Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discrimination of Brazilian propolis according to the seasoning using chemometrics and machine learning based on UV-Vis scanning data

Propolis is a chemically complex biomass produced by honeybees (Apis mellifera) from plant resins added of salivary enzymes, beeswax, and pollen. The biological activities described for propolis were also identified for donor plant's resin, but a big challenge for the standardization of the chemical composition and biological effects of propolis remains on a better understanding of the influence of seasonality on the chemical constituents of that raw material. Since propolis quality depends, among other variables, on the local flora which is strongly influenced by (a)biotic factors over the seasons, to unravel the harvest season effect on the propolis' chemical profile is an issue of recognized importance. For that, fast, cheap, and robust analytical techniques seem to be the best choice for large scale quality control processes in the most demanding markets, e.g., human health applications. For that, UV-Visible (UV-Vis) scanning spectrophotometry of hydroalcoholic extracts (HE) of seventy-three propolis samples, collected over the seasons in 2014 (summer, spring, autumn, and winter) and 2015 (summer and autumn) in Southern Brazil was adopted. Further machine learning and chemometrics techniques were applied to the UV-Vis dataset aiming to gain insights as to the seasonality effect on the claimed chemical heterogeneity of propolis samples determined by changes in the flora of the geographic region under study. Descriptive and classification models were built following a chemometric approach, i.e. principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) supported by scripts written in the R language. The UV-Vis profiles associated with chemometric analysis allowed identifying a typical pattern in propolis samples collected in the summer. Importantly, the discrimination based on PCA could be improved by using the dataset of the fingerprint region of phenolic compounds (λ = 280-400ηm), suggesting that besides the biological activities of those secondary metabolites, they also play a relevant role for the discrimination and classification of that complex matrix through bioinformatics tools. Finally, a series of machine learning approaches, e.g., partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN), and Decision Trees showed to be complementary to PCA and HCA, allowing to obtain relevant information as to the sample discrimination.
Unusual clinical presentations of cortical‐basal ganglionic degeneration

Cortical‐basal ganglionic degeneration classically presents predominantly as a motor disorder with a unique constellation of histological alterations characterized by the presence of neuronal loss and gliosis in a selective distribution, swollen achromasic neurons, and extensive deposition of abnormal tau in neurons and glia. We now report 3 patients with this distinctive pathology who presented with cognitive changes and only mild or delayed motor symptoms. In 2 patients with severe dementia, pathological changes were extensive in the anterior frontal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus. In a third patient who had an isolated speech disturbance for 5 years before developing the more typical motor features of cortical‐basal ganglionic degeneration, the most severe changes were observed in the left motor cortex and adjacent Broca's area. It is therefore apparent that the histological changes of cortical‐basal ganglionic degeneration result in a variety of clinical presentations depending on the topography of the lesions. On this basis we conclude that cortical‐ basal ganglionic degeneration should be considered in the differential diagnosis of language disturbances and dementia, particularly when the latter is accompanied by frontal lobe symptomatology, early speech alterations, or parkinsonism.
Soluble Factors on Stage to Direct Mesenchymal Stem Cells Fate

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stromal cells that are identified by in vitro plastic adherence, colony-forming capacity, expression of a panel of surface molecules, and ability to differentiate at least toward osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic lineages. They also produce trophic factors with immunomodulatory, proangiogenic, and antiapoptotic functions influencing the behavior of neighboring cells. On the other hand, a reciprocal regulation takes place; in fact, MSCs can be isolated from several tissues, and depending on the original microenvironment and the range of stimuli received from there, they can display differences in their essential characteristics. Here, we focus mainly on the bone tissue and how soluble factors, such as growth factors, cytokines, and hormones, present in this microenvironment can orchestrate bone marrow-derived MSCs fate. We also briefly describe the alteration of MSCs behavior in pathological settings such as hematological cancer, bone metastasis, and bone marrow failure syndromes. Overall, the possibility to modulate MSCs plasticity makes them an attractive tool for diverse applications of tissue regeneration in cell therapy. Therefore, the comprehensive understanding of the microenvironment characteristics and components better suited to obtain a specific MSCs response can be extremely useful for clinical use.
The facilitative leader in city hall : reexamining the scope and contributions

