Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early Diet Dilution with 40% Rice Hull Induces Lower Body Fat and Lipid Metabolic Programming in Peking Ducks

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of early diet dilution with 40% rice hull on growth performance, carcasscharacteristic and composition of meat-type ducks, and to reveal the possible mechanism for decreased body fat deposition.160 1-day-old White Peking ducks with initial body weight of 44.5±1.0 g were allotted to two treatments with 8 replicatepens per treatment and 10 ducks per pen (5 male and 5 female). Ducks were fed with the experimental starter diets dilutedwith 0% (control, RH0), 40% rice hull (RH40) during 8 to 14 d of age, respectively. Thereafter, all ducks were fed withgrower diet. Ducks fed with RH40 diet from 8 to 14 d of age increased (p<0.05) feed intake, decreased (p<0.05) bodyweight, body weight gain and adjusted feed intake (excluded rice hull), abdominal fat, skin with fat, and fat content in car-cass, and reduced (p<0.05) activities of hepatic malic dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and fatty acidsynthetase. When diet dilution was withdrawn in the re-fed period from 15 to 42 d of age, full compensatory growth of bodyweight, breast meat and leg meat weight were attained. However, ducks were still less (p<0.05) carcass fat content andshowed continually lower (p<0.05) hepatic lipogenic enzyme activities at the market age in RH40 ducks than the control.These results indicated that diluting diet with 40% rice hull during 8 to 14 d of age might be a suitable method to improvefeed efficiency, and to reduce carcass fat deposition in the production of meat-type ducks.Key words: carcass composition, ducks, early diet dilution, growth performance, hepatic adipose enzyme activity
Diagnostic approach to pleural effusions

The increasing incidence of pleural effusions from a variety of etiologies is associated with significant socioeconomic burden. Effective treatment for pleural effusions first requires a comprehensive diagnostic work up encompassing analysis of pleural fluid chemistry, microbiology studies and invasive sampling, all of which should be incorporated with relevant clinical data to reach a final diagnosis. This review article addresses current diagnostic approaches to pleural effusions.
Bending analysis of a dual-core photonic crystal fiber

A dual-core photonic crystal flber (DC-PCF) is proposed, and bending characteristics of the DC-PCF are investigated. Two flber cores are employed in the cross-section of the DC-PCF, which result in a mode coupling between the two flber cores when the light propagates inside the DC-PCF. The mode coupling between two flber cores of the DC-PCF is sensitive to the directional bending of the DC-PCF which essentially provides a method to achieve bending sensing. A DC-PCF-based bending sensor is proposed by injecting a broadband light into one flber core of the DC-PCF on one side and detecting output spectrum from another flber core of the DC-PCF on the other side. In our simulations, a parabola curve which shows the relationship between the wavelength shift of the transmission spectrum of the DC- PCF-based bending sensor and the bending curvature of the DC-PCF is presented.
Removal of part of the eEF1A GTP binding domain induced translation errors in vitro

Eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A (eEF1A) is one of the main components of the translation machinery acting at the elongation step. Oncogene PTI-1 which is expressed during prostate cancer development, codes the protein, homologous to eEF1A. In this paper the hypothesis is tested that the product of PTI-1 gene can influence the accuracy of translation. The ability of the PTI-1 protein analogue to stimulate misincorporation of leucine by ribosomes programmed with poly(U) was demonstrated. This finding favors the hypothesis about the ability of the PTI-1 protein to influence translation accuracy in vivo.
The influence of precipitation weighting on interannual variability of stable water isotopes in Greenland

[1] We investigate the effect of precipitation weighting on annual d values of stable water isotopes in ice cores from Greenland. This effect can explain the observation from ice cores that d values in northwestern Greenland are less related to annual coastal temperatures than are the d values in southern and central Greenland ice cores. Furthermore, the precipitation weighting can explain the result of Vinther et al. (2010) that exclusion of summer layers increases information about annual temperature in Greenland ice core records. We study these effects by comparing arithmetic annual means of a regional temperature signal to annual means of the same signal weighted by local precipitation. Specifically, we apply the ERA‐40 reanalysis of meteorological observations to compute time series of southwest Greenland temperatures in annual means and in annual precipitation weighted means. We find that the correlation between these temperature series is highest in southern Greenland, decreasing toward the north, and that the correlation is controlled by the seasonal time scale precipitation weighting. A statistical model is developed to understand the role of climatic parameters in this correlation. The low correlation in northwestern Greenland is caused in equal parts by a relatively lower mean fraction of precipitation during winter in this sector and a larger year‐to‐year variability of this fraction.
Combined effect of hormonal priming and salt treatments on germination percentage and antioxidant activities in lettuce seedlings

