Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
University of Huddersfield Repository Mutations in multidomain protein MEGF8 identify a Carpenter syndrome subtype associated with defective lateralization identify

Carpenter syndrome is an autosomal-recessive multiple-congenital-malformation disorder characterized by multisuture craniosynostosis and polysyndactyly of the hands and feet; many otherclinical features occur, and the most frequent include obesity, umbilical hernia, cryptorchidism, and congenital heart disease. Mutations of RAB23 , encoding a small GTPase that regulates vesicular transport, are present in the majority of cases. Here, we describe a disorder caused by mutations in multiple epidermal-growth-factor-like-domains 8 ( MEGF8 ), which exhibits substantial clinical overlap with Carpenter syndrome but is frequently associated with abnormal left-right patterning. We describe ﬁve affected individuals with similar dysmorphic facies, and three of them had either complete situs inversus, dextrocardia, or transposition of the great arteries; similar cardiac abnormalities were previously identiﬁed in a mouse mutant for the orthologous Megf8 . The mutant alleles comprise one nonsense, three missense, and two splice-site mutations; we demonstrate in zebraﬁsh that, in contrast to the wild-type protein, the proteins containing all three missense alterations provide only weak rescue of an early gastrulation phenotype induced by Megf8 knockdown. We conclude that mutations in MEGF8 cause a Carpenter syndrome subtype frequently associated with defective left-right patterning, probably through perturbation of signaling by hedgehog and nodal family members. We did not observe any subject with biallelic loss-of function mutations, suggesting that some residual MEGF8 function might be necessary for survival and might inﬂuence the phenotypes observed.
Physical fitness of children with motor learning difficulties

Children with motor learning difficulties (MLD) tend to be less physically active than their coordinated peers and one likely consequence is a reduced level of physical fitness. In this study, 52 children with MLD aged 5 to 8 years, were compared to 52 ageand gendermatched control children across a range of health and skill related fitness components. Analyses of variance revealed significantly lower scores in the group with MLD on the tests for cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, abdominal strength, speed, and power than the control group. Furthermore, the group with MLD had a significantly higher Body Mass Index (BMI). These findings have implications for educators and allied health professionals working with this age group. Programs need to teach children with movement difficulties to perform tasks used in fitness assessment and also work on the development of physical fitness.
A Social Network View of Post-Merger Integration

This chapter offers a conceptual and theoretic introduction to a contemporary view of the post-merger integration (PMI) challenge: it places the organizational-members’ internal social network at the focal point. An original viewpoint is presented in this chapter – the thinking is novel to integration literature and thought, and to social networks – that advances both research and practice of PMI. Since the network-view may be a new topic to many PMI researchers, the central discussion is preceded by a brief introduction to the concepts and techniques of social network analysis. The author offers that the organizational members’ pre-existing social network can become disrupted by integration processes, which creates pressures on the individuals’ previously stable social network. The individual members will therefore strive for a re-stabilization of their localized social network towards a specific pattern that is somewhat unique to each individual. During this social realignment there is an opportunity for integration managers to embrace this “social reconciliation. ” By recognizing the individuals’ imminent stabilization point of this natural process, integration managers can proactively guide the social network toward an optimal, or productive, resting space that provides organizational benefit. This chapter puts forward the particulars of this phenomenon and offers exploratory suggestions for how a practitioner might influence the re-establishment of the organizational social network in a manner consistent with individuals’ preferences and simultaneously beneficial to the organization overall. Recommendations for follow-up research are provided.
Assessment of Prenatal Exposure to Arsenic in Tenerife Island

Introduction Increasing awareness of the potential chronic health effects of arsenic (As) at low exposure levels has motivated efforts to better understand impaired child development during pregnancy by biomarkers of exposure. The aims of this study were to evaluate the prenatal exposure to As by analysis of an alternative matrix (meconium), to examine its effects on neonatal outcomes and investigate the association with maternal lifestyle and dietary habits during pregnancy. Methods A transversal descriptive study was conducted in Tenerife (Spain). A total of 96 mother-child pairs participated in the study. A questionnaire on sociodemographic, lifestyle and dietary habits during pregnancy was administered the day after the delivery. Analysis of total As in meconium was performed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer. Results Total As was detected in 37 (38.5%) meconium samples. The univariate logistic regression model indicates that prenatal exposure to As was associated with a low intake of eggs per week (OR 0.56; CI (95%): 0.34–0.94) during pregnancy. Conversely, frequent intake of vegetables was associated with prenatal As exposure (OR: 1.19; CI (95%): 1.01–1.41) and frequent intake of processed meat (as bacon, Frankfurt’s sausage, and hamburger) shows a trend to As prenatal exposure (OR: 8.54; CI (95%): 0.80–90.89). The adjusted multivariate logistic regression model indicates that only frequent intake of vegetables maintains the association (OR: 1.31; CI (95%): 1.02–1.68). Conclusion The studied population presented a low As exposure and was not associated with neonatal effects. Maternal consumption of vegetables during pregnancy was associated with detectable meconium As levels; however the concentration detected in meconium was too low to be considered a major public health concern in this geographical area.
Variation in trophic shift for stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur

