Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Winter Habitat Selection by Caribou in Relation to Lichen Abundance, Wildfires, Grazing, and Landscape Characteristics in Northwest Alaska

Abstract: Lichens are an important winter forage for large, migratory herds of caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) that can influence population dynamics through effects on body condition and in turn calf recruitment and survival. We investigated the vegetative and physiographic characteristics of winter range of the Western Arctic Herd in northwest Alaska, one of the largest caribou herds in North America. We made 3 broad comparisons: habitats used by caribou versus random locations, burned versus unburned habitats, and habitats within the current winter range versus those in the historic winter range and potential winter ranges. We found that lichen abundance was more than 3 times greater at locations used by caribou than found at random. The current winter range does not appear to be overgrazed as a whole, but continued high grazing pressure and consequences of climate change on plant community structure might degrade its condition. Within the current winter range, lichen abundance was more than 4 times greater at unburned locations than at recently (< 58 y) burned locations. Other than lichen abundance, there were few vegetative differences between burned (mean = 37 ± 1.7 y) and unburned locations. The historic winter range has low lichen abundance, likely due to sustained grazing pressure exerted by the herd, which suggests that range deterioration can lead to range shifts. Recovery of this range may be slowed by continued grazing and trampling during migration of caribou to and from their current winter range, as well as by high wildfire frequency and other consequences of climate change. The area identified as potential winter range is unlikely to be utilized regularly by large numbers of caribou primarily due to low lichen abundance associated with extensive deciduous stands, large areas of riparian habitat, high moose (Alces alces) densities, and greater prevalence of wildfire. Our results suggest that lichens are important in the overwintering ecology of caribou that face the energetic costs of predator avoidance and migration.
The NLRP3 Inflammasome Contributes to Brain Injury in Pneumococcal Meningitis and Is Activated through ATP-Dependent Lysosomal Cathepsin B Release

Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis causes brain damage through inflammation-related pathways whose identity and mechanisms of action are yet unclear. We previously identified caspase-1, which activates precursor IL-1 type cytokines, as a central mediator of inflammation in pneumococcal meningitis. In this study, we demonstrate that lack of the inflammasome components ASC or NLRP3 that are centrally involved in caspase-1 activation decreases scores of clinical and histological disease severity as well as brain inflammation in murine pneumococcal meningitis. Using specific inhibitors (anakinra and rIL-18–binding protein), we further show that ASC- and NLRP3-dependent pathologic alterations are solely related to secretion of both IL-1β and IL-18. Moreover, using differentiated human THP-1 cells, we demonstrate that the pneumococcal pore-forming toxin pneumolysin is a key inducer of IL-1β expression and inflammasome activation upon pneumococcal challenge. The latter depends on the release of ATP, lysosomal destabilization (but not disruption), and cathepsin B activation. The in vivo importance of this pathway is supported by our observation that the lack of pneumolysin and cathepsin B inhibition is associated with a better clinical course and less brain inflammation in murine pneumococcal meningitis. Collectively, our study indicates a central role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the pathology of pneumococcal meningitis. Thus, interference with inflammasome activation might be a promising target for adjunctive therapy of this disease.
Factors Influencing Information Systems Success in Papua New Guinea Organisations: a case analysis

Information Systems (IS) applications have proliferated in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as organisations in these countries begin to realise the benefits of utilising these technologies to improve business process and enhance productivity. However much IS implementation in LDCs has been unsuccessful. Successful approaches should take account of technological factors, and also heed social context including economic, political, cultural and behavioural influences. As a component of a wider study to identify factors that influence IS success in developing countries, this paper examines factors that have affected IS implementation in two Papua New Guinea (PNG) organisations.
Service quality and turnover intentions as perceived by employees

