Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Large-scale patterns in trematode richness and infection levels in marine crustacean hosts

Little is known about the patterns of variation in parasitism in marine hosts. Trematodes, the dominant parasites in intertidal systems, are transmitted from their first intermediate hosts (snails) to a range of second intermediate hosts, including crustaceans. Using published studies of trematode infections in crustacean hosts, we investigated general patterns of variation in trematode species richness and infection levels (i.e. percentage of hosts infected and mean number of individ- ual parasites per host). Since the production and release of infective stages in snails is strongly tem- perature dependent, we also investigated a potential decrease in trematode infection levels with increasing latitude (as a proxy for decreasing temperature). Trematode species richness in the crus- tacean hosts was generally low (mostly 1 or 2), and infection levels were moderate. However, there were differences among taxa in some groups, particularly among brachyuran crabs, which showed significantly higher values than in other groups. For amphipods, which were the only well-studied group across a large range of latitudes, we found negative correlations between latitude and the trematode species richness or measures of infection level considered here. These relationships per- sisted after correction of the potentially confounding effects of sampling effort, host body size and host generic identity (as a control for phylogenetic influences). We discuss these findings in light of environmental mediation of parasite transmission, in particular with respect to the probably funda- mental role of temperature in driving the output of trematode infective stages in marine systems.
The anti-inflammatory potential of phenolic compounds in grape juice concentrate (G8000™) on 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid-induced colitis

Chronic inflammatory bowel disease is characterised by an up-regulation of the synthesis and release of a variety of pro-inflammatory mediators leading to excessive tissue injury. Flavonoids are able to inhibit enzymes and/or due to their antioxidant properties regulate the immune response. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the mechanisms of action of phenolic compounds present in grape juice on 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis. A total of forty-one male Wistar rats were randomised into seven groups: negative control group; TNBS non-treated induced colitis; 2 % grape juice control group; 1 % grape juice 24 h after TNBS colitis induction; 1 % grape juice on day 7 after colitis induction; 2 % grape juice 24 h after colitis induction; 2 % grape juice on day 7 after colitis induction. The 1 % grape juice-treated induced colitis group showed marked clinical improvement when compared with the TNBS-induced colitis group. Rats that received 1 % grape juice, on day 7 after colitis induction, presented reduced intensity of macroscopic and histological scores. Statistically significant differences (P< 0·05) of TNF-α and inducible NO synthase mRNA expression were detected in the groups treated with grape juice at the 1 % dose after inducing experimental colitis when compared with the TNBS group. Grape juice reduced the noxious effects induced by colitis caused by TNBS, especially at the 1 % dose.
End Effects of Rated Life Quality: The James Dean Effect

In three studies, we explored how the ending of a life influences the perceived desirability of that life. We consistently observed that participants neglected duration in judging the global quality of life. Across all the studies, the end of life was weighted heavily, producing ratings that contradict a simple hedonic calculus in which years of pleasure and pain are summed. Respondents rated a wonderful life that ended abruptly as better than one with additional mildly pleasant years (the “James Dean Effect”). Similarly, a terrible life with additional moderately bad years was rated as more desirable than one ending abruptly without those unpleasant years (the “Alexander Solzhenitsyn Effect”). Finally, embedding moderately intense years in the middle of life did not produce effects as strong as adding those years to the end of life, suggesting that a life's ending is weighted especially heavily in judging quality of life.
FastViromeExplorer: a pipeline for virus and phage identification and abundance profiling in metagenomics data

Identifying viruses and phages in a metagenomics sample has important implication in improving human health, preventing viral outbreaks, and developing personalized medicine. With the rapid increase in data files generated by next generation sequencing, existing tools for identifying and annotating viruses and phages in metagenomics samples suffer from expensive running time. In this paper, we developed a stand-alone pipeline, FastViromeExplorer, for rapid identification and abundance quantification of viruses and phages in big metagenomic data. Both real and simulated data validated FastViromeExplorer as a reliable tool to accurately identify viruses and their abundances in large data, as well as in a time efficient manner.
High-resolution patterns of meiotic recombination across the human major histocompatibility complex.

