Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Disease and Injury on Faecal Cortisol Metabolites, as an Indicator of Stress in Wild Hospitalised Koalas, Endangered Australian Marsupials

Simple Summary Habitat loss, urbanisation and climate change may cause stress in koalas. Non-invasive monitoring of faecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) can be utilised to evaluate the impact of stress. The effectiveness of two enzyme immunoassays (EIAs), 50c and cortisol, in measuring FCM values in wild, stressed koalas was tested. Faecal samples of 234 diseased, injured and control koalas in Queensland, Australia were analysed. Diseased and injured koalas had significantly higher FCM values than clinically healthy control animals as measured by the 50c EIA. Only the 50c EIA detected higher absolute values in males, and also found that females showed a more elevated response to stress manifested by injury and disease. The cortisol EIA was also found unreliable in detecting stress in rehabilitated koalas treated with synthetic glucocorticoids as it cross-reacts with these chemicals. Abstract Loss of habitat, urbanisation, climate change and its consequences are anthropogenic pressures that may cause stress in koalas. Non-invasive monitoring of faecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) can be utilised to evaluate the impact of stressors. The aim was to determine if the tetrahydrocorticosterone (50c) and cortisol enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) could be effective in measuring FCM values in wild, stressed koalas. This research included 146 koalas from the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital (AZWH) and 88 from a study conducted by Endeavour Veterinary Ecology (EVE), Queensland, Australia. Faecal samples of diseased, injured and control koalas were analysed. The effect of hospitalisation on FCM values was also investigated. Diseased and injured koalas had significantly higher FCM values than clinically healthy control animals as measured by the 50c EIA. FCM values with the cortisol EIA differed significantly between control and diseased koalas, but not between control and injured ones. Moreover, only the 50c EIA detected higher absolute values in males compared to females, and also found that females showed a more elevated response to stress manifested by injury and disease compared to males. The 50c EIA detected stress during hospitalisation better than the cortisol EIA. The cortisol EIA was also found unreliable in detecting stress in rehabilitated koalas treated with synthetic glucocorticoids as it cross-reacts with these steroids providing artificially high values.
Testing polarization-dependent gain of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

EDFAs are broadband optical amplifiers, which are increasingly replacing conventional optoelectronic regenerators. In high-speed data transmission they have to be designed for low polarization dependence to prevent a rise in the bit error rate. Long links like undersea or transcontinental cables contain many EDFAs, this way multiplying their polarization dependencies. Therefore, EDFAs have to be characterized carefully for polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and polarization dependent gain (PDG). In this paper, the PMD measurement is achieved with a modified Stokes vector method. In this method, the polarization controller is used to generate a number of input polarization states, all of which arelocated on an unit circle on the the North Pole of Poincare sphere. For each state, a small wavelength step is applied. Using the Polarization Analyzer, the arc on the Poincare sphere, which is caused by changing the wavelength, is determined. The arc is known to vary sinusoidally with the input polarization state. The widest arc is the measure for the PDG. The measuring system includes HP8164A Tunable Laser, HP8509B Polarization Analyzer, HP 8169A polarization controller and HP8153A Power Meter etc. Four dedicated polarization states (0° lin., 45° lin., 90° lin., circular) are set and the power without device-under-test (DUT) is measured. Then the EDFA is inserted and the power is measured again. This delivers the first row of the Mueller-Matrix from which the PDG can be calculated.
Interactions between Dental MSCs and Biomimetic Composite Scaffold during Bone Remodeling Followed by In Vivo Real-Time Bioimaging

