Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ecological Considerations When Designing Mitigation Translocations: An Australian Reptile Case Study

Simple Summary A common method of alleviating impending threats to wildlife populations is to relocate them from danger, which is known as mitigation translocation. However, these translocations have high failure rates because they lack appropriate funding, resources, and a knowledge of species requirements. Here, we use the endangered western spiny-tailed skink (Egernia stokesii badia) as a case study to exemplify how targeted ecological research can be used to help inform translocation planning. We found that the skinks have specific requirements for predator management, foraging and prey availability, and log pile structures, which can all help improve the targeted selection of translocation sites in the future. Application of a similar scientific framework to planning is likely to improve mitigation translocation success for a range of threatened species. Abstract Translocation science has made considerable progress over the last two decades; however, reptile translocations still frequently fail around the world. Major knowledge gaps surround the basic ecology of reptile species, including basic factors such as habitat preference, which have a critical influence on translocation success. The western spiny-tailed skink (Egernia stokesii badia) is used here as a case study to exemplify how empirical research can directly inform on-ground management and future translocation planning. A combination of studies, including LiDAR scanning of microhabitat structures, camera trapping, plasticine replica model experiments and unbounded point count surveys to assess predation risk, and visual and DNA analysis of dietary requirements, were all used to better understand the ecological requirements of E. s. badia. We found that the skinks have specific log pile requirements, both native and non-native predator management requirements, and a largely herbivorous, broad diet, which all influence translocation site selection and management planning. The use of E. s. badia as an Australian case study provides a clear strategic framework for the targeted research of meaningful ecological factors that influence translocation decision-making. Similar approaches applied to other reptile species are likely to fundamentally increase the capacity for effective management, and the likelihood of future successful translocations.
Otolith shear and the visual perception of force direction - Discrepancies and a proposed resolution

Abstract : Judgments of subjective vertical and horizon were obtained during exposure to five angular directions and five magnitudes of linear acceleration stimuli varied independently on a human centrifuge. The visual perception of the orientation of the force field could not be shown to be a linear function of the otolith shear-directed component, and discontinuities in response for identical stimuli were observed. A tangent equation expression which resolves these discrepancies and better predicts the subjective response is proposed. A rationale for this equation and generalizations relative to extraterrestrial environments are discussed. (Author)
Real-Time Estimation of Anaerobic Threshold during Exercise Using Electrocardiogram in Heart Failure Patients

Exercise therapy at the aerobic level is highly recommended to improve clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure, in which cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) is required to determine anaerobic thresholds (ATs) but is not available everywhere. This study aimed to validate a method to estimate the AT using heart rate variability (HRV) analysis from electrocardiography data in patients with heart failure. Between 2014 and 2019, 67 patients with symptomatic heart failure underwent CPXs in a single university hospital. During the CPX, RR intervals was measured continuously and the HRV threshold (HRVT), defined as the inflection point of <5 ms2 of a high-frequency component (HFC) using the power spectrum analysis, was determined. Patients were divided into two groups according to the mean HFC at rest (high-HFC group, n = 34 and low-HFC group, n = 33). The high-HFC group showed good correlation between the VO2 at AT and HRVT (r = 0.63, p < 0.001) and strong agreement (mean difference, −0.38 mL/kg, p = 0.571). The low-HFC group also showed modest correlation (r = 0.41, p = 0.017) but poor agreement (mean differences, 3.75 mL/kg, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the HRVT obtained from electrocardiography may be a useful indicator for estimating AT in patients with heart failure.
Ults entropy in the structure of natural and technical systems “natural environment–object of activity–population”

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the categorical concept of entropy in the structure of natural and technical systems related to the use of water resources, the quantitative and qualitative indicators of which are formed within the spatial limits of river basin geosystems. Using fundamental basic concepts as a universal measure of the forms of motion of matter – energy, time, system, system approach and important concepts – irreversibility, ecological state, environmental safety, as well as fundamental laws of thermodynamics – conservation and changes in the zones of influence of the “Object of Activity” in the form of a complex of hydraulic structures and associated buildings as part of natural-technical system “Natural Environment–Object of Activity–Population” (NTS “NE-OA-P”) on the use of water resources in economic and other activities, to give a detailed understanding of Entropy.
Genomic Characterization of Salmonella Isangi: A Global Perspective of a Rare Serovar

