Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of in ovo feeding egg white protein, β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate, and carbohydrates on glycogen status and neonatal growth of turkeys

In ovo feeding (IOF), injecting dietary components into the amnion about 1 d prior to internal pipping, may enhance growth by altering glycogen status. This hypothesis was evaluated with 5 IOF solutions containing protein, beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB), and carbohydrate. Four IOF treatments were arranged as a factorial of 2 levels of egg white protein (EWP; 0 and 18%) and 2 levels of HMB (0 and 0.1%). An IOF solution of carbohydrates (S; 20% dextrin and 3% maltose) was evaluated for contrast purposes. At 23 d of incubation, 1.5 mL of IOF solution was injected into the amnion of 100 eggs per treatment. At hatch, feed and water were provided ad libitum. At hatch and 3 and 7 d of age, BW were determined, and 10 poults per treatment were sampled to determine liver (LG) and pectoralis muscle (PC) glycogen content. Poults on IOF treatments A (18% EWP), B (18% EWP + HMB), and D (HMB) weighed 6.0, 2.7, and 3.3% more than the controls at hatch, respectively (P < 0.05) with an EWP x HMB interaction (P < 0.05) sustained to 3 and 7 d only in treatment D (P < 0.005). At hatch, A and D poults had greater percentages of PC (P < 0.05) than controls, and the percentage of PC in treatment D was sustained until 7 d. Total LG was enhanced by A and B at 7 d (P < 0.05) over the controls, whereas total PC glycogen was enhanced at 7 d by IOF treatment D (P < 0.05). The IOF A and S poults had greater BW than the controls at hatch only (P < 0.05). The IOF treatment A had greater LG at hatch (P < 0.05), but by 7 d, A and S had greater LG than controls (P < 0.05). Poults fed S in ovo had enhanced total PC glycogen over controls, whereas poults on treatment A had less total PC glycogen than controls (P < 0.05). The results of this experiment demonstrate that IOF of A or S poults may enhance hatch BW and glycogen status of poults during the neonatal period by inclusion of HMB.
Money Market Derivatives and the Allocation of Liquidity Risk in the Banking Sector

Money markets have two functions, the allocation of liquidity and the processing of information. We develop a model that allows us to evaluate the efficiency of different money market derivatives regarding these two objectives. We assume that due to its size, a large bank receives a more precise signal about the overall liquidity development in the banking sector. In an upcoming liquidity shortage this large bank can exploit its informational advantage in the spot money market by rationing liquidity. Using forward contracts, the large bank can credibly commit not to squeeze small banks in the event of a liquidity shortage. But forward contracts do not provide incentives for the large bank to pass on its information to other banks. In contrast, lines of credit between the large and the small banks ensure that the large bank provides its information to other banks.
Effect of Training Preparation for Childbirth on Fear of Normal Vaginal Delivery and Choosing the Type of Delivery Among Pregnant Women in Hamadan, Iran: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: To examine effect of an educational program on pregnant women’s fear of normal vaginal delivery. Fear of natural childbirth during pregnancy may increase the risk of caesarean section. Educational programs may be effective in reducing women fear of natural childbirth. Materials and methods: This randomized controlled trial conducted from September 2012 to January 2013 in Hamadan, Iran. One hundred fifty eligible women were randomly assigned to group "A" (Intervention group, n = 75) or group "B" (Control group, n = 75). Women in group A, participated in an antenatal educations program for physiologic childbirth in 8 two-hour sessions. A self-designed questionnaire was used to examine women's fear of natural childbirth. Data were analyzed with SPSS.16 software. Results: Baseline characteristics of women were similar in both groups. After intervention the mean fear score in group A compared to group B was significantly reduced (51.7 ± 22.4 vs. 58.7 ± 21.7) (p = 0.007). Physiologic delivery was the first choice of type of child birth after training in pregnant women in group A (58.7%). But delivery in physiologic form had lowest rate in group A (8%). Conclusion: Results of present study showed that educational program could be serving as an important tool in reducing women fear from natural childbirth and in choosing of physiologic birth. And for delivery as a physiological, education and counseling of pregnant women, doctors and midwives are required.
Reproduction, recruitment, and dispersal of fishers (Martes pennanti) in a managed Douglas-fir forest in California

