Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Fuzzy Spatial Reasoner for Multi-Scale GEOBIA Ontologies

Abstract In Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) an image is partitioned into objects by a segmentation algorithm. These objects are then classified into semantic categories based on unsupervised/ supervised methods, or knowledge-based methods, such as an ontology. The aim of this paper was to develop a SPatial Ontology Reasoner (SPOR) to allow the development of GEOBIA ontologies by employing fuzzy, spatial, and multi-scale representations, with time efficiency. An enhanced version of the Web Ontology Language 2 (OWL 2) with fuzzy representations was adopted and expanded to represent fuzzy spatial relationships within the framework of GEOBIA. Segmentation results are stored within PostgreSQL. An ontology described the class/subclass hierarchy and class definitions. SPOR integrated PostgreSQL and the ontology, to classify the objects. To demonstrate the framework, a QuickBird image was employed for building extraction. Accuracy assessment indicated that 87 percent of building rooftops were detected.
Heat stress‐induced loss of eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF‐5A) in a human pancreatic cancer cell line, MIA PaCa‐2, analyzed by two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis

Alterations of intracellular proteins during the process of heat stress‐induced cell death of a human pancreatic cancer cell line, MIA PaCa‐2, were investigated using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE), agarose gel electrophoresis, and cell biology techniques. Incubation of MIA PaCa‐2 at 45°C for 30 min decreased the cell growth rate and cell viability without causing chromosomal DNA fragmentation. Incubation at 51°C for 30 min suppressed cell growth and again led to death without DNA fragmentation. The cell death was associated with the loss of an intracellular protein of Mr 17 500 and pI 5.2 on 2‐DE gel. This protein was determined to be eukaryotic initiation factor SA (eIF‐5A) by microsequencing of the N‐terminal region of peptide fragments obtained by cyanogen bromide treatment of the protein blotted onto a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane. The sequences detected were QXSALRKNGFVVLKGRP and STSKTGXHGHAKVHLVGID, which were homologous with the sequence of eIF‐5A from Gln 20 to Pro 36 and from Ser 43 to Asp 61, respectively. Furthermore, the result of sequencing suggested that the protein was an active form of hypusinated eIF‐5A, because Lys 46 could be detected but not Lys 49, which is the site for hypusination. These results suggest that loss of the active form of eIF‐5A is an important factor in the irreversible process of heat stress‐induced death of MIA PaCa‐2 cells.
Analog VLSI: Circuits and Principles

From the Publisher: Neuromorphic engineers work to improve the performance of artificial systems through the development of chips and systems that process information collectively using primarily analog circuits. This book presents the central concepts required for the creative and successful design of analog VLSI circuits. The discussion is weighted toward novel circuits that emulate natural signal processing. Unlike most circuits in commercial or industrial applications, these circuits operate mainly in the subthreshold or weak inversion region. Moreover, their functionality is not limited to linear operations, but also encompasses many interesting nonlinear operations similar to those occurring in natural systems. Topics include device physics, linear and nonlinear circuit forms, translinear circuits, photodetectors, floating-gate devices, noise analysis, and process technology.
Suspected tick paralysis (Ixodes holocyclus) in a Miniature Horse.

: A 9-year-old Miniature Horse gelding infested with ticks (Ixodes holocyclus) was presented with flaccid motor paralysis causing recumbency. Neurological examination and other diagnostic tests did not identify an alternative aetiology, leading to a presumptive diagnosis of tick paralysis. The gelding was treated with tick antiserum and intensive supportive care. He made a gradual recovery over the 48 h following presentation and was discharged without further complications. This case report describes in detail the clinical signs and successful treatment of a Miniature Horse with flaccid paralysis caused by suspected envenomation by Ixodes holocyclus.
Métabolisme du cholestérol et function β-cellulaire