Salmonella Isangi is an infrequent serovar that has recently been reported in several countries due to nosocomial infections. A considerable number of reports indicate Salmonella Isangi multidrug resistance, especially to cephalosporins, which could potentially pose a risk to public health worldwide. Genomic analysis is an excellent tool for monitoring the emergence of microorganisms and related factors. In this context, the aim of this study was to carry out a genomic analysis of Salmonella Isangi isolated from poultry in Brazil, and to compare it with the available genomes from the Pathogen Detection database and Sequence Read Archive. A total of 142 genomes isolated from 11 different countries were investigated. A broad distribution of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes was identified in the Salmonella Isangi genomes examined (blaCTX-M-15, blaCTX-M-2, blaDHA-1, blaNDM-1, blaOXA-10, blaOXA-1, blaOXA-48, blaSCO-1, blaSHV-5, blaTEM-131, blaTEM-1B), primarily in South Africa. Resistome analysis revealed predicted resistance to aminoglycoside, sulfonamide, macrolide, tetracycline, trimethoprim, phenicol, chloramphenicol, and quaternary ammonium. Additionally, PMQR (plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance) genes qnr19, qnrB1, and qnrS1 were identified, along with point mutations in the genes gyrAD87N, gyrAS83F, and gyrBS464F, which confer resistance to ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid. With regard to plasmids, we identified 17 different incompatibility groups, including IncC, Col(pHAD28), IncHI2, IncHI2A, IncM2, ColpVC, Col(Ye4449), Col156, IncR, IncI1(Alpha), IncFIB (pTU3), Col(B5512), IncQ1, IncL, IncN, IncFIB(pHCM2), and IncFIB (pN55391). Phylogenetic analysis revealed five clusters grouped by sequence type and antimicrobial gene distribution. The study highlights the need for monitoring rare serovars that may become emergent due to multidrug resistance.
The micro-analysis of human burned bones: some remarks

The interdisciplinary research of burned bones is focused in this paper by presenting and discussing some methods that can assist the bioanthropologist in the analysis of this kind of remains. In particular, some techniques based on the histological structure of bone and on its molecular composition allow new ways of identifying burned human bone and of determining some aspects of the biological and ontological profile of an individual. A brief summary of those techniques is thus here presented.
Single Photon Detectors for Automotive LiDAR Applications: State-of-the-Art and Research Challenges

Due to the fast growth of the autonomous vehicles industry, there is a growing need for distance sensing systems. Among such systems, the light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system is very attractive because of their wide detection range, good spatial resolution, and high precision. For various LiDAR systems, detectors that have single photon counting (SPC) abilities are becoming increasingly popular as they have high sensitivity and can achieve long detection range. However, many publications about LiDAR only focus on the data processing and the algorithms, without sufficient considerations on the sensor-design stage. Only a few studies investigated the sensor's performance in various LiDAR applications. To assist in the future improvement and application of SPC LiDAR, this article provides a new perspective by reviewing the optical sensors and the related circuits architectures in LiDAR systems, focusing on automotive applications. The principles, architectures, emerging techniques, research challenges and future directions are critically discussed.
Premature axon-oligodendrocyte interaction contributes to stalling of experimental axon regeneration after injury to the white matter

injury site. By this time, however, injury-activated OPCs have proliferated and given rise to the NFOs, which repopulate the injury site and present on their surface a similar composition of axon growth-inhibitory molecules as myelin debris did. While neutrophils were present primarily in the early stage right after injury, macrophages and microglia are still present in the injury site by two weeks after injury and may secrete inflammatory signaling molecules, as well as growth/trophic factors (which oligodendrocytes may secrete too). Beyond the injury site (from which myelin debris has been cleared), progressive degeneration of severed distal axons results in a gradient of myelin debris along their path (per our yet unpublished observations), while cell soma of many mature oligodendrocytes that survived the injury remain alive, and may later dedifferentiate into the NFO cell state, or enter a state of senescence, or die. Also, by this time, dendrites of the surviving RGC neurons already undergo shrinkage while their synapses are being stripped (C). For an atlas of the complete cellular composition of the optic nerve glial scar, see our recent article (Xing et al., 2023). Created with Paint.net and PPT. CSPG
Comparability of the Effectiveness of Different Types of Exercise in the Treatment of Achilles Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review

Achilles tendinopathy (AT) is a common condition both in athletes and the general population. The purpose of this study is to highlight the most effective form of exercise in managing pain-related symptoms and functional capacity as well as in a return to life activities, ensuring the quality of life of patients with AT, and creating a protocol to be used in rehabilitation. We conducted a systematic review of the published literature in Pubmed, Scopus, Science Direct, and PEDro for Randomised Controlled Trials concerning interventions that were based exclusively on exercise and delivered in patients 18–65 years old, athletes and non-athletes. An amount of 5235 research articles generated from our search. Five met our inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Research evidence supports the effectiveness of a progressive loading eccentric exercise program based on Alfredson’s protocol, which could be modified in intensity and pace to fit the needs of each patient with AT. Future research may focus on the optimal dosage and load of exercise in eccentric training and confirm the effectiveness of other type of exercise, such as a combination of eccentric–concentric training or heavy slow resistance exercise. Pilates could be applied as an alternative, useful, and friendly tool in the rehabilitation of AT.
Estimates of characteristics of a micropolar flow passing through an axially symmetric cell

