Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Probiotic feed additives - effectiveness and expected modes of action

In animal nutrition, probiotics are viable microorganisms used as a feed supplement, which lead to beneficial effects for the host animal. For most species a trend towards improved performance has been reported due to the use of probiotics, but statistically significant improvements of weight gain and of feed conversion are rare, mainly because of variations in the individual reactions of the ani­ mals. However, reductions of the incidence of diarrhoea were significant in most studies with piglets and calves. In contrast to human nutrition, where Lactobacillus species are common probiotic pro­ ducts, in animal nutrition Enterococcus spp. , Saccharomyces yeast, and spore-forming Bacillus spp. are most frequently used as probiotic microorganisms. Furthermore, in human nutrition long-term effects for lasting health promotion and longevity are sought, but the aims of probiotic supplementa­ tion in modern animal production are fast effects such as improvement of weight gain and feed conversion. Thus, results from probiotic research in the field of human nutrition are not completely valid for animal nutrition. Although 19 probiotic preparations have received temporary approval in the European Union, their modes of action, which lead to beneficial effects, are only partly known. It is very probable that the impact of probiotics on pathogenic and nonpathogenic intestinal bacteria is of prime importance. However, modifications of microstructures and barrier functions of intestinal tissues as well as reac­ tions of the immune system seem to be involved in the overall effect, directly or as a consequence of modified bacterial populations. In order to specifically improve probiotics and their application in defined indications, more research is needed to determine their underlying mechanisms.
A Comparison of Plenoptic Imaging System and Camera Array System

The imaging method based on light field data is a hot research topic at present. By recording the location and direction of light, light field imaging can reconstruct the three-dimensional scene. From the point of view of recording method, there are two similar light field recording systems, so-called camera array system and plenoptic imaging system. In order to process data flexibly, the light field information can be represented as a 4-D plenoptic function: ( , , , ) L x y u v . Although these two systems are similar in data recording, there exist some important differences between camera array system and plenoptic imaging system when transforming raw data into 4-D plenoptic function. Based on the imaging principle of these two different systems, this paper summarizes the distinction, which will be of great help for the researchers in this field. INTRODUCTION The human visual system uses binocular disparity to perceive the scene by fusing two images acquired by two eyes together. Conventional photos are two-dimensional, showing the location of captured scene but ignoring the depth information. To capture three-dimensional information of object scene, we must describe and record the light transmission. Adelson 1 put forward the concept of a seven-dimensional plenoptic function in 1991, which describes the light as a function of angle, wave length, time and location of the viewer, depicted as ( , , , , , , ) P x y z t θ φ λ . A typical model was proposed by Levoy and Hanrahan 2 in 1996, using two parallel planes to describe the location and direction information of light. Levoy and Hanrahan ignored the influence of wave length and time in Adelson’s model, and assumed that the intensity of light is constant during propagation. Therefore, the 7-D plenoptic function is simplified into a 4-D form, showed as ( , , , ) L u v x y , where ( , ) u v represents the direction of light and ( , ) x y represents the location. According to recording methods, there are two similar light field information captured systems, so-called camera array system and plenoptic imaging system. Camera array system is huge and complex, aiming to capture large amounts of light field data. The cave system designed by Q. Dai and K. Lee 3 at Tsinghua University, the 128 camera system designed by Stanford University 4,5 are both camera array systems. The plenoptic First author, Wei-jia Cai, School of biological science & medical engineering, Southeast University, Lane 2, Sipailou Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, China Other authors in the sequence, School of biological science & medical engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Chronic bronchitis without airflow obstruction, asthma and rhinitis are differently associated with cardiovascular risk factors and diseases

Background and objectives Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases can frequently coexist. Understanding their link may improve disease management. We aimed at assessing the associations of chronic bronchitis (CB), asthma and rhinitis with cardiovascular diseases and risk factors in the general population. Methods We used data collected in the Gene Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases study, an Italian multicentre, multicase-control study. Among 2463 participants (age 21–86, female 50%) who underwent standardized interviews, skin prick and lung function tests, we identified 254 cases of CB without airflow obstruction, 418 cases of asthma without CB, 959 cases of rhinitis alone, and 832 controls. The associations of respiratory diseases with reported cardiovascular risk factors (lifestyles, hypertension, dyslipidaemia), heart disorders (myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, angina, aorta or heart surgery) and intermittent claudication were estimated through relative risk ratios (RRR) by multinomial logistic regression models. Results Compared to controls, CB cases were more likely to be heavy smokers, alcohol consumers, physically inactive, and to suffer from hypertension or dyslipidaemia; rhinitis cases were less obese but more likely to have hypertension. Asthma was significantly associated with current smoking. After adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors, heart disorders were associated with CB (RRR[95%CI]: 1.58[1.12–2.22]) and rhinitis (1.35[0.98–1.85]) and intermittent claudication was associated with CB (3.43[2.52–4.67]), asthma (1.51[1.04–2.21]) and rhinitis (2.03[1.34–3.07]). Conclusions CB, asthma and rhinitis were associated with cardiovascular risk factors and diseases. In particular, CB shared with cardiovascular diseases almost all risk factors and was strongly associated with a higher risk of heart disorders and intermittent claudication.
Glass Patterning: Technologies and Applications