Abstract Many demographic parameters of imperiled fishers (Martes pennanti) in the Pacific Northwest remain poorly understood but are necessary to develop conservation strategies; herein we report on fisher reproduction, recruitment, and dispersal on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, California, to help fill key knowledge gaps. Forty radiocollared, breeding-age females exhibited denning behavior on 80 (87%) of 92 opportunities between 2005 and 2011. Twenty-eight female fishers weaned offspring in 55 (65%) of 85 adequately monitored denning opportunities. Two-year-old female fishers were less likely than older females to den and wean kits. We counted 52, and extracted and marked 51, kits comprising 28 litters of 19 females between 2005 and 2008. Average litter size was 1.9 kits (27 females, 24 males, and 1 unknown) 4–12 weeks postbirth. Mean distances between natal dens and centroids of newly established ranges for 7 juvenile females was 4.0 km (range = 0.8–18.0 km); this distance for 1 male was 1.3 km. The recruitment rate of juveniles that successfully established a home range per adult female was 0.19 (0.16 for females and 0.02 for males). Our results suggest that managers should work toward increasing female survival rates and consider translocations to increase and expand existing fisher populations.
Factors that Affect Mobile Telephone Users to Use Mobile Payment Solution

Providing a convenient payment solution to mp3 users is one of the alternatives that can promote legal mp3 downloading. However, before the success of the payment solution can be determined, it is essential to understand whether it would be well-accepted by the users. This paper examines factors that influence the intention to use a mobile payment solution for mp3 downloading among university' students. Drawing from the Technology Acceptance Model, Theory of Planned Behaviour and previous literatures, five factors were hypothesized to influence the intention to use the payment solution, namely perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, perceived price level, and peer influence. Final year business students at a public university in the southern part of Malaysia were chosen as respondents for this study. Multiple regressions were employed to analyze the data. Two factors were found to have significant effect on the intention to use the payment solution, which were trust and peer influence. Practical implications were proposed and discussed.
Modeling and experimental demonstration of accelerated self-healing techniques

In this paper we postulate that future electronics systems will use sleep time as an active recovery period essential for their overall performance. Our hypothesis is that by explicitly controlling the ratio of sleep vs. active and sleep conditions (e.g. higher temperatures, negative voltages), we can deeply rejuvenate electronic systems periodically to improve their metrics. We perform a series of stress and recovery experiments using commercial FPGAs to demonstrate several cases where we bring stressed chips back to within 90% of their original margin by actively rejuvenating for only 1/4 of the stress time. We validate our experiments against extracted models and present potential applications to multi-core systems.
The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in patients who remained symptomatic after completion of sexually transmitted infection treatment

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are among the most common causes of illness in the world and have far-reaching health, economic and social consequences for many countries. Failure to diagnose and treat STIs at an early stage may result in serious complications and sequels. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in patients who remain symptomatic after completion of their first episode of treatment for STI. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on 49 patients suffering from symptoms or signs of sexually transmitted infections despite their first complete anti STI treatment. Conducting physical exam and smear preparation from vaginal discharge, diagnosis was confirmed by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method on every patient’s first-voided urine sample. Results: Among the etiologic factors investigated in this study, Chlamydia was reported in 17 patients. Trichomoniasis, Candidiasis, Gonorrhea and nonspecific germs were next organisms with 11, 9, 6 and 6 patients, respectively. Sixteen specimens were PCR positive (32.65%), while 33 patients had negative PCR results (67.34%) for Chlamydia trachomatis. Conclusion: Gonorrheal infection was the most prevalent infection in patients with completed treatment (6/10), which must be remembered in patients follow ups, because this prevalence warrants empirical therapy for Gonorrheain similar clinical conditions. Chlamydia trachomatis was the responsible organism in approximately a quarter of patients (17/75) who despite their full compliance on anti-Chlamydial treatment still suffered from signs and symptoms of STI. This rate also recommends empirical therapy for Chlamydia trachomatis in the similar clinical signs and symptoms.
Short- and Long-Term Effectiveness of a Subject’s Specific Novel Brain and Vestibular Rehabilitation Treatment Modality in Combat Veterans Suffering from PTSD

Introduction Treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat veterans that have a long-term positive clinical effect has the potential to modify the treatment of PTSD. This outcome may result in changed and saved lives of our service personnel and their families. In a previous before–after-intervention study, we demonstrated high statistical and substantively significant short-term changes in the Clinician Administered DSM-IV PTSD Scale (CAPS) scores after a 2-week trial of a subject’s particular novel brain and vestibular rehabilitation (VR) program. The long-term maintenance of PTSD severity reduction was the subject of this study. Material and methods We studied the short- and long-term effectiveness of a subject’s particular novel brain and VR treatment of PTSD in subjects who had suffered combat-related traumatic brain injuries in terms of PTSD symptom reduction. The trial was registered as ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02003352. We analyzed the difference in the CAPS scores pre- and post-treatment (1 week and 3 months) using our subjects as their matched controls. Results The generalized least squares (GLS) technique demonstrated that with our 26 subjects in the 3 timed groups the R2 within groups was 0.000, R2 between groups was 0.000, and overall the R2 was 0.000. The GLS regression was strongly statistically significant z = 21.29, p < 0.001, 95% CI [58.7, 70.63]. The linear predictive margins over time demonstrated strong statistical and substantive significance of decreasing PTSD severity scores for all timed CAPS tests. Discussion Our investigation has the promise of the development of superior outcomes of treatments in this area that will benefit a global society. The length of the treatment intervention involved (2 weeks) is less that other currently available treatments and has profound implications for cost, duration of disability, and outcomes in the treatment of PTSD in combat veterans.
Cluster Alignments and Ellipticities in ΛCDM Cosmology