Conceptualizing the Facilitative Model Reexamining Models of Mayoral Leadership, J.H. Svara Exploring Conceptual Issues Defining Facilitative Leadership: Lawrence, Kansas, J. Nalbandian and S. Negron Facilitation in its 'Natural' Setting: Middelfart, Denmark, R. Berg and U. Kjaer Mixing Models of Leadership in a Mayor-Council City: Yorkville, Illinois, C. Wood, G. Gabris, and B. Olson Facilitation in the Council-Manager Form Switching Roles from Administrator to Mayor:Winston-Salem, North Carolina, K.A. Klase Guiding Change in a First Ring Suburb: Plano, Texas, D.J. Watson and A.C. Schortgen Commitment to Engagement: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, V.M. Upshaw Building a Town and Its Institutions: Midway, Florida, Y. Zhang and K. Yang Expanding The Scope of Policy Leadership Through Networks: Grand Rapids, Michigan, E.S. Zeemering and R.J. Durham From Conflict to Cooperation: Auburn, Alabama, W.L. Hassett Partial Leadership and Alternating Styles: Stockholm, California, R. Benedetti and S. Lambuth Charting Progress of the Empowered Mayor: Cincinnati, Ohio, J.T. Spence Beating the Odds or Changing the Odds in a Large City: Phoenix, Arizona, J. Denhardt and M. Vanacour Facilitation in the Mayor-Council Form Building Trust and Developing a Vision: Akron, Ohio, R.W. Cox III The Power to Persuade: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, C.M. Wheeland Conclusion Advancing Facilitative Leadership in Practice, J.H. Svara
Pregnancy Loss: Disenfranchised Grief and Other Psychological Reactions

It is widely acknowledged in the literature that grief is most intense when it is experienced by parents whose children have died. However, as recently as 20 years ago, mothers whose children died at birth or before the pregnancy had reached full term were often dismissed as merely medical patients, and their psychological reactions were not considered or acknowledged by professionals, their friends, or their families. More recently fields such as psychology have recognized that women who have experienced pregnancy loss have complex psychological reactions to their loss. The present study examined the patterns of grief of women who have had a pregnancy end in spontaneous abortion or stillbirth and the ways in which these women gave meaning to their experiences. Participants were asked to complete several measures including the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS), the Hogan Grief reaction Checklist (HGRC), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSS), and the Inventory of Social Support (ISS). The participants also wrote a narrative account of their loss experience. These narratives were content analyzed to delineate common themes. The findings indicated several important factors which may be useful in understanding and assisting in post-loss adjustment.
A Unifying Framework for the Identification of Motor Primitives

A long-standing hypothesis in neuroscience is that the central nervous system accomplishes complex motor behaviors through the combination of a small number of motor primitives. Many studies in the last couples of decades have identified motor primitives at the kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic level, thus supporting modularity at different levels of organization in the motor system. However, these studies relied on heterogeneous definitions of motor primitives and on different algorithms for their identification. Standard unsupervised learning algorithms such as principal component analysis, independent component analysis, and non-negative matrix factorization, or more advanced techniques involving the estimation of temporal delays of the relevant mixture components have been applied. This plurality of algorithms has made difficult to compare and interpret results obtained across different studies. Moreover, how the different definitions of motor primitives relate to each other has never been examined systematically. Here we propose a comprehensive framework for the definition of different types of motor primitives and a single algorithm for their identification. By embedding smoothness priors and specific constraints in the underlying generative model, the algorithm can identify many different types of motor primitives. We assessed the identification performance of the algorithm both on simulated data sets, for which the properties of the primitives and of the corresponding combination parameters were known, and on experimental electromyographic and kinematic data sets, collected from human subjects accomplishing goal-oriented and rhythmic motor tasks. The identification accuracy of the new algorithm was typically equal or better than the accuracy of other unsupervised learning algorithms used previously for the identification of the same types of primitives.
Sex Differences in the Relationship of Dietary Fatty Acids to Cognitive Measures in American Children

Because the first neurons evolved in an environment high in the n−3 (omega-3) fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), this fatty acid became a major component of neural structure and function and makes up 10% of the dry weight of the human brain. Since n−3 fatty acids must come from the diet, this suggests a possible positive role for dietary n−3 fatty acids in cognition and a possible negative role for n−6 fatty acids, which compete with n−3 for access to critical enzymes. Because human females must provide DHA for the growth of the unusually large brains of their offspring from maternal fat stored during childhood, their need for DHA is especially great. We used stepwise regression to determine whether particular dietary fatty acids and other nutrients were related to cognitive performance in over 4000 American children aged 6–16 from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; a variety of possible biological, social, and environmental risk factors were statistically controlled. In this context the only dietary factors related to cognitive performance were n−3 and n−6 fatty acids. Dietary n−3 fatty acids were positively related to cognitive test scores in male and female children, while n−6 showed the reverse relationship, significantly so in females. In female children the positive effects of n−3 intake were twice as strong as in males and exceeded the negative effects of lead exposure. This suggests that increasing dietary intake of n−3 and decreasing n−6 fatty acids may have cognitive benefits in children, especially in females.
Slope analysis of the optic disc in eyes with ocular hypertension and early normal tension glaucoma by confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope

