Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire for Inuit population in Nunavut, Canada.

BACKGROUND Validation of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ) developed specifically for Inuit is necessary to determine its usefulness in assessing dietary intake and adequacy and in identifying dietary risk factors for chronic disease in this population. METHODS Seventy-five randomly selected Inuit adults in Nunavut, Canada, were recruited. Mean daily intake of nutrients from one to three 24-h recalls was used as the reference to measure QFFQ validity. Crude and energy-adjusted Spearman rank correlations (ρ), cross classification and weighted kappa were computed as measures of concordance. Bland-Altman plotting was used for additional assessment. RESULTS Excluding four participants with daily energy intake of >25.1 MJ, 71 participants were included in the analysis. For all nutrients, mean daily intake from the QFFQ was higher than the recall. ρ's for macronutrients were in the range 0.71 for carbohydrate to 0.25 for protein. The best ρ amongst micronutrients was observed for vitamin C (0.66). Overall correlation between the two dietary tools improved after correction for within-person variance (from 0.46 to 0.49), although adjusting for energy did not improve the overall coefficient. When nutrient intakes were categorised into quartiles, the QFFQ and 24-h recalls indicated relative agreement proportion (same or adjacent quartiles) of 83% for energy, 94% for total sugar, 83% for macronutrients and 77% for micronutrients. Bland-Altman plots showed a tendency for increased scatter of the differences in nutrients at higher intakes. CONCLUSIONS The QFFQ developed is valid and can be used to assess usual dietary intake and dietary adequacy, determine the contribution of foods to specific nutrient intakes, and identify dietary risk factors for chronic disease amongst this population.
Using a competent tissue for efficient transformation of sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.)

SummaryDespite intensive efforts, a reproducible and reliable method for transformation of sugarbeet plants is still lacking. Having examined several explants, we found that cells around the main vein of leaves of plantlets reared from tissue-cultured apical meristems are sufficiently competent for transformation and subsequent regeneration. A transformation protocol was designed by evaluating alterations in several parameters such as plant genotype, Agrobacterium strain, antibiotics, darkness and duration of co-culture period. An average transformation rate of 6.2% transformed shoots per explant was achieved as judged by Southern blotting. Consistent inactivation of reporter genes was correlated to multiple copies of transgenes present in some transformants. The necessary steps for rooting and planting of transformed shoots were also established.
The Use of Legal Scholarship by the Federal Courts of Appeals: An Empirical Study

Chief Justice Roberts recently explained that he does not pay much attention to law review articles, reportedly stating that they are not “particularly helpful for practitioners and judges. ” Chief Justice Roberts’s criticism echoes that made by other judges, some of whom, like Judge Harry Edwards, have been much more strident in the contention that legal scholarship is largely unhelpful to practitioners and judges. Perhaps inspired by criticisms like those leveled by Chief Justice Roberts and Judge Edwards, legal scholars have sought to investigate the relevance of legal scholarship to courts and practitioners using a variety of means. One avenue of investigation has been empirical, where several studies, using different, and sometimes ambiguous, methodologies have observed a decrease in citation to legal scholarship and interpreted the observation to mean that legal scholarship has lost relevance to courts and practitioners. The study reported here examines the hypothesis that legal scholarship has lost relevance to courts. Using empirical techniques and an original dataset that is substantially more comprehensive than those used in previous studies, it examines citation to legal scholarship by the United States circuit courts of appeals over the last 59 years. It finds a rather surprising result. Contrary to the claims of Justice Roberts and Judge Edwards, and contrary to the results of prior studies, this study finds that over the last 59 years there has been a marked increase in the frequency of citation to legal scholarship in the reported opinions of the circuit courts of appeals. Using empirical and theoretical methods, this study also considers explanations for courts’ increased use of legal scholarship.
Midwifery and Nursing Students’ Communication Skills and Life Orientation: Correlation with Stress Coping Approaches

Background: Methods learnt by nursing and midwifery students’ such as communication skills, optimisim and coping with stress would be used in their profeesional life. It is very important to promote their positive thinking and communication skills to raise coping with stress. Objectives: This cross sectional study was performed to examine the nursing and midwifery students’ communication skills and optimistic life orientation and its correlation with coping strategies with stress. Materials and Methods: The study population included 2572 students who were studying in departments of nursing and midwifery in Istanbul. The sample was included 1419 students. Three questionnaires including Communication Skills Test, Life Orientation Test and Ways of Coping Inventory were used for data collection. The data were evaluated by calculating frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: Students’ total mean score from the Communication Skills Scale was 165.27 ± 15.39 and for the Life Orientation Test was 18.51 ± 4.54. There was a positive correlation between their Life Orientation scores and the scores for self confidence (r = 0.34, P < 0.001), optimistic approach (r = 0.42, P < 0.001), and seeking social help (r = 0.17, P < 0.001). Also there was a significant positive correlation between Communication skill scores and self confidence (r = 0.46, P < 0.001), optimistic (r = 0.37, P < 0.001) and seeking social help approaches (r = 0.29, P < 0.001), but there was a significant negative correlation between communication skill scores and scores for helpless (r = -0.29, P < 0.001) and submissive approaches (r = -0.36, P < 0.001). Conclusions: As scores of students in optimistic life orientation and communication skills increased self confidence approach, optimistic, and social support seeking scores increased, whereas helpless, and submissive scores decreased.
Determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soils and sediment of Hanfeng Lake, Three Gorges

