Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of dietary gossypol concentration on growth performance, blood profiles, and hepatic histopathology in meat ducks1

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of gossypol from cottonseed meal (CSM) on growth performance, blood biochemical profiles, and liver histopathology of ducks. A total of 900 1-d-old ducks were randomly allocated to 5 treatments with 12 pens/treatment and 15 ducks/pen. The 5 experimental diets were formulated in such a way that 0% (a corn-soybean meal basal diet, diet 1), 25% (diet 2), 50% (diet 3), 75% (diet 4), and 100% (diet 5) of protein from soybean meal were replaced with that from CSM. All diets were formulated on a digestible amino acid basis. The experiment included 2 phases, the starter phase (1 to 3 wk) where the test diets contained graded levels of CSM and the growth phase (4 to 5 wk) where birds were fed a corn-soybean basal diet to examine the recovery of ducks after CSM withdrawal. Dietary CSM and gossypol linearly (P < 0.01) and quadratically (P < 0.01) decreased ADG and ADFI during d 1 to 14. The threshold of daily total gossypol (TG) and free gossypol (FG) intake based on ADG on d 1 to 7 and d 7 to 14 were 32.20 and 2.64 mg/d, and 92.12 and 9.62 mg/d, respectively. Serum alanine aminotransferase increased (P < 0.05) linearly with increasing level of gossypol in the diets (d 7), whereas aspartate aminotransferase increased (P < 0.05) linearly and quadratically (d 14). Serum albumin concentration decreased (P < 0.05) quadratically with increasing dietary CSM concentrations on d 21. The degree of damage to the liver increased markedly with increasing dietary CSM and gossypol content and the length of CSM and gossypol intake. On d 35, there was no difference on BW and blood profiles of ducks among all treatments. These results suggest that meat ducks’ dietary TG and FG concentration should be lower than 928.9 and 77.2 mg/kg, respectively, during d 1 to 21 of age and that a 2-wk withdrawal of diets containing gossypol should be considered.
From oogonia to mature oocytes: Inactivation of the maternal centrosome in humans

The fine structure of human oogonia and growing oocytes has been reviewed in fetal and adult ovaries. Preovulatory maturation and the ultrastructure of stimulated oocytes from the germinal vesicle (GV) stage to metaphase II (MII) stage are also documented. Oogonia have large nuclei, scanty cytoplasm with complex mitochondria. During folliculogenesis, follicle cell processes establish desmosomes and deep gap junctions at the surface of growing oocytes, which are retracted during the final stages of maturation. The zona pellucida is secreted in secondary follicles. Growing oocytes have mitochondria, Golgi, rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), ribosomes, lysosomes, and lipofuscin bodies, often associated with Balbiani bodies and have nuclei with reticulated nucleoli. Oocytes from antral follicles show numerous surface microvilli and cortical granules (CGs) separated from the oolemma by a band of microfilaments. The CGs are evidently secreted by Golgi membranes. The GV oocytes have peripheral Golgi complexes associated with a single layer of CGs close to the oolemma. They have many lysosomes, and nuclei with dense compact nucleoli. GV breakdown occurs by disorganization of the nuclear envelope and the oocyte enters a transient metaphase I followed by MII, when it is arrested and ovulated. Maturation of oocytes in vitro follows the same pattern of meiosis seen in preovulatory oocytes. The general organization of the human oocyte conforms to that of most other mammals but has some unique features. The MII oocyte has the basic cellular organelles such as mitochondria, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, microfilaments, and microtubules, while Golgi, RER, lysosomes, multivesicular, residual and lipofuscin bodies are very rare. It neither has yolk nor lipid inclusions. Its surface has few microvilli, and 1–3 layers of CGs, aligned beneath the oolemma. Special reference has been made to the reduction and inactivation of the maternal centrosome during oogenesis. The MII spindle, often oriented perpendicular to the oocyte surface, is barrel‐shaped, anastral and lacks centrioles. Osmiophilic centrosomes are not demonstrable in human eggs, since the maternal centrosome is nonfunctional. However, oogonia and growing oocytes have typical centrioles, similar to those of somatic cells. The sperm centrosome activates the egg and organizes the sperm aster and mitotic spindles of the embryo, after fertilization. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Insomnia Predisposing, Precipitating and Perpetuating Factors

