Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum antioxidants and trace minerals as influenced by vitamins, probiotics and proteins in broiler breeders

One hundred and eighty birds at the age of 65 weeks were induced to moult by mixing zinc oxide in their feed at the rate 3000 mg/kg of feed. Upon completion of moulting, the birds were divided into six groups (five replicates) by a completely randomised design. One group was kept as control (16% crude protein [CP]) while the other five were supplemented with vitamin E (100 IU/kg feed), vitamin C (500 IU/kg feed), probiotics (50 mg/L), protein level (14% CP) and their combination. At the end of the experiment, the results revealed that serum total anti-oxidant response significantly increased in the vitamin E fed group compared to the other treated groups. Paraoxonase and arylesterase were significantly higher in vitamin E and C groups. The ceruloplasmin level decreased significantly in the vitamin C fed group as well as in the group having the combination of all the treatments. The homocysteine was significantly lower in the vitamin E fed group compared to the other treated groups. In trace elements, serum zinc was significantly high in vitamin E supplemented group. These findings suggested that compared to other treatments, vitamin E has pronounced influence on improving the anti-oxidant status in male broiler breeders.
Spatiotemporal reservoir resampling for real-time ray tracing with dynamic direct lighting

Efficiently rendering direct lighting from millions of dynamic light sources using Monte Carlo integration remains a challenging problem, even for off-line rendering systems. We introduce a new algorithm---ReSTIR---that renders such lighting interactively, at high quality, and without needing to maintain complex data structures. We repeatedly resample a set of candidate light samples and apply further spatial and temporal resampling to leverage information from relevant nearby samples. We derive an unbiased Monte Carlo estimator for this approach, and show that it achieves equal-error 6×-60× faster than state-of-the-art methods. A biased estimator reduces noise further and is 35×-65× faster, at the cost of some energy loss. We implemented our approach on the GPU, rendering complex scenes containing up to 3.4 million dynamic, emissive triangles in under 50 ms per frame while tracing at most 8 rays per pixel.
Integration of 5G and OPC UA for Smart Manufacturing of the Future

The Industry 4.0 is aimed at improving production efficiency and flexibility using automation and data exchange technologies, wherein all participants and components must cooperate and communicate seamlessly. To achieve this target, a flexible, interoperable and real-time communication network is required. Considering such an imperative requirement, in this work we aim to integrate the 5G wireless network with Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture (OPC UA), in order to fulfil the stringent communication requirements regarding information model-based data management. Specifically, we first develop a 5G & OPC UA architecture to support the operations of diverse smart manufacturing environments, and then provide specific technical guidelines for implementing the established system. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed 5G & OPC UA architecture is verified using a laboratory-level smart manufacturing testbed.
Filobasidiella arachnophila sp. nov.

A new species of Filobasidiella Kwon-Chung is described and illustrated. This species, F. arachnophila, was isolated from a dead spider and appears to be nonpathogenic. It differs from previously described species in being homothallic and in lacking a yeast-like phase of growth.
On the relationship between isoprene emission and thermotolerance in Phragmites australis leaves exposed to high temperatures and during the recovery from a heat stress

Thermotolerance induced by isoprene has been assessed during heat bursts but there is little information on the ability of endogenous isoprene to confer thermotolerance under naturally elevated temperature, on the interaction between isoprene-induced thermotolerance and light stress, and on the persistence of this protection in leaves recovering at lower temperatures. Moderately high temperature treatment (38 ∞ C for 1.5 h) reduced photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and photochemical efficiency of photosystem II in isoprene-emitting, but to a significantly lower extent than in isoprene-inhibited Phragmites australis leaves. Isoprene inhibition and high temperature independently, as well as together, induced lipid peroxidation, increased level of H 2 O 2 , and increased catalase and peroxidase activities. However, leaves in which isoprene emission was previously inhibited developed stronger oxidative stress under high temperature with respect to isopreneemitting leaves. The heaviest photosynthetic stress was observed in isoprene-inhibited leaves exposed to the brightest illumination (1500 m mol m - 2 s - 1 ) and, in general, there was also a clear additive effect of light excess on the formation of reactive oxygen species, antioxidant enzymes, and membrane damage. The increased thermotolerance capability of isoprene-emitting leaves may be due to isoprene ability to stabilize membranes or to scavenge reactive oxygen species. Irrespective of the mechanism by which isoprene reduces thermal stress, isoprene-emitting leaves are able to quickly recover after the stress. This may be an important feature for plants coping with frequent and transient temperature changes in nature.
Role of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and their exopolysaccharide in drought tolerance of maize