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) frequently occurs in the context of a dysregulation of plasma lipoproteins with an increased triglyceride content in pancreatic beta cells, leading to lipotoxicity and subsequent cell death. More recently, accumulating data suggest that cholesterol homeostasis is a major regulator of beta cell function. Intra-cellular cholesterol accumulation leads to islet dysfunction and impaired insulin secretion. The role of essential cholesterol modulators like the ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 or the LDL receptor has emerged in regulating insulin secretion in beta cells. Intracellular cholesterol impacts both the beta-cell membrane organization in microdomains as well as the dynamic regulation of glucose-induced insulin secretion. There is also evidence suggesting that the different lipoprotein classes have varying effects on beta cell apoptosis and proliferation. Here we review the impact of cholesterol metabolism on islet function and its potential relationship to T2D.
Effect of Protein, Nonprotein-Soluble Components, and Lactose Concentrations on the Irreversible Thermal Denaturation of β-Lactoglobulin and α-Lactalbumin in Skim Milk

The effect of protein, nonprotein-soluble components, and lactose concentrations on the irreversible denaturation of beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) and alpha-lactalbumin (alpha-LA) in reconstituted skim milk samples was studied over a wide temperature range (75-100 degrees C). The irreversible thermal denaturation of beta-LG had a reaction order of 1.5 and that of alpha-LA had a reaction order of 1.0 in all systems and under all conditions. The rates of irreversible denaturation of beta-LG and alpha-LA were markedly dependent upon the composition of the milk. At all temperatures, the irreversible denaturations of beta-LG and alpha-LA were enhanced at a higher protein concentration and were retarded when the nonprotein-soluble components and lactose concentrations were increased. The effects of increasing the concentrations of lactose and nonprotein-soluble components were interpreted using the preferential hydration theory and allowed for the interpretation of the changes in the denaturations of beta-LG and alpha-LA when the milk total solids concentration was increased.
Microbial oxidation of gaseous hydrocarbons: Oxidation of lower N-alkenes and N-alkanes by resting cell suspensions of various methylotrophic bacteria, and the effect of methane metabolites

The cell-free methane mono-exogenase system was reported to oxygenate a wide range of compounds including n-alkanes, n-alkenes, ethers, alicyclic and aromatic compounds [1,2]. However, this lack of specificity was not expressed in vivo in Methylococcus capsulatus Bath [3]. Other than methane, only five compounds tested were oxidized by cell suspensions of the Bath strain, and three of these were oxidized extremely slowly. Twelve compounds were oxidized in the presence of formaldehyde. On the other hand, Higgins et al. [4] reported that the lack of specificity of methane mono-oxygenase is expressed in vivo in Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b. Cell suspensions of strain OB3b oxidize or otherwise modify (dechlorination, condensation) a wide range of compounds. The dispute [3,4] on the in vivo expression of methane monooxygenase activity among methylotrophs remains unresolved. Methylococcus and Methylosinus represent two of the three main subdivisions of methylotrophs. They differ morphologically, use fundamentally different carbon assimilation pathways and may contain different methane monooxygenases, although this also has been disputed [2,5, 6]. We reported the epoxidation of n-alkenes and the hydroxylation of methane by cell suspensions of various methylotrophic bacteria [7]. Both epoxidation and hydroxylation are catalyzed by the methane monooxygenase system [8]. In this paper, we report the expression in vivo of the non-specific nature of the mono-oxygenase in three methane.grown bacteria belonging to each of three main subdivisions of methylotrophs. In addition, we report the stimulation of methane mono-oxygenase activity by methane metabolites, e.g. methanol, formaldehyde, and formate. The reason for the stimulation is discussed.
Cytogenetic analysis of three primary Bellini duct carcinomas