Context: The aim of this research was to identify whether the underlying cognitive mechanisms suggested to contribute to the maintenance of depression are present in a community sample of people who report insomnia. Design: In a cross section study, rumination, inhibition and set switching cognitive processes were compared in a community sample of 79 participants aged 18-59 years. The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) was used to identify subjective ‘good’ and ‘poor sleepers’. Using Morin et al., (2011) recommendations, a cutoff score of 10 was used to differentiate between this community sample of good (n = 43) and poor(n = 36) sleepers. Measures: Assessments included: the ISI; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Epworth Sleepiness Scale; The Ruminative Response Styles questionnaire; Pre Sleep Arousal Scale; Spielberger’s State/Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. The task-switching paradigm described by Mayr and Keele (2000), was used to design a computer-based program to obtain an index of set shifting and an index of inhibition of previously relevant information. Main findings: Between group comparisons were made using a one-way ANOVA. Data replicated previous findings showing people with poor sleep differ significantly in their psychological makeup compared to good sleepers. Data show a distinct psychological profile that has been found in previous research when comparing a community sample of people with and without poor sleep.
The nonsmooth landscape of phase retrieval

We consider a popular nonsmooth formulation of the real phase retrieval problem. We show that under standard statistical assumptions a simple subgradient method converges linearly when initialized within a constant relative distance of an optimal solution. Seeking to understand the distribution of the stationary points of the problem, we complete the paper by proving that as the number of Gaussian measurements increases, the stationary points converge to a codimension two set, at a controlled rate. Experiments on image recovery problems illustrate the developed algorithm and theory.
Mechanical Properties of the Posterolateral Structures of the Knee

Background The individual biomechanical strength properties of the fibular collateral ligament, popliteofibular ligament, and popliteus tendon have not been well elucidated by previous studies. To define the necessary strength requirements for a posterolateral knee reconstruction, these properties for the main individual structures of the posterolateral knee need to be defined. Hypothesis The biomechanical failure properties of the fibular collateral ligament, popliteofibular ligament, and popliteus tendon can be determined by cadaveric testing. Study Design Descriptive laboratory study. Methods Each structure was individually isolated in 8 fresh-frozen, nonpaired cadaveric knees and loaded to failure at more than 100%/s. Results The mean ultimate tensile strength of the fibular collateral ligament was 295 N, the popliteofibular ligament was 298 N, and the popliteus tendon was 700 N. The mean cross-sectional areas of these same structures at their midpoints were 11.9 mm2, 17.1 mm2, and 21.9 mm2, respectively. Although the stiffness of the fibular collateral ligament (33.5 N/m) was similar to that of the popliteofibular ligament (28.6 N/m), the popliteus tendon was significantly stiffer than both (83.7 N/m). Conclusion The popliteofibular ligament, fibular collateral ligament, and popliteus tendon can resist fairly large loads before failure. Knowledge of the strengths of the main native posterolateral knee stabilizers will assist with reconstructive graft choices for these structures.
Automatic information extraction from large websites

Information extraction from websites is nowadays a relevant problem, usually performed by software modules called wrappers. A key requirement is that the wrapper generation process should be automated to the largest extent, in order to allow for large-scale extraction tasks even in presence of changes in the underlying sites. So far, however, only semi-automatic proposals have appeared in the literature.We present a novel approach to information extraction from websites, which reconciles recent proposals for supervised wrapper induction with the more traditional field of grammar inference. Grammar inference provides a promising theoretical framework for the study of unsupervised---that is, fully automatic---wrapper generation algorithms. However, due to some unrealistic assumptions on the input, these algorithms are not practically applicable to Web information extraction tasks.The main contributions of the article stand in the definition of a class of regular languages, called the prefix mark-up languages, that abstract the structures usually found in HTML pages, and in the definition of a polynomial-time unsupervised learning algorithm for this class. The article shows that, differently from other known classes, prefix mark-up languages and the associated algorithm can be practically used for information extraction purposes.A system based on the techniques described in the article has been implemented in a working prototype. We present some experimental results on known Websites, and discuss opportunities and limitations of the proposed approach.
Cost-effectiveness of childhood hepatitis A vaccination in Argentina: a second dose is warranted.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the cost-effectiveness of childhood vaccination against hepatitis A in the five geographic regions of Argentina, and to determine whether adding a second dose to the current one-dose schedule would provide health gains justifying its added cost. METHODS A Markov model was used to consider four immunization options for the 2005 birth cohort: (1) no vaccination; (2) vaccination at 12 months of age, (3) vaccinations at 12 and 72 months of age; or (4) vaccinations at 12 and 18 months of age. Hepatitis A costs and consequences were predicted over 50 years. The cost-effectiveness of first and second vaccine doses was assessed through a range of vaccine prices and assumptions regarding the duration of vaccine protection. Costs and health gains (measured in quality-adjusted life years) were adjusted to present values using a 3% annual discount rate. RESULTS The one-dose vaccination policy is predicted to reduce each birth cohort member's 50-year probability of overt hepatitis A from 7.2% to 4.1%. A second dose would reduce the probability to between 2.0% and 2.2%. Vaccination at 12 months of age, at 12 and 72 months, or at 12 and 18 months would reduce cases among personal contacts by 82%, 87%, and 92%, respectively. The first vaccine dose would meet accepted standards of cost-effectiveness in each region, and reduce costs in the Northeast, Central, and South regions. Adding a second dose at age 18 months would be cost-effective in each region, and further reduce costs in the Cuyo region. If the duration of protection with one dose is less than anticipated, the second dose would be more cost-effective. CONCLUSIONS Greater health gains are derived from the first than second hepatitis A vaccine dose. However, this analysis supports the cost-effectiveness of providing both first and second doses to Argentina's children.
Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in Texas