Oral–maxillofacial tumor removal can generate critical bone defects and major problems for patients, causing dysfunctionalities and affecting oral competencies such as mastication, swallowing, and breathing. The association of novel biomaterials and cell therapies in tissue engineering strategies could offer new strategies to promote osteomucosa healing. This study focused on the development of a bioengineered construct loaded with human dental follicle cells (MSCs). To increase the bioconstruct integration to the surrounding tissue, a novel and comprehensive approach was designed combining an injectable biomimetic hydrogel and dental stem cells (hDFMSCs) expressing luminescence/fluorescence for semi-quantitative tissue imaging in live animals. This in vivo model with human MSCs was based on an intramembranous bone regeneration process (IMO). Biologically, the biocomposite based on collagen/nanohydroxyapatite filled with cell-loaded osteopontin–fibrin hydrogel (Coll/nanoHA OPN-Fb) exhibited a high cellular proliferation rate, increased bone extracellular matrix deposition (osteopontin) and high ALP activity, indicating an early osteogenic differentiation. Thus, the presence of human OPN enhanced hDFMSC adhesion, migration, and spatial distribution within the 3D matrix. The developed 3D bioconstruct provided the necessary pro-regenerative effect to modulate the biological response, precisely fitting the bone defect with fine-tuned adjustment to the surrounding original structure and promoting oral osteomucosa tissue regeneration. We were also able to track the cells in vivo and evaluate their behavior (migration, proliferation, and differentiation), providing a glimpse into bone regeneration and helping in the optimization of patient-specific therapies.
Joint Online Optimization of Task Rescheduling and Data Redistribution

Wide-area distributed computing environment is the main platform for storing large amounts of data and conducting wide-area computing. Tasks and data are jointly scheduled among multiple computing platforms to improve system efficiency. However, large network latency and limited bandwidth in wide-area networks may cause a large delay in scheduling information and data migration, which brings low task execution efficiency and a long time waiting for data. Traditional works mainly focus on allocating tasks based on data locality or distributing data replications, but optimizing task allocation or data placement alone is insufficient from a global perspective. To mitigate the impact of large network latency and limited bandwidth on system performance, joint online optimization of task rescheduling and data redistribution is proposed in this study. The task allocation and data placement can be adjusted collaboratively during the system running process through the task stealing and backfilling mechanism and the data replication placement mechanism. The experimental results indicate that compared with the state-of-the-art method, the proposed method improves the system throughput and computing resource utilization by 20.67% and 20.26% respectively, and can significantly reduce the global data migration costs.
Auditory perception, phonics and reading disabilities in children

In order to investigate the hypothesis that auditory perceptual disabilities may result in difficulty in learning phonics skills and hence in learning to read, reading impaired and normally developing children were given a battery of nonverbal auditory perceptual tests as well as a test of phonic skills. The auditory perceptual test battery examined (1) discrimination, (2) temporal order perception, (3) short‐term memory, and (4) serial memory. Stimulus tones were presented at various rates. There were no significant differences between groups on any of the subtests in which stimuli were presented at slow rates. However, when the same stimuli were presented at slow rates. However, when the same stimuli were presented more rapidly, the reading impaired group made significantly more errors than the controls. The reading paired children's ability to use phonics skills (read nonsense words) was also examined. There was a high correlation between the number of errors made on the phonics reading test and the number of errors made in responding to the rapidly presented non‐verbal stimuli in the auditory perceptual tests. The hypothesis, that some reading impairments are related to low level auditory perceptual dysfunction similar to that demonstrated previously for language impaired children, [P. Tallal and M. Piercy, Neuropsychologia 11, 389–398, 1973] is discussed.
Pregnancy Toxemia in Ewes: A Review of Molecular Metabolic Mechanisms and Management Strategies

Pregnancy toxemia is a nutritional metabolic disease during late gestation in small ruminants. The condition is characterized by disorders in carbohydrate and fat metabolism. Obese and multiparous ewes are particularly susceptible to pregnancy toxemia, which may lead to maternal death, abortion, or premature birth. Highly productive multiparous meat ewes are major breeding animals, which has led to an increased incidence of the disease. However, the pathogenesis of pregnancy toxemia remains unclear and adequate disease prevention and treatment strategies are absent. Investigating the pathogenesis of pregnancy toxemia, especially the metabolic pathways of hepatic lipids, is key to an improved understanding of the condition. This review provides a snapshot of the genes that are associated with lipid metabolism in the ovine liver, including genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, acetyl coenzyme metabolism, and triglyceride synthesis; describes the interrelationships between these genes; and summarizes the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of pregnancy toxemia.
One-way EPR steering and genuine multipartite EPR steering