Hormonal priming is a pre-sowing treatment that improves seed germination performance and stress tolerance. To understand the physiology of hormonal priming and its association with post priming stress tolerance, we investigated the effect of hormonal priming with increasing gibberellic acid (GA 3 ) concentrations (0, 3, 4.5 and 6 mM) on seedling growth and antioxidant system in lettuce. Germination percentage was higher in lettuce seedlings derived from primed seeds. Radicle and hypocotyl length and dry weight were reduced by salt treatment to a greater extent in non-primed than in primed seeds. Hormonal priming with 4.5 mM GA 3 induced the most dramatic decreases in electrolyte leakage (EL) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. NaCl increased catalase (CAT) activity in primed and non-primed seeds. The total ascorbate level remained constant in both primed and non-primed seeds under NaCl constraint. These results suggest that hormonal priming might have increased the salt tolerance of lettuce seeds through enhancing the activities of antioxidant enzymes and reducing the membrane damage as estimated using EL and MDA biomarkers. Key words: Ascorbate, germination, hormonal priming, lettuce, salinity.
Model-guided Code Assistance for Framework Application Development

Object-oriented frameworks are currently widely used in software application development. Unfortunately, they are known to be generally di cult to use because of the di culty in understanding the concepts and constraints in di erent frameworks. With the formalization of framework concepts and constraints in domain-speci c modeling languages called framework-speci c modeling languages (FSMLs), previous works have shown that round-trip engineering between models of applications using frameworks and the application code is possible to aid framework application development. Framework-speci c modeling languages only capture, however, framework concepts and constraints and hence, lack the expressiveness of general-purpose modeling languages. For this reason, the complete code for an entire framework application cannot be generated from the model in the model editor using round-trip engineering, and the user would need to switch to the code editor to program the application logic code. Also, since models are only abstractions of code, implementation details in code may be missing in models. Although default implementation details can be used when generating code from a model, the generated code might require further customization by the user, which would also require switching to the code editor. To reduce the need for the user to switch between the model editor and the code editor and to reduce the need to customize the generated code, this thesis presents a model-guided approach to providing code assistance for framework application development directly in the code editor, where additional implementation details can also be obtained. An approach to building a context-sensitive code assistant that aids the user in the implementation of framework concepts with the consideration of framework constraints is described. A prototype has further been implemented and applied on two widely popular frameworks. The evaluation in this thesis analyzes and characterizes framework concepts and shows that the framework-based code assistant can reduce the need to customize the generated code in the code editor when compared to code generation from the model editor.
Therapeutic Efficacy of Kalpaamruthaa on Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidant Status in Experimental Mammary Carcinoma in Rats

There has been a growing interest in studying the role played by lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in breast cancer. Free radicals are found to be involved in both initiation and promotion of multistage carcinogenesis. In the present study, effects of Kalpaamruthaa (KA), a modified Siddha preparation on the levels of lipid peroxides (LPO) and status of antioxidants in several tissues were studied in mammary carcinoma rats. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also measured in the control and experimental animals. A significant increase in the levels of LPO, ROS and a decreased levels of antioxidants observed in mammary carcinoma bearing rats were found to be reverted back to near normal levels on treatment with KA. Simultaneous treatment with KA showed more effect than post treatment with KA. Drug control animals showed no significant changes in the levels of ROS when compared with control animals. These results suggest that the free radical mediated damage during mammary carcinoma could have been controlled by KA by its free radical quenching and antioxidative potential. The above results also show that KA exert its anticancer effect on the development of breast cancer.
Pitch Discrimination in Background Noises up to 95 dB SPL

Abstract : A pool of eight experienced subjects was used in studies of pitch discrimination at 1 kHz in quite loud background noises (up to 95 dB per octave) . Differential thresholds (DF) were collected for both the pitch-memory and pitch-modulation auditory tasks, which differed significantly in absolute DF and in the effects of overall loudness and in signal/noise ratio (S/N). Control experiments showed that neither the S/N at 50% detection, nor the DF, deteriorated over at least a 20-min listening period, and probably indefinitely, and that the development of a subjectively 'noisy' quality to a continuous pure tone does not necessarily render impossible quite good DF.
Morphological aspects of Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa chromosomes using acridine orange banding and rDNA-FISH tools