Definitive characteristics of meiotic recombination events over large (i.e., >1 Mb) segments of the human genome remain obscure, yet they are essential for establishing the haplotypic structure of the genome and for efficient mapping of complex traits. We present a high-resolution map of recombination at the kilobase level across a 3.3-Mb interval encompassing the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Genotyping of 20,031 single sperm from 12 individuals resulted in the identification and fine mapping of 325 recombinant chromosomes within genomic intervals as small as 7 kb. Several principal characteristics of recombination in this region were observed: (1) rates of recombination can differ significantly between individuals; (2) intense hot spots of recombination occur at least every 0.8 Mb but are not necessarily evenly spaced; (3) distribution in the location of recombination events can differ significantly among individuals; (4) between hot spots, low levels of recombination occur fairly evenly across 100-kb segments, suggesting the presence of warm spots of recombination; and (5) specific sequence motifs associate significantly with recombination distribution. These data provide a plausible model for recombination patterns of the human genome overall.
Properties of 3-(3, 4-dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea and other inhibitors of the cytochrome bc1 segment of the mitochondrial respiratory chain in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The properties of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)1,1-dimethylurea (diuron) are compared to those of antimycin, n-heptyl-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide (HpHOQnO), mucidin and funiculosin in submitochondrial particles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 1 Diuron inhibits the transport of electrons between cytochromes b and c1 of the respiratory chain of S. cerevisiae as do the other inhibitors. 2 Kinetics of inhibition of NADH oxidase are non-sigmoidal for the inhibitors of low affinities: diuron and HpHOQnO. 3 Mucidin and funiculosin exhibit high apparent affinities similar to that of antimycin. However the sigmoidicity of the kinetics of inhibition is not apparent for these two inhibitors. 4 Diuron and funiculosin do not induce the ‘red-shift’ of cytochrome b562. 5 In contrast to beef heart, HpHOQnO does induce the ‘red-shift’ of cytochrome b562 in S. cerevisiae. 6 Diuron induces the ‘extra-reduction’ of cytochrome b. 7 Mucidin induces a ‘red-shift’ but yields a very limited ‘extra-reduction’ of cytochrome b. Our results demonstrate that the inhibition of respiration of the bc1 segment of the respiratory chain are not necessarily related to the ‘red-shift’ and the ‘extra-reduction’ of the cytochrome(s) b. They raise the possibility of the existence in yeast mitochondria of two distinct inhibitor-binding sites, each of which would be able to control the transfer of electrons between cytochromes b and c1; in addition, one site would be responsible for the ‘red-shift’ and the other would control the ‘extra-reduction’ of cytochrome(s) b.
Synergistic Effects of Climate and Land-Cover Change on Long-Term Bird Population Trends of the Western USA: A Test of Modeled Predictions

Climate and land-use change are predicted to lead to widespread changes in population dynamics, but quantitative predictions on the relative effects of these stressors have not yet been tested empirically. We analyzed historical abundance data of 110 terrestrial bird species sampled from 1983 to 2010 along 406 Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) across the northwestern USA. Using boosted-regression trees, we modeled bird abundance at the beginning of this interval as a function of (1) climate variables, (2) Landsat-derived landcover data, (3) the additive and interactive effects of climate and land-cover variables. We evaluated the capacity of each model set to predict observed 27-year bird population trends. On average, 45 species significantly declined over the period observed and only 8 increased (mean trend = -0.84%/year). Climate change alone significantly predicted observed abundance trends for 44/108 species (mean 0.37 ± 0.09 [SD]), land-cover changes alone predicted trends for 47/108 species (mean r = 0.36 ±0.09), and the synergistic effects predicted 59/108 species (mean r = 0.37 ±0.11). However, for 37 of these species, including information on land-cover change increased prediction success over climate data alone. Across stressors, species with trends that were predicted accurately were more likely to be in decline across the western USA. For instance, species with high correlations between predicted and observed abundances (> r = 0.6) were declining at rates that were on average >2%/ year. This indicates that abundance models have the capacity to predict the species most likely to be at risk from climate and land-use change, but for many species there were substantial discrepancies between modeled and observed trends. Nevertheless, our results highlight that climate change is already influencing bird populations of the western U.S. and that such effects often operate synergistically with land-cover change to affect population declines.
EFFECT OF INCREASING DIETARY VEGETABLE OILS CONCENTRATION ON PERFORMANCE, CARCASS PARAMETERS AND BLOOD CONSTITUENTS OF BROILER CHICKENS EXPOSED TO HIGH AMBIENT TEMPERATURE