Three Bellini duct carcinomas (BDC) of the kidney were cytogenetically analyzed after short‐term culture. All three had clonal chromosome abnormalities: 91–92,XXY,‐Y, +12, +12, −15, −16, −18, +mar (case I); 53, XY, +2,t(2;7)(p22;q11), +der(2)t (2;7)(p22;q11), +3, +r(3), add(5)(p15), +7, −8, +12, +17, +r(17), +20, −21 (case 2); and 44–47,X,‐Y, +9, +16, −21/46,XY. Some of the numerical abnormalities are shared with papillary renal cell carcinomas (PRCC)(+7, +12, +16, +17, and +20) but not with transitional renal cell carcinomas. The present findings support the previous notion that BDC are different from other types of RCC. Genes Chromosom Cancer 15:170–172 (1996). © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Utilização das vitaminas C e E em rações para frangos de corte mantidos em ambiente de alta temperatura

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of supplementation of vitamins C or E in the diet on performance, carcass characteristics and hematological parameters of broilers kept under high environmental temperature. Four hundred and fifty broilers were distributed in a completely randomized design with five treatments and nine replications, with 10 and 7 birds per experimental unit, respectively, according to the periods from 1 to 21 and 22 to 42 days old. Treatments consisted of a basal diet (RB) without supplementation of vitamins C and E; RB + 300 ppm of vitamin E; RB + 230 ppm of vitamin C; RB + 300 ppm of vitamin E + 230 of vitamin C, and RB + 150 ppm of vitamin E + 115 of vitamin C. Treatments did not influence performance of birds in the phase of 1 to 21 days of age. At 1 to 42 days of age, supplementation of vitamins C and E only influenced feed conversion. The best results for the absolute and relative weights of breast were observed in birds fed the basal diet supplemented with different combinations of vitamins C and E. Plasma concentration of triiodothyronine, percentage of blood cells, the heterophil/lymphocyte ratio and absolute and relative weights of the spleen at 21 and 42 days of age were not influenced by vitamin supplementation. Supplementation of vitamins C and/or E did not influence performance, weight of the spleen or blood parameters of chickens maintained until 42 days of age in a high temperature environment. The combination of vitamins C and E promotes improvement in absolute and relative weights of breast of broilers reared under high temperature
Probabilistic Categorization with Meaningful Information Using Traders and Non-Traders

This study evaluated if facial features of a probabilistic task affected performance. In particular, cards/ cues had meanings, related to the cover story. Participants had to predict if the price of a share went up or down, given a combination of the meaningful cards. Two types of participants were tested. One group was related to the cover story: they were traders. The other was composed by subjects without any trading experience. The data was analyzed using strategy analysis by Meeter et al. (2006). The results showed that the task was harder, both in comparison to other studies and previously collected data in 2009. In fact, it seems that the paradigm is prone to framing-effects, where the superficial features are important in learning or deciding properly.
Development of the time coding pathways in the auditory brainstem of the barn owl

The barn owl's head grows after hatching, causing interaural distances to more than double in the first 3 weeks posthatch. These changes expose the bird to a constantly increasing range of interaural time cues. We have used Golgi and ultrastructural techniques to analyze the development of the connections and cell types of the nucleus magnocellularis (NM) and the nucleus laminaris (NL) with reference to the growth of the head. The time coding circuit is formed but immature at the time of hatching. In the month posthatch, the auditory nerve projection to the NM matures, and appears adult‐like by posthatch day (P)21. NM neurons show a late growth of permanent dendrites starting at P6. Over the first month, these dendrites change in length and number, depending upon rostrocaudal position, to establish the adult pattern in which high best frequency neurons have few or no dendrites. These changes are not complete by P21, when NM neurons still have more dendrites than in the adult owl. The neurons of NL have many short dendrites before hatching. Their number is greatly reduced by P6, and then does not change during later development. Like NM neurons, NL neurons and dendrites grow in the first month posthatch, and at P21, NL dendrites are longer than those in the adult owl. Thus, the auditory brainstem circuits grow in the first month after hatching, but are not yet mature at the time the head reaches its adult size. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Valores de energia metabolizável de alguns alimentos obtidos com aves de diferentes idades