Abstract Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa is considered the most important species of the genus Passiflora, mainly because of its botanical and commercial importance, as well as for crop breeding and genomic programs. However, its chromosome characterization has been conflicting on what concerns the number and localization of secondary constrictions (SC) and nucleolus organizer regions (NORs). In this context, conventional and molecular cytogenetic methodologies have been adapted to resolve these morphology problems. Cellular dissociation, airdrying techniques and Giemsa staining, acridine orange fluorochrome and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) methodologies were used. We identified four secondary constrictions, in the subterminal portion of the long arm of chromosomes 1 and 8 and in the subterminal portion of short arm of chromosomes 2 and 7. Regions emitting yellowish fluorescence were observed on chromosomes 7 and 8 after acridine orange staining. The same pairs were evidenced with the rDNA 18S probe used in the FISH technique, indicating that only two of the four secondary constrictions are related with NORs.
Does Innovation and Relational Learning Influence SME Performance? An Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

This paper reviews the literature in a thorough manner in a bid to propose a model proposing that Innovation (technological and non-technological) and Relational learning can greatly influence the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in a developing country like Pakistan. On the basis of literature review, research hypotheses have been formulated. In order to test the hypotheses, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been employed to analyze the study conducted in 352 SMEs in Pakistan. The proposed model leads to very useful insights as it proposes that SMEs must not ignore the importance of Innovation especially technological innovation and Relational learning in order to achieve higher performance. Results indicate that Technological Innovation and Relational Learning have a positive significant effect on firm performance; whereas the effect of non-technological innovation on firm performance has been found as insignificant. The paper concludes with the discussion of managerial implications and recommendations for future research.
Analysis of transmission congestion using power-flow solutions

Transmission congestion has become a new challenge in an open-access environment of electric transmission networks. In today's world, electric power networks have been so much loaded that such a case has never been observed before. Due to overloading, transmission lines of the networks are congested. Under these circumstances, management of transmission congestion is a crucial task for successful operation of power systems. Our specific problem is to detect load centers or cities that are not congested for power transmission from a specific power plant such as newly-built wind farms and small size hydro dams. In this study, we analyze transmission congestion using power-flow solutions for various load and generation levels. Under the condition that additional generation is supplied and the corresponding load is demanded, we run the powerflow program that we have developed. After obtaining the base case solution of the power flow, we select a candidate bus from load buses to apply incremental changes in real and reactive power. In order to assess the real and reactive power capacities of the candidate bus, we plot the P-V curve and the Q-V curve for the candidate bus. As a result of this process, we have the real and reactive power capacities of the candidate bus and information about the congested parts of the power network. Therefore, we provide such information for power utilities to manage power efficiently and power marketers to sell power economically.
Knowledge Sharing Through Social Networks

We suggest that a lack of understanding of the social and human factors in the design process may lead to the failure of knowledge sharing or KS in most organizations. The basis for KS in organizations is embedded in participants’ action and experience. We propose that successful KS initiatives require (1) attention to communication patterns of individuals or groups working in different divisions of an organization and (2) the development of IT systems that support both strong and weak ties between participants. Specifically, a distinction between different network structures as they relate to the concept of structural holes is drawn for highlighting how types of network structures effect sharing of explicit and tacit knowledge. Additionally, strong and weak tie theories are applied to develop a framework for potential IT-based initiatives aimed at addressing structural holes of communication. A set of propositions is proposed with their implication for designing KS systems in organizations. This paper concludes that sociological perspective in achieving a balance between the different types of ties (i.e., strong and weak ties) could assist in the maintenance and ongoing creation of new knowledge without having the networks to be redundant. Keywordsknowledge sharing; transfer systems; social networks; tie diversity; structural hole.
Cell lineage tracing in the human pancreas

Background and aims: The human pancreas is normally proliferatively quiescent; however loss of cells gives a rapid regenerative response to restore a functionally healthy tissue mass. The mechanism for this is unclear and to date research has failed to identify a definitive pancreatic stem cell. Cell lineage analyses are possible in animals by labelling cells with radioactive tags or genetic markers, but this is not feasible in humans. Current human studies rely on stem cell markers, thus there is a need to develop a better technique to track, isolate and identify cells of related origin. Mitochondrial DNA mutations amass naturally within our cells as we age. Therefore, cells formed by division of a stem cell carrying mutated mitochondrial DNA should, given a qualitative assay, permit the progeny of this cell to be traced. Methods and results: Mitochondrial DNA mutations often result in a defect in the mitochondrial DNA-encoded protein cytochrome c oxidase, and can be identified using a histochemical stain. Individual mutant patches were studied by staining serial sections of normal pancreas. This revealed the presence of clonal units of cells, strong evidence that pancreatic cells within each patch are derived from a common progenitor. We tried to show that these cells are normal in synthetic and proliferative function, although this showed that the mitochondrial DNA mutated cells didn't have normal synthetic function. However this did not negate our evidence of clonal proliferation. Conclusion: This novel means of tracing patterns of cell division and migration in human tissues is suitable for finding how cells proliferate and move in the human pancreas, and with continued work it might be useful as a marker for other changes e.g. pre-cancerous lesions.
The n-linear embedding theorem for dyadic rectangles