Specimens of Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica were recovered from the abomasa of five of ten naturally infected red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Texas (USA). Female specimens of Spiculopteragia were present in all five animals. Male specimens of S. spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica were present in one of five and three of five red deer, respectively. Spiculopteragia spiculoptera has not previously been recognized in the United States and the present report constitutes the first records of Spiculopteragia spp. in red deer from North America. It is likely that species of Spiculopteragia have been introduced to North America with the import of exotic cervids on several occasions. Focal populations of these nematodes have been established in North America; however, distribution of the parasites likely coincides with areas of residence of introduced populations of red deer and fallow deer (Cervus dama) in the Nearctic.
Experiencing Abortion: A Phenomenological Investigation

This project provided a description of women ' s experience of abortion . In­ depth , non-directive interviews were conducted with ten adult women in which they were asked to describe what stood out for them about their experience of abortion . Transcribed interviews constituted the raw data. and a method informed by hermeneutic analysis was used for purposes of describing the thematic structure of the experience. Findings indicated that this structure was defined by four themes: ( 1 ) Wrong and Right Aspects ; (2 ) Issues o f Life and Death ; (3) Absence o r Presence of Support; and (4 ) A Hard Thing to Go Through . These themes were always contextualized by the two larger experiential grounds of ( 1 ) Who I Am (Who I was, Who I Expect to Be ) and (2 ) Others. The ground of "Who I Am " reflected participants ' sense of personal identity and included self-ascribed attributes, values and beliefs , and future aspirations. The ground of " Others " consisted of the socio-cultural context . and included messages about abortion from family . religion, and politics . It also included an awareness of other women who had abortions. and descriptions of the relationship within which the pregnancy occurred. The first theme. Wrong and Right Aspects, captured participants ' awareness of the moral dimensions of their abortion experience . For most of the women, the idea of abortion as wrong initially dominated their perspective; this view , however, was invariably attenuated by the knowledge that abortion was the right choice at this time . The second theme, Issues of Life and Death, reflected participants ' experience of abortion as an existential matter . The third theme. Absence or Presence of Support. described the participants' awareness of the need for support in relation to the abortion experience . This theme was discussed in terms of the woman ' s relationship with herself. her anticipations of responses from others . and in the actual responses she
Using Ants as bioindicators: Multiscale Issues in Ant Community Ecology

Ecological patterns and processes are characteristically scale dependent, and research findings often cannot be translated easily from one scale to another. Conservation biology is challenged by a lack of congruence between the spatial scales of ecological research (typically involving small plots) and land management (typically involving whole landscapes). Here, I discuss spatial scaling issues as they relate to an understanding of ant communities and, consequently, their use as bioindicators in land management. Our perceptions of fundamental patterns and processes in ant communities depend on scale: taxa that are behaviorally dominant at one scale are not necessarily so at others, functional groups recognized at one scale are often inappropriate for others, and the role of competition in community structure depends on the scale of analysis. Patterns of species richness and composition, and the ability of total richness to be estimated by surrogates, are all also scale dependent. Ant community ecology has a tradition of detailed studies in small plots, but the use of ants as bioindicators requires a predictive understanding of community structure and dynamics at a range of spatial scales. Such an appreciation of ant communities and their most effective use as bioindicators is best served by studies integrating results from plot−scale research with the broad−scale paradigms of biogeography, systematics, and evolutionary biology.
Application of skew-normal distribution for detecting differential expression to microRNA data

Traditional statistical modeling of continuous outcome variables relies heavily on the assumption of a normal distribution. However, in some applications, such as analysis of microRNA (miRNA) data, normality may not hold. Skewed distributions play an important role in such studies and might lead to robust results in the presence of extreme outliers. We apply a skew-normal (SN) distribution, which is indexed by three parameters (location, scale and shape), in the context of miRNA studies. We developed a test statistic for comparing means of two conditions replacing the normal assumption with SN distribution. We compared the performance of the statistic with other Wald-type statistics through simulations. Two real miRNA datasets are analyzed to illustrate the methods. Our simulation findings showed that the use of a SN distribution can result in improved identification of differentially expressed miRNAs, especially with markedly skewed data and when the two groups have different variances. It also appeared that the statistic with SN assumption performs comparably with other Wald-type statistics irrespective of the sample size or distribution. Moreover, the real dataset analyses suggest that the statistic with SN assumption can be used effectively for identification of important miRNAs. Overall, the statistic with SN distribution is useful when data are asymmetric and when the samples have different variances for the two groups.
Raiders of the Lost Architecture: Kernels for Bayesian Optimization in Conditional Parameter Spaces

