Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mother-Infant Interactions in Slow Lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis) and Pygmy Lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus)

The study had three purposes: (1) to obtain information about mother-infant interactions in a rarely studied nocturnal prosimian, the pygmy loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus); (2) to compare pygmy lorises with a closely related and better-studied nocturnal prosimian, the Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis); and (3) to determine how the presence of a second offspring affected mother-infant interactions in pygmy lorises. Three Bengal slow loris mothers and 3 pygmy loris mothers served as subjects, along with their 10 offspring (4 Bengal slow loris singletons, 2 pygmy loris singletons and 2 sets of pygmy loris twins). Observations were carried out in a zoo research facility for the first 24 weeks of the infants’ lives. Although the two species differ in size and reproductive patterns, mother-infant interactions were similar. The primary modes of infant and adult contact were ventral and passive contact, respectively. Mothers parked their infants from the first week, and infants followed from the second week. Mothers displayed little protection or rejection, and there was little aggression. Infants solicited play and social grooming from their mothers. Pygmy loris mothers engaged in social grooming and play with their infants more frequently and for longer periods if the infant was a singleton rather than a twin.
EFSUMB Guidelines and Recommendations on the Clinical Use of Liver Ultrasound Elastography, Update 2017 (Long Version)

Abstract We present here the first update of the 2013 EFSUMB (European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology) Guidelines and Recommendations on the clinical use of elastography, focused on the assessment of diffuse liver disease. The first part (long version) of these Guidelines and Recommendations deals with the basic principles of elastography and provides an update of how the technology has changed. The practical advantages and disadvantages associated with each of the techniques are described, and guidance is provided regarding optimization of scanning technique, image display, image interpretation, reporting of data and some of the known image artefacts. The second part provides clinical information about the practical use of elastography equipment and the interpretation of results in the assessment of diffuse liver disease and analyzes the main findings based on published studies, stressing the evidence from meta-analyses. The role of elastography in different etiologies of liver disease and in several clinical scenarios is also discussed. All of the recommendations are judged with regard to their evidence-based strength according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence. This updated document is intended to act as a reference and to provide a practical guide for both beginners and advanced clinical users.
Soy and Isoflavone Intake Are Associated With Reduced Risk of Ovarian Cancer in Southeast China

Abstract: To investigate whether intake of soy and isoflavones has an inverse association with ovarian cancer risk, a case-control study was conducted in Hangzhou, China. Cases were 254 patients with histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer. The 652 controls comprised 340 hospital visitors, 261 non-neoplastic hospital outpatients, and 51 women recruited from the community. Habitual dietary intakes including 9 soy foods were measured by face-to-face interview using a validated and reliable food-frequency questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) accounting for age, demographic characteristics, hormonal factors, and total energy intake. Intake of soy and isoflavones was inversely related to the risk of ovarian cancer. Compared with the highest versus the lowest quartile intake, the ORs were 0.50 (95% CI = 0.31-0.82) for total soy foods and 0.51 (95% CI = 0.31-0.85) for isoflavones. Among subgroups of soy foods and isoflavones, the ORs for soybeans, bean curd, daidzein, genistein, and glycitein were 0.35 (95% CI = 0.22-0.58), 0.49 (95% CI = 0.29-0.81), 0.52 (95% CI = 0.31-0.87), 0.50 (95% CI = 0.30-0.84), and 0.59 (95% CI = 0.35-0.97), respectively.
Multi-source Neural Automatic Post-Editing: FBK’s participation in the WMT 2017 APE shared task

Previous phrase-based approaches to Automatic Post-editing (APE) have shown that the dependency of MT errors from the source sentence can be exploited by jointly learning from source and target information. By integrating this notion in a neural approach to the problem, we present the multi-source neural machine translation (NMT) system submitted by FBK to the WMT 2017 APE shared task. Our system implements multi-source NMT in a weighted ensemble of 8 models. The n-best hypotheses produced by this ensemble are further re-ranked using features based on the edit distance between the original MT output and each APE hypothesis, as well as other statistical models (n-gram language model and operation sequence model). This solution resulted in the best system submission for this round of the APE shared task for both en-de and de-en language directions. For the former language direction, our primary sub-mission improves over the MT baseline up to -4.9 TER and +7.6 BLEU points. For the latter, where the higher quality of the original MT output reduces the room for improvement, the gains are lower but still signiﬁcant (-0.25 TER and +0.3 BLEU).
Lipoprotein lipase: cellular origin and functional distribution.