The present study deals with the isolation and characterization of exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) from arid and semiarid regions of Pakistan, and to investigate the drought tolerance potential of these PGPR on maize when used as bioinoculant alone and in combination with their respective EPS. Three bacterial strains Proteus penneri (Pp1), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa2), and Alcaligenes faecalis (AF3) were selected as EPS-producing bacteria on the basis of mucoid colony formation. All these strains were gram negative, motile, and positive for catalase. Strain Pp1 was positive for oxidase test and was phosphate solubilizing, while Pa2 and AF3 were negative. The isolated strains were sequenced using 16SrRNA. Total soluble sugar, protein, uronic acid, emulsification activity, and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy of EPS were determined. Drought stress had significant adverse effects on growth of maize seedlings. Seed bacterization of maize with EPS-producing bacterial strains in combination with their respective EPS improved soil moisture contents, plant biomass, root and shoot length, and leaf area. Under drought stress, the inoculated plants showed increase in relative water content, protein, and sugar though the proline content and the activities of antioxidant enzymes were decreased. The Pa2 strain isolated from semiarid region was most potent PGPR under drought stress. Consortia of inocula and their respective EPS showed greater potential to drought tolerance compared to PGPR inocula used alone.
STREAM MORPHOLOGY CONTROLS AMMONIUM RETENTION IN TROPICAL HEADWATERS

Ammonium retention was studied in 12 tropical headwater streams differing in channel morphology and hydraulic characteristics. Results from NaCl and NH4Cl injections combining a one-dimensional transport model with the nutrient spiraling concept were evaluated. Transient solute storage was large in swamp reaches, with ratios of storage zone and main channel cross-sectional area (AS/A) of up to 18, and fractions of residence time due to transient storage (F 200med) of up to 94%. Moreover, transient storage was at an intermediate level in step-pool and meandering reaches and low in run reaches. Maximum ammonium uptake potentials (UMAX) varied by a factor of 15 due to differing stream morphologies, and ammonium retention was high in swamp and step-pool reaches, with UMAX values as high as 1.8 mg N·m−2·min−1. Between 52% and 85% of ecosystem retention occurred in storage zones. Additionally, differences in ammonium uptake efficiency in the storage zones of contrasting stream morphotypes were negligible; hence.
Rescuing Dicer expression in inflamed colon tissues alleviates colitis and prevents colitis-associated tumorigenesis

Chronic inflammation is known to promote carcinogenesis; Dicer heterozygous mice are more likely to develop colitis-associated tumors. This study investigates whether Dicer is downregulated in inflamed colon tissues before malignancy occurs and whether increasing Dicer expression in inflamed colon tissues can alleviate colitis and prevent colitis-associated tumorigenesis. Methods: Gene expression in colon tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemistry, immunoblots, and real-time RT-PCR. Hydrogen peroxide or N-acetyl-L-cysteine was used to induce or alleviate oxidative stress, respectively. Mice were given azoxymethane followed by dextran sulfate sodium to induce colitis and colon tumors. Berberine, anastrozole, or pranoprofen was used to rescue Dicer expression in inflammatory colon tissues. Results: Oxidative stress repressed Dicer expression in inflamed colon tissues by inducing miR-215 expression. Decreased Dicer expression increased DNA damage and cytosolic DNA and promoted interleukin-6 expression upon hydrogen peroxide treatment. Dicer overexpression in inflamed colon tissues alleviated inflammation and repressed colitis-associated carcinogenesis. Furthermore, we found that anastrozole, berberine, and pranoprofen could promote Dicer expression and protect cells from hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage, thereby reducing cytosolic DNA and partially repressing interleukin-6 expression upon hydrogen peroxide treatment. Rescuing Dicer expression using anastrozole, berberine, or pranoprofen in inflamed colon tissues alleviated colitis and prevented colitis-associated tumorigenesis. Conclusions: Dicer was downregulated in inflamed colon tissues before malignancy occurred. Decreased Dicer expression further exaggerated inflammation, which may promote carcinogenesis. Anastrozole, berberine, and pranoprofen alleviated colitis and colitis-associated tumorigenesis by promoting Dicer expression. Our study provides insight into potential colitis treatment and colitis-associated colon cancer prevention strategies.
EFFECTS OF RHIZOBIAL INOCULANT AND NITROGEN FERTILIZER ON YIELD AND NODULATION OF COMMON BEAN UNDER INTERCROPPED CONDITIONS