AIMS To determine whether quantitative differences in sector based slope can differentiate between eyes with ocular hypertension with and without glaucomatous disc changes and eyes with normal tension glaucoma with glaucomatous disc changes. METHODS Seventy six eyes with ocular hypertension or early glaucomatous disc changes were consecutively categorised into three groups: 22 eyes with ocular hypertension and no glaucomatous disc changes (OHND); 35 with ocular hypertension and glaucomatous disc changes (OHD); and 19 with normal ocular tension and glaucomatous disc changes (NTD). Twenty eyes served as controls. The average total slope angle and sector based slope angle of the cup, total contour area, effective area, neuroretinal rim area, half depth area, cup to disc ratio, contour variation, mean contour depth, average depth, volume below, half depth volume, and contour tilt were evaluated with a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope. RESULTS The earliest changes in eyes with OHND or OHD started in the slope at the nasal inferior sector (p<0.05), followed by the superior and temporal superior sectors (p<0.05). The mean slopes in eyes with NTD and OHD were steeper than in controls (p<0.05). Statistically significant differences were found between controls and disease groups in the half depth area, mean contour depth, and half depth volume. The cup to disc ratios in eyes with OHD and NTD were greater than in eyes with OHND; the volume below was greater in eyes with NTD than in eyes with OHND and OHD. CONCLUSIONS The steep slope in the nasal inferior section is the first indicator of glaucomatous nerve defects in many eyes. The half depth parameters, half depth area, and half depth volume may be useful for distinguishing ocular hypertension with and without glaucomatous disc changes.
Female objectification, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviour in a non-clinical sample

Attractiveness, and associated thinness, continues to be the determinant of social acceptance and desirability for most women in Westernised societies. The way in which females are objectified through social attitudes and gender ideals, highlights the importance of attractiveness in through which women gain social status, acceptance and power. Failure to achieve this ideal has been linked to increased body surveillance, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating behaviour(s). While many women express body dissatisfaction and negative self-talk, fewer women actually engage in disordered eating practices. This study aimed to explore women‟s views about their bodies and to identify predictors of body objectification, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating behaviour in a non-clinical population. It was hypothesised that women, who have strongly based their identity according to societal values and gender role expectations, would be more likely to experience higher levels of body dissatisfaction and be at greater risk of manifesting disordered eating behaviour(s). Two-hundred-and-nine women, aged between 18-65 years were recruited via convenience sampling and completed the following battery of questionnaires: Socio-cultural Attitude Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ), Body Image Ideals Questionnaire (BIQ), Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBC), Silencing the Self Scale (STSS), Sense of Belonging Instrument-Psychological (SOBI-P), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), and Conformity to Feminine Norms Inventory (CFNI). Predictors of body objectification, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating were determined using multiple linear regression and analyses of variance were used to make comparisons between groups based on developmental age, disturbed eating, disordered eating, and body mass index. Consistent with previous research findings, the current study found that body dissatisfaction, objectified body consciousness, and disturbed eating behaviour were prevalent within women aged 18-65 years.
Infant food from quality protein maize and chickpea: Optimization for preparing and nutritional properties

The present study had two objectives: to determine the best combination of nixtamalized maize flour (NMF) from quality protein maize and extruded chickpea flour (ECF) for producing an infant food, and to evaluate the nutritional properties of the optimized NMF/ECF mixture and the infant food. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to determine the best combination of NMF/ECF; the experimental design (Lattice simplex) generated 11 assays. Mixtures from each assay were evaluated for true protein and available lysine. Each one of 11 mixtures was used for preparing 11 infant foods that were sensory evaluated for acceptability. A common optimum value for the three response variables was obtained utilizing the desirability method. The best combination of NMF/ECF for producing an infant food was NMF = 26.7%/ECF = 73.3%; this optimized mixture had a global desirability of 0.87; it contained 19.72% dry matter (DM) proteins, 6.10% (DM) lipids, 71.45% (DM) carbohydrates, and 2.83% (DM) minerals; its essential amino acids profile covered the amino acids requirements for children 10–12 years old. The infant food prepared from optimized mixture had an in vitro protein digestibility of 87.9%, and a calculated protein efficiency ratio of 1.86. Infant food could be used to support the growth of infants in developing countries.
Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education in Tanzania