We propose criteria and experimental strategies to realise the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering nonlocality. One-way steering can be obtained where there is asymmetry of thermal noise on each system. We also present EPR steering inequalities that act as signatures and suggest how to optimise EPR correlations in specific schemes so that the genuine multipartite EPR steering nonlocality (EPR paradox) can also possibly be realised. The results presented here also apply to the spatially separated macroscopic atomic ensembles.
RETRACTED-Late Permian to early Triassic gabbro in North Lhasa, Tibet: evidence for plume – subduction-zone interaction of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean

Abstract The Palaeo-Mesozoic geodynamic evolution of the Tangjia–Sumdo accretionary complex belt, which separates the North and South Lhasa Terrane, remains controversial. Moreover, the lack of geological records restricts the understanding of the evolution of the Sumdo Palaeo-Tethys Ocean from the middle Permian until the middle Triassic. Here we present zircon U–Pb geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic compositions of the Yeqing gabbro. Zircon U–Pb geochronology yields ages from 254 ± 1 to 249 ± 1 Ma. In situ Hf isotopic analyses yield ϵ Hf(t) values of −0.2 to +6.3. These samples have high TiO2 (3.69 wt %) and P2O5 (0.78 wt %) contents, with typical patterns like ocean island basalt (OIB). Besides, they are classified as high-Nb basalts (HNBs) based on the high content of Nb (45.3–113.5 ppm). Whole-rock Sr–Nd isotopic compositions are similar to OIB, with initial 87Sr/86Sr of 0.7047–0.7054, 143Nd/144Nd of 0.512526–0.512647 and ϵ Nd(t) of 0.3–2.7. These signatures suggest that the Yeqing gabbro is mainly derived from low-degree melting of the garnet lherzolite mantle. Based on field observations of HNBs intruding into the continental margin and their geochemical characteristics, we infer that the Yeqing gabbro was generated in a subduction environment. Combined with the regional geology of the subduction environment and the evolution of oceanic islands in the Sumdo Palaeo-Tethys Ocean, we propose that the Yeqing gabbro may represent a product of the asthenosphere upwelling through a slab window produced by subduction of seismic ridge in the Sumdo Palaeo-Tethys Ocean, called plume – subduction-zone interaction, during the late Permian to early Triassic.
Thin cirrus clouds - Seasonal distribution over oceans deduced from Nimbus-4 IRIS

Abstract Spectral differences in the extinction between the 10.8 and 12.6 μm bands of the infrared window region, due to optically thin clouds, are observed in the measurements made by a broad-band infrared aircraft radiometer. Similar spectral properties are also revealed by the measurements made by the high-resolution infrared inter-ferometer spectrometer (IRIS) aboard the Nimbus-4 satellite, which had a field of view of ∼ 95 km. These observations show that the extinction due to cloud particles at 12.6 μm is appreciably larger than that at 10.8 μm. Both water or ice particles in the clouds can account for such spectral difference in extinction provided that the particles are smaller than the wavelength of radiation. This spectral effect is demonstrated with the help of multiple scattering radiative transfer calculations. As the IRIS data reveal this spectral feature, about 100 to 200 km away from the center of high altitude cold clouds (∼ 230 K), it is inferred that this feature is related to the sprea.
It will (never) stop hurting: Do repeated or chronic experiences of exclusion lead to hyper- or hyposensitive psychological responses?

