” Tertiary shark species and C. carcharias, the extant Great White Shark. According to this interpretation, Carcharodon has a record extending back to the early Tertiary; this is in sharp contrast to an opposing view, which holds that the genus evolved much more recently, at the Miocene–Pliocene boundary, and that C. angustidens and the other great-toothed forms should be placed in a separate genus (“Carcharocles”).
How many macrozoobenthic species might inhabit the Antarctic shelf?

Based on data from the Weddell Sea in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, the total number of macrozoobenthic species was estimated for the entire Antarctic shelf using species-accumulation methods, jack-knife estimators, and Incidence-based Coverage Estimators of species richness. Ranging between 11 000 and 17 000 expected species, Antarctica seems to have an intermediate species richness when compared to other selected tropical, temperate or Arctic habitats.
A quantitative evaluation of the impact of beam trawling on benthic fauna in the southern North Sea

Data on density of benthos species and on direct mortality caused by the passing of a beam trawl, together with fishing effort data for the Dutch beam-trawl fleet, were used to evaluate the annual population mortality caused by beam trawling in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. The effects of using environmental strata, instead of ICES rectangles for density distributions, and of using higher-resolution fishing-effort data on the population mortality estimates of 21 infauna and epifauna species were investigated. Variation in species abundance was markedly smaller based on sedimentdepth strata than based on ICES rectangles, and the resulting population mortality estimates differed significantly among species (ratio ranged from 0.3 to 1.6) depending on the overlap of the spatial distribution of a species and of beam-trawl effort. Changing the resolution of fishing effort from ICES rectangles or sediment-depth strata to 1 minute latitude2 minute longitude square (11 nm) resulted in a systematic reduction of population mortality by a factor 0.7 due to the patchy effort distribution. We argue that annual fishing mortality should preferably be based on relevant environmental strata, and accuracy of the estimates increases markedly when the resolution of spatial fishing effort data sufficiently reflects the patchiness of the fleet’s activities. 2000 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
Confident Classification Using a Hybrid Between Deterministic and Probabilistic Convolutional Neural Networks

Traditional neural networks trained using point-based maximum likelihood estimation are deterministic models and have exhibited near-human performance in many image classification tasks. However, their insistence on representing network parameters with point-estimates renders them incapable of capturing all possible combinations of the weights; consequently, resulting in a biased predictor towards their initialisation. Most importantly, these deterministic networks are inherently unable to provide any uncertainty estimate for their prediction which is highly sought after in many critical application areas. On the other hand, Bayesian neural networks place a probability distribution on network weights and give a built-in regularisation effect making these models able to learn well from small datasets without overfitting. These networks provide a way of generating posterior distribution which can be used for model’s uncertainty estimation. However, Bayesian estimation is computationally very expensive since it greatly widens the parameter space. This paper proposes a hybrid convolutional neural network which combines high accuracy of deterministic models with posterior distribution approximation of Bayesian neural networks. This hybrid architecture is validated on 13 publicly available benchmark classification datasets from a wide range of domains and different modalities like natural scene images, medical images, and time-series. Our results show that the proposed hybrid approach performs better than both deterministic and Bayesian methods in terms of classification accuracy and also provides an estimate of uncertainty for every prediction. We further employ this uncertainty to filter out unconfident predictions and achieve significant additional gain in accuracy for the remaining predictions.
Reliability of glycosylated hemoglobin in the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus

Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) performed at 24‐28 weeks gestation is the current recommended method to the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Many recent studies investigating HbA1c in detecting GDM yield different results. There are no published data on HbA1c in the diagnosis of GDM in Sub‐Saharan countries including Sudan.
Effect of low-density diets on broiler breeder and offspring performance

