Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors influencing the expression of stress fibers in vascular endothelial cells in situ

The organization of actin and myosin in vascular endothelial cells in situ was studied by immunofluorescence microscopy. Examination of perfusion-fixed, whole mounts of normal mouse and rat descending thoracic aorta revealed the presence of axially oriented stress fibers containing both actin and myosin within the endothelial cells. In both species, the proportion of cells containing stress fibers varied from region to region within the same vessel. Some endothelial cells in mouse mesenteric vein and in rat inferior vena cava also contained stress fibers. Quantitative studies of the proportion of endothelial cells containing stress fibers in the descending thoracic aorta of age- matched normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats revealed significant differences. When animals of the same sex of the two strains were compared, the proportion was approximately two times greater in the spontaneously hypertensive rats. The proportion of endothelial cells containing stress fibers was about two times greater in males than in females of both strains. These observations suggest that multiple factors, including anatomical, sex, and hemodynamic differences, influence the organization of the endothelial cell cytoskeleton in situ.
Role of Total Mesorectal Excision and of Circumferential Resection Margin in Local Recurrence and Survival of Patients with Rectal Carcinoma

Rectal cancer is a common disease with poor prognosis because of local recurrence and metastases. Local recurrence arises mainly as a result of incomplete surgical resection. Evaluation of completeness of the mesorectum provides significant information about prognosis. Total mesorectal excision (TME) has become the surgical treatment of choice for rectal cancer because adopting the principles of TME achieves very low local recurrence rates. The adoption of the TME principles along with the estimation of the circumferential resection margin on the non-peritonealized surface of the resected rectal specimen are the most important predictors of local recurrence.
Sports Result Prediction Based on Machine Learning and Computational Intelligence Approaches: A Survey

In the current world, sports produce considerable statistical information about each player, team, games, and seasons. Traditional sports science believed science to be owned by experts, coaches, team managers, and analyzers. However, sports organizations have recently realized the abundant science available in their data and sought to take advantage of that science through the use of data mining techniques. Sports data mining assists coaches and managers in result prediction, player performance assessment, player injury prediction, sports talent Identification and game strategy evaluation. Predicting the results of sports matches is interesting to many, from fans to punters. It is also interesting as a research problem, in part due to its difficulty: the result of a sports match is dependent on many factors, such as the morale of a team (or a player), skills, coaching strategy, etc. So even for experts, it is very hard to predict the exact results of individual matches. The present study reviews previous research on data mining systems to predict sports results and evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of each system.
Biosocial background in the development of child overweight and obesity among preschoolers in Putrajaya: an observational study

Introduction: Childhood obesity becomes a global epidemic with the majority are living in developing countries. Obese children are at risk of becoming obese adults with non-communicable diseases, which may further lead to huge economic burden for the affected countries. The study objectives were to determine the biosocial background contributing overweight and obesity among preschoolers in Putrajaya (2017) - sociodemographic, pre-and perinatal factors, feeding and weaning practices. Methods: Cross-sectional study was performed using cluster random sampling among 897 preschoolers, whose anthropometric body weights and heights were measured. The calculated BMI was used to determine their obese status based on WHO Growth Standards 2006 and Reference 2007. Their mothers were distributed with self-administered, validated, and pre-tested questionnaires regarding their children’s first two-years-of-life experience. Chi Square test was used for bivariate categorical analysis, Independent T-test and Mann Whitney U test for continuous data analysis. Multivariate binary logistic regression was executed to determine predictors of child obesity. Results: The prevalence of obese children was 7.4%, which can be predicted by the increase in child’s age (Adjusted Odd Ratio: 2.619; 95%CI: 1.435 – 4.780), mothers with higher level of education (AOR: 3.896; 95%CI: 1.127 – 13.470), and higher maternal BMI (AOR: 1.132; 95%CI: 1.057 – 1.213). Conclusion: Three predictors of child obesity can be derived from sociodemographic and pre-and perinatal factors. Further application on these predictors in more targeted interventions and policies need to be considered to reduce the prevalence of obesity and related non-communicable diseases in the country.
SPELT PASTA ENRICHED WITH ω-3 FATTY ACIDS

In this paper the quality of spelt pasta with the addition of ω-3 fatty acid, which is positively contributing to thefunctional and technological changes of the product is investigated. ω-3 fatty acids are added in the quantity of 0%,0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6% based on farina. Concerning pasta quality addition of ω-3 fatty acids is related to increasedcooking time and cooking loss, as well as reduced pasta stickiness. Gas chromatography with mass spectrometry wasused for carrying out a quantitative analysis of the liposoluble pasta extract. Pasta with 0.6% ω-3 fatty acids contains0.6048 g /100 fatty acids, which positively contributes to ω-6/ω-3 fatty acid ratio in daily meal, thus meeting valuesrecommended by nutritionists. This type of pasta is a new product with good technological quality, improved fattyacids profile and sensory characteristics with consumer acceptability range.
H3K4me1 marks DNA regions hypomethylated during aging in human stem and differentiated cells