As ubiquitous organic contaminants, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were evaluated to explore the impacts of the water level fluctuating zone (WLFZ) on organic pollutant behavior and the retention mechanism of organic pollutants in the bank–WLFZ–water system of Hanfeng Lake in the Three Gorges region of China. The mean concentrations of total PBDEs were 103, 75.2, and 568 ng g−1 dry wt for bank soils, WLFZ soils, and sediment samples, respectively. Except for sampling sites S1 and S2, the levels of PBDEs decreased in the order of sediment>WLFZ soil > bank soil, suggesting that PBDEs were transferred from bank soil to WLFZ soil and finally deposited in the sediment. Decabromodiphenyl ethers (deca-BDEs) were the predominant congener in the study area, comprising 93.8% to 98.3% of the total PBDEs. Greater photolytic degradation of deca-BDEs was suggested in bank soils based on a higher relative abundance of octa- and nona-BDEs than in WLFZ soils and sediment. This may have occurred because deca-BDEs in bank soils have relatively longer sunlight exposure than in WLFZ soils and sediment due to the annual alternation of water storage and drainage in the catchments of the Three Gorges Reservoir. More in-depth investigations of contaminants in bank–WLFZ–water systems are needed due to the large areas of WLFZ created by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam and their importance to the balance of aquatic ecosystems.
The paraphrase search assistant: terminological feedback for iterative information seeking

We present a new linguistic approach to the construction of terminological feedback for use in interactive query refinement. The method exploits the tendency for key domain concepts within result sets to participate in families of semantically related lexical compounds. We outline an algorithm for computing a ranked list of result set “themes” and describe a web application, the Paraphrase Search Assistant, designed to make use of the theme extraction algorithm to support a recognition-based, iterative information seeking dialog.
Integrating Planning and Scheduling in a CP Framework: A Transition-Based Approach

Many potential real-world planning applications are on the border of planning and scheduling. To handle the complex choices of actions and temporal and resource constraints of these problems we need to integrate planning and scheduling techniques. Here we propose a transition-based formulation of temporal planning problems, that enables us to represent features like deadlines, time windows, release times etc. in a simple way. We describe a CSP encoding of the transition-based formulation and its potential advantages in integrating planning and scheduling techniques.
Acetylcholinesterase staining of fiber components in feline and human recurrent laryngeal nerve. Topography of laryngeal motor fiber regions.

The amount of epineurial connective tissue in the human recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) (87.65.8% S.D. of x.s. area; 0-3 cm inferior to cricoid) was greater than in most other human nerves (generally 30-75 % of x.s. area). This probably makes the RLN resistant (viscoelastic properties) to stretch and other mechanical trauma. Two types of nerve fiber population groups were found in the human RLN. One type of grouping (group 1) included primarily nerve fibers (4-12 urn diameter) that stained moderately or intensely for axonal acetylcholinesterase (AChE) with very few unstained axons. Experimental studies using the cat indicated that this group provides mainly motor innervation to the human intrinsic laryngeal muscles. in other regions of the human RLN the populations of nerve fibers (group 2) differed from group 1 in that myelinated axons of the same size (4-12 fim diameter) were almost entirely unstained for AChE while smaller myelinated axons (1-5 p.m diameter) were either darkly or moderately stained. Gr.
[Coronary stents].