Four assays were carried out to determine the apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and the corrected apparent nitrogen metabolizable energy (AMEn) of ten feeds for poultry at different poultry ages. The feeds studied were: corn grain, soybean meal, ground sorghum, wheat bran, integral rice bran, two kinds of feather meal, two kinds of poultry viscera meal and spray-dried plasma. The method of total excreta collection was used to determine the AME and AMEn values. The broiler chicks were distributed on a completely randomized experimental design, with 11 treatments, six replications, with different number of animals by replication according to the assay. In the first assay, 528 male broiler chicks in the period from 10 to 17 days of age were used, with eight animals per replication. In the second assay, 396 male broiler chicks in the period from 26 to 33 days of age were used, with six animals per replication. In the third assay, 264 male broiler chicks in the period from 40 to 47 days of age were used, with four animals per replication. In the fourth assay, 132 roosters were used, with two animals per replicate. There was an effect of age on the AME and AMEn values of the following feeds: soybean meal, ground sorghum, integral rice bran, two kinds of feather meal and spray-dried plasma, where the oldest broilers provided the highest AME and AMEn values. Wheat bran was affected by age only for the AMEn values.
The Validation of a Semantic Model for the Interpretation of Mathematics in an Applied Mathematics Problem

The semantic model proposed by Peters (2008) was developed whilst working with learners of mathematics solving algebraic problems. In order to investigate in more detail the role of the parsing process and its relationship to the lexicon, a different set of questions were devised based on Laurillard’s (2002) work with undergraduate students. These same questions were also given to a set of mathematics tutors so that a comparison could be made between the two groups and to see if their behaviour could be explained using the semantic model. The analysis of these sets of data indeed show the importance of the parsing process and as predicted by the model, a competent mathematician employs a topdown parsing strategy.
Recovery of lead‐induced suppressed reproduction in male rats by testosterone

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of testosterone in recuperation of lead‐induced suppressed reproduction in adult male rats. Lead acetate was administered orally to adult male rats (95 ± 5 days) at dosage level of 0.05 and 0.15% for 55 days through drinking water and injected intraperitoneally with either testoviron depot at a dose of 4.16 mg kg−1 body weight or vehicle alone on days 1, 7 and 14 respectively. At the end of treatment, control and treated males were cohabited with untreated normal‐cycling females. After cohabitation for 5 days, all the male rats were killed and weights of reproductive organs were determined. Significant increase in the indices of testis, epididymis, seminal vesicles, vas deferens and prostate glands was observed in testosterone (T)‐treated rats when compared to those of lead‐exposed rats. Testosterone treatment significantly increased epididymal sperm count, motile spermatozoa, viable spermatozoa and HOS tail‐coiled spermatozoa and also the activity levels of testicular 3β‐ and 17β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases when compared to those of lead‐exposed males. From the results, it can be hypothesised that supplementation of testosterone mitigated lead‐induced suppressed reproduction in male rats.
Phenotypic plasticity and selection in Drosophila life history evolution. 2. Diet, mates and the cost of reproduction

While it is commonplace for biologists to use the response to environmental manipulation as a guide to evolutionary responses to selection, the relationship between phenotypic plasticity and genetic change is not generally well‐established. The life‐histories of laboratory Drosophila populations are among the few experimental systems which simultaneously afford information on phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary trajectories. We employed a combination of two replicated selectively differentiated stocks (postponed aging stocks and their controls; 10 populations in total) and two different environmental manipulations (nutrition and mating) to explore the empirical relationship between phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary trajectories. While there are a number of parallels between the results obtained using these two approaches, there are important differences. In particular, as the detail of the biological characterization of either type of response increases, so their disparities multiply. Nonetheless, the combination of environmental manipulation with evolutionary divergence provides valuable information about the biological connections between life‐history, caloric reserves, and reproductive physiology in Drososphila.
Anti‐bromodeoxyuridine monoclonal antibody: An alternative tool for the identification of replicated DNA at the electron microscope level