One hundred and forty 21-day old Arbor Acres broiler chickens were used in a straight-run experimental design. The broilers were distributed in a completely randomized design among four treatment groups with seven replicates per treatment and five chickens per replicate. During the experiment period (21 to 42 days old), the chickens were fed isocaloric and iso-nitrogenous diets containing four levels of dietary vegetable oils (DVO) (2.7, 4, 6 and 8%). During the period when chickens were 25–27, 31–33, and 38–40 days old, the chickens were exposed to heat stress for 4 hours a day (from 10.00am–2.00pm) at 34oC and 70–75% relative humidity, and returned to normal house temperature afterwards. Feeding 8% DVO diet significantly increased body weight gain (BWG) compared to the other levels of DVO. Moreover, feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein conversion ratio (PCR), metabolizable energy conversion ratio (ECR) and European production efficiency factor (EPEF) were significantly enhanced due to feeding 8% DVO diet compared to 6% DVO diet. On the other hand, 6 and 4% DVO did not significantly differ from the control. Feeding 8% DVO diet significantly decreased plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and lymphocytes. Feeding 8% DVO diet significantly increased mean corpscular volume (MCV) and mean corpscularhaemoglobin (MCH) compared to the control. Thus, it can be concluded that broiler chickens fed diet containing 8% DVO have showed tolerance to high ambient temperature (34oC, 70–75% RH) during the period from 21–42 days old, as evidenced by increasing the productive performance, blood haematological and biochemical traits.
Adult ocular toxoplasmosis; a preliminary report of a parasitologically proved case.

AFTER the report of Wilder 1 (1952) of the finding of organisms resembling Toxoplasma by microscopic examination of chorioretinal lesions in over 50 cases of inflammatory eye disease, a collaborative study on toxoplasmosis has been conducted by the Ocular Research Unit of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Laboratory of Tropical Diseases, National Microbiological Institute. The purpose was to identify by other means the organism seen by Wilder and to ascertain the importance of the parasite as an etiological agent of uveitis. It became apparent in this and other studies that it was not possible merely by serological means to establish unequivocally the identity of the parasite. The high prevalence of serological evidence of past Toxoplasma infection in the general population of the areas studied prevented a positive diagnosis in the individual case. It was recognized that a combination of clinical, parasitological, and pathological evidence would be necessary to
A Multi-Center Diabetes Eye Screening Study in Community Settings: Study Design and Methodology