Restricted feeding of broiler breeders is required to obtain good reproductive performance. Current practical feed restriction levels can result in hunger feeling and chronic stress, particularly during the rearing period. On the basis of literature data, low-density diets might improve bird welfare. Recent findings also indicate that low-density broiler breeder diets can reduce offspring mortality. In this thesis, effects of low-density breeder diets on bird welfare and breeder and offspring performance were evaluated. Breeder treatments involved: 1) normal density diets (ND), 2) diets with 12 and 11 % reduced nutrient densities during rearing and laying (LD12 and LD11), 3) diets with 23 and 21 % reduced nutrient densities during rearing and laying (LD23 and LD21), 4) as 2), but with oats and sugar beet pulp instead of palm kernel meal, wheat bran, wheat gluten feed and sunflower seed meal in the diets (LD12 OP and LD11 OP ), and 5) LD11 diets during rearing followed by ND diets during laying. Feeding LD23 diets reduced stereotypic pecking behaviour and increased time spent on sitting during the first half of the rearing period. LD23 and LD12 OP diets reduced feed intake motivation during rearing. It was concluded that LD23 can improve bird welfare during the first half of the rearing period. However, LD21 impaired bird welfare during laying. LD12 OP and LD11 OP diets gave significantly lower live weights during rearing and laying . Low-density diets delayed reproductive tract development at 24 weeks of age, which was followed by an increased development between week 24 and 26. Changes in bird development were related to changes in nutrient digestibility and utilization of digested nutrients. Egg weights and amount of egg white increased and embryonic development was improved on low-density diets. Laying percentage was significantly higher on LD11 diets. LD11 diets increased live weight of offspring of 29-week-old breeders significantly in comparison with ND diets. Low-density breeder diets resulted in a significant reduction in offspring mortality when breeders were 60 weeks of age. Antibody titres in offspring indicated that nutrients in eggs with a relatively low weight were used for growth rather than for immune system development. It was concluded that low-density broiler breeder diets can improve offspring performance and offspring vitality.
A Machine Learning Approach to Investigate Fronto-Parietal Neural Ensemble Dynamics During Complex Behavior

Brain circuits exhibit very complex dynamics, where individual neurons fire action potentials determining coordinated activity patterns. During behavior, a multitude of brain areas are engaged in planning and execution. A particular focus has been recently put on fronto-parietal circuits, which have well-established roles in coordinating complex movements, and which were recently shown to encode whole-body posture. Individual cells in these areas can exhibit striking behavioral tuning, but it is less well known how the collective firing of the neurons correlates with behavior. Here, our objective was to find a way to highlight ensemble firing patterns correlated with behavioral events. To accomplish this, we introduce a machine learning approach for revealing such associations between high-dimensional multi-neuronal firing patterns and behavioral events in freely running rats. We introduce data representations that can extract firing patterns evolving on multiple timescales, and propose an ordered mapping using Kohonen maps to reveal the stereotypically appearing patterns on different timescales in a way that considers the structure of the data space. Furthermore, we apply machine learning on the raw and Kohonen-mapped data and study how and why these approaches can reveal complementary information about the relation between firing patterns and behavior. We conclude that fronto-parietal firing patterns exhibit specific expression in relation to behavior. Depending on the type of data representation, machine learning can reveal patterns with different complexity and evolving on various timescales.
Mutations de la neurotrypsine et retard mental

1. International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium. Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome. Nature 2001; 409: 860-921. 2. Heilig R, Brüls T. Premiers regards sur la séquence du génome humain. Med Sci 2001; 17: 299-308. 3. Dunham I, Shimizu N, Roe Ba, et al. The DNA sequence of human chromosome 22. Nature 1999; 402: 489-95. 4. Hattori M, Fujiyama A, Taylor TD, et al. The DNA sequence of human chromosome 21. Nature 2000; 405: 311-9. 5. Deloukas P, Matthews LH, Ashurst J, et al. The DNA sequence and comparative analysis of human chromosome 20. Nature 2001; 414: 865-71. 6. Heilig R, Eckenberg R, Petit JL, et al. The DNA sequence and analysis of human chromosome 14. Nature 2003; 421: 601-7. 7. Brüls T, Gyapay G, Petit JL, et al. A physical map of human chromosome 14. Nature 2001; 409: 947-8. 8. The International Human Mapping Consortium. A physical map of the human genome. Nature 2001; 409: 934-41. 9. Roest Crollius H, Jaillon O, Bernot A, et al. Estimate of human gene number provided by genome-wide analysis using Tetraodon nigroviridis DNA sequence. Nat Genet 2000; 25: 235-8. 10. Roest Crollius H, Jaillon O. Le nombre des gènes dans le génome humain: les paris sont ouverts. Med Sci 2000; 16: 988-90. 11. Rowen L, Young J, Birditt B, et al. Analysis of the human neurexin genes: alternative splicing and the generation of protein diversity. Genomics 2002; 79: 587-97.
Teaching NeuroImages: Amyloid myopathy