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL, E.C. 3.3.1.34) is the enzyme responsible for hydrolysis of triacylglycerols in plasma lipoproteins, making the fatty acids available for use by subjacent tissues. LPL is functional at the surface of endothelial cells, but it is not clear which cells synthesize the enzyme and what its distribution is within tissues and vessels. We have searched for specific cell expression of the LPL gene by in situ hybridization using a RNA probe and for the corresponding protein distribution by immunocytochemistry on cryosections of some LPL-producing tissues of guinea pigs. In white and brown adipose tissues, heart and skeletal muscle, and lactating mammary gland, there was positive hybridization for LPL mRNA over all members of the major cell types, indicating that mature and immature adipocytes, muscle cells, and mammary epithelial cells are main sources of LPL. In large vessels, LPL expression was detected in some smooth muscle cells in the media layer. There was no positive hybridization for LPL mRNA over endothelial cells in any of the tissues studied, but there was immunoreaction for LPL protein at endothelial surfaces of all blood vessels. In the kidney, there was strong immunofluorescence at the vascular endothelium, particularly in the glomeruli, but little or no LPL mRNA was detected in the surrounding cells. These observations suggest that in some tissues LPL is synthesized by parenchymal cells and spreads along the vascular mesh. Transfer to the vascular endothelium is, however, not the only route taken by LPL. In the mammary gland most of the enzyme protein appeared to be secreted, partly in association with milk fat droplets. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Linking Metal Speciation and Tissue Accumulation to Nickel Toxicity in Aquatic and Terrestrial Plants: Implications for Toxicity Modeling and Risk Assessment

LINKING METAL SPECIATION AND TISSUE ACCUMULATION TO NICKEL TOXICITY IN AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL PLANTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TOXICITY MODELING AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT Yamini Gopalapillai Co-Advisors: University of Guelph, 2012 Dr. Beverley A. Hale Dr. Bernard Vigneault Various toxicity models such as the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM), Tissue Residue Approach (TRA), and Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC) calculator were evaluated for their utility in predicting nickel toxicity to aquatic (Lemna minor) or terrestrial (Avena sativa) plants grown in complex media. For the study on L. minor, exposure chemistry was altered by addition of major cations (Ca, Mg, Na, K) or environmental ligands (dissolved organic carbon (DOC), flotation ligands), or altered by pH. Major cations did not inhibit Ni accumulation via competitive inhibition as expected by the BLM framework. In addition, the counter anion of the added Ca greatly affected L. minor growth response to Ni. The effect of DOC was explained solely by complexation with Ni in solution (conforms to BLM), while the effect of flotation ligands was more complex and better described by a TRA model. Nickel toxicity increased linearly with increasing pH; however, Ni accumulation kinetics suggested that the mechanism of interaction between Ni and protons for plant uptake was not competitive as expected by BLM. In general, although the physiological response of L. minor was affected by exposure chemistry and tissue Ni related well with observed toxicity, total Ni and free Ni activity better related to the majority of the plant’s response. For terrestrial plants, Ni PNEC values were calculated and compared to previously published data measuring A. sativa toxicity in agricultural soils near Port Colborne, Ontario. In addition, metal speciation estimated by Windermere Humic Aqueous Model (WHAM) 6 was utilized in Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analyses to determine factors important for a Terrestrial BLM (TBLM). Calculated PNEC values were conservative (two orders of magnitude lower than no observed effect concentrations). This suggests that the additional assessment factor incorporated into the PNEC calculator is not necessary. In addition, soil type affected Ni’s relationship to toxicity (i.e. clay soil was not well predicted). Overall, the results of this thesis suggests that the simplified approach of relating total dissolved Ni concentration to observed toxicity is sufficient for the purposes of plant Ni risk assessment.
A new algorithm for cluster analysis of genomic methylation: the Helicobacter pylori case