Unlike one-time lab manipulations of exclusion, in real life, many people experience exclusion, from others and from groups, over extended periods, raising the question of whether individuals could, over time, develop hypo- or hypersensitive responses to chronic exclusion. In Study 1, we subjected participants to repeated experiences of inclusion or exclusion (three Cyberball games, time lag of three days, N = 194; 659 observations). We find that repeatedly excluded individuals become hypersensitive to inclusion, but not to exclusion. Study 2 (N = 183) tested whether individuals with chronic experiences of real-world exclusion show hypo- or hypersensitive responses to a novel episode of exclusion. In line with Study 1, exclusion hurt to the same extent regardless of baseline levels of chronic exclusion in daily life. However, chronically excluded individuals show more psychological distress in general. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for dealing with chronically excluded individuals and groups.
Modulating emission polarization of semiconductor quantum dots through surface plasmon of metal nanorod

We theoretically investigated the dynamics of exciton populations [ρyy(t) and ρxx(t)] on two orthogonal polarization eigenstates (∣x⟩ and ∣y⟩) and the polarization ratio P(t)=[ρyy(t)−ρxx(t)]∕[ρyy(t)+ρxx(t)] of an anisotropic InGaAs quantum dot modulated by the surface plasmon of an Au nanorod (NR). In the resonance of longitudinal surface plasmon of AuNR, the polarization ratio P(t) increases from 0.22 to 0.99 during the excitation due to the efficient enhancement of Rabi frequency of the transition between the ∣y⟩ and vacuum states, and decreases from 0.02 to −0.92 after the excitation pulse due to the enhancement of decay rate of the ∣y⟩ state. This offers an approach to modulate the dynamic polarization ratio of radiative emissions.
Glycoproteomics in Cerebrospinal Fluid Reveals Brain-Specific Glycosylation Changes

The glycosylation of proteins plays an important role in neurological development and disease. Glycoproteomic studies on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are a valuable tool to gain insight into brain glycosylation and its changes in disease. However, it is important to consider that most proteins in CSFs originate from the blood and enter the CSF across the blood–CSF barrier, thus not reflecting the glycosylation status of the brain. Here, we apply a glycoproteomics method to human CSF, focusing on differences between brain- and blood-derived proteins. To facilitate the analysis of the glycan site occupancy, we refrain from glycopeptide enrichment. In healthy individuals, we describe the presence of heterogeneous brain-type N-glycans on prostaglandin H2-D isomerase alongside the dominant plasma-type N-glycans for proteins such as transferrin or haptoglobin, showing the tissue specificity of protein glycosylation. We apply our methodology to patients diagnosed with various genetic glycosylation disorders who have neurological impairments. In patients with severe glycosylation alterations, we observe that heavily truncated glycans and a complete loss of glycans are more pronounced in brain-derived proteins. We speculate that a similar effect can be observed in other neurological diseases where a focus on brain-derived proteins in the CSF could be similarly beneficial to gain insight into disease-related changes.
Semen Thresholds of Normality Established by the WHO Do Not Reveal Genome Instability—A Potential Occult Male Factor

Semen parameters are unable to inform on the function or fertilizing capacity of the male gamete. Standardized methods are provided by the WHO but, the lower reference limits have reduced sensitivity to predict chances of conception. Subfertile men may be falsely classified as “normal” and a male factor contributing to genome instability may be overlooked. Semen parameters, sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF), sperm chromatin maturity and stability, and sperm aneuploidy were assessed in fertile (F), subfertile normozoospermic (SN) and subfertile non-normozoospermic males (SN-N). Standardized assays employing flow cytometry were used to detect genome instability. Sperm DNA fragmentation did not differ significantly whether the semen samples were from a fertile (F), subfertile normozoospermic (SN) or subfertile non-normozoospermic male (SN-N). Chromatin decondensation was significantly reduced and hyperstability significantly increased in the SN group as compared to the F group. The frequency of diploidy was significantly different in the three study groups with significance between F and SN and between F and SN-N groups. Subfertile men with normal semen parameters are often excluded from extensive genetic testing. Genome instability might be an independent attribute of semen quality detecting problems not seen with semen analysis alone.
Blast-pressure measurement with a high-bandwidth fibre optic pressure sensor