A 31-year-old man presented with a 6-year history of slowly progressive calf atrophy and weakness. EMG showed distal myopathy with fibrillation potentials. Creatine kinase (CK) was 2,848 U/L (normal <310). Muscle biopsy showed necrotic fibers and interstitial amyloid deposits (figure). The search for extramuscular amyloidosis was unrevealing. Next-generation sequencing identified known pathogenic c.6124C>T and novel c.145-1G>A variants in the dysferlin gene (DYSF). Intramuscular interstitial amyloid deposits can occur in systemic amyloidosis (AL or ATTR)1 or less commonly in muscular dystrophies (DYSF and ANO5). 2 Longstanding symptoms, young age at onset, calf atrophy, markedly elevated CK, and lack of systemic involvement are suggestive of muscular dystrophies.2
Validation of a new software eAT24 used to assess dietary intake in the adult Portuguese population

Abstract Objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the accuracy of the new software eAT24 used to assess dietary intake in the National Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (IAN-AF) against urinary biomarkers: N (nitrogen), K (potassium) and Na (sodium). Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study. Two non-consecutive 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDR) were applied, and a 24-h urine sample was collected. We examined differences between estimates from dietary and urine measures, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated and the Bland–Altman plots were drawn. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the factors associated with the difference between estimates. Setting: Sub-sample from the Portuguese IAN-AF sampling frame. Participants: Ninety-five adults (men and women) aged 18–84 years. Results: The estimated intake calculated using the dietary recall data was lower than that estimated from urinary excretion for the three biomarkers studied (protein 94·3 v. 100·4 g/d, K 3212 v. 3416 mg/d and Na 3489 v. 4003 mg/d). Considering 2 d of recall, the deattenuated correlation coefficients were 0·33, 0·64 and 0·26 for protein, K and Na, respectively. For protein, differences between dietary and urinary estimates varied according to BMI (β = −1·96, P = 0·017). The energy intake and 24-h urine volume were significantly associated with the difference between estimates for protein (β = 0·03, P < 0·001 and β = −0·02, P = 0·002, respectively), K (β = 0·71, P < 0·001 and β = −0·42, P = 0·040, respectively) and Na (β = 1·55, P < 0·001 and β = −0·81, P = 0·011, respectively). Conclusions: The new software eAT24 performed well in estimating protein and K intakes, but lesser so in estimating Na intake, using two non-consecutive 24-HDR.
Security Requirements in Intelligent Transportation System: A systematic review

Cars in modern life have become the most essential elements and with increase in the number of cars nowadays, many problems arise such as pollution, traffic jams, etc. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) provides innovative services to counter different modes of traffic management and transport. These enable users to make safe, coordinated and efficient use of transport networks. In order to capture accurate traffic models, many ITS expect users to contribute captured data by sensors of personal mobile devices. This makes the mobile devices behave as ubiquitous sensing devices that can cover any area where the users are present. Sharing such sensitive data may lead to security and privacy concerns for users like disclosing the location of user to some unattended audience. Thus, security must be the considered for ITS application. Recently ITS provided efficient solutions for improvement of the performance of traffic systems, increased safety and security for travelers, and reduced traffic congestion. The ITS architecture is costly and complex due to inclusion of diverse data sources and heterogeneous devices. Thus, for a cost-effective and efficient ITS architecture, it must employ easy mechanisms for different transport subsystems interactions. Recent technologies like cloud computing, grid computing and service-oriented architectures (SOA) enables a loosely-coupled and reliable distributed systems. Due to large amount of information or data, ITS development is slowly changing from technology-driven system to data-driven system. A data-driven ITS was designed to optimize its performance.