The ellipticities and alignments of clusters of galaxies and their evolution with redshift are examined in the context of a Λ-dominated cold dark matter cosmology. We use a large-scale, high-resolution N-body simulation to model the matter distribution in a light cone containing ~106 clusters of mass M > 2 × 1013 h-1 M☉ out to redshifts of z = 3. The best-fit three-dimensional ellipsoid of the mass distribution is determined for each cluster, and the results are used to analyze cluster ellipticities as a function of mass, radius, and redshift. A similar analysis is done in two dimensions in order to allow direct comparisons with future observations. Cluster ellipticities are determined within different radii, including 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 h-1 comoving Mpc. We find strong cluster ellipticities: ⟨ϵ⟩ ≡ ⟨1 - a2/a1⟩ ~ 0.3-0.5. The mean ellipticity increases with redshift from ⟨ϵ⟩ ~ 0.3 at z = 0 to ⟨ϵ⟩ ~ 0.5 at z = 3 for both three-dimensional and two-dimensional ellipticities; the evolution is well fitted by ⟨ϵ⟩ = 0.33 + 0.05z. The ellipticities increase with cluster mass and with cluster radius; the main cluster body is more elliptical than the cluster cores, but the increase of ellipticities with redshift is preserved. Using the fitted cluster ellipsoids, we determine the alignment of clusters as a function of their separation. We find strong alignment of clusters for separations ≲100 h-1 Mpc; the alignment increases with decreasing separation and with increasing redshift. The evolution of clusters from highly aligned and elongated systems at early times to lower alignment and elongation at present reflects the hierarchical and filamentary nature of structure formation. These measures of cluster ellipticity and alignment will provide a new test of the current cosmological model when compared with upcoming cluster surveys.
Cloning of binding sequences for the Escherichia coli transcription activators, FNR and CRP: location of bases involved in discrimination between FNR and CRP.

Expression from the E.coli melR promoter (pmelR) is normally totally dependent on the transcription activator protein, CRP. We describe experiments with a genetically engineered DNA fragment carrying pmelR in which the wild type CRP binding site was replaced with synthetic oligonucleotides containing either FNR or CRP binding sequences. When the synthetic oligonucleotide contains the 22 bp consensus for FNR binding sites, expression from pmelR is dependent on FNR but not CRP. Single changes at either of two symmetrically-related positions create sites that are recognised by both FNR and CRP. Changes at both positions result in a site that is not recognised by FNR but which binds CRP tightly.
Age-Related Reorganizational Changes in Modularity and Functional Connectivity of Human Brain Networks

The human brain undergoes both morphological and functional modifications across the human lifespan. It is important to understand the aspects of brain reorganization that are critical in normal aging. To address this question, one approach is to investigate age-related topological changes of the brain. In this study, we developed a brain network model using graph theory methods applied to the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired from two groups of normal healthy adults classified by age. We found that brain functional networks demonstrated modular organization in both groups with modularity decreased with aging, suggesting less distinct functional divisions across whole brain networks. Local efficiency was also decreased with aging but not with global efficiency. Besides these brain-wide observations, we also observed consistent alterations of network properties at the regional level in the elderly, particularly in two major functional networks-the default mode network (DMN) and the sensorimotor network. Specifically, we found that measures of regional strength, local and global efficiency of functional connectivity were increased in the sensorimotor network while decreased in the DMN with aging. These results indicate that global reorganization of brain functional networks may reflect overall topological changes with aging and that aging likely alters individual brain networks differently depending on the functional properties. Moreover, these findings highly correspond to the observation of decline in cognitive functions but maintenance of primary information processing in normal healthy aging, implying an underlying compensation mechanism evolving with aging to support higher-level cognitive functioning.
Development of A Learner-Focused Engineering Subject

This paper examines the development of a multidisciplinary energy-engineering subject titled "Energy Conversion. " By which we show that it is perfectly possible to develop an engineering subject aimed at promoting sustainability criteria, using student-focused teaching-and- learning to facilitate deep learning and skill development. The subject content, teaching methods, and student assessment techniques have been aligned to develop the graduate attributes expected of reflective practitioners. Combined face to face, web-site and TopClass facilities have also been developed to provide an interactive learning environment. Students demonstrate the quality of their understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of this subject through making links between theories of the subject and practice in the real world. This requires them to develop skills in critical reflection, analysis, synthesis, integration, creation, and the application of ideas. Students are encouraged to be more pro-active and to consi der economic, environmental, political and social factors, in their technical decisions. The paper discusses ways in which we have examined the effectiveness of this approach by interviewing students, and analyzing their reflective portfolios, case study reports, and feedback surveys. It therefore draws out the wider implications for extending student-focused-teaching and learning to all engineering subjects
The Protective Effect of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Extract against Alveolar Bone Loss in Ovariectomized Rats via Regulating Wnt and p38 MAPK Signaling