A sensor to measure rapidly changing pressures in an explosive air blast requires high bandwidth and high spatial resolution. For such an application a low-cost, electrically isolated sensor is particularly attractive. We describe an optical fibre-based pressure sensor that meets these requirements. The sensor is subjected to an experimental explosive-blast measurement test and the results are discussed with respect to the sensor performance and compared with a simple blast-wave model and conventional pressure transducers.
A Six Years (2010–2016) Longitudinal Survey of the Four Serotypes of Dengue Viruses in Lao PDR

Dengue fever is the most prevalent arthropod-borne viral infection of humans in tropical and subtropical countries. Since 1979, dengue has been reported to be endemic in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), as in many countries in Southeast Asia, with a complex circulation of the four dengue viruses’ serotypes (DENV-1 to DENV-4). By sequencing the complete envelope protein, we explored a panel of samples from five Lao Provinces (Vientiane capital, Luangprabang, Bolikhamxay, Saravane, Attapeu) to enrich knowledge about the co-circulation of DENVs in Lao PDR between 2010 and 2016. Phylogenetic analyses highlighted the specific circulation of DENV-1 genotype I, DENV-2 genotype Asian I, DENV-4 genotype I and the co-circulation of DENV-3 genotype II and III. The continuous co-circulation of the four serotypes was underlined, with genotype or cluster shifts among DENV-3 and DENV-1. These data suggested the emergence or re-emergence of DENV strains associated with epidemic events, potentially linked to the exchanges within the territory and with neighboring countries. Indeed, the increasing local or regional connections favored the dissemination of new isolates or new clusters around the country. Since 2012, the surveillance and alert system created in Vientiane capital by the Institut Pasteur du Laos appears to be a strategic tool for monitoring the circulation of the four serotypes, especially in this endemic country, and allows for improving dengue epidemiological knowledge to anticipate epidemic events better.
Underwater Acoustic Channel Estimation Based on Sparse Bayesian Learning Algorithm

The channel estimation algorithm based on sparse Bayesian learning proposed in recent years shows better performance than the traditional channel estimation algorithm by effectively reducing the convergence error in the channel estimation process. However, the sparse Bayesian learning algorithm based on expectation maximization (EM-SBL) is difficult to meet the practical applications with low complexity and power consumption. In order to guarantee the long-term stable communication of underwater devices, this paper proposes the fast sparse Bayesian learning algorithm based on Fast Marginal Likelihood Maximization (FM-SBL) to estimate underwater acoustic channels with low power consumption and high performance. Simulation and sea trial results show the output BER after channel estimation of FM-SBL is similar to that of EM-SBL, better than LS, MP and OMP, and it has good robustness in fast and slow time-varying channels. In terms of running speed, the FM-SBL algorithm is 16.7% of EM-SBL algorithm, which greatly reduces the estimation time.
Effects of Lactobacillus fermentum Administration on Intestinal Morphometry and Antibody Serum Levels in Salmonella-Infantis-Challenged Chickens

There are no studies reporting the effects of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Infantis (S. Infantis) on intestinal architecture and immunoglobulin serum levels in chickens. Here, we measured these parameters and hypothesized whether probiotic administration could modulate the observed outcomes. Two-hundred 1-day-old COBB 500 male chicks were allocated into four groups: (I) the control, (II) the group treated with L. fermentum, (III) the group exposed to S. Infantis, and (IV) the group inoculated with both bacteria. At 11 days post infection, blood was gathered from animals which were then euthanized, and samples from the small intestine were collected. Intestinal conditions, as well as IgA and IgM serum levels, were assessed. S. Infantis reduced villus-height-to-crypt-depth (VH:CD) ratios in duodenal, jejunal, and ileal sections compared to control conditions, although no differences were found regarding the number of goblet cells, muc-2 expression, and immunoglobulin concentration. L. fermentum improved intestinal measurements compared to the control; this effect was also evidenced in birds infected with S. Infantis. IgM serum levels augmented in response to the probiotic in infected animals. Certainly, the application of L. fermentum elicited positive outcomes in S. Infantis-challenged chickens and thus must be considered for developing novel treatments designed to reduce unwanted infections.