We study a model for the filtration of micropolar fluid in the framework of a cell model technique. A porous medium is presented as an assemblage of axially symmetric cells of an arbitrarily geometry. Each cell consists of a solid core, porous layer and liquid shell. The influence of the neighboring cells is taken into account via Cunningham's-type boundary condition. We derive a priori estimates for flow characteristics which show the behavior of the velocity filed. The boundedness of velocity filed is justified by the derived estimates. For more information see https://ejde.math.txstate.edu/Volumes/2021/74/abstr.html
Uncovering the shared molecule and mechanism between ulcerative colitis and atherosclerosis: an integrative genomic analysis

Background Ulcerative colitis (UC) and atherosclerosis (AS) are closely related. However, the pathologic mechanisms underlying the co-occurrence of UC and AS are not well understood. Objects To reveal the hub molecule and mechanism involved in the co-occurrence of UC and AS. Methods Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of UC and AS were obtained, and the shared DEGs of UC and AS were explored for biological function. Next, the hub genes were explored using the cytoHubba plugin. The predictive ability of the hub genes was measured by constructing the receiver operating characteristic curve. Analyses of immune infiltration and the single-gene gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) for the hub genes were further carried out. Results Identification of 59 DEGs (55 were upregulated and four were downregulated) shared by both UC and AS was performed. Enriched pathways of the shared DEGs were mainly related to immunity and inflammation. Protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type, C (PTPRC) was identified as the hub crosstalk gene for the comorbidity of UC and AS. The upregulation of PTPRC was correlated with mast cells resting, T cells CD4 memory resting, macrophages M0, and macrophages M1. Pathways of immune and inflammatory processes, including NF-kappa B, viral protein interaction with cytokine and cytokine receptor, and cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction, were significantly correlated with high expression of PTPRC in UC and AS. Conclusion At the transcriptional level, our study reveals that imbalanced inflammatory and immune responses are the key pathological mechanisms underlying the comorbidity of UC and AS and that PTPRC is a key biomarker for the comorbidity of UC and AS.
Variabilité de la température de la couche de mélange océanique en Atlantique équatorial aux échelles saisonnières à interannuelles, à l'aide de simulations numériques

L'objectif de cette these est l'etude de la variabilite de la temperature de la couche de melange oceanique dans l'Atlantique equatorial, a l'aide de simulations numeriques. Les resultats obtenus montrent la predominance des processus verticaux et des ondes tropicales d'instabilite ( L'etude d'evenements interannuels a permis de distinguer deux processus distincts responsables de la variabilite interannuelle de la temperature de surface : l'un dynamique et distant cree par les anomalies de vent dans l'ouest du bassin et agissant par l'intermediaire de la propagation d'ondes de Kelvin equatoriales et le second, thermodynamique et local a l'echelle du Golfe de Guinee, cree par les anomalies interannuelles de flux de chaleur.
Dual‐band (5G millimeter‐wave and dedicated short‐range communication) stacked patch antenna for advanced telematics applications

The designed and fabricated patch antenna covers both dedicated short‐range communication (DSRC) and Fifth Generation (5G) millimeter‐wave (mmW) bands for advanced telematics. The fabricated antenna has a small volume of 2. 7λH × 2. 6λH × 0. 15λH, where λH is the air wavelength of the highest operating frequency. The antenna performances, such as S‐parameters, the realized gain at boresight (RG00), antenna radiation efficiency, and radiation patterns, are reported. The simulated results are in good agreement with the measured ones. Despite the fabricated antenna's compactness, port isolation higher than 31 dB was achieved. Not only high RG00s of 6.8 and 12 dBi were obtained at DSRC and 5G mmW bands, respectively, but also an efficiency greater than 90% was observed at both frequency bands. Lastly, the fabricated antenna shows better performance than the previously reported dual‐band antennas.
Autonomous driving controllers with neuromorphic spiking neural networks

Autonomous driving is one of the hallmarks of artificial intelligence. Neuromorphic (brain-inspired) control is posed to significantly contribute to autonomous behavior by leveraging spiking neural networks-based energy-efficient computational frameworks. In this work, we have explored neuromorphic implementations of four prominent controllers for autonomous driving: pure-pursuit, Stanley, PID, and MPC, using a physics-aware simulation framework. We extensively evaluated these models with various intrinsic parameters and compared their performance with conventional CPU-based implementations. While being neural approximations, we show that neuromorphic models can perform competitively with their conventional counterparts. We provide guidelines for building neuromorphic architectures for control and describe the importance of their underlying tuning parameters and neuronal resources. Our results show that most models would converge to their optimal performances with merely 100–1,000 neurons. They also highlight the importance of hybrid conventional and neuromorphic designs, as was suggested here with the MPC controller. This study also highlights the limitations of neuromorphic implementations, particularly at higher (> 15 m/s) speeds where they tend to degrade faster than in conventional designs.
Analysis of the Gas Flow in a Labyrinth Seal of Variable Pitch