MOTIVATION The genomic methylation analysis is useful to type bacteria that have a high number of expressed type II methyltransferases. Methyltransferases are usually committed to Restriction and Modification (R-M) systems, in which the restriction endonuclease imposes high pressure on the expression of the cognate methyltransferase that hinder R-M system loss. Conventional cluster methods do not reflect this tendency. An algorithm was developed for dendrogram construction reflecting the propensity for conservation of R-M Type II systems. RESULTS The new algorithm was applied to 52 Helicobacter pylori strains from different geographical regions and compared with conventional clustering methods. The algorithm works by first grouping strains that share a common minimum set of R-M systems and gradually adds strains according to the number of the R-M systems acquired. Dendrograms revealed a cluster of African strains, which suggest that R-M systems are present in H.pylori genome since its human host migrates from Africa. AVAILABILITY The software files are available at http://www.ff. ul.pt/paginas/jvitor/Bioinformatics/MCRM_algorithm. zip.
Mineral Licks as Diversity Hotspots in Lowland Forest of Eastern Ecuador

Mineral licks are sites where a diverse array of mammals and birds consume soil (geophagy) or drink water, likely for mineral supplementation. The diversity of species that visit such sites makes them important for conservation, particularly given that hunters often target animals at licks. Use of mineral licks varies among species, with frugivores among the most common visitors but there is considerable temporal and spatial variation in lick use both within and among species. Camera traps triggered by heat and motion were used to document use of mineral licks by birds and non-volant mammals over a four-year period at a lowland forest site in eastern Ecuador. We obtained 7,889 photographs representing 23 mammal species and 888 photographs representing 15 bird species. Activity (photographs/100 trap-days) at the four licks varied from 89 to 292 for mammals and from six to 43 for birds. Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), peccaries (Pecari tajacu, Tayassu pecari), deer (Mazama americana), and pacas (Cuniculus paca) were the most frequent mammal visitors; guans (Pipile pipile) and pigeons (Columba plumbea) were the most common birds. Use of licks varied diurnally and seasonally but patterns of use varied among species and sites. Mineral licks provide an important resource for many species but further studies are needed to determine the precise benefit(s) obtained and how benefits may vary with diet and other factors, such as rainfall.
Missed Opportunities along the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Services Cascade in South Africa: Uptake, Determinants, and Attributable Risk (the SAPMTCTE)

Objectives We examined uptake of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services, predictors of missed opportunities, and infant HIV transmission attributable to missed opportunities along the PMTCT cascade across South Africa. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 4–8 week old infants receiving first immunisations in 580 nationally representative public health facilities in 2010. This included maternal interviews and testing infants’ dried blood spots for HIV. A weighted analysis was performed to assess uptake of antenatal and perinatal PMTCT services along the PMTCT cascade (namely: maternal HIV testing, CD4 count test/result, and receiving maternal and infant antiretroviral treatment) and predictors of dropout. The population attributable fraction associated with dropouts at each service point are estimated. Results Of 9,803 mothers included, 31.7% were HIV-positive as identified by reactive infant antibody tests. Of these 80.4% received some form of maternal and infant antiretroviral treatment. More than a third (34.9%) of mothers dropped out from one or more steps in the PMTCT service cascade. In a multivariable analysis, the following characteristics were associated with increased dropout from the PMTCT cascade: adolescent (<20 years) mothers, low socioeconomic score, low education level, primiparous mothers, delayed first antenatal visit, homebirth, and non-disclosure of HIV status. Adolescent mothers were twice (adjusted odds ratio: 2.2, 95% confidence interval: 1.5–3.3) as likely to be unaware of their HIV-positive status and had a significantly higher rate (85.2%) of unplanned pregnancies compared to adults aged ≥20 years (55.5%, p = 0.0001). A third (33.8%) of infant HIV infections were attributable to dropout in one or more steps in the cascade. Conclusion A third of transmissions attributable to missed opportunities of PMTCT services can be prevented by optimizing the uptake of PMTCT services. Identified risk factors for low PMTCT service uptake should be addressed through health facility and community-level interventions, including raising awareness, promoting women education, adolescent focused interventions, and strengthening linkages/referral-system between communities and health facilities.
Long-chain PUFA supplementation in rural African infants: a randomized controlled trial of effects on gut integrity, growth, and cognitive development123