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the osteoprotective effect of aqueous Rhizoma Dioscoreae extract (RDE) on the alveolar bone of rats with ovariectomy-induced bone loss. Methods: Female Wistar rats were subjected to either ovariectomy or a sham operation (SHAM). The ovariectomized (OVX) rats were treated with vehicle (OVX) or RDE by oral gavage or with 17β-estradiol (E2) subcutaneously. After treatments, the bone mineral density (BMD), the three-dimensional bone architecture of the alveolar bone and the plasma biomarkers of bone turnover were analyzed to assess bone metabolism, and the histomorphometry of the alveolar bone was observed. Microarrays were used to evaluate gene expression profiles in alveolar bone from RDE-treated and OVX rats. The differential expression of genes was further analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). The key findings were verified using real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Results: Our results showed that RDE inhibited alveolar bone loss in OVX rats. Compared to the OVX rats, the RDE-treated rats showed upregulated expression levels of 207 genes and downregulated expression levels of 176 genes in the alveolar bone. The IPA showed that several genes had the potential to code for proteins that were involved in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway (Wnt7a, Fzd2, Tcf3, Spp1, Frzb, Sfrp2 and Sfrp4) and the p38 MAPK signaling pathway (Il1rn and Mapk14). Conclusion: These experiments revealed that RDE could inhibit ovariectomy-induced alveolar bone loss in rats. The mechanism of this anti-osteopenic effect in alveolar bone may be involved in the reduced abnormal bone remodeling, which is associated with the modulation of the Wnt/β-catenin and the p38 MAPK signaling pathways via gene regulation.
The Link Between Playing Video Games and Positive Youth Outcomes

Playing video games continues to be popular among youth. Although many studies have examined the impact of video games on negative outcomes, such as aggression and addiction, fewer studies have investigated potential positive outcomes. However, recent studies are addressing this imbalance. In this article, we review some of this research, specifically studies indicating a link between playing video games and enhanced well-being, problem-solving skills, intergroup relations, and physical activity. In addition, we discuss how self-determination theory may provide an underlying theoretical framework linking these domains of positive effects. We also address implications for ongoing research that furthers our knowledge of how video games affect youth development, including longitudinal studies that examine video game play and adjustment from childhood to young adulthood.
Autoimmunity vs autoinflammation in Behcet's disease: do we oversimplify a complex disorder?

Behcet’s disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory disorder with a diverse spectrum of clinical manifestations including mucocutaneous, ocular, vascular, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal and central nervous system involvement [1]. A complex genetic background leading to a pro-inflammatory, innateimmune-system-derived activation perpetuated by adaptive immune responses against enviromental and auto-antigens is accepted to be the hallmark of BD [2]. This review aims to make an in-depth critical analysis of current data for recent controversies on the role of innate immune system vs autoimmunity in BD [3–5].
Application of Whole Exome Sequencing in Six Families with an Initial Diagnosis of Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa: Lessons Learned

This study aimed to identify the genetics underlying dominant forms of inherited retinal dystrophies using whole exome sequencing (WES) in six families extensively screened for known mutations or genes. Thirty-eight individuals were subjected to WES. Causative variants were searched among single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and insertion/deletion variants (indels) and whenever no potential candidate emerged, copy number variant (CNV) analysis was performed. Variants or regions harboring a candidate variant were prioritized and segregation of the variant with the disease was further assessed using Sanger sequencing in case of SNVs and indels, and quantitative PCR (qPCR) for CNVs. SNV and indel analysis led to the identification of a previously reported mutation in PRPH2. Two additional mutations linked to different forms of retinal dystrophies were identified in two families: a known frameshift deletion in RPGR, a gene responsible for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa and p.Ser163Arg in C1QTNF5 associated with Late-Onset Retinal Degeneration. A novel heterozygous deletion spanning the entire region of PRPF31 was also identified in the affected members of a fourth family, which was confirmed with qPCR. This study allowed the identification of the genetic cause of the retinal dystrophy and the establishment of a correct diagnosis in four families, including a large heterozygous deletion in PRPF31, typically considered one of the pitfalls of this method. Since all findings in this study are restricted to known genes, we propose that targeted sequencing using gene-panel is an optimal first approach for the genetic screening and that once known genetic causes are ruled out, WES might be used to uncover new genes involved in inherited retinal dystrophies.