In differentiated cells, aging is associated with hypermethylation of DNA regions enriched in repressive histone post-translational modifications. However, the chromatin marks associated with changes in DNA methylation in adult stem cells during lifetime are still largely unknown. Here, DNA methylation profiling of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) obtained from individuals aged 2 to 92 yr identified 18,735 hypermethylated and 45,407 hypomethylated CpG sites associated with aging. As in differentiated cells, hypermethylated sequences were enriched in chromatin repressive marks. Most importantly, hypomethylated CpG sites were strongly enriched in the active chromatin mark H3K4me1 in stem and differentiated cells, suggesting this is a cell type–independent chromatin signature of DNA hypomethylation during aging. Analysis of scedasticity showed that interindividual variability of DNA methylation increased during aging in MSCs and differentiated cells, providing a new avenue for the identification of DNA methylation changes over time. DNA methylation profiling of genetically identical individuals showed that both the tendency of DNA methylation changes and scedasticity depended on nongenetic as well as genetic factors. Our results indicate that the dynamics of DNA methylation during aging depend on a complex mixture of factors that include the DNA sequence, cell type, and chromatin context involved and that, depending on the locus, the changes can be modulated by genetic and/or external factors.
Where is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States*

We use administrative records on the incomes of more than 40 million children and their parents to describe three features of intergenerational mobility in the United States. First, we characterize the joint distribution of parent and child income at the national level. The conditional expectation of child income given parent income is linear in percentile ranks. On average, a 10 percentile increase in parent income is associated with a 3.4 percentile increase in a child’s income. Second, intergenerational mobility varies substantially across areas within the United States. For example, the probability that a child reaches the top quintile of the national income distribution starting from a family in the bottom quintile is 4.4% in Charlotte but 12.9% in San Jose. Third, we explore the factors correlated with upward mobility. High mobility areas have (i) less residential segregation, (ii) less income inequality, (iii) better primary schools, (iv) greater social capital, and (v) greater family stability. Although our descriptive analysis does not identify the causal mechanisms that determine upward mobility, the publicly available statistics on intergenerational mobility developed here can facilitate research on such mechanisms. JEL Codes: H0, J0, R0.
Finance, Inequality, and Poverty: Cross-Country Evidence

While substantial research finds that financial development boosts overall economic growth, the authors study whether financial development is pro-poor: Does financial development disproportionately raise the income of the poor? Using a broad cross-country sample, the authors find that the answer is yes: Financial intermediary development reduces income inequality by disproportionately boosting the income of the poor and therefore reduces poverty. This result is robust to controlling for simultaneity bias and reverse causation.
Political Constraints, Organizational Forms, and Privatization Performance: Evidence from China

This paper explains why China’s share issue privatization (SIP), by far the largest one in history, failed to improve operating performance. Due to political constraints, approximately three quarters of the SIP firms went through an “incomplete restructuring” process, creating a parent-subsidiary structure in which the subsidiary was listed and the parent company kept the redundant workers and debt burdens. In a country with weak property rights protection, the parent company had both the incentive and the ability to expropriate resources from the listed company, resulting in weak performance. We present three sets of results. First, we show that when political opposition to layoffs is greater and when the government has less fiscal capacity, the firms are more likely to be incompletely restructured. Second, incompletely restructured firms have significantly lower operating performance. This result is robust to IV estimation using government incentives as instruments. Third, we present evidence of the root cause of weak performance, i.e., expropriation by large shareholders. Based on hand-collected data on 2616 related-party transactions, we document that incompletely restructured firms are more likely to engage in related-party transactions with their largest shareholders, including transfer pricing of goods and services, assets sales, and extracting trade credit. Further, these transactions are associated with inferior firm performance, confirming that they are expropriative in nature. Incompletely restructured firms also pay less dividends so that corporate resources are kept in the firm and under their control. Finally, expropriation does not seem to be fully discounted in prices ex ante and minority shareholders realize lower stock returns ex post.
Market Timing, Investment, and Risk Management