A new method for identifying the replicated DNA at the electron microscope level is described. Cells were first exposed in vitro to 5‐bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR) in conjunction with 5‐fluorodeoxyuridine (FUdR) and BUdR incorporated into DNA was then detected on Lowicryl‐embedded sections by immunogold technique using a monoclonal anti‐BUdR antibody. After using this method, chromatin and chromosomes are strongly labelled.
Bovine Abortion Associated with Cytomegalovirus Infection

Summary Infection with cytomegaloviruses is a common occurrence in a variety of animal species, yet there are no reports of their occurrence in the bovine species. For the first time, cytomegalic inclusion bodies were detected in lungs, kidney, liver, myocardium and spleen of a bovine fetus, aborted at approximately 6 1/2 months gestation. Electronmicroscopic studies revealed the presence of viral particles in nuclei and cytoplasm of affected cells. No apparent clinical disease was observed in the dam or other cows of the herd, nor did any further losses occur. Zusammenfassung Cytomegalovirusinfektion als Verwerfensursache beim Rind Cytomegalovirusinfektionen sind bei fast allen Tierarten und beim Menschen beschrieben worden, jedoch fehlen Berichte uber solche Infektionen bei Rindern. Erstmals wird uber cytomegale Einschlusse in Lunge, Niere, Leber, Herz und Milz eines 6 bis 7 Monate alten abortierten Rinderfetus berichtet. Mit Hilfe des Elektronenmikroskopes konnte die Anwesenheit von Viruspartikeln im Nukleus und im Zytoplasma veranderter Zellen nachgewiesen werden. Klinische Zeichen einer Erkrankung traten weder bei der Kuh, die abortierte, noch bei anderen Kuhen in der Herde auf. Weitere Aborte wurden nicht beobachtet. Resume Infection a Cytomegalovirus a l'origine d'avortement chez le bovin Les infections a Cytomegalovirus ont ete decrites chez presque toutes les especes animales et chez l'homme; des donnees de telles infections font toutefois defaut chez le bovin. On decrit pour la premiere fois des inclusions cytomegales dans les poumons, les reins, le foie, le coeur et la rate chez un foetus de bovin avorte a 6–7 mois. On a pu demontrer la presence de particules virales dans le nucleus et le cytoplasme des cellules atteintes au moyen du microscope electronique. Aucun signe clinique ne se manifesta aussi bien chez l'animal avorte que dans le reste du troupeau. On n'a pas observe d'autres avortements. Resumen Infecciones a virus cytomegalico se han descrito en casi todas las especies animales y en el hombre, pero faltaban hasta la fecha los informes sobre tales infecciones en vacas. Por vez primera se informa sobre inclusiones cytomegalicas en pulmon, rinon, higado, corazon y bazo de un feto abortado de vaca de unos 6 o 7 meses de edad. Con ayuda del microscopio electronico se pudo probar la presencia de particulas virales en el nucleo y en el citoplasma de las celulas alteradas. Signos clinicos de una enfermedad no se registraron ni en la vaca que aborto ni en otras vacas de la manada. No se observaron mas casos de aborto.
Estudo clonal de Escherichia coli aviário por análise de seqüências de DNA conservadas do gene fliC

The clonal relationship among avian Escherichia coli strains and their genetic proximity with human pathogenic E. coli, Salmonela enterica, Yersinia enterocolitica and Proteus mirabilis, was determined by the DNA sequencing of the conserved 5' and 3'regions fliC gene (flagellin encoded gene). Among 30 commensal avian E. coli strains and 49 pathogenic avian E. coli strains (APEC), 24 commensal and 39 APEC strains harbored fliC gene with fragments size varying from 670bp to 1,900bp. The comparative analysis of these regions allowed the construction of a dendrogram of similarity possessing two main clusters: one compounded mainly by APEC strains and by H-antigens from human E. coli, and another one compounded by commensal avian E. coli strains, S. enterica, and by other H-antigens from human E. coli. Overall, this work demonstrated that fliC conserved regions may be associated with pathogenic clones of APEC strains, and also shows a great similarity among APEC and H-antigens of E. coli strains isolated from humans. These data, can add evidence that APEC strains can exhibit a zoonotic risk.