In this work, we review the progress in recent studies on glass patterning including technologies and applications. Four technologies for glass micromachining including wet etching, sandblasting, reactive ion etching, and glass reflow process are analyzed. Advantages as well as disadvantages of each method are presented and discussed in light of the experiments. Various microsystem applications using the above glass patterning technologies like thermal sensors, hermetically packaged capacitive silicon resonators, optical modulator devices, glass microfluidics, micro-heaters, and vacuum-sealed capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer arrays are reported.
Biogeography and evolution of Central American cloud forest salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Cryptotriton), with the description of a new species

© 2015 The Linnean Society of London. The cloud forests of Mesoamerica are notable for their high endemism, and plethodontid salamanders provide a striking example of divergence and microendemism across cloud forest blocks at a regional level. Salamanders that make use of arboreal bromeliad microhabitats in the cloud forest appear to be especially prone to divergence driven by natural habitat fragmentation, and are expected to show high endemism at small spatial scales. We use a multilocus dataset to investigate the biogeographic history and relationships among species of a small genus of salamander, Cryptotriton, restricted to the cloud forests of Nuclear Central America. We use a morphological data set along with a coalescent species delimitation method to reveal the presence of at least one undescribed species from an isolated cloud forest in eastern Guatemala. Biogeographic analyses show that Cryptotriton has a different biogeographic history than another clade of cloud forest-restricted salamanders in the same region, perhaps indicating that each genus restricted the spatial expansion and diversification of the other through preemptive occupancy. Our results suggest that isolation across relatively short geographic distances has led to range fragmentation and deep divergence between species. Exploration of remaining patches of cloud forest likely will continue to reveal undetected diversity.
Numerical Study of Bubble Breakup in Fractal Tree-Shaped Microchannels

Hydrodynamic behaviors of bubble stream flow in fractal tree-shaped microchannels is investigated numerically based on a two-dimensional volume of fluid (VOF) method. Bubble breakup is examined in each level of bifurcation and the transition of breakup regimes is discussed in particular. The pressure variations at the center of different levels of bifurcations are analyzed in an effort to gain further insight into the underlying mechanism of bubble breakup affected by multi-levels of bifurcations in tree-shaped microchannel. The results indicate that due to the structure of the fractal tree-shaped microchannel, both lengths of bubbles and local capillary numbers decrease along the microchannel under a constant inlet capillary number. Hence the transition from the obstructed breakup and obstructed-tunnel combined breakup to coalescence breakup is observed when the bubbles are flowing into a higher level of bifurcations. Compared with the breakup of the bubbles in the higher level of bifurcations, the behaviors of bubbles show stronger periodicity in the lower level of bifurcations. Perturbations grow and magnify along the flow direction and the flow field becomes more chaotic at higher level of bifurcations. Besides, the feedback from the unequal downstream pressure to the upstream lower level of bifurcations affects the bubble breakup and enhances the upstream asymmetrical behaviors.
Cerebral hemodynamic responses in preterm-born neonates to visual stimulation: classification according to subgroups and analysis of frontotemporal–occipital functional connectivity

Abstract. How neurovascular coupling develops in preterm-born neonates has been largely neglected in scientific research. We measured visually evoked (flicker light) hemodynamic responses (HRs) in preterm-born neonates (n = 25, gestational age: 31.71 ± 3.37 weeks, postnatal age: 25.48 ± 23.94 days) at the visual cortex (VC) and left frontotemporal lobe (FTL) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging. We found that the HR characteristics show a large intersubject variability but could be classified into three groups according to the changes of oxyhemoglobin concentration at the VC [(A) increase, (B) decrease, or (C) inconclusive]. In groups A and B, the HRs at the left FTL were correlated with those at the VC, indicating the presence of a frontotemporal–occipital functional connectivity. Neonates in group A had a higher weight at measurement compared to those in group B, and had the lowest baseline total hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit compared to group C. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fNIRS study showing (1) that the HRs of preterm-born neonates need to be classified into subgroups, (2) that the subgroups differed in terms of weight at measurement, and (3) that HRs can be observed also at the FTL during visual stimulation. These findings add insights into how neurovascular coupling develops in preterm-born neonates.
Building a Normative Model of Women's Mentoring Relationships.

