Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Matric Potential and Pore Size Distribution on Growth Dynamics of Filamentous and Non-Filamentous Soil Bacteria

The filamentous growth form is an important strategy for soil microbes to bridge air-filled pores in unsaturated soils. In particular, fungi perform better than bacteria in soils during drought, a property that has been ascribed to the hyphal growth form of fungi. However, it is unknown if, and to what extent, filamentous bacteria may also display similar advantages over non-filamentous bacteria in soils with low hydraulic connectivity. In addition to allowing for microbial interactions and competition across connected micro-sites, water films also facilitate the motility of non-filamentous bacteria. To examine these issues, we constructed and characterized a series of quartz sand microcosms differing in matric potential and pore size distribution and, consequently, in connection of micro-habitats via water films. Our sand microcosms were used to examine the individual and competitive responses of a filamentous bacterium (Streptomyces atratus) and a motile rod-shaped bacterium (Bacillus weihenstephanensis) to differences in pore sizes and matric potential. The Bacillus strain had an initial advantage in all sand microcosms, which could be attributed to its faster growth rate. At later stages of the incubation, Streptomyces became dominant in microcosms with low connectivity (coarse pores and dry conditions). These data, combined with information on bacterial motility (expansion potential) across a range of pore-size and moisture conditions, suggest that, like their much larger fungal counterparts, filamentous bacteria also use this growth form to facilitate growth and expansion under conditions of low hydraulic conductivity. The sand microcosm system developed and used in this study allowed for precise manipulation of hydraulic properties and pore size distribution, thereby providing a useful approach for future examinations of how these properties influence the composition, diversity and function of soil-borne microbial communities.
Differences in Susceptibility to Heat Stress along the Chicken Intestine and the Protective Effects of Galacto-Oligosaccharides

High ambient temperatures negatively affect the human well-being as well as animal welfare and production. The gastrointestinal tract is predominantly responsive to heat stress. The currently available information about the multifaceted response to heat stress within different parts of the intestine is limited, especially in avian species. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the heat stress-induced sequence of events in the intestines of chickens. Furthermore, the gut health-promoting effect of dietary galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) was investigated in these heat stress-exposed chickens. Chickens were fed a control diet or diet supplemented with 1% or 2.5% GOS (6 days) prior to and during a temperature challenge for 5 days (38–39°C, 8h per day). The parameters measured in different parts of the intestines included the genes (qPCR) HSF1, HSF3, HSP70, HSP90, E-cadherin, claudin-1, claudin-5, ZO-1, occludin, TLR-2, TLR-4, IL-6, IL-8, HO-1, HIF-1α) and their associated proteins HSP70, HSP90 and pan-cadherin (western blots). In addition, IL-6 and IL-8 plasma concentrations were measured by ELISA. In the jejunum, HSF3, HSP70, HSP90, E-cadherin, claudin-5, ZO-1, TLR-4, IL-6 and IL-8 mRNA expression and HSP70 protein expression were increased after heat stress exposure and a more pronounced increase in gene expression was observed in ileum after heat stress exposure, and in addition HSF1, claudin-1 and HIF-1α mRNA levels were upregulated. Furthermore, the IL-8 plasma levels were decreased in chickens exposed to heat stress. Interestingly, the heat stress-related effects in the jejunum were prevented in chickens fed a GOS diet, while dietary GOS did not alter these effects in ileum. In conclusion, our results demonstrate the differences in susceptibility to heat stress along the intestine, where the most obvious modification in gene expression is observed in ileum, while dietary GOS only prevent the heat stress-related changes in jejunum.
A Complicated Case of Carcinoid Disease

Clinical History Dr. (now Professor) J. G. SCADDING: The case we have to consider to-day is that of a housewife who was aged 73 at the time of her death in June, 1961. Her father had died at 72 and had had asthma; her mother had died aged 68; and her husband had died in 1947 of lung cancer. She had had eight children: one son had died of cerebral tumour, and two sons, of whom one had tuberculous pleurisy and recovered in 1948-9, and five daughters were well. She first attended as an out-patient at Hammersmith Hospital in 1943, at the age of 55, complaining of dizzi-
Assessment of Twentieth-Century Regional Surface Temperature Trends using the GFDL CM2 Coupled Models