The paper discusses the results of investigations performed for the segments of straight-through labyrinth seals of constant length. Increasing the number of teeth of a segment resulted in a reduction of the pitch length to obtain the slot seals. The phenomena occurring during gas flow in labyrinth and slot seals differ significantly. They are described with different calculation models. The analysis presented in this paper is related to the change of the tightness and the nature of the flow from a straight-through labyrinth seal to a slot seal. The paper includes the results of experimental research and CFD calculations. Models applied for the Neumann and Scharer labyrinth seals as well as the model of the Salzman and Fravi slot seals were discussed. For the Neumann and Scharer models, correction coefficients for the tested geometry were proposed. Based on the assumptions for the said models and the obtained results, the phenomena responsible for the minimization of the leakage were discussed. The leakage rate in segments of different gap heights depending on the number of teeth and the pressure ratio upstream and downstream of the segment has been analyzed. Based on the experimental data, an optimum number of teeth in the segment for minimum leakage was determined. CFD calculations allowed determining the minimum leakage geometry. The experimental data contained in this paper confirm that the determined optimum pitch range is independent of the pressure drop.
TRANSPORT AND THE ELDERLY: REQUIREMENTS, PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

This report examines the travel patterns of the elderly, and the problems which the experience the travelling in relation to those of the population as a whole. Data from a TRRL survey among old people in Guildford, and the 1975/76 National Travel Survey are used to show that even though the travel patterns and requirements within the elderly population vary considerably from person to person, they are similar in many respects to those of other people without cars. Problems occur mainly among a small group who experience serious constraints on their ability to travel while at the same time having an urgent need for mobility. It is suggested that the possibility of concentrating a greater proportion of the available resources on this group might be considered. Solutions could take the form of a special transport or home-based support service. The remainder of the elderly population, and younger people with a similar choice of transport modes, would benefit from improvements to conventional public transport and the walking environments, as well as from more conveniently located facilities.
Molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum and Sarcocystis spp in tissues of Sus scrofa slaughtered in southern Brazil

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the presence of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis spp. and Neospora caninum, in tissues of wild boars slaughtered in southern Brazil. A total of 156 samples were collected from different organs of 25 wild boars, and DNA from at least one of the protozoa investigated was detected in 79 samples. To differentiate between infectious agents, restriction fragment length polymorphism was performed using the restriction enzymes DdeI and HpaII. For N. caninum, conventional PCR was performed with specific primers. The DNA of at least one of the studied pathogens was detected in each animal: 26.58% for T. gondii, 68.36% for Sarcocystis spp. and 5.06% for N. caninum. Coinfection between T. gondii and Sarcocystis spp. occurred in 14 animals, between T. gondii and N. caninum in only one male animal, between Sarcocystis spp. and N. caninum in a female, while co-infection with the three agents was equally observed in only one male animal. Considering the high frequency of detection and its zoonotic risk, especially T. gondii, it appears that wild boars can be potential sources of transmission of infectious agents and the adoption of monitoring measures in these populations should be prioritized.
Seeing is Behaving? The Role of Social Norms in the Relationship Between Witnessing and Perpetrating Online Hate

People are frequently exposed to hateful content online, as online hate is a globally prevalent communication phenomenon. However, existing studies have mainly emphasized a bystander intervention perspective, focusing on the observers’ role in online hate, despite theories and empirical evidence suggesting that the observation of a particular behavior can lead to the performance of that behavior. Thus, this study examined how witnessing online hate is associated with the perpetration of it, and the mediating role of social norms in this process. Findings from a cross-sectional survey showed that the observation and perpetration of online hate were significantly positively associated, and that perceived prevalence and social approval of online hate separately mediated this relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Investigation of dielectric parameters of structural nanocomposites based on polyethylene

The dependence of the dielectric constant and specific volume resistance of a structural composite based on (80 wt%) synthetic isoprene rubber and (20 wt%) low density polyethylene on the content of nanosized particles of aluminum fillers, Nalchikin and carbon black in small quantities is shown graphically. Using an electron probe method for studying the microstructure of a structural material, a hydrostatic weighing method based on determining the density of a composite by its double weighing and an electron shadow microscope, this paper presents models and physical mechanisms that lead to extrema in the permittivity and conductivity of composite materials.