Use of stable isotope ratios to trace pathways of organic matter among consumers requires knowledge of the isotopic shift between diet and consumer. Variation in trophic shift among consumers can be substantial. For data from the published literature and supplementary original data (excluding fluid-feeding consumers), the mean isotopic shift for C was + 0.5 + 0.13%o rather than 0.0%o, as commonly assumed. The shift for C was higher for consumers analyzed as muscle (+ 1.3 + 0.30%o) than for consumers analyzed whole (+ 0.3 +0.14%o). Among consumers analyzed whole, the trophic shift for C was lower for consumers acidified prior to analysis (-0.2 + 0.21%o) than for unacidified samples ( +0.5 + 0.17%o). For N, trophic shift was lower for consumers raised on invertebrate diets (+ 1.4 + 0.21%o) than for consumers raised on other high-protein diets (+3.3 +0.26%o) and was intermediate for consumers raised on plant and algal diets (+2.2 +0.30%o). The trophic shift for S differed between high-protein (+ 2.0 + 0.65%o) and low-protein diets (-0.5 + 0.56%o). Thus, methods of analysis and dietary differences can affect trophic shift for consumers; the utility of stable isotope methods can be improved if this information is incorporated into studies of trophic relationships. Although few studies of stable isotope ratios have considered variation in the trophic shift, such variation is important because small errors in estimates of trophic shift can result in large errors in estimates of the contribution of sources to consumers or in estimates of trophic position.
Fragmentation of the Habitat of Wild Ungulates by Anthropogenic Barriers in Mongolia

Habitat loss and habitat fragmentation caused by anthropogenic activities are the main factors that constrain long-distance movement of ungulates. Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa) and Asiatic wild asses (Equus hemionus) in Mongolia are facing habitat fragmentation and loss. To better understand how their movements respond to potential anthropogenic and natural barriers, we tracked 24 Mongolian gazelles and 12 wild asses near the Ulaanbaatar–Beijing Railroad and the fenced international border between Mongolia and China between 2002 and 2012. None of the tracked gazelles crossed the railroad, even though gazelles were captured on both sides of the tracks at the start of the study. Similarly, we did not observe cross-border movements between Mongolia and China for either species, even though some animals used areas adjacent to the border. The both species used close areas to the anthropogenic barriers more frequently during winter than summer. These results suggest strong impacts by the artificial barriers. The construction of new railroads and roads to permit mining and other resource development therefore creates the threat of further habitat fragmentation, because the planned routes will divide the remaining non-fragmented habitats of the ungulates into smaller pieces. To conserve long-distance movement of the ungulates in this area, it will be necessary to remove or mitigate the barrier effects of the existing and planned roads and railroads and to adopt a landscape-level approach to allow access by ungulates to wide ranges throughout their distribution.
Little groups of irreps of O(3), SO(3), and the infinite axial subgroups

A new chain criterion, for the determination of little groups, is presented. This result distinguishes massive (rotationally inequivalent) irrep basis functions and allows for multiple branching paths; consequently, it is suitable for application to Lie groups. Applied to the groups O(3), SO(3), D∞h, D∞, C∞v, C∞h, and C∞, the result enables the enumeration of all possible little groups, together with their associated basis functions. These results are relevant to the determination of the symmetry of a material from its linear and nonlinear optical properties and to the choices of order parameters for symmetry breaking in liquid crystals.
Using average case intractability in cryptography

One of the most critical questions in Cryptography is referred to the misunderstanding equivalence between using a difficult problem as basis of a cryptographic application and its security verification. Under this erroneous perspective, it is common using problems belonging to NP (according to the worst-case analysis) in the design stage. Afterwards the verification analysis is completely based on the complexity assumptions. However it should be bared in mind that when random generated instances are used, then many times there are fast and efficient algorithms to solve them. This work includes the description of a new multiparty protocol devoted to the sharing of secrets whose main application is related to key management. The main particularity of this scheme is that it is based on a problem classified as DistNP-Complete under the average-case analysis, the so called Distributional Matrix Representability Problem. Key-Words: Cryptographic protocols, secret sharing schemes, average-case complexity, DistNP-complete
Direct Evidence of Brown Adipocytes in Different Fat Depots in Children