The inclusion of children with special needs in regular classrooms is becoming more prevalent and as a result researchers have started to examine its success as well as the attitudes of teachers. The attitudes of teachers have impact on the implementations of successful inclusive education. In the present study, pre-service teachers attitiudes towards inclusive education were investigated. Six hundred forty one full time preservice teachers from two TeacherTraining Colleges participated in this study. Their attitudes were measured by attitude scale in a 4 Likert point.The study found that some preservice teachers had positive attitudes and others have negative attitudes towards inclusive education. The majority of participants (80.2%) had negative attitudes towards inclusive education while 19.2 percent had positive attitudes. T-tests revealed that males were more positive than females (p.04 levels) towards inclusive education. Furthermore, the participants who reported to have contacts to people with disability were more positive to inclusive education than those who had no contact. The results of this study are important because the understanding of pre-service educators’ attitudes is vital for the successful implementation of inclusive education. Keywords : Inclusive education, attitudes, special needs and pre-service teachers
Monitoring of pulmonary function in Pompe disease: a muscle disease with new therapeutic perspectives

Monitoring of pulmonary function and timely initiation of noninvasive ventilation should be a focus in supportive care for patients with muscular disorders. In the current issue of the European Respiratory Journal , Pellegrini et al. 1 focus on this aspect in patients with late-onset Pompe disease (glycogenosis type II, acid maltase deficiency) 1. In Pompe disease, correct monitoring of pulmonary function and initiation of supportive care is even more relevant since new therapeutic developments are underway. The first reports on the effects of enzyme therapy for this disease are promising 2–4. Pompe disease is an autosomal, recessive, metabolic myopathy caused by deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme α-glucosidase, which is involved in the degradation of glycogen. The disease has an estimated frequency of one in 40,000 and may present at any age 5, 6. Disease severity relates to the level of enzyme activity. Infants with a virtual absence of α-glucosidase show symptoms shortly after birth. They do not reach major motor milestones, such as sitting and standing, due to progressive muscle weakness. A hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is characteristically present and classic infantile patients generally die before 1 yr of age due to cardiorespiratory failure. Pompe disease may also occur in older children and adults. In this late-onset or nonclassic form of the disease, progression is much slower and patients finally become wheelchair bound and ventilator dependent. …
Constrained frequent pattern mining: a pattern-growth view

It has been well recognized that frequent pattern mining plays an essential role in many important data mining tasks. However, frequent pattern mining often generates a very large number of patterns and rules, which reduces not only the efficiency but also the effectiveness of mining. Recent work has highlighted the importance of the constraint-based mining paradigm in the context of mining frequent itemsets, associations, correlations, sequential patterns, and many other interesting patterns in large databases.Recently, we developed efficient pattern-growth methods for frequent pattern mining. Interestingly, pattern-growth methods are not only efficient but also effective in mining with various constraints. Many tough constraints which cannot be handled by previous methods can be pushed deep into the pattern-growth mining process. In this paper, we overview the principles of pattern-growth methods for constrained frequent pattern mining and sequential pattern mining. Moreover, we explore the power of pattern-growth methods towards mining with tough constraints and highlight some interesting open problems.
Constitutive CD40 signaling in B cells selectively activates the noncanonical NF-κB pathway and promotes lymphomagenesis

CD40, a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor family, plays an essential role in T cell–dependent immune responses. Because CD40 is widely expressed on the surface of tumor cells in various B cell malignancies, deregulated CD40 signaling has been suggested to contribute to lymphomagenesis. In this study, we show that B cell-specific expression of a constitutively active CD40 receptor, in the form of a latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1)/CD40 chimeric protein, promoted an increase in the number of follicular and marginal zone B cells in secondary lymphoid organs in transgenic mice. The B cells displayed an activated phenotype, prolonged survival and increased proliferation, but were significantly impaired in T cell-dependent immune responses. Constitutive CD40 signaling in B cells induced selective and constitutive activation of the noncanonical NF-κB pathway and the mitogen-activated protein kinases Jnk and extracellular signal–regulated kinase. LMP1/CD40-expressing mice older than 12 mo developed B cell lymphomas of mono- or oligoclonal origin at high incidence, thus showing that the interplay of the signaling pathways induced by constitutive CD40 signaling is sufficient to initiate a tumorigenic process, ultimately leading to the development of B cell lymphomas.
The influence of leisure resourcefulness and recreation specialization on life satisfaction among a sample of senior adults.

The quest for quality of life and individual happiness is, in part, associated with the individual's ability to identify his/her own needs at a point in time along the life cycle continuum and having the ability to translate those needs into activity spheres or recreation activities. This research is an examination of recreational career participants among a sample of senior adults. Each respondent's scores for leisure resourcefulness and recreation specialization were used as predictor variables to examine their relationship with the respondent's average score on a life satisfaction continuum. Results of the analyses indicate that leisure attitude and leisure companions are significant predictors of life satisfaction among the sample respondents. Moreover, higher recreation specialization, one's commitment, and one's involvement in a career or specialized recreation activity are significant predictors of life satisfaction.