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to test a selection of hypothesized relationships between: employees' perceived service quality; employees' turnover intentions; role clarity; and empowerment and coaching.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from theory, this paper develops a set of hypothesized relationships. The data collection is based on a survey with a sample of 1,076 frontline employees in service organizations.Findings – There are indications that employees' perceived service quality has a direct negative effect on employees' turnover intentions. The effect of empowerment, coaching, and role clarity on turnover intention appears to be mediated through employees' perceived service quality.Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to a selection of variables related to employees' turnover intentions. Future research may focus on testing other variables that may be related to employees' turnover intentions.Practical implications – This study stresses the importance for manager.
Changes in lipid profile of patients referred to a cardiac rehabilitation program

Background Cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) has been demonstrated to have beneficial effects on physical and mental functioning as well as on mortality of patients with cardiovascular diseases, but its exact effect on lipid profile of these patients is still vague. In this study we aimed to evaluate the effect of comprehensive CRP on lipid profile of the Iranian population. Design Self-controlled descriptive study. Methods We evaluated 547 patients with documented coronary heart disease before and after a 24-session CRP between 1998 and 2003. Some of them received antilipid drugs. Results Except for diastolic blood pressure, all other biophysical, biochemical [total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglyceride (TG)], functional, and psychosocial parameters had significant response to CRP. We can attribute the normalization of lipid in these patients to CRP in combination with medications 34.9% for TC, 17.7% for LDL, and 27.2% for TG (P < 0.001 for all). Antilipid drugs had some more effect in normalizing the TC (9.7%), LDL (1.8%), and TG (7.3%). Conclusion Comprehensive CRP improves TC, TG, LDL, and HDL in Iranian patients with cardiovascular disease even without antilipid drugs, and antilipid therapy can boost this effect. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil 15:467-472 © 2008 The European Society of Cardiology
WORD-INITIAL SOUND-SPELLING PATTERNS: CROSS-LINGUISTIC ANALYSES AND EMPIRICAL VALIDATIONS OF PHONEME-LETTER FEEDBACK CONSISTENCY EFFECTS

Alphabetic orthographies show more or less ambiguous relations between spelling and sound patterns. In transparent orthographies, like Italian, the spelling can be predicted from the pronunciation, and vice versa. In contrast, in opaque orthographies such as English, spelling-sound correspondences are often unpredictable. The degree of spelling-sound ambiguity is one of the variables known to affect visual word recognition performance. In this paper we present a computational analysis of (feedback) word-initial sound-to-spelling correspondences for six languages and Italian), stated in entropy values for word-initial phonemes. This allows us to determine these languages' relative degree of sound-to-spelling transparency with respect to one another. We investigate the co-occurrence of sound-to-spelling and spelling-to-sound ambiguity and provide cross-linguistic evidence that the ambiguity of word-initial phoneme-to-letter mappings affects naming latencies, thereby replicating the feedback consistency effect.
TOPSAR: Terrain Observation by Progressive Scans

In this paper, a novel (according to the authors' knowledge) type of scanning synthetic aperture radar (ScanSAR) that solves the problems of scalloping and azimuth-varying ambiguities is introduced. The technique employs a very simple counterrotation of the radar beam in the opposite direction to a SPOT: hence, the name terrain observation with progressive scan (TOPS). After a short summary of the characteristics of the ScanSAR technique and its problems, TOPSAR, which is the technique of design, the limits, and a focusing technique are introduced. A synthetic example based on a possible future system follows
Comparative Study of the Natural Habitat Behaviors of Children with Autism and Children with Down Syndrome: An Ecological Approach.

A study involving eight boys with autism and eight boys with Down syndrome (ages 6-10) with similar adaptive behavior levels used an ecological approach to study the in-depth structure of the behavior stream. Narrative records were collected and analyzed based on duration and frequency of behaviors. Each record was analyzed by marking the behavior stream into activity units (AUs), which are naturally occurring chunks of behavior from the perspective of the child that proceed in a constant psychological direction. Findings revealed that children with autism exhibited AUs of shorter duration and with less overlap. No differences in features related to the setting or in qualitative aspects of AUs were found. Children with autism were more likely to use physical mechanisms; children with Down syndrome used more gestures. Analysis of the duration of intention of AUs revealed that children spent similar amounts of time participating in all but two types of activities. Children with autism spent more time readying their environment and children with Down syndrome spent more time eating and drinking. Subcategory analysis revealed that children with autism were four times more likely to fail to respond. (Contains 165 references.) (Author/CR) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** Comparative Study of the Natural Habitat Behaviors of Children with Autism and Children with Down Syndrome: An Ecological Approach
Plasma-mediated neutrophil activation during acute myocardial infarction: role of platelet-activating factor.