Background: Intestinal damage and malabsorption caused by chronic environmental enteropathy are associated with growth faltering seen in infants in less-developed countries. Evidence has suggested that supplementary omega-3 (n−3) long-chain PUFAs (LC-PUFAs) might ameliorate this damage by reducing gastrointestinal inflammation. LC-PUFA supplementation may also benefit cognitive development. Objective: We tested whether early n−3 LC-PUFA supplementation improves infant intestinal integrity, growth, and cognitive function. Design: A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial [200 mg DHA and 300 mg EPA or 2 mL olive oil/d for 6 mo] was conducted in a population of 172 rural Gambian infants aged 3–9 mo. The primary endpoints were anthropometric measures and gut integrity [assessed by using urinary lactulose:mannitol ratios (LMRs)]. Plasma fatty acid status, intestinal mucosal inflammation (fecal calprotectin), daily morbidity, and cognitive development (2-step means-end test and an attention assessment) were secondary endpoints. Results: PUFA supplementation resulted in a significant increase in plasma n−3 LC-PUFA concentrations (P < 0.001 for both DHA and EPA) and midupper arm circumference (MUAC) (effect size: 0.31 z scores; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.56; P = 0.017) at 9 mo of age. At 12 mo, MUAC remained greater in the intervention group, and we observed significant increases in skinfold thicknesses (P ≤ 0.022 for all). No other significant differences between treatment groups were detected for growth or LMRs at 9 mo or for secondary outcomes. Conclusions: Fish-oil supplementation successfully increased plasma n−3 fatty acid status. However, in young, breastfed Gambian infants, the intervention failed to improve linear growth, intestinal integrity, morbidity, or selected measures of cognitive development. The trial was registered at www.isrctn. org as ISRCTN66645725.
Effects of a novel schizophrenia risk variant rs7914558 at CNNM2 on brain structure and attributional style.

BACKGROUND A single nucleotide polymorphism (rs7914558) within the cyclin M2 (CNNM2) gene was recently identified as a common risk variant for schizophrenia. The mechanism by which CNNM2 confers risk is unknown. AIMS To determine the impact of the rs7914558 risk 'G' allele [corrected] on measures of neurocognition, social cognition and brain structure. METHOD Patients with schizophrenia (n = 400) and healthy controls (n = 160) completed measures of neuropsychological function and social cognition. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data were also acquired from an overlapping sample of Irish healthy controls (n = 159) and an independent sample of Italian patients (n = 82) and healthy controls (n = 39). RESULTS No effects of genotype on neuropsychological test performance were observed. However, a dosage effect of the risk allele was found for an index of social cognition (i.e. attributional style), such that risk status was associated with reduced self-serving bias across groups (GG>AG>AA, P<0.05). Using voxel-based morphometry to investigate neuroanatomical regions putatively supporting social cognition, risk carriers had relatively increased grey matter volume in the right temporal pole and right anterior cingulate cortex (Pcorrected<0.05) in the Irish healthy controls sample; neuroanatomical associations between CNNM2 and grey matter volume in anterior cingulate cortex were also observed in the Italian schizophrenia and healthy controls samples. CONCLUSIONS Although the biological role of CNNM2 in schizophrenia remains unknown, these data suggest that this CNNM2 risk variant rs7914558 may have an impact on neural systems relevant to social cognition. How such effects may mediate the relationship between genotype and disease risk remains to be established.
Connectionist probability estimators in HMM speech recognition