Abstract Historical climate simulations of the period 1861–2000 using two new Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) global climate models (CM2.0 and CM2.1) are compared with observed surface temperatures. All-forcing runs include the effects of changes in well-mixed greenhouse gases, ozone, sulfates, black and organic carbon, volcanic aerosols, solar flux, and land cover. Indirect effects of tropospheric aerosols on clouds and precipitation processes are not included. Ensembles of size 3 (CM2.0) and 5 (CM2.1) with all forcings are analyzed, along with smaller ensembles of natural-only and anthropogenic-only forcing, and multicentury control runs with no external forcing. Observed warming trends on the global scale and in many regions are simulated more realistically in the all-forcing and anthropogenic-only forcing runs than in experiments using natural-only forcing or no external forcing. In the all-forcing and anthropogenic-only forcing runs, the model shows some tendency for too much twentieth-c.
Cross-cultural marriage : identity and choice

As societies world-wide become increasingly multicultural, so the issues of identity, belonging, tolerance and racism become imperative to understand in their various forms. This book adds to the discussion by examining the interface between the lived, personal experiences of people in cross-cultural marriages and wider socio-political issues. One major contribution this book offers is that the marriages discussed are from a very broad range of cultures and classes. Amongst other issues, contributors examine: the legal and social factors influencing cross-cultural marriages; the personality factors and positive or negative stereotypes of otherness that influence spouse choice; notions of identity, gender and personhood, and definitions of difference, and how these are often tied up in emotive stereotypes; how all these factors affect the ongoing process of living together and the ability to cope; and how the children of such marriages come to terms with identity choices. This book should be highly relevant to the growing number of people in cross-cultural marriages, as well as to professionals in the fields of marriage guidance, child welfare and academics interested in ethnicity and kinship.
Characterisation of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome in French Bulldogs Using Whole-Body Barometric Plethysmography

Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) is an important health and welfare problem in several popular dog breeds. Whole-body barometric plethysmography (WBBP) is a non-invasive method that allows safe and repeated quantitative measurements of respiratory cycles on unsedated dogs. Here respiratory flow traces in French bulldogs from the pet population were characterised using WBBP, and a computational application was developed to recognise affected animals. Eighty-nine French bulldogs and twenty non-brachycephalic controls underwent WBBP testing. A respiratory functional grading system was used on each dog based on respiratory signs (i.e. respiratory noise, effort, etc.) before and after exercise. For development of an objective BOAS classifier, functional Grades 0 and I were considered to have insignificant clinical signs (termed here BOAS-) and Grades II and III to have significant signs (termed here BOAS+). A comparison between owner-perception of BOAS and functional grading revealed that 60 % of owners failed to recognise BOAS in dogs that graded BOAS+ in this study.WBBP flow traces were found to be significantly different between non-brachycephalic controls and Grade 0 French bulldogs; BOAS- and BOAS+ French bulldogs. A classifier was developed using quadratic discriminant analysis of the respiratory parameters to distinguish BOAS- and BOAS + French bulldogs, and a BOAS Index was calculated for each dog. A cut-off value of the BOAS Index was selected based on a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the classifier on the training group (n=69) were 0.97, 0.93, 0.95, and 0.97, respectively. The classifier was validated using a test group of French bulldogs (n=20) with an accuracy of 0.95. WBBP offers objective screening for the diagnosis of BOAS in French Bulldogs. The technique may be applied to other brachycephalic breeds affected by BOAS, and possibly to other respiratory disease in dogs.
Perfil profesional de los trabajadores de los centros de fitness en España