1. Polymorphonuclear neutrophils are involved in the development of myocardial injury during ischaemia through the release of free oxygen radicals and by adhesion of activated polymorphonuclear neutrophils to endothelium, resulting in plugging of coronary capillaries. Polymorphonuclear neutrophil activation may be a result of contact with ligands expressed by endothelial cells and/or a response to soluble stimuli released from ischaemic tissue to the plasma. 2. To investigate this we studied plasma-mediated polymorphonuclear neutrophil activation in vitro using plasma samples collected from 14 patients with acute myocardial infarction at time of admission and 6 h and 1, 2, 5 and 7 days later. Plasma samples were incubated with washed polymorphonuclear neutrophils isolated from healthy donors. Expression of adhesion molecules CD18/CD11b integrin and L-selectin (Leu-8) were measured by flow cytometry and superoxide anion production in polymorphonuclear neutrophils was measured by chemiluminescence. 3. Plasma samples obtained 6 h and 1 day after admission were capable of inducing CD18/CD11b antigen expression, superoxide anion production and L-selectin shedding in the washed polymorphonuclear neutrophils, and this effect was significant when compared with plasma taken at 5 and 7 days after admission. 4. The plasma-mediated polymorphonuclear neutrophil stimulation was prevented when the PMN were pretreated with platelet-activating factor receptor antagonists BN52021 or BN50739. The platelet-activating factor concentrations detected in the plasma samples were not higher than those detected in plasma from healthy subjects. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Isocorydine Derivatives and Their Anticancer Activities

In order to improve the anticancer activity of isocorydine (ICD), ten isocorydine derivatives were prepared through chemical structure modifications, and their in vitro and in vivo activities were experimentally investigated. 8-Amino-isocorydine (8) and 6a,7-dihydrogen-isocorydione (10) could inhibit the growth of human lung (A549), gastric (SGC7901) and liver (HepG2) cancer cell lines in vitro. Isocorydione (2) could inhibit the tumor growth of murine sarcoma S180-bearing mice, and 8-acetamino-isocorydine (11), a pro-drug of 8-amino-isocorydine (8), which is instable in water solution at room temperature, had a good inhibitory effect on murine hepatoma H22-induced tumors. The results suggested that the isocorydine structural modifications at C-8 could significantly improve the biological activity of this alkaloid, indicating its suitability as a lead compound in the development of an effective anticancer agent.
Deterioration characteristics due to partial discharges in insulating structure constituting gas-filled power transformers

The soundness of a transformer under operating voltage is evaluated in a partial discharge (PD) test of a long-duration ac withstand voltage test. Presently, the same criteria for evaluating oil-filled transformers are adopted as those for evaluating gas-filled transformers in this PD test. However, gas-filled transformers are made of different insulating materials than those for oil-filled transformers, and may therefore have different strengths against PDs to oil-filled transformers. With this in mind, it is necessary to establish PD evaluation criteria for gas-filled transformers. A preceding paper discussed the raw materials of solid insulating ones used in gas-filled transformers in terms of the generated PD magnitudes and the degrees of insulation damage and evaluated the harmful PD levels of the insulating materials themselves. In this paper, the harmful PD levels of actual equipment were studied using the turn-to-turn and section-to-section insulation models, insulating structures that constitute gasfilled transformers, in order to examine harmful PD levels that lowered the residual impulse withstand voltages. Consequently, it was confirmed that, on the turn-to-turn insulation model at normal test voltage levels, the generated PDs were too small to damage the insulator, even with a particle present. To damage the insulator, a voltage significantly exceeding the test voltage had to be applied. Therefore there is little necessity to consider the harmful PD level on the turn-to-turn insulation. On the other hand, on the section-to-section insulation model, PDs were found to be generated if a particle completely bridged separate sections. As a result, the degradation statuses related to the magnitude and duration of PDs were identified and the harmful PD levels were estimated at 10000 pC according to the residual impulse withstand voltages.
Hepatic lipogenesis in young rats given proteins of different quality