Recent studies suggested the persistence of brown adipocytes in adult humans, as opposed to being exclusively present in infancy. In this study, we investigated the presence of brown-like adipocytes in adipose tissue (AT) samples of children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years and evaluated the association with age, location, and obesity. For this, we analysed AT samples from 131 children and 23 adults by histological, immunohistochemical and expression analyses. We detected brown-like and UCP1 positive adipocytes in 10.3% of 87 lean children (aged 0.3 to 10.7 years) and in one overweight infant, whereas we did not find brown adipocytes in obese children or adults. In our samples, the brown-like adipocytes were interspersed within white AT of perirenal, visceral and also subcutaneous depots. Samples with brown-like adipocytes showed an increased expression of UCP1 (>200fold), PRDM16 (2.8fold), PGC1α and CIDEA while other brown/beige selective markers, such as PAT2, P2RX5, ZIC1, LHX8, TMEM26, HOXC9 and TBX1 were not significantly different between UCP1 positive and negative samples. We identified a positive correlation between UCP1 and PRDM16 within UCP1 positive samples, but not with any other brown/beige marker. In addition, we observed significantly increased PRDM16 and PAT2 expression in subcutaneous and visceral AT samples with high UCP1 expression in adults. Our data indicate that brown-like adipocytes are present well beyond infancy in subcutaneous depots of non-obese children. The presence was not restricted to typical perirenal locations, but they were also interspersed within WAT of visceral and subcutaneous depots.
EEG Changes Due to Experimentally Induced 3G Mobile Phone Radiation

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a 15-minute placement of a 3G dialing mobile phone causes direct changes in EEG activity compared to the placement of a sham phone. Furthermore, it was investigated whether placement of the mobile phone on the ear or the heart would result in different outcomes. Thirty-one healthy females participated. All subjects were measured twice: on one of the two days the mobile phone was attached to the ear, the other day to the chest. In this single-blind, cross-over design, assessments in the sham phone condition were conducted directly preceding and following the mobile phone exposure. During each assessment, EEG activity and radiofrequency radiation were recorded jointly. Delta, theta, alpha, slowbeta, fastbeta, and gamma activity was computed. The association between radiation exposure and the EEG was tested using multilevel random regression analyses with radiation as predictor of main interest. Significant radiation effects were found for the alpha, slowbeta, fastbeta, and gamma bands. When analyzed separately, ear location of the phone was associated with significant results, while chest placement was not. The results support the notion that EEG alterations are associated with mobile phone usage and that the effect is dependent on site of placement. Further studies are required to demonstrate the physiological relevance of these findings.
The potential manifestation of place as a brand component of regional meat :the cases of Cumbrian salt marsh lamb and Herdwick lamb

Purpose – the purpose of this research is to explore respondents’ knowledge of regional foods including the pre-product stage i.e. in the landscape. Herdwick lamb and Cumbrian salt marsh lamb are both highly visible in the landscape and form part of the ‘lifescape’ of local residents. Design/method/approach – taking a phenomenological stance the research examines the experiential claims of respondents; means-end chain analysis was selected to gather customer values relating to this broader product concept. Ladder maps were drawn up for each of two sets of twenty respondents residing in the production region of either lamb. Hierarchical value maps are produced to reveal salient connections. Findings – show that respondents hold a very wide range of perceptions, experiences and associations with the ‘pre-products’, which influences their judgement about the freshness, flavour, quality of the meat. The ability to fulfil other functions by buying regional meat became apparent, in particular the need to make a contribution to the local economy, to support the ecology, and to know the place through community interaction. Respondents were found to interact with the landscape on two levels, perception and inner reflection. Practical implications – effective regional food brands may be characterised by branding actions which do not have the food product details at their core. The development of relationships, events and brand communities in a shared place may sustain producers who have their volume output limited by what the land will bear. Originality and value – the limitations of some marketing structures are considered for adaptation including: Boatwright et al.’s (2009) value opportunity analysis and Keller’s (2008) consumer based brand equity model. An opportunity for creation of a new category of attribute, relating to experience of ‘pre-products’ in the landscape is discussed.
Noncommutative localisation in algebraic K-theory I