ABSTRACT The effects of mixed granular rhizobial strains and application of modest amount of nitrogen fertilizer (starter nitrogen fertilizer) on yield and nodulation of five common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) varieties under bean–sorghum intercropped conditions was investigated for two crop seasons. The soil upon which the study was conducted has been noted for its low organic matter content and low nitrogen status. Results showed that inoculation with mixed granular rhizobial inoculant and use of starter nitrogen fertilizer significantly improved both yield and nodulation of common bean varieties in most of the cases. Some varieties were noted to be non-responsive to inoculation with mixed granular rhizobia and application of nitrogen fertilizer. Yield and nodulation were found to have significant positive correlation for both crop reasons. For the bean–sorghum intercropped conditions, the use of mixed granular rhizobial inoculant and starter nitrogen fertilizer is indispensable to realize the benefits of biological nitrogen fixation on highly degraded Regosols of the Hararghe Highlands.
Right ventricular contractility decreases during exercise in patients with non-advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Abstract Early right ventricular dysfunction in patients with non-advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has not been fully elucidated. Thus, we aimed to assess right ventricular functions in IPF patients and controls by speckle-tracking strain echocardiography at rest and peak exercise. We screened 116 IPF patients from February to August 2019 to include 20 patients with no history of oxygen therapy, peripheral saturation levels ≥92% at rest, Gender-Age-Physiology Index score ≤5, and modified Medical Research Council score ≤3. Additionally, we enrolled 10 matched controls. Transthoracic echocardiography images were acquired at rest and during a cardiopulmonary exercise test. We analyzed 2-dimensional echocardiographic parameters and right ventricular function using the global longitudinal strain assessed by the 2-dimensional speckle-tracking technique. In the control group, we found normal values of right ventricle longitudinal strain (RVLS) at rest and at peak exercise, the latter being much more negative (−23.6 ± 2.2% and −26.8 ± 3.1%, respectively; P < .001). By contrast, RVLS values in the IPF group increased from −21.1 ± 3.8% at rest to −17.0 ± 4.5% at peak exercise (P < .001). The exercise revealed a difference between the 2 groups as the mean RVLS values moved during peak exercise in opposite directions. Patients with IPF got worse, whereas control patients presented improved right ventricular contractility. Right ventricular dysfunction was unveiled by speckle-tracking echocardiography during exercise in non-advanced IPF patients. We suggest that this reflects an inadequate right ventricular-arterial coupling decreasing the right ventricular longitudinal contraction during exercise in these patients. This parameter may be useful as an early index of suspected pulmonary hypertension.
Chlorophyll fluorescence screening of Arabidopsis thaliana for CO2 sensitive photorespiration and photoinhibition mutants.