1. The effect of feeding casein, lactalbumin, soya-bean protein, gluten or gelatin on hepatic lipogenesis and the levels of hepatic fatty acid synthetase (FAS), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1. 1. 1.49; G6PD), malic enzyme (EC 1. 1. 1.40; ME) ATP-citrate lyase (EC 4. 1. 3. 8; CL), acetyl CoA carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.2; ACCx) and glucokinase (EC 2. 7. 1. 2; GK) was examined in young growing rats. 2. The total activities of ACCx, FAS, CL, GK, G6PD, GK, ME and fatty acid synthesis in vivo were positively correlated with protein quality. 3. The specific activities of ACCx, FAS, CL, G6PD and fatty acid synthesis in vivo were positively correlated with protein quality. 4. The specific activities of GK and ME were unrelated to protein quality. 5. The results demonstrate a dissociation between ME and hepatic lipogenesis and suggest a role for the NADPH generated by ME which is not related to the needs of fatty acid synthesis.
Mental health of psychiatric outpatients bullied in childhood

Bullying hurts – even many years laterThis thesis indicates that bullying by peers in school during childhood is associated withmental health problems in adulthood; almost50 per cent of the 160 psychiatric outpatients reported bullying by peers. As adults, those bullied in childhood demonstrated higher psychiatric symptom levels, lower self-esteem and more external locus of control. They also reported more bulimianervosa. In addition, they were often singles, and, they had lower levels of education.Bullying by peers was also associated with other types of maltreatment in childhood. Male outpatients bullied by peers in school often grew up without biological fathers. Victimized female outpatients bullied in school reported more childhood abuse and neglect. Overprotective fathers were more common in outpatients with bulimia nervosa, and long-term associations were found between overprotective mothers and poor self-esteem.The findings in this thesis reveal that bullying in childhood is far from harmless and may have destructive long-term consequences.
A randomized trial of nurse specialist home care for women with high-risk pregnancies: outcomes and costs.

OBJECTIVE To examine prenatal, maternal, and infant outcomes and costs through 1 year after delivery using a model of prenatal care for women at high risk of delivering low-birth-weight infants in which half of the prenatal care was provided in women's homes by nurse specialists with master's degrees. STUDY DESIGN Randomized clinical trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS A sample of 173 women (and 194 infants) with high-risk pregnancies (gestational or pregestational diabetes mellitus, chronic hypertension, preterm labor, or high risk of preterm labor) were randomly assigned to the intervention group (85 women and 94 infants) or the control group (88 women and 100 infants). Control women received usual prenatal care. Intervention women received half of their prenatal care in their homes, with teaching, counseling, telephone outreach, daily telephone availability, and a postpartum home visit by nurse specialists with physician backup. RESULTS For the full sample, mean maternal age was 27 years; 85.5% of women were single mothers, 36.4% had less than a high school education, 93.6% were African American, and 93.6% had public health insurance, with no differences between groups on these variables. The intervention group had lower fetal/infant mortality vs the control group (2 vs 9), 11 fewer preterm infants, more twin pregnancies carried to term (77.7% vs 33.3%), fewer prenatal hospitalizations (41 vs 49), fewer infant rehospitalizations (18 vs 24), and a savings of more than 750 total hospital days and $2,496,145 [corrected]. CONCLUSION This model of care provides a reasoned solution to improving pregnancy and infant outcomes while reducing healthcare costs.
Visual orienting in the early broader autism phenotype: disengagement and facilitation.