Since the introduction of coronary stents into clinical practice in the late 1980s, the number of stent implantations has increased so rapidly that stents are currently used in over 80 percent of all percutaneous coronary interventions. Although stent implantation was initially limited to large vessels with proximal and discrete lesions, improvements in stent design and implantation technique now allow their deployment in more complex lesions in smaller and diffusely diseased vessels. The overall acceptance of stents by interventional cardiologists can be attributed to favorable acute and longterm results compared to balloon angioplasty alone. Interventionalists have also been quick to embrace the smoother and larger lumen after stenting, in a shorter procedure time and with no additional risk, especially since the risk of stent thrombosis has been overcome by the introduction of dual antiplatelet therapy with Aspirin and Ticlopidine or Clopidogrel. Although restenosis and the need for reinterventions is lower after stenting compared to balloon angioplasty it still remains significant with about 15 percent of all patients returning for an other revascularization procedure. Meanwhile, a completely new generation of stents promises to eliminate the problem of restenosis. Drug-eluting stents, coated with antiproliferative substances have been successfully tested in small randomized trials. The restenosis rates at 6 and 12 months were extremely low ranging between zero and nine percent, with no clinical drawbacks so far. If these results hold up in longer follow up and in real life practice with more complex lesions stented the treatment of symptomatic coronary artery disease will change even more dramatically.
Assessing the Validity of a Language Arts Instruction Log through Triangulation

In this study we attempted to illuminate why measures of instruction sometimes fail to meet discrete tests of validity. We used a triangulation strategy—multiple methods, data sources, and researchers—to investigate teachers’ and observers’ reports on a daily language arts log. Data came from a pilot study of the log conducted in 8 urban public elementary schools. Statistical results increased our confidence in the log’s ability to measure (a) instruction at grosser levels of detail, (b) instructional activities that occurred more frequently, and (c) word analysis instruction. Some qualitative evidence gave us greater confidence in the instrument, for example, when teachers differed from observers because they possessed background knowledge not available to observers. Other qualitative evidence illustrated dilemmas inherent in measuring instruction. Overall, we believe triangulation strategies provided a more holistic understanding of the validity of teachers’ reports of instruction than past validity studies.
Viruses in community‐acquired pneumonia in children aged less than 3 years old: High rate of viral coinfection

The occurrence of viral coinfections in childhood pneumonia has received little attention, probably because suitable detection methods have been lacking. Between November 2004 and October 2006, the presence of 14 respiratory viruses in children aged less than 3 years old with community‐acquired pneumonia were investigated using molecular or immunochromatographic techniques and/or viral culture. A total of 315 children (338 episodes) were included, and hospitalization was required in 178 episodes. At least one virus was detected in 66.9% of the episodes and simultaneous detection of two or more viruses was frequent (27% of the episodes with viral detection). The most frequently detected virus was respiratory syncytial virus (n = 67: 33 subgroup A, 33 subgroup B, 1 not typed), followed by human bocavirus (n = 48), rhinovirus (n = 46), human metapneumovirus (n = 39: 13 genotype A2, 8 B1, 5 B2, 1 A1, 12 not genotyped) and parainfluenza viruses (n = 38: 1 type 1, 3 type 2, 22 type 3, 11 type 4 and 1 not typed). The 14 viruses investigated were found in viral coinfections, which were more frequent in children aged less than 12 months. Except for adenovirus, the incidence of which was low, the percentage of viral coinfection ranged between 28.2% and 68.8%. Children with viral coinfection more frequently required hospital admission than those with single viral infection. It is concluded that viral coinfections are frequent in children aged less than 3 years old with community‐acquired pneumonia and can be a poor prognostic factor. J. Med. Virol. 80:1843–1849, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Ghost excitonic insulator transition in layered graphite.

Some unusual properties of layered graphite, including a linear energy dependence of the quasiparticle damping and weak ferromagnetism at low doping, are explained as a result of the proximity of a single graphene sheet to the excitonic insulator phase which can be further stabilized in a doped system of many layers stacked in the staggered ( ABAB.) configuration.
Catecholamine‐Synthesizing Cells in the Embryonic Mouse Heart

The heart is a primary source of epinephrine and norepinephrine during embryonic development, yet little is known about the cardiac cells that produce these catecholamine hormones. To identify when and where catecholamine‐synthesizing cells are found in the embryonic heart, we developed a novel mouse genetic model by “knocking‐in” the Cre‐recombinase gene to the locus encoding for the epinephrine biosynthetic enzyme, phenylethanolamine n‐methyltransferase. When crossed with ROSA26 reporter mice, the β‐galactosidase gene is activated in adrenergic cells. A major advantage of this approach is that it allows detection of adrenergic cells and their progeny, regardless of whether the progeny cells retain an adrenergic phenotype or not. Our data show that adrenergic cells appear as early as embryonic day 8.5 and continue to accumulate in substantial numbers through birth in the mouse heart, where they appear to share common ancestry with myocardial lineages. Large numbers of atrial and especially ventricular myocytes appear to be derived from embryonic adrenergic cells in the heart. In addition, many of the pacemaking cells in the sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodes also appear to be derived from an adrenergic lineage. Thus, our results suggest that catecholamine‐synthesizing cells serve as cardiomyocyte progenitors in the embryonic heart.
Accurate noise estimates in multicarrier systems