El objetivo del presente estudio fue el de profundizar en el conocimiento de las caracteristicas sociodemograficas de los profesionales del sector del fitness en Espana en funcion del puesto principal desempenado dentro de la organizacion. La muestra estuvo formada por 1.662 profesionales (edad media=32,14; DT=6,80; 50,7 % hombres; 49,3 % mujeres). Para la recogida de datos se utilizo un cuestionario disenado ad hoc . Los resultados mostraron que el genero, la edad, y el nivel de formacion, resultaban diferentes en funcion del puesto ocupado. Como conclusion principal, se puede afirmar que los profesionales del sector del fitness espanol, presentaban una dilatada experiencia en la profesion y un nivel de formacion adecuado a las necesidades de sus respectivos puestos. PALABRAS CLAVE: Gestion Deportiva, Profesionales, Fitness, Formacion, Cualificacion, Experiencia Profesional. ABSTRACT The goal of the present study was to delve into the knowledge of the socio demographic features of professionals in the Spanish fitness sector according to the main position performed within the organization. The sample included 1,662 professionals (average age=32.14; SD=6.80; 50.7 % males; 49.3 % females). To collect data an ad hoc -designed questionnaire was used. Results showed that gender, age and level of training turned out to be different depending on the position held. It may be concluded, for starters, that professionals in the Spanish fitness sector have ample experience in their profession and a training level adequate to the needs of their respective positions.
Mechanistic Modeling of Pitavastatin Disposition in Sandwich-Cultured Human Hepatocytes: A Proteomics-Informed Bottom-Up Approach

Isolated human hepatocytes are commonly used to predict transporter-mediated clearance in vivo. Such predictions, however, do not provide estimations of transporter contributions and consequently do not allow predictions of the outcome resulting from a change in the activity of a certain transporter, for example, by inhibition or a genetic variant with reduced function. Pitavastatin is a drug that is heavily dependent on hepatic transporters for its elimination, and it is excreted mainly as unchanged drug in the bile. For this reason, pitavastatin was used as a model drug to demonstrate the applicability of a bottom-up approach to predict transporter-mediated disposition in sandwich-cultured human hepatocytes (SCHHs), allowing for the estimation of transporter contributions. Transport experiments in transfected human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293 cell lines) and inverted membrane vesicles overexpressing each of the relevant transport proteins were used to generate parameter estimates for the mechanistic model. By adjusting for differences in transporter abundance between the in vitro systems and individual SCHH batches, the model successfully predicted time profiles of medium and intracellular accumulation. Our predictions of pitavastatin bile accumulation could not be confirmed, however, because of a very low biliary excretion of pitavastatin in relation to the hepatic uptake in our SCHHs. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to successfully simulate transporter-mediated processes in a complex system such as SCHHs at the level of individual transport proteins using a bottom-up approach.
Causal Relationship Between Career Indecision and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy

This study surved 166 students when they were in Grade 8 of high school and then again when they were in Grade 10, using measures of career indecision and career decision-making self-efficacy. Consistent with social-cognitive theories, the authors hypothesized that changes in self-efficacy over time would be causally associated with changes in career indecision over time. Using latent variable analyses, the authors estimated a two-wave, longitudinal, cross-lagged panel design and find that contrary to expectations, changes in career decision-making self-efficacy did not result in changes in career indecision, despite significant contemporaneous associations at both times. Theoretical and applied implications are highlighted.
From Multiple Decompositions to TRUMP : Traffic-Management Using Multipath Protocol

Traffic management is the adaptation of source rates and routing to efficiently utilize network resources.Traffic management today includes congestion control, routing and traffic engineering. In this paper, we perform a top-down redesign of traffic management using recent innovations in optimization theory. First, we propose a new objective function that captures the goals of both end users and network operators. Second, using various optimization decomposition techniq ues, we generate four distributed algorithms that divide traffic over multiple paths based on feedback from the network links. These distributed algorithms are provably stable and optimal. Third, combining the best features of these distributed algorithms, we construct TRUMP: a new traffic management protocol that is distributed, adaptive, robust, flexible and easy to manag e. Packet-level simulations show TRUMP behaves well with real istic topologies, feedback delays, capacities, and traffic loads . Overall, we show that using optimization decomposition as a foundati on, simulations as a building block, and engineering intuitionas a guide can be a principled approach to protocol design.
A 2.45-GHz Energy-Autonomous Wireless Power Relay Node