This article establishes, for an appropriate localisation of associative rings, a long exact sequence in algebraic K-theory. The main result goes as follows. Let A be an associative ring and let A → B be the localisation with respect to a set σ of maps between finitely generated projective A-modules. Suppose that Tor A n (B,B) vanishes for all n > 0. View each map in a as a complex (of length 1, meaning one non-zero map between two non-zero objects) in the category of perfect complexes D p e r f (A). Denote by the thick subcategory generated by these complexes. Then the canonical functor D p e r f (A) → D p e r f (B) induces (up to direct factors) an equivalence D p e r f (A)/ → D p e r f (B). As a consequence, one obtains a homotopy fibre sequence K(A,σ) → K(A) → K(B) (up to surjectivity of K 0 (A) → K 0 (B)) of Waldhausen K-theory spectra. In subsequent articles [26, 27] we will present the K- and L-theoretic consequences of the main theorem in a form more suitable for the applications to surgery. For example if, in addition to the vanishing of Tor A n (B,B), we also assume that every map in σ is a monomorphism, then there is a description of the homotopy fiber of the map K(A) → K(B) as the Quillen K-theory of a suitable exact category of torsion modules.
Attentive Insider Trading

We provide evidence that some profitable insider stock selling is motivated by public information. At firms that disclose having concentrated sales relationships, insiders appear to sell their own stock profitably based on public information about their principal customers. Supplier insiders also sell more stock when public information about their customers׳ recent returns and earnings surprises suggests they will earn larger profits. These results are stronger when outside investor attention could be lower. Outside of this setting, insiders engage in a higher proportion of routine sales and their sales are less profitable. We do not find similar patterns for insider purchases.
Life Histories, Blood Revenge, and Warfare in a Tribal Population

Blood revenge is one of the most commonly cited causes of violence and warfare in tribal societies, yet it is largely ignored in recent anthropological theories of primitive warfare. A theory of tribal violence is presented showing how homicide, revenge, kinship obligations, and warfare are linked and why reproductive variables must be included in explanations of tribal violence and warfare. Studies of the Yanomam� Indians of Amazonas during the past 23 years show that 44 percent of males estimated to be 25 or older have participated in the killing of someone, that approximately 30 percent of adult male dealths are due to violence, and that nearly 70 percent of all adults over an estimated 40 years of age have lost a close genetic relative due to violence. Demographic data indicate that men who have killed have more wives and offspring than men who have not killed.
Regulatory B Cells: An Exciting Target for Future Therapeutics in Transplantation

Transplantation is the preferred treatment for most end-stage solid organ diseases. Despite potent immunosuppressive agents, chronic rejection remains a real problem in transplantation. For many years, the predominant immunological focus of research into transplant rejection has been T cells. The pillar of immunotherapy in clinical practice is T cell-directed, which efficiently prevents acute T cell-mediated allograft rejection. However, the root of late allograft failure is chronic rejection and the humoral arm of the immune response now emerges as an important factor in transplantation. Thus, the potential effects of Abs and B cell infiltrate on transplants have cast B cells as major actors in late graft rejection. Consequently, a number of recent drugs target either B cells or plasma cells. However, immunotherapies, such as the anti-CD20 B cell-depleting antibody, can generate deleterious effects on the transplant, likely due to the deletion of beneficial population. The positive contribution of regulatory B (Breg) cells or B10 cells has been reported in the case of transplantation, mainly in mice models and highlights the primordial role that some populations of B cells can play in graft tolerance. Yet, this regulatory aspect remains poorly characterized in clinical transplantation. Thus, total B cell depletion treatments should be avoided and novel approaches should be considered that manipulate the different B cell subsets. This article provides an overview of the current knowledge on the link between Breg cells and grafts, and reports a number of data advising Breg cells as a new target for future therapeutic approaches.
Input method using divergence eye movement

A gaze input interface offers hands-free operation by using the view-point position as the cursor coordinates on the display. However, the selection operation of a button is indistinguishable from viewing; this is known as the Midas touch problem. We propose a new input method that measures divergence eye movement, thereby enabling users to "press" a button by moving their viewpoint forward. Comparison of our method and the conventional blinking input method confirms that input speed and accuracy are similar.
Game elements improve performance in a working memory training task

The utilization of game elements in a non-game context is currently used in a vast range of different domains. However, research on game elements’ effects in cognitive tasks is still sparse. Thus, in this study we implemented three game elements, namely, progress bar, level indicator, and a thematic setting, in a working memory training task. We evaluated the impact of game elements on user performance and perceived state of flow when compared to a conventional version of the task. Participants interacting with game elements showed higher scores in the working memory training task than participants from a control group who completed the working memory training task without the game elements. Moreover, game elements facilitated the individuals’ performance closer to their maximum working memory capacity. Finally, the perceived flow did not differ between the two groups, which indicates that game elements can induce better performance without changing the perception of being “in the zone”, that is without an increase in anxiety or boredom. This empirical study indicates that certain game elements can improve the performance and efficiency in a working memory task by increasing users’ ability and willingness to train at their optimal performance level.