Firms face uncertain financing conditions, which can be quite severe as exemplified by the recent financial crisis. We capture the firm's precautionary cash hoarding and market timing motives in a tractable model of dynamic corporate financial management when external financing conditions are stochastic. Firms value financial slack and build cash reserves to mitigate financial constraints. The finitely-lived favorable financing condition induces them to rationally time the equity market. This market timing motive can cause investment to be decreasing (and the marginal value of cash to be increasing) in financial slack, and can lead a financially constrained firm to gamble. Quantitatively, we find that firms' optimal responses to the threat of a financial crisis can significantly smooth out the impact of financing shocks on investments, marginal values of cash, and the risk premium over time. Thus, a firm may still appear unconstrained based on its relatively smooth investment over time despite significant underinvestment. This smoothing effect can be used to disentangle financing shocks from productivity shocks empirically.
Effects of Board Design Variations on the Reliability of Lead-Free Solder Joints

Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder alloys, such as Sn-3.0Ag-0.5 Cu (SAC305) are the popular choices of lead-free solders replacing SnPb solders. However, SAC solders are more brittle in nature due to stiffness and excessive intermetallic compounds growth at the solder joint to pad interface. This leads to higher risk of solder joints failures. Memory module-type smaller lead-free ball grid array (BGA) packages are constantly under dynamic stresses during handling and thermal stresses during operations. It is important to understand the dynamic performance and long-term reliability of memory module lead-free BGAs. It is believed that the printed circuit board (PCB) design variations cause dynamic and long-term failure discrepancies in the fields. In this paper, different pad and trace designs are introduced to evaluate the effects of PCB design variations on the bend and accelerated thermal cycling (ATC) performance of lead-free solder joints. Pad designs with nonsolder mask defined, solder mask defined (SMD), and a unique web design are assembled and tested. Different solder alloys, including SAC305, Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC105) SAC105, and SnPb solders, have been evaluated in this paper. Different PCB materials have also been evaluated in the test. Four-point monotonic bend tests are performed to characterize the bending performance variations with different PCB designs and compared with conventional Sn-Pb solder. The SMD pad is shown to have the best bend performance among all other types of designs in this paper. In addition, this design also shows improvement in mitigation of PCB pad cratering with lead-free solders. Wide trace width seems to degrade the strength and is not preferred. Just as it shows superior shock resistance when compared with SAC305, the SAC105 solder alloy also shows better bend performance. There is no significant improvement in bend performance with web design. After aging treatment, bend performance of both SAC305 and SAC105 degraded by up to 34% and 29%, respectively. However, the bend performance of eutectic SnPb is actually improved after aging. ATC tests are performed to investigate the effects of design variations on the long-term reliability of lead-free solder joints; SMD design shows less reliability life than others. The implications of these results for the reliability of lead-free solder joints are discussed in this paper.
DNA markers in the phylogenetics of the Acari

The advent of DNA amplification techniques and methods of automated DNA sequencing has greatly influenced the availability of applying nucleotide sequences in phylogenetic studies. This review presents DNA markers that have been used with success in mites and ticks to resolve questions at various taxonomic levels. Recent data suggest that well-supported phylogenies usually need genes with overlapping levels of resolution. Sequences from both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes are used for inferring phylogenetic history at various taxonomic levels. The 18S rDNA is a standard marker, especially for deep divergences (above the interfamily level). Mitochondrial loci with success recover phylogenies at intergeneric level, but also detect intraspecific relationships. Species identification is possible by using mtDNA, but the fastest-evolving rDNA spacers, ITS1 and/or ITS2, are the most frequently used for validation of a species status.
METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (MRSA) IN CAMEL MEAT: PREVALENCE AND ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY

This study is an initiative study intended to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA obtained from fresh camel meat retailed in Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. The survey has been conducted for five months where fresh camel meat were microbiologically analyzed to isolate S. aureus using culture media and VITEK2 technique. The Identification of S. aureus was done by DNA expression of gene specific 16S rRNA, while mecA gene expression was recognized in the identified MRSA isolates using PCR. The recorded prevalence of S. aureus was 10.7 % (20/187) from raw camel meat. Three isolates out of twenty S. aureus isolates were confirmed to be MRSA. Susceptibility to 10 antimicrobials was estimated using the disc diffusion method. These results suggested that MRSA is found in camel meat retailed at Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. We recommend that, surveillance protocol should be embraced in meat safety and public health programs. Key words: camel meat, S. aureus , MRSA, antimicrobial resistance
EFFECT OF BEDDING MATERIALS ON DUCK’S WELFARE AND GROWTH PERFORMANCE