Exposure of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) photorespiration mutants to air leads to a rapid decline in the Fv/Fm chlorophyll fluorescence parameter, reflecting a decline in PSII function and an onset of photoinhibition. This paper demonstrates that chlorophyll fluorescence imaging of Fv/Fm can be used as an easy and efficient means of detecting Arabidopsis mutants that are impaired in various aspects of photorespiration. This screen was developed to be sensitive and high throughput by the use of exposure to zero CO2 conditions and the use of array grids of 1-week-old Arabidopsis seedlings as the starting material for imaging. Using this procedure, we screened ~25 000 chemically mutagenised M2 Arabidopsis seeds and recovered photorespiration phenotypes (reduction in Fv/Fm at low CO2) at a frequency of ~4 per 1000 seeds. In addition, we also recovered mutants that showed reduced Fv/Fm at high CO2. Of this group, we detected a novel 'reverse photorespiration' phenotype that showed a high CO2 dependent reduction in Fv/Fm. This chlorophyll fluorescence screening technique promises to reveal novel mutants associated with photorespiration and photoinhibition.
Pathogenicity of Aspergillus parasiticus against Coptotermes heimi (Wasmann)

Termites are economically important insects. They cause damage to furniture, household goods, timber and forest vegetation. Present study was designed to determine the effect of fungus isolates at six different exposure times on Coptotermes heimi (Wasmann), which is one of the major destructive termites of Pakistan. Fungal conidia were repellent to C. heimi. The workers of C. heimi were exposed to fungus for 60, 45, 30, 20, 15, 10 minutes and percentage mortality and consumptions were noted during eight days period. Results showed that workers of C. heimi responded effectively to different exposure time. Percentage mortality in 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60 minutes exposure was 46.7%, 55.6%, 67.5%, 76%, 85.3%, 100%, respectively. And, control showed 0% mortality. There was marked reduction in consumption by termites subjected to different exposure time. Consumption in all groups was significantly lower than control.
AXENIC CULTURES OF ACETABULARIA (CHLOROPHYTA): A DECONTAMINATION PROTOCOL WITH POTENTIAL APPLICATION TO OTHER ALGAE 1

We developed an easy, reliable decontamination protocol for caps of Acetabularia acetabulum (L.) Silva; with minimal labor hundreds of caps can be decontaminated. In addition, cysts isolated from these caps do not exhibit dormancy and can be used immediately to establish large populations of axenic cell cultures. This method consists of three successive incubations: 1) proteinase K/sodium dodecyl sulfate/1,3‐bis[tris(hydroxymethyl)‐methylamino]propane for 1 h, 2) mild silver protein for 5 min, and 3) an antibiotic solution (neomycin, chloramphenicol, nystatin, ampicillin, streptomycin)for 3 days. This protocol eliminates bacterial, algal, fungal, and yeast contaminants. It is useful for decontaminating caps from lab cultures and caps collected from the wild and may also be effective in decontaminating the reproductive structures of other algae. Cyst dormancy was reduced from 15 weeks to less than 1 week, which represents a 40% reduction of the life cycle of A. acetabulum. We routinely obtained 90‐100% gamete release from cysts 3‐14 days after they were made axenic. The component of our culturing methods that allows gamete release without a “dormant” period is unknown.
The Impact of IP Network Impairments on Optimal Playback Buffer Size in Video Streaming

A key challenge for online video streaming services is how to deliver their data over networks that suﬀer packet losses and delays while maintaining a good Quality of Experience (QoE). Metrics such as start-up delay, the count of the number of times that re-buﬀering occurs and re-buﬀering delays provide useful indicators to the streaming services to measure the impact of IP network impairments (e.g. packet loss and delay) on overall video stream quality. Playback buﬀer-ing is one of the key application-level techniques that can mitigate the impact of network impairments and protect the video quality by sensibly balancing the eﬀect of the above metrics. However for the mitigation to be eﬀective, while maximising user QoE, setting an optimal playback buﬀer size is vital. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis is performed to investigate the impact of packet loss and link delay on optimal playback buﬀer sizing, with respect to video ﬁles that contain diﬀerent amounts of motion. Experimental re-sults indicate that the buﬀer size that delivers an optimal start-up delay with acceptable levels of playback disruption remains reasonably constant, when changing the degree of motion in the video, and in response to minor variation of link delay and small amounts of packet loss. This is in contrast to the buﬀer size that ensures no interruptions to play-back, which, as expected, rises steadily.
The effectiveness of proanthocyanidins cacao pods (theobroma cacao l) on increasing socket epithelial thickness post toothextraction in wistar rats