BACKGROUND Recent studies of infant siblings of children diagnosed with autism have allowed for a prospective approach to examine the emergence of symptoms and revealed behavioral differences in the broader autism phenotype within the early years. In the current study we focused on a set of functions associated with visual attention, previously reported to be atypical in autism. METHOD We compared performance of a group of 9-10-month-old infant siblings of children with autism to a control group with no family history of autism on the 'gap-overlap task', which measures the cost of disengaging from a central stimulus in order to fixate a peripheral one. Two measures were derived on the basis of infants' saccadic reaction times. The first is the Disengagement effect, which measures the efficiency of disengaging from a central stimulus to orient to a peripheral one. The second was a Facilitation effect, which arises when the infant is cued by a temporal gap preceding the onset of the peripheral stimulus, and would orient faster after its onset. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION Infant siblings of children with autism showed longer Disengagement latencies as well as less Facilitation relative to the control group. The findings are discussed in relation to how differences in visual attention may relate to characteristics observed in autism and the broader phenotype.
Modeling impression discounting in large-scale recommender systems

Recommender systems have become very important for many online activities, such as watching movies, shopping for products, and connecting with friends on social networks. User behavioral analysis and user feedback (both explicit and implicit) modeling are crucial for the improvement of any online recommender system. Widely adopted recommender systems at LinkedIn such as "People You May Know" and "Endorsements" are evolving by analyzing user behaviors on impressed recommendation items. In this paper, we address modeling impression discounting of recommended items, that is, how to model user's no-action feedback on impressed recommended items. The main contributions of this paper include (1) large-scale analysis of impression data from LinkedIn and KDD Cup; (2) novel anti-noise regression techniques, and its application to learn four different impression discounting functions including linear decay, inverse decay, exponential decay, and quadratic decay; (3) applying these impression discounting functions to LinkedIn's "People You May Know" and "Endorsements" recommender systems.
In Vitro Selection of Variants Resistant to β-Lactams plus β-Lactamase Inhibitors in CTX-M β-Lactamases: Predicting the In Vivo Scenario?

ABSTRACT CTX-M β-lactamases are the most prevalent group of enzymes within the extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL). The therapeutic options for CTX-M-carrying isolates are scarce, forcing the reexamination of the therapeutic possibilities of β-lactams plus β-lactamase inhibitors (BBLIs). Inhibitor-resistant CTX-M β-lactamases (IR-CTX-M) have not hitherto been described in natural isolates. In this study, 168 cultures of the hypermutagenic Escherichia coli GB20 strain carrying plasmid pBGS18 with different blaCTX-M genes were submitted to parallel experimental evolution assays in the presence of increasing concentrations of a combination of amoxicillin and clavulanate. Fourteen CTX-M β-lactamases belonging to the three most representative clusters (CTX-M-1, -2, and -9) and the two main phenotypes (cefotaxime resistance and cefotaxime-ceftazidime resistance) were studied. Three types of IR-CTX-M mutants were detected, having mutations S130G, K234R, and S237G, which are associated with different resistance patterns. The most frequently recovered mutation was S130G, which conferred the highest resistance levels to BBLIs (reaching 12 μg/ml for amoxicillin-clavulanate and 96 μg/ml for piperacillin-tazobactam when acquired by CTX-M-1 cluster enzymes). The S130G change also provided a clear antagonistic pleiotropy effect, strongly decreasing the enzyme's activity against all cephalosporins tested. A double mutation, S130G L169S, partially restored the resistance against cephalosporins. A complex pattern observed in CTX-M-58, carrying P167S and S130G or K234R changes, conferred ESBL and IR phenotypes simultaneously. The K234R and S237G changes had a smaller effect in providing inhibitor resistance. In summary, IR-CTX-M enzymes might evolve under exposure to BBLIs, and the probability is higher for enzymes belonging to the CTX-M-1 cluster. However, this process could be delayed by antagonistic pleiotropy.