This paper describes the design and experimental characterization of a battery-less bidirectional 2.45-GHz circuit operating in oscillator mode as a wireless power transmitter or in rectifier mode as an energy harvester, with a measured efficiency greater than 50% in both operating states. The dc voltage harvested in rectifier mode provides the drain bias for the oscillator. The FET-gate self-bias mechanism is exploited in both functionalities, thus eliminating external gate bias. Bi-directionality is based on the time-reversal properties of a transistor oscillator. Energy autonomy is possible at received RF power levels as low as -4 dBm, by means of a bias-assisting feedback loop, consisting of a single matched low-power diode in shunt configuration. A hybrid prototype is demonstrated with the ability to operate as an energy-autonomous power relay node by switching between transmit and receive power modes.
#Irony or #Sarcasm — A Quantitative and Qualitative Study Based on Twitter

Current study is with the aim to identify similarities and distinctions between irony and sarcasm by adopting quantitative sentiment analysis as well as qualitative content analysis. The result of quantitative sentiment analysis shows that sarcastic tweets are used with more positive tweets than ironic tweets. The result of content analysis corresponds to the result of quantitative sentiment analysis in identifying the aggressiveness of sarcasm. On the other hand, from content analysis it shows that irony owns two senses. The first sense of irony is equal to aggressive sarcasm with speaker awareness. Thus, tweets of first sense of irony may attack a specific target, and the speaker may tag his/her tweet irony because the tweet itself is ironic. These tweets though tagged as irony are in fact sarcastic tweets. Different from this, the tweets of second sense of irony is tagged to classify an event to be ironic. However, from the distribution in sentiment analysis and examples in content analysis, irony seems to be more broadly used in its second sense.
A epidemiologia da esquizofrenia

O trabalho faz uma compilacao das revisoes epidemiologicas e dos estudos epidemiologicos atuais que objetivaram estimar a incidencia e prevalencia da esquizofrenia de estudos de prevalencia originam uma estimativa aproximada de 0,50% e que os estudos realizados nos ultimos anos sugerem uma prevalencia na ordem de 1,0% no periodo de um ano. A incidencia real de esquizofrenia deve estar entre um e sete casos novos para 10.000 habitantes por ano, dependendo do criterio diagnostico adotado. Nao ha diferenca de incidencia e prevalencia entre os sexos e o inicio da doenca tende a ser mais precoce no homem. O curso da doenca e mais brando para as mulheres
The role of the gut microbiota in energy metabolism and metabolic disease.

Obesity is now classically characterized by a cluster of several metabolic disorders, and by a low grade inflammation. The evidence that the gut microbiota composition can be different between healthy and or obese and type 2 diabetic patients has led to the study of this environmental factor as a key link between the pathophysiology of metabolic diseases and the gut microbiota. Several mechanisms are proposed linking events occurring in the colon and the regulation of energy metabolism, such as i.e. the energy harvest from the diet, the synthesis of gut peptides involved in energy homeostasis (GLP-1, PYY.), and the regulation of fat storage. Moreover, the development of obesity and metabolic disorders following a high-fat diet may be associated to the innate immune system. Indeed, high-fat diet feeding triggers the development of obesity, inflammation, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis by mechanisms dependent of the LPS and/or the fatty acids activation of the CD14/TLR4 receptor complex. Importantly, fat feeding is also associated with the development of metabolic endotoxemia in human subjects and participates in the low-grade inflammation, a mechanism associated with the development of atherogenic markers. Finally, data obtained in experimental models and human subjects are in favour of the fact that changing the gut microbiota (with prebiotics and/or probiotics) may participate in the control of the development of metabolic diseases associated with obesity. Thus, it would be useful to find specific strategies for modifying gut microbiota to impact on the occurrence of metabolic diseases.
Inside the Mind of a Medicinal Chemist: The Role of Human Bias in Compound Prioritization during Drug Discovery