Traditionally, noise power estimation has been done by either sending training signals or by not sending signal at all. In this paper two approaches are presented that do not use training signals. One uses the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm and approaches the maximum likelihood (ML) estimate using the received data, if given a good initial condition. The other uses a decision directed approach that provides an exact estimate of the noise power.
B-Spline Modeling of Road Surfaces With an Application to Free-Space Estimation

We propose a general technique for modeling the visible road surface in front of a vehicle. The common assumption of a planar road surface is often violated in reality. A workaround proposed in the literature is the use of a piecewise linear or quadratic function to approximate the road surface. Our approach is based on representing the road surface as a general parametric B-spline curve. The surface parameters are tracked over time using a Kalman filter. The surface parameters are estimated from stereo measurements in the free space. To this end, we adopt a recently proposed road-obstacle segmentation algorithm to include disparity measurements and the B-spline road-surface representation. Experimental results in planar and undulating terrain verify the increase in free-space availability and accuracy using a flexible B-spline for road-surface modeling.
Cultural Education and the Voluntary Provision of Cultural Goods: An Experimental Study

We study the effect that the possibility of investing in cultural education has on the voluntary contributions to a cultural good. This is done in a two-stage public-good experiment. We also provide treatments with different context in order to control for a possible framing effect. Our results show the absence of an effect of cultural education on the contributions to the cultural good and a slight increase in the allocations of subjectsÂendowments to the cultural good when the cultural context is implemented in the laboratory.
The Antimicrobial Domains of Wheat Puroindolines Are Cell-Penetrating Peptides with Possible Intracellular Mechanisms of Action

The puroindoline proteins (PINA and PINB) of wheat display lipid-binding properties which affect the grain texture, a critical parameter for wheat quality. Interestingly, the same proteins also display antibacterial and antifungal properties, attributed mainly to their Tryptophan-rich domain (TRD). Synthetic peptides based on this domain also display selectivity towards bacterial and fungal cells and do not cause haemolysis of mammalian cells. However, the mechanisms of these activities are unclear, thus limiting our understanding of the in vivo roles of PINs and development of novel applications. This study investigated the mechanisms of antimicrobial activities of synthetic peptides based on the TRD of the PINA and PINB proteins. Calcein dye leakage tests and transmission electron microscopy showed that the peptides PuroA, Pina-M and Pina-W→F selectively permeabilised the large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) made with negatively charged phospholipids mimicking bacterial membranes, but were ineffective against LUVs made with zwitterionic phospholipids mimicking eukaryotic membranes. Propidium iodide fluorescence tests of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells showed the peptides were able to cause loss of membrane integrity, PuroA and Pina-M being more efficient. Scanning electron micrographs of PINA-based peptide treated yeast cells showed the formation of pits or pores in cell membranes and release of cellular contents. Gel retardation assays indicated the peptides were able to bind to DNA in vitro, and the induction of filamental growth of E. coli cells indicated in vivo inhibition of DNA synthesis. Together, the results strongly suggest that the PIN-based peptides exert their antimicrobial effects by pore formation in the cell membrane, likely by a carpet-like mechanism, followed by intracellular mechanisms of activity.
An iterative improvement process for agile software development

Agile software development of short iterative cycles offers an opportunity for rapid, visible and motivating software process improvement (SPI). The agile principles suggest the regular reflections of agile project teams for improving the efficiency and adaptation of the process. However, current literature provides little support or empirical evidence for conducting such improvement efficiently, systematically and in a validated manner. Thus, this article proposes an Iterative Improvement Process for conducting SPI within individual agile project teams, which aims at increasing the ability of software developers to improve the development process based on their experiences and context knowledge. The approach has been trialed within a multiple case study of five consecutive case projects where both qualitative and quantitative research data has been systematically collected. The empirical data confirms the positive effects of the Iterative Improvement Process on the software development projects and reveals the willingness of software developers to participate in the Iterative Improvement activities due to the rapid and visible changes in their working practices. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cost-Aware Scheduling Algorithm Based on PSO in Cloud Computing Environment

Traditional scheduling algorithms typically aim to minimize the total time cost for processing all tasks. However, in cloud computing environments, computing capability differs for different resources, and so does the cost of resource usage. Therefore, it is vital to take into consideration the usage cost of resources. Along this line, in this paper, we proposed a modified algorithm based on PSO to solve the task scheduling problem in cloud computing environments. Specifically, by adding a cost-aware fitness function to quantify the cost of resource usage, along with the fitness function for time cost, our method can achieve the goal of minimizing both the processing time and resource usage, and therefore reach a global optimal solution. Besides, our experiment on a simulated cloud computing environment proves the efficiency of our proposed algorithm.