ABSTRACT Purpose: Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20–74 years within the United States. The Innovative Network for Sight Research group (INSIGHT) designed the Diabetic Eye Screening Study (DESS) to examine the feasibility and short-term effectiveness of non-mydriatic diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening for adults with diabetes in community-based settings. Methods: Study enrollment began in December 2011 at four sites: an internal medicine clinic at a county hospital in Birmingham, Alabama; a Federally-qualified community healthcare center in Miami-Dade County, Florida; a university-affiliated outpatient pharmacy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and a medical home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. People 18 years or older with previously diagnosed diabetes were offered free DR screening using non-mydriatic retinal photography that was preceded by a brief questionnaire addressing demographic information and previous eye care use. Visual acuity was also measured for each eye. Images were evaluated at a telemedicine reading center by trained evaluators using the National Health System DR grading classification. Participants and their physicians were sent screening report results and telephoned for a follow-up survey 3 months post-screening to determine whether participants had sought follow-up comprehensive eye care and their experiences with the screening process. Results: Target enrollment at each site was a minimum of 500 persons. Three of the four sites met this enrollment goal. Conclusion: The INSIGHT/DESS is intended to establish the feasibility and short-term effectiveness of DR screening using non-mydriatic retinal photography in persons with diabetes who seek services in community-based clinic and pharmacy settings.
FORMAL MODELLING OF BUSINESS RULES: WHAT KIND OF TOOL TO USE?

Business rules are today essential parts of a business system model. But presently, there are still various approaches to, definitions and classifications of this concept. Similarly, there are also different approaches in business rules formalization and implementation. This paper investigates formalization using formal language in association with easy domain modelling. Two of the tools that enable such approach are described and compared according to several factors. They represent ontology modelling and UML, nowadays widely used standard for object-oriented modelling. A simple example is also presented.
Fuel cell and ultra-capacitor based hybrid energy control using IDA-PBC methodology

The paper presents passivity based control strategy for hybrid energy management system comprising of fuel cell and ultra capacitors. Industrial applications like electrical vehicles and certain microgrid combinations are using fuel cell as a clean energy alternative for the requirement of DC supply. But due to its slow dynamics it needs to be often combined with auxiliary storage systems like battery, super capacitors or ultra capacitors. We consider hybrid combination of fuel cell with ultra capacitors because it supports instantaneous charging and discharging characteristics with increased life time. The main contribution of this paper is to synthesize a non-linear control law based on interconnection damping assignment-passivity based control (IDA-PBC) with a desired energy function combining exponential and quadratic form. It was shown that the derived energy function satisfies conditions for candidate Lyapunov function and hence thereby satisfies stability criterion. Mathematical model of the system is obtained by the state space averaging approach. Simulations are performed on LabVIEW environment to validate the results.
Improved Torque Control of High Speed Shaft-Sensorless Induction Motor Drive

This paper presents improved torque control scheme for a high speed sensorless induction motor drive. The proposed high speed torque control scheme substitutes the flux oriented control by the voltage angle control in the flux weakening regime. This scheme uses maximum of available inverter voltage, alleviates well known problems of current control schemes in conditions with insufficient voltage margin and avoids the influence of estimated speed error to the achieved flux level. The algorithm uses similar slip control as flux oriented control algorithm, but is applied without an outer flux trajectory reference which is typical for the flux weakening, providing a fast and well damped torque response even if error in estimated speed is present. Experiments confirm the effectiveness of proposed torque control algorithm, smooth transition from the flux oriented control in the base speed region to the voltage angle control in the flux weakening, superior dynamic performance of the voltage angle torque control, and its robustness to an estimated rotor speed error.
Evaluación del recurso micorrizal en ecosistema natural y agroecosistema bananero del Urabá-Antioquia, Colombia

La evaluacion del recurso micorrizal es un aspecto importante en la determinacion de la calidad microbiologica de un suelo, porque permite establecer un diagnostico de este. En la investigacion objeto de este articulo se evaluo la incidencia de los Hongos Micorriza Arbuscular (H.M.A.) en ecosistema natural y agroecosistema bananero del Uraba – Antioquia, mediante la determinacion de la diversidad de esporas de H.M.A. y porcentaje de asociacion. Se ubicaron puntos de muestreo en ecosistema natural y agroecosistema bananero, donde se encontro en ecosistema natural, mayor diversidad de esporas y mayor porcentaje de asociacion de H.M.A., debido al manejo agronomico que se le da al suelo destinado para el cultivo del banano. Estos resultados elucidan un promisorio aprovechamiento de los H.M.A. presentes en ecosistema natural como inoculantes para recuperar la diversidad de ellos en el agroecosistema bananero Abstract The evaluation of the mycorrhizal source is an important aspect of the microbiological quality of the soil, allowing to stablish its diagnosis. In this investigation, the incidence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizae Fungi (AM) was evaluated in the natural ecosystem and the banana agroecosystem from Uraba – Antioquia, through the determination of the AM spores diversity and assessment of micorrhizal colonization. Some sample sources were situated in natural ecosystem and banana agroecosystem, finding in the natural ecosystem bigger spores diversity and an micorrhizal colonization, due to the agricultural practices manage to the soil use to the banana crop. These results clarify a promissory used of the AM present in the natural ecosystem as inocula to recover their diversity in the banana agroecosystem
The Generative Mechanisms of Digital Infrastructure Evolution

