Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Severe Loss of Appetite in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients: Online Self-Assessment Study

Background Undesirable loss of weight is a major challenge in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, little is known about loss of appetite in ALS patients. Objective We investigated loss of appetite in ALS patients by means of an online self-assessment and whether ALS-related symptoms were associated with it. Methods Loss of appetite in 51 ALS patients was assessed using the Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire (CNAQ). Loss of appetite is defined as a CNAQ-score of 28 or less with a predicted weight loss of at least 5% within 6 months. We developed an Internet portal to facilitate self-assessment. Results Approximately half of the ALS patients (47%, 24/51) suffered from severe loss of appetite; after 6 months this increased to nearly two-thirds (65%, 22/34). An average weight loss of 5% was found in the group with severe loss of appetite as compared to only 2% of patients with normal appetite. Interestingly, loss of appetite was associated with respiratory dysfunction (P=.001, R2=.223). Conclusions Loss of appetite was more common and more severe than expected. It was found to be an independent risk factor for unintended weight loss and may be related to dyspnea. The impact of severe loss of appetite on survival and quality of life should be established in further studies.
The cloak of competence

This new edition brings up to date a classic study of the everyday lives of previously institutionalized people with mental retardation. For the first time, the author allowed these people to speak about their own lives, their fears, and their hopes. He focused on the role of stigma in their lives and their efforts to pass as normal, as well as the need they had for normal benefactors. Now, using the same ethnographic methods, Robert Edgerton follows up the original population over a period of three decades. His new findings greatly expand our knowledge of these individuals, suggesting that as they grow older they increase their social competence, life satisfaction, independence, and ability to contribute to the lives of others. Human service professionals and others concerned with mental retardation will welcome Edgerton's discussion of current issues such as the role of environmental factors in modifying mental retardation and the need for new conceptual approaches.
Coping with the Displaced Farm Family

With the current state of affairs in the farm economy, more and more farms are foreclosing and rural businesses are shut- ting down. With this loss of employment, rural families are being uprooted and being forced to relocate in other rural areas or, more typically, to urban areas. This change of lifestyle goes beyond the breadwinner to affect the entire family. This paper focuses upon the family ramifications of such moves. Attention will be turned to the specific problems of the father, the mother, and the children in their attempts at readjustment to relocation. Relationships both within and external to the family will be examined.
Coronary Atherosclerotic Vulnerable Plaque: Current Perspectives

Atherosclerosis is the most common form of vascular disease and constitutes the major cause of death, with 17.5 million related deaths annually (31% of global mortality). [1][1] Atherosclerotic plaque represents the hallmark lesion of atherosclerosis. Most, but not all,[2][2], [3][3] acute cardiac
Discovering Asymmetric Entailment Relations between Verbs Using Selectional Preferences

In this paper we investigate a novel method to detect asymmetric entailment relations between verbs. Our starting point is the idea that some point-wise verb selectional preferences carry relevant semantic information. Experiments using Word-Net as a gold standard show promising results. Where applicable, our method, used in combination with other approaches, significantly increases the performance of entailment detection. A combined approach including our model improves the AROC of 5% absolute points with respect to standard models.
The relevance of software documentation, tools and technologies: a survey

This paper highlights the results of a survey of software professionals. One of the goals of this survey was to uncover the perceived relevance (or lack thereof) of software documentation, and the tools and technologies used to maintain, verify and validate such documents. The survey results highlight the preferences for and aversions against software documentation tools. Participants agree that documentation tools should seek to better extract knowledge from core resources. These resources include the system's source code, test code and changes to both. Resulting technologies could then help reduce the effort required for documentation maintenance, something that is shown to rarely occur. Our data reports compelling evidence that software professionals value technologies that improve automation of the documentation process, as well as facilitating its maintenance.
The holy grail of cystic fibrosis research: pharmacological repair of the F508del-CFTR mutation.

Therapeutic strategies aimed at correcting the defect of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) (“CFTR-repair”) constitute a new avenue towards the treatment of patients affected by Cystic Fibrosis (CF), the most common lethal monogenic disease in Caucasians. CF is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene, which codes for a 1480 amino-acid protein normally functioning as a chloride channel at apical membrane from epithelial cells (1). In the CFTR gene, more than 1900 mutations, most of which are disease-relevant, have been identified and then categorized in six different classes according to their functional impact (2). The phenotypic consequences of such genotypes comprise insufficiency of the exocrine pancreas, increased electrolytes in sweat, male infertility and—most prevalent—a debilitating and eventually lethal inflammation/infection-triggered respiratory dysfunction. Mutation-specific approaches are focusing on the identification of small molecules capable of correcting the deficient subcellular trafficking of the CFTR protein (“correctors”: agents that ensure the expression of the mutated protein at the apical plasma membrane) or defective gating (“potentiators”: agents that reinstate the channel function of mutated CFTR proteins that are orthotopically expressed).
Contested Paternity: Constructing Families in Modern France