In practical Bayesian optimization, we must often search over structures with differing numbers of parameters. For instance, we may wish to search over neural network architectures with an unknown number of layers. To relate performance data gathered for different architectures, we define a new kernel for conditional parameter spaces that explicitly includes information about which parameters are relevant in a given structure. We show that this kernel improves model quality and Bayesian optimization results over several simpler baseline kernels.
Serum Helicobacter pylori CagA antibody titer as a useful marker for advanced inflammation in the stomach in Japan

Subjects infected with Helicobacter pylori containing cagA do not always induce serum CagA antibody. Our previous meta‐analysis showed that serum CagA seropositivity was associated with gastric cancer even in East Asian countries. However, it remains unclear why serum CagA‐positive status is associated with gastric cancer. In this study, we aimed to examine the relationship between anti‐CagA antibody titer and the levels of pepsinogen (PG), and histological score.
Leadership's influence on nonwork outcomes: The mediating role of work -family climate

LEADERSHIP’S INFLUENCE ON NONWORK OUTCOMES: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF WORK-FAMILY CLIMATE Beth A. Heinen, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2009 Dissertation Director: Stephen J. Zaccaro This dissertation examines how specific leadership behaviors differentially relate to nonwork outcomes. In particular, this paper examines the relationship between behaviors espoused in transformational leadership theory and perceptions of work-family climate as well as the mediating effect of work-family climate between these leadership behaviors and work interfering with family conflict. Data were collected via online survey from 320 employees from a large mid-Atlantic consulting firm. Results suggest that certain transformational leader behaviors (e.g., high performance expectations) are negatively related to employee perceptions of a family-supportive work-family climate, while other transformational leader behaviors (e.g., intellectual stimulation, considerate leader behaviors) positively relate to perceptions of work-family climate. High performance expectations were found to have a negative nonlinear relationship with perceptions of a family-supportive work-family climate, while serving as a role model of work-family balance was found to have a positive nonlinear relationship with perceptions of a supportive work-family climate. Lastly, all leader behaviors were found to indirectly relate to levels of work interfering with family conflict through their influence on workfamily climate.
A Generalized Probabilistic Framework and its Variants for Training Top-k Recommender System

Accounting for missing ratings in available training data was recently shown [3, 17] to lead to large improvements in the top-k hit rate of recommender systems, compared to state-of-the-art approaches optimizing the popular rootmean-square-error (RMSE) on the observed ratings. In this paper, we take a Bayesian approach, which lends itself naturally to incorporating background knowledge concerning the missing-data mechanism. The resulting log posterior distribution is very similar to the objective function in [17]. We conduct elaborate experiments with real-world data, testing several variants of our approach under dierent hypothetical scenarios concerning the missing ratings. In the second part of this paper, we provide a generalized probabilistic framework for dealing with possibly multiple observed rating values for a user-item pair. Several practical applications are subsumed by this generalization, including aggregate recommendations (e.g., recommending artists based on ratings concerning their songs) as well as collaborative filtering of sequential data (e.g., recommendations based on TV consumption over time). We present promising preliminary experimental results on IP-TV data.
Dental Infection and Vascular Disease

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory response to bacterial plaque in which the anchoring bone and soft tissues supporting teeth are destroyed, resulting in tooth mobility and loss. Dental caries involves the spread of infection from the dentine to the vascular dental pulp and periapical bony tissues, before involvement of adjacent soft tissues and spreading sepsis. Several case-controlled, cross-sectional, and cohort studies report correlation between periodontitis and increased cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and peripheral artery disease, as determined by clinical disease, angiography, ultrasonography, and reduced flow-mediated dilation. Some studies report a similar relationship of atherosclerosis with periapical infection and potentially also with coronal caries, and this review identifies the need to investigate these associations further. Smoking and cadmium exposure are epidemiologically confounding environmental risk factors shared by atherosclerosis and periodontitis. Further complicating epidemiological studies are the risk factors for both atherosclerosis and periodontitis, with which periodontitis appears to have separate positive feedback relationships. These include diabetes, increased plasma lipid levels, hypertension, and white blood cell count. Animal and human intervention studies provide some direct support of a causal role for periodontitis in atherosclerosis, and possible mechanisms include bacterial invasion of arteries, specific atherogenic properties of oral bacteria, the acute phase response, and cytokine polymorphisms.