This paper investigates the composition of women's mentoring relationships. The traditional male mentoring model is rejected in favor of an alternative model that more closely reflects female mentoring relationships. The paper proposes that women's friendships may serve as a closer match to their mentoring relationships than the traditional male hierarchical model. Both women's mentoring relationships and friendships are examined for similarities and contrasts. Data were collected for 56 pairs of female mentors and female proteges. Relational ingredients considered in the analysis in the paper include relational adjectives (Collins, 1983), relational themes (Burgoon & Hale, 1984, 1987, 1990), emotional intimacy (Williams, 1985), and organizational communication support (Kogler Hill, Bahniuk, Dobos & Rounder, 1989). Relational outcomes were also examined such as feelings of support, happiness, respect, and professional advancement. The paper provides support for building an alternative model for women's mentoring relationships and expanding the study of these professional and interpersonal relationships. Five tables of data are included. Contains 37 references. (Author) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************
ErgoVSM: A Tool for Integrating Value Stream Mapping and Ergonomics in Manufacturing

Value stream mapping (VSM) is a lean tool aiming at waste reduction. Previous research suggests that the use of VSM may result in work intensification and thus an increased risk for the workers of developing work‐related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). In the current study, VSM was developed to also consider physical exposure in the analyzed production system (ErgoVSM). As the VSM, ErgoVSM is based on a participatory approach. ErgoVSM was tested in a Swedish manufacturing company. The results suggest that ErgoVSM catalyzes change processes to include intervention proposals emphasizing ergonomics in addition to waste reduction. Thus, ErgoVSM appeared useful for the investigated target group of production engineers and experienced operators. The performance improvements suggested when using the ordinary VSM seemed not to be hampered by adding the ergonomics complement. However, the use of ErgoVSM was somewhat more time consuming than the use of VSM. In conclusion, ErgoVSM is suggested as a feasible tool to be used by production engineers and experienced operators for including ergonomics considerations in the rationalization process.
Angle-dependent magnetization dynamics with mirror-symmetric excitations in artificial quasicrystalline nanomagnet lattices

We report angle-dependent spin-wave spectroscopy on aperiodic quasicrystalline magnetic lattices, i.e., Ammann, Penrose P2 and P3 lattices made of large arrays of interconnected Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$ nanobars. Spin-wave spectra obtained in the nearly saturated state contain distinct sets of resonances with characteristic angular dependencies for applied in-plane magnetic fields. Micromagnetic simulations allow us to attribute detected resonances to mode profiles with specific mirror symmetries. Spectra in the reversal regime show systematic emergence and disappearance of spin wave modes indicating reprogrammable magnonic characteristics.
Effects of Glycerin in Steam Flaked Corn Feedlot Diets

Biodiesel is derived from vegetable oils and animal fats. The primary byproduct from biodiesel production is glycerin, which accounts for approximately 10% of the initial oil. Glycerin is gluconeogenic and has been used as an energy source in the poultry and swine industries, as well as dairy cattle industry; however, there are limited data in beef cattle. We hypothesized that glycerin would be comparable to SFC in feedlot diets . The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different levels of glycerin on the performance and carcass characteristics of feedlot steers fed a steam-flaked, corn-based diet.
Herding and Delegated Portfolio Management: The Impact of Relative Performance Evaluation on Asset Allocation

This paper investigates the effect of fund managers' performance evaluation on their asset allocation decisions. We derive optimal contracts for delegated portfolio management and show that they always contain relative performance elements. We then show that this biases fund managers to deviate from return-maximizing portfolio allocations and follow those of their benchmark (herding). In many cases, the trustees of the fund who employ the fund manager prefer such a policy. We also show that fund managers in some situations ignore their own superior information and "go with the flow" in order to reduce deviations from their benchmark. We conclude that incentive provisions for portfolio managers are an important factor in their asset allocation decisions.
[Scales for social support for eating habits and exercise: psychometric properties].

OBJECTIVE Social support can introduce favorable changes in lifestyle to reduce the cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to verify these changes in the clinical population participating in this study and present the psychometric properties of the scales of social support for 'Eating Habits' and 'Exercise' in patients diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. METHODS 135 participants attending a programme for changing lifestyle habits. Sociodemographic, psychological, and lifestyle variables were assessed at the Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves (HUVN) in Granada (Spain) between 2013 and 2014. The following procedures were used: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal consistency, sensibility to change and temporal stability. RESULTS The AFC confirmed the original structure of both scales, except for the exclusion of factor 2 (family) from the social support scale for the year. For the social support scale, the local adjustment, all items presented high values of factor loads and individual reliability (λ≥0.64 and R2≥0.41, respectively). For the exercise scale, the local adjustment, the items presented high values of factor loads and individual reliability (λ≥0.62 and R2≥0.38, respectively). Internal consistency values were between adequate and excellent, with Cronbach's alpha figures between 0.714 and 0.864. Regarding sensitivity to change, the experimental group increased the perception of social support for food and exercise. The control group did not show significant differences. CONCLUSIONS Our results show adequate indices for validity and reliability of the measures. Both measures appeared to be useful to assess social support in patients diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
Cyanidin and Cyanidin-3-O-β-D-glucoside Suppress the Inflammatory Responses of Obese Adipose Tissue by Inhibiting the Release of Chemokines MCP-1 and MRP-2