Objective: The aim of this study was examine theeffectivenessof proanthocyanidins cacaopods (Theobroma cacao L) extract on increasing socket epithelial thickness post tooth extractionin Wistar Rats. Proanthocyanidins has benefis as antiinflammation, antioxidant and antibacteria agent. Post-extraction wound can cause complication, which can make long the healing process. This is where anti-inflammatory is needed to prevent infection, so that it can avoid bacterial contamination and can shorten the inflammatory process. Material and Methods:These study was an experimental laboratory research on thickness of socket epithelium of Wistar rats given proanthocyanidins cacao pod extract post extraction. A total of 24 male Wistar rats was divided into 3 group; which was treated with 100 mg/ml proanthocyanidins cocoa pod extract as treatment group, distilled placebo gel as negative control group and alvogyl as positive control group. On day 7 and day 14 the sampel was sacrified and tissue processing was made. The gingival epithelial thickness was determined by software image raster on
Fractional greedy and partial restreaming partitioning: New methods for massive graph partitioning

Graph partitioning is an important challenging problem when performing computation tasks over large distributed graphs; the reason is that a good partitioning leads to faster computations. In this work, we first introduce a new heuristic for streaming partitioning and show that it outperforms the state-of-the-art heuristics for streaming partitioning, leading to exact balance and lower cut. Secondly, we introduce the partial restreaming partitioning which is a hybrid streaming model allowing only several portions of the graph to be restreamed while the rest is to be partitioned on a single pass of the data stream. We show that our method yields partitions of similar quality than those provided by methods restreaming the whole graph (e.g ReLDG, ReFENNEL), while incurring lower cost in running time and memory since only several portions of the graph will be restreamed.
Inbreeding and testicular abnormalities in a bottlenecked population of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

Habitat destruction and fragmentation, interactions with introduced species or the relocation of animals to form new populations for conservation purposes may result in a multiplication of population bottlenecks. Examples are the translocations of koalas to French Island and its derivative Kangaroo Island population, with both populations established as insurance policies against koala extinction. In terms of population size, these conservation programs were success stories. However, the genetic story could be different. We conducted a genetic investigation of French and Kangaroo Island koalas by using 15 microsatellite markers, 11 of which are described here for the first time. The results confirm very low genetic diversity. French Island koalas have 3.8 alleles per locus and Kangaroo Island koalas 2.4. The present study found a 19% incidence of testicular abnormality in kangaroo Island animals. Internal relatedness, an individual inbreeding coefficient, was not significantly different in koalas with testicular abnormalities from that in other males, suggesting the condition is not related to recent inbreeding. It could instead result from an unfortunate selection of founder individuals carrying alleles for testicular abnormalities, followed by a subsequent increase in these alleles’ frequencies through genetic drift and small population-related inefficiency of selection. Given the low diversity and possible high prevalence of deleterious alleles, the genetic viability of the population remains uncertain, despite its exponential growth so far. This stands as a warning to other introductions for conservation reasons.
Population density, phenotype and mortality in the grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus

ABSTRACT. 1 The patterns of mortality in laboratory populations of the grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus Thunberg are examined at a range of densities and at different stages of nymphal development with particular reference to the phenotypes of nymphs that die or survive. 2 Total mortality during nymphal development rises from density‐independence at the lowest densities to approximately compensating density‐dependence at the highest densities. 3 The greatest proportion of total mortality occurs in the first two instars. The stage broadly covering the second instar is the ‘key‐stage’ determining adult density. The mortality during these stages is largely density‐independent. There is relatively little mortality during stages broadly covering the final instar, but it is density‐dependent and also plays a significant part in determining final adult density. 4 As the mortality becomes more density‐dependent, either with density itself or with cohort age, the smallest individuals become increasingly disproportionately prone to mortality. 5 Males, which are smaller, are more susceptible to mortality than females, but their susceptibility relative to their size is less than that of females.