The authors are concerned with integrating connectionist networks into a hidden Markov model (HMM) speech recognition system. This is achieved through a statistical interpretation of connectionist networks as probability estimators. They review the basis of HMM speech recognition and point out the possible benefits of incorporating connectionist networks. Issues necessary to the construction of a connectionist HMM recognition system are discussed, including choice of connectionist probability estimator. They describe the performance of such a system using a multilayer perceptron probability estimator evaluated on the speaker-independent DARPA Resource Management database. In conclusion, they show that a connectionist component improves a state-of-the-art HMM system. >
Modulation of simple sinusoidal patterns by a coupled oscillator model for biped walking

We show that a humanoid robot can step and walk using simple sinusoidal desired joint trajectories with their phase adjusted by a coupled oscillator model. We use the center of pressure location and velocity to detect the phase of the lateral robot dynamics. This phase information is used to modulate the desired joint trajectories. We applied the proposed control approach to our newly developed human sized humanoid robot and a small size humanoid robot developed by Sony, enabling them to generate successful stepping and walking patterns
A model for human interruptability: experimental evaluation and automatic estimation from wearable sensors

For the estimation of user interruptability in wearable and mobile settings, we propose in (N. Kern et al., 2003) to distinguish between the users' personal and social interruptability. In this paper, we verify this thesis with a user study on 24 subjects. Results show that there is a significant difference between social and personal interruptability. Further, we present a novel approach to estimate the social and personal interruptability of a user from wearable sensors. It is scalable for a large number of sensors, contexts, and situations and allows for online adaptation during run-time. We have developed a wearable platform, that allows to record and process the data from a microphone, 12 body-worn 3D acceleration sensors, and a location estimation. We have evaluated the approach on three different data sets, with a maximal length of two days.
Sensitivity of the frozen/melted basal boundary to perturbations of basal traction and geothermal heat flux: Isunnguata Sermia, western Greenland

Abstract A full-stress, thermomechanically coupled, numerical model is used to explore the interaction between basal thermal conditions and motion of a terrestrially terminating section of the west Greenland ice sheet. The model domain is a two-dimensional flowline profile extending from the ice divide to the margin. We use data-assimilation techniques based on the adjoint model in order to optimize the basal traction field, minimizing the difference between modeled and observed surface velocities. We monitor the sensitivity of the frozen/melted boundary (FMB) to changes in prescribed geothermal heat flux and sliding speed by applying perturbations to each of these parameters. The FMB shows sensitivity to the prescribed geothermal heat flux below an upper threshold where a maximum portion of the bed is already melted. The position of the FMB is insensitive to perturbations applied to the basal traction field. This insensitivity is due to the short distances over which longitudinal stresses act in an ice sheet.
It's Not My Fault: When and Why Attributions to Prejudice Protect Self-Esteem

This study tested the hypothesis that awareness of the possibility of being a target of discrimination can provide individuals with a means of self-esteem protection when they are faced with negative outcomes. Men and women contemplated being rejected from a course due to sexism, personal deservingness, or an exclusively external cause. Regardless of gender, participants in the sexism condition blamed themselves less, attributed the rejection less to internal causes, and anticipated feeling less depressed than those in the personal deservingness condition. Furthermore, the more participants discounted the rejection—blamed it more on discrimination than themselves—the less depressed emotions they anticipated feeling. Discounting did not buffer participants from feeling hostility or anxiety. These findings advance our understanding of when and why attributions to prejudice protect emotional well-being.