Medicinal chemists’ “intuition” is critical for success in modern drug discovery. Early in the discovery process, chemists select a subset of compounds for further research, often from many viable candidates. These decisions determine the success of a discovery campaign, and ultimately what kind of drugs are developed and marketed to the public. Surprisingly little is known about the cognitive aspects of chemists’ decision-making when they prioritize compounds. We investigate 1) how and to what extent chemists simplify the problem of identifying promising compounds, 2) whether chemists agree with each other about the criteria used for such decisions, and 3) how accurately chemists report the criteria they use for these decisions. Chemists were surveyed and asked to select chemical fragments that they would be willing to develop into a lead compound from a set of ∼4,000 available fragments. Based on each chemist’s selections, computational classifiers were built to model each chemist’s selection strategy. Results suggest that chemists greatly simplified the problem, typically using only 1–2 of many possible parameters when making their selections. Although chemists tended to use the same parameters to select compounds, differing value preferences for these parameters led to an overall lack of consensus in compound selections. Moreover, what little agreement there was among the chemists was largely in what fragments were undesirable. Furthermore, chemists were often unaware of the parameters (such as compound size) which were statistically significant in their selections, and overestimated the number of parameters they employed. A critical evaluation of the problem space faced by medicinal chemists and cognitive models of categorization were especially useful in understanding the low consensus between chemists.
The effect of positive pressure airway support on mortality and the need for intubation in cardiogenic pulmonary edema: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE To critically appraise and summarize the trials examining the addition of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) to standard therapy on hospital mortality, need for endotracheal intubation, and predischarge left ventricular function in patients admitted to the hospital with cardiogenic pulmonary edema with gas exchange abnormalities. DATA SOURCES We searched MEDLINE (1983 to June 1997) and bibliographies of all selected articles and review articles. We also reviewed the abstracts from the proceedings of relevant meetings from 1985 to 1997. STUDY SELECTION (1) POPULATION: patients presenting to hospital with cardiogenic pulmonary edema; (2) intervention: one of the following three: (a) the use of CPAP and standard medical therapy vs standard medical therapy alone; (b) the use of NPPV and standard medical therapy vs standard medical therapy alone; and (c) the use of NPPV and standard therapy vs CPAP and standard therapy; (3) outcome: hospital survival, need for endotracheal intubation, or predischarge left ventricular dysfunction; and (4) study design: randomized controlled trial (RCT); if there were fewer than two RCTs, other study designs were included. DATA EXTRACTION Two authors independently extracted data and evaluated the methodologic quality of the studies. DATA SYNTHESIS CPAP was associated with a decrease in need for intubation (risk difference, -26%, 95% confidence intervals, -13 to -38%) and a trend to a decrease in hospital mortality (risk difference, -6.6%; +3 to -16%) compared with standard therapy alone. There was insufficient evidence to comment on the effectiveness of NPPV either compared with standard therapy or CPAP and standard therapy. Evidence was also lacking on the potential for either intervention to cause harm. CONCLUSIONS A modest amount of favorable experimental evidence exists to support the use of CPAP in patients with cardiogenic pulmonary edema. CPAP appears to decrease intubation rates and data suggest a trend toward a decrease in mortality, although the potential for harm has not been excluded. The role of NPPV in this setting requires further study before it can be widely recommended.
Beyond the Rational Player: Amortizing Type-Level Goal Hierarchies

To what degree should an agent reason with pre-computed, static goals? On the one hand, efficiency and scaling concerns suggest the need to avoid continually re-generating subgoals, while on the other hand, flexible behavior demands the ability to acquire, refine, and prioritize goals dynamically. This paper describes a compromise that enables a learning agent to build up a type-level goal hierarchy from learned knowledge, but amortizes the cost of its construction and application over time. We present this approach in the context of an agent that learns to play the strategy game Freeciv.