Obesity-induced inflammation plays a crucial role in obesity-related pathologies such as type II diabetes and atherosclerosis. Adipose tissue macrophages and the cell-derived proinflammatory chemokines are key components in augmenting inflammatory responses in obesity. Anthocyanins such as cyanidin and cyanidin-3-O-β-D-glucoside (C3G) are known to elicit anti-inflammatory activities by suppressing the production of proinflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor alpha and nitric oxide in LPS-stimulated macrophages. In the present study, we investigated whether cyanidin and C3G have the potential to suppress the inflammatory responses of adipose cells. Cyanidin and C3G not only suppressed the migration of RAW 264.7 macrophages induced by mesenteric adipose tissue-conditioned medium, but also inhibited the activation of the cells to produce inflammatory chemokines such as monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein-related protein-2 (MRP-2) in a dose-dependent manner. Cyanidin and C3G also inhibited the release of MCP-1 and MRP-2 from adipocytes and/or macrophages. These findings suggest that cyanidin and C3G may suppress the inflammatory responses of adipose tissue in obesity.
Effects of Climatic Conditions on the Lying Behavior of a Group of Primiparous Dairy Cows

Simple Summary Dairy cow welfare has become a significant topic in recent years. Lying (down) behavior is considered a useful indicator for dairy cow health, welfare, reproductive and productive status. The study evaluated the interaction of climatic conditions on the lying behavior of a group of dairy cows. The developed model seems helpful to identify and predict this important indicator of the welfare of the herd. The prediction model developed, with automatic monitoring of cow behavior, could be a valid early warning system to identify any deviation from the expected behavior, and could be also used to evaluate the goodness of management and to evaluate the heat stress mitigation strategy. Abstract Currently, lying behavior can be assessed using continuous observations from sensors (e.g., accelerometers). The analysis of digital data deriving from accelerometers is an effective tool for studying livestock behaviors. Despite the large interest in the lying behavior of dairy cows, no reference was found in literature regarding the prediction of lying behavior as a function of the interaction of environmental parameters. The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of climatic conditions (temperature-humidity index, solar radiation, air velocity and rainfalls) on the lying behavior of a group of primiparous dairy cows, using data from accelerometers, and develop a prediction model to identify and predict the lying behavior of dairy cows as a function of the effects of environmental conditions. Results from the. GLM Procedure (SAS) showed that the model was highly significant (p < 0.001) and the r2 was 0.84. All of the effects in the model resulted in being highly significant (p < 0.001). This model, if validated properly, could be a valid early warning system to identify any deviation from the expected behavior, and to assess the effectiveness of thermal stress mitigation strategies.
Risk of Cardiovascular Mortality in Relation to Increased Total Serum IgE Levels in Older Adults: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Background: Despite a potential link between immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and cardiovascular disease, the effect of elevated total IgE levels on long-term mortality risk remains unclear. We prospectively investigated the association between total serum IgE levels and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in US adults. Methods: We analyzed data from the 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the NHANES (2005–2006) Linked Mortality Public File. The 2005–2006 NHANES data of 1496 older adults aged ≥50 years and who underwent a serum total IgE antibody test in the initial survey were included. Results: After a median follow-up of 119 months, a significant association was observed between total serum IgE levels and cardiovascular mortality, with subjects with the highest total IgE exhibiting a 3.19-fold (HR = 3.19; 95% confidence interval: 1.71–5.96) increase in the risk of cardiovascular mortality compared with those with the lowest total IgE (≤16.80 kU/L). Furthermore, the mortality rate increased with an increase in total IgE levels, regardless of baseline history of cardiovascular diseases (e.g., myocardial infarction, stroke, and noninvasively diagnosed large-vessel peripheral arterial disease). Conclusions: This finding suggests that the elevation of IgE levels may be a risk factor for increased cardiovascular mortality.
Organocatalytic Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Aldehydes to Maleimides and Nitroalkenes in Deep Eutectic Solvents

A chiral primary amine-salicylamide is used as an organocatalyst for the enantioselective conjugate addition of α,α-disubstituted aldehydes to maleimides and nitroalkenes. The reactions are performed in deep eutectic solvents as reaction media at room temperature, leading to the corresponding adducts with enantioselectivities up to 88% (for maleimides) and 80% (for nitroalkenes). Catalyst and solvent can be recovered and reused.