The current literature on digital infrastructure offers powerful lenses for conceptualizing the increasingly interconnected information system collectives found in contemporary organizations. However, little attention has been paid to the generative mechanisms of digital infrastructure, that is, the causal powers that explain how and why such infrastructure evolves over time. This is unfortunate, since more knowledge about what drives digital infrastructures would be highly valuable for managers and IT professionals confronted by the complexity of managing them. To this end, this paper adopts a critical realist view for developing a configurational perspective of infrastructure evolution. Our theorizing draws on a multimethod research design comprising an in-depth case study and a case survey. The in-depth case study, conducted at a Scandinavian airline, distinguishes three key mechanisms of digital infrastructure evolution: adoption, innovation, and scaling. The case survey research of 41 cases of digital infrastructure then identifies and analyzes causal paths through which configurations of these mechanisms lead to successful evolution outcomes. The study reported in this paper contributes to the infrastructure literature in two ways. First, we identify three generative mechanisms of digital infrastructure and how they contingently lead to evolution outcomes. Second, we use these mechanisms as a basis for developing a configurational perspective that advances current knowledge about why some digital infrastructures evolve successfully while others do not. In addition, the paper demonstrates and discusses the efficacy of critical realism as a philosophical tradition for developing substantive contributions in the field of information systems.
Evaluation of Routing Protocols on the Basis of Diverse Network Simulation Area

In present scenario, MANETs has gained very much importance and popularity in the research field. The method by which the performance of MANETs can be evaluated is the use of different simulation environments. A MANET is basically collection of distributed mobile nodes where each node whether it is transmitting or receiving data, acts as host as well as router. It is a dynamic wireless network that can be formed without any pre-existing infrastructure. This paper presents the simulation results which describe about the routing protocols on the basis of different performance metrics. AODV performs better than DSDV and ZRP on the basis of parameters like routing overhead, average end to end delay, network overload and packet delivery ratio. General Terms Routing, Average End To End Delay, Network Overload, Routing Overhead, Packet Delivery Ratio et. al.
Lens Antenna for Wide Angle Beam Scanning at 79 GHz for Automotive Short Range Radar Applications

This communication presents the design and experimental verification of a substrate integrated waveguide fed lens antenna for 79 GHz automotive radar applications. The proposed integrated lens antenna consists of a six layer cylindrical Luneburg lens illuminated by 17 source elements of substrate integrated waveguide fed by a planar log periodic dipole antenna array. The Luneburg lens is developed by using a unique foam material AirexR82 ( $\varepsilon _{r} = 1.12$ ), which is drilled and pressed to achieve the different dielectric constant needed to follow the index law inside the lens. The return loss and the radiation characteristics of the proposed integrated lens antenna are investigated and validated by measurements. A good agreement between the measured and simulated results is observed. The measured results confirm the beam scanning capability of the proposed integrated lens antenna for a wide scan angle of ±85° in azimuth plane having a maximum antenna gain of 15 dBi at 82.5 GHz and gain drop of less than 2.75 dB for the edge feeds. The estimated radiation efficiency of the antenna is found to be 67% at 82.5 GHz.