Let $\sg_i$, $i=1,\ldots,n$, denote reverse doubling weights on $\R^d$, let $\cdr(\R^d)$ denote the set of all dyadic rectangles on $\R^d$ (Cartesian products of usual dyadic intervals) and let $K:\,\cdr(\R^d)\to[0,\8)$ be a~map. In this paper we give the $n$-linear embedding theorem for dyadic rectangles. That is, we prove the $n$-linear embedding inequality for dyadic rectangles \[ \sum_{R\in\cdr(\R^d)} K(R)\prod_{i=1}^n\lt|\int_{R}f_i\,{\rm d}\sg_i\rt| \le C \prod_{i=1}^n \|f_i\|_{L^{p_i}(\sg_i)} \] can be characterized by simple testing condition \[ K(R)\prod_{i=1}^n\sg_i(R) \le C \prod_{i=1}^n\sg_i(R)^{\frac{1}{p_i}} \quad R\in\cdr(\R^d), \] in the range $1 1$. As a~corollary to this theorem, for reverse doubling weights, we verify a~necessary and sufficient condition for which the weighted norm inequality for the multilinear strong positive dyadic operator and for strong fractional integral operator to hold.
SPECIES DIVERSITY AND HUMAN WELL-BEING: A SPATIAL ECONOMETRIC APPROACH

Economic valuation of biodiversity is generally carried out by applying revealed or stated preference approaches to determine people’s willingness to pay for small changes in management options. Studies on species preservation investigating passive or nonuse values typically rely on stated preference methods such as the contingent valuation approach and often focus on single animal species. The total value of species preservation can only be derived by aggregating the various values. This paper proposes a different approach by investigating country level data on life-satisfaction attempting to explain differences in subjective well-being by reference to amongst other things species diversity. While most recent papers have concentrated on finding determinants of life-satisfaction other than income, little attention has been drawn to spatial interdependencies. Most researchers investigating the determinants of life-satisfaction implicitly assume that subjective well-being is unaffected by events in neighbouring locations. The existence of spatial relationships in the data has implications for the econometric techniques typically employed including misleading inference testing procedures, bias and inconsistency depending on the precise form of the spatial relationship. We extend our analysis by a spatial econometric approach investigating whether and to what extend spatial relationships exist. Spatially weighted variables are shown to be a highly significant determinant of life-satisfaction. As nature does not respect man-made borders, neither does peoples happiness. Furthermore, even when controlling for a range of other factors we find a significant relationship with species diversity; the higher a countries number of bird or mammal species or the lower the percentage of bird species threatened the more satisfied the people are. Overall and from a human perspective, bird species seem to be a better indicator for biodiversity.
Germination changes the isoflavone profile and increases the antioxidant potential of soybean

Isoflavones, which exist in their conjugated or aglycone forms, are well recognized for their potential health benefits. However, isoflavones as aglycone have been regarded as the most bioactive form. In the present study, the profile of isoflavones and their scavenging activity as affected by germination were investigated in several soybean fractions, namely cotyledons, epicotyls, radicles, and hypocotyls. Only aglycones were detected in the radicles from 144 h until 168 h of germination, which makes this component a potential feedstock for studies aiming at isolation, especially of daidzein, which was present in higher concentrations. In terms of total yield and contribution to the total weight of the germinated soybeans, the cotyledons are the best source of aglycones, which was achieved at 144 h of germination. The higher scavenging activity of high-aglycone components from germinated soybeans supports the use of germination to obtain functional foods and/or ingredients with potentially superior bioactivities.
Intelligent Rate Adaptation Based on Improved Simulated Annealing Algorithm

This paper analyzes the PHY layer of IEEE 802.11 standards for a variety of transmission rates, after learning that MAC layer does not provide adaptive approach for rate control. With the study of various adaptive algorithms, the SAARF (Simulated Annealing Auto Rate Fallback) protocol based on simulated annealing algorithm is proposed on rate adaptation in MAC Layer, which can adaptively adjust transmitting rate. Compared with ARF (Auto Rate Fallback) protocol, SAARF can more effectively improve network performance from the simulation results.
Apprenticeship and training in premodern England

This paper re-examines the economics of premodern apprenticeship in England. I present new data showing that a high proportion of apprenticeships in seventeenth century London ended before the term of service was finished. I then propose a new account of how training costs and repayments were distributed over the apprenticeship contract such that neither master or apprentice risked significant loss from early termination. This new account fits with the characteristics of premodern apprenticeship, as well as with what is known about the acquisition of skills in modern and premodern societies.