Ducks spend their entire life in contact with the litter material, thus the management strategies should focus on what is the best for ducks welfare and growth performance. Herein, the main object of the present study was assessing the effects of different litter materials on the ducks’ welfare and growth performance. Four groups of ducks (24 duckling for each) were kept on four types of bedding materials, sawdust, plastic slatted floor, sand and without. The present study revealed several changes in duck’s behaviors due to different bedding materials, where the most frequencies of maintenance behaviors (feeding, drinking, idling, preening) were significantly (P<0.05) higher in plastic slatted in comparing to other materials the highest significantly in plastic slatted litter and the lowest in non-bedding litter. Moreover, the ducks reared under sawdust floor revealed the highest frequency of foraging behavior (11.48 bouts/hour). While, feather pecking and aggression were the highest in non-bedding material (74.4, 5.51 bouts/hour, respectively). The hygienic conditions inside the non-bedding floor was the worst due to increase levels of ammonia and carbon dioxide (12, 0.97 Cm 3 /Litter, respectively). The ducks reared in plastic slatted floor were the best in growth performance with good signs of soundness. In non-bedding floor, the environmental stress revealed in the increase the level of plasma corticosterone hormone with bad signs of soundness. This study confirms importance of bedding materials in rearing of ducks, especially under plastic slatted floor. Key words: duck; bedding material; behavior; performance; welfare
MMP protein and activity levels in synovial fluid from patients with joint injury, inflammatory arthritis, and osteoarthritis

Objective: To determine protein and activity levels of matrix metalloproteinases 1 and 3 (MMP-1 and MMP-3) in synovial fluid of patients with knee joint injury, primary osteoarthritis, and acute pyrophosphate arthritis (pseudogout). Methods: Measurements were done on knee synovial fluid obtained in a cross sectional study of cases of injury (n = 283), osteoarthritis (n = 105), and pseudogout (n = 65), and in healthy controls (n = 35). Activity of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in α2 macroglobulin complexes was measured using specific low molecular weight fluorogenic substrates. ProMMP-1, proMMP-3, and TIMP-1 (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1) were quantified by immunoassay. Results: Mean levels of proMMP-1, proMMP-3, and TIMP-1 were increased in injury, osteoarthritis, and pseudogout compared with controls. MMP-1 activity was increased in pseudogout and injury groups over control levels, whereas MMP-3 activity was increased only in the pseudogout group. The increase in MMP-1 activity coincided with a decrease in TIMP-1 levels in the injury group. Conclusions: Patients with joint injury have a persistent increase in proMMP-1 and proMMP-3 in synovial fluid and an increase in activated MMPs, which are not inhibited by TIMP. The differences in activation and inhibition patterns between the study groups are consistent with disease specific patterns of MMP activation and/or inhibition in joint pathology.
Risk management in the automotive supply chain: an exploratory study in Brazil

The main objective of this study was to identify the main characteristics of risk management in the automotive supply chain in Brazil, considering companies in the first and second tiers. This objective was achieved through the proposition of three hypotheses that were tested based on a survey of 211 auto parts producers scattered throughout the country, from which 77 completed forms were received. This research enabled us to conclude that the risks perceived in tier 2 are higher than those observed in tier 1. Also, it was possible to verify that the performance of companies in tier 2 (higher risk) is lower than those in tier 1. Contrary to what was observed in the literature, this research could not find evidence to confirm that risk management tools are prioritized to reduce the risk of companies in the supply chain. Therefore, this research contributes to both theory and practice: this is the first study that performs an analysis of risk management in supply chains with tier 1 and 2 companies in the Brazilian automotive industry, becoming an important complement to recent studies on this topic. For practitioners and business executives who manage risks in automotive supply chains in Brazil, this paper shows the reality of the issue in first- and second-tier companies, which can provide them with important contexts for their decision making in the day-to-day business of the automotive sector.
UK Food Standards Agency a -linolenic acid workshop report

The UK Food Standards Agency convened a group of expert scientists to review current research investigating whether n -3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) from plant oils ( a -lino-lenic acid; ALA) were as beneﬁcial to cardiovascular health as the n -3 PUFA from the marine oils, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The workshop also aimed to establish priorities for future research. Dietary intake of ALA has been associated with a beneﬁcial effect on CHD; however, the results from studies investigating the effects of ALA supplementation on CHD risk factors have proved equivocal. The studies presented as part of the present workshop suggested little, if any, beneﬁt of ALA, relative to linoleic acid, on risk factors for cardiovascular disease; the effects observed with ﬁsh-oil supplementation were not replicated by ALA supplementation. There is a need, therefore, to ﬁrst prove the efﬁcacy of ALA supplementation on cardiovascular disease, before further investigating effects on cardiovascular risk factors. The workshop considered that a beneﬁcial effect of ALA on the secondary prevention of CHD still needed to be established, and there was no reason to look further at existing CHD risk factors in relation to ALA supplementation. The workshop also highlighted the possibility of feeding livestock ALA-rich oils to provide a means of increasing the dietary intake in human consumers of EPA and DHA.