This groundbreaking study examines complex notions of paternity and fatherhood in modern France through the lens of contested paternity. Drawing from archival judicial records on paternity suits, paternity denials, deprivation of paternity, and adoption, from the end of the eighteenth century through the twentieth, Rachel G. Fuchs reveals how paternity was defined and how it functioned in the culture and experiences of individual men and women. She addresses the competing definitions of paternity and of families, how public policy toward paternity and the family shifted, and what individuals did to facilitate their personal and familial ideals and goals. Issues of paternity and the family have broad implications for an understanding of how private acts were governed by laws of the state. Focusing on paternity as a category of family history, Contested Paternity emphasizes the importance of fatherhood, the family, and the law within the greater context of changing attitudes toward parental responsibility.
A tutorial on branch and cut algorithms for the maximum stable set problem

This tutorial provides an overview of various characteristics of effective branch and cut type algorithms for the maximum stable set problem. We discuss several facet-defining inequalities for the stable set polytope along with their separation routines. In particular, we review implementation tweaks for the separation routines and reference empirical studies, illustrating the performance of these cutting planes for benchmark graphs. In addition to the polyhedral study, we present basic preprocessing, discuss heuristic methods particularly suited within a branch and cut framework, and examine a branching rule.
Imitation, emulation and the transmission of culture

3 Introduction . 4 Definition of Terms . 5 Purpose of Study . 7 Importance of Study . 8 Review of Literature . 11 Imitation and Intention . 11 Imitation A Social Skill. 14 Development of Imitative Behavior . 16 A Chain Link to Culture . 18 Methodology . 19 Apparatus . 19 Procedure . 21 Results . 25 Data Analysis . 27 Discussion and Conclusion . 33 A Successful strategy . 33 A Conduit for Culture . 34 Costs of Imitation . 36 Conclusions and Questions . 37 References . 39 List of figures: Figure 1: Illustration of puzzle boxes with bolt and door defense in place. 20 Figure 2: Illustration of puzzle boxes with bolt and door defenses removed. 22 Figure 3: Comparison of proportion of relevant to irrelevant actions . 28
The Circadian Response of Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells

Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC) signal environmental light level to the central circadian clock and contribute to the pupil light reflex. It is unknown if ipRGC activity is subject to extrinsic (central) or intrinsic (retinal) network-mediated circadian modulation during light entrainment and phase shifting. Eleven younger persons (18–30 years) with no ophthalmological, medical or sleep disorders participated. The activity of the inner (ipRGC) and outer retina (cone photoreceptors) was assessed hourly using the pupil light reflex during a 24 h period of constant environmental illumination (10 lux). Exogenous circadian cues of activity, sleep, posture, caffeine, ambient temperature, caloric intake and ambient illumination were controlled. Dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO) was determined from salivary melatonin assay at hourly intervals, and participant melatonin onset values were set to 14 h to adjust clock time to circadian time. Here we demonstrate in humans that the ipRGC controlled post-illumination pupil response has a circadian rhythm independent of external light cues. This circadian variation precedes melatonin onset and the minimum ipRGC driven pupil response occurs post melatonin onset. Outer retinal photoreceptor contributions to the inner retinal ipRGC driven post-illumination pupil response also show circadian variation whereas direct outer retinal cone inputs to the pupil light reflex do not, indicating that intrinsically photosensitive (melanopsin) retinal ganglion cells mediate this circadian variation.
Deletion Mutations Caused by DNA Strand Slippage in Acinetobacter baylyi

ABSTRACT Short nucleotide sequence repetitions in DNA can provide selective benefits and also can be a source of genetic instability arising from deletions guided by pairing between misaligned strands. These findings raise the question of how the frequency of deletion mutations is influenced by the length of sequence repetitions and by the distance between them. An experimental approach to this question was presented by the heat-sensitive phenotype conferred by pcaG1102, a 30-bp deletion in one of the structural genes for Acinetobacter baylyi protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase, which is required for growth with quinate. The original pcaG1102 deletion appears to have been guided by pairing between slipped DNA strands from nearby repeated sequences in wild-type pcaG. Placement of an in-phase termination codon between the repeated sequences in pcaG prevents growth with quinate and permits selection of sequence-guided deletions that excise the codon and permit quinate to be used as a growth substrate at room temperature. Natural transformation facilitated introduction of 68 different variants of the wild-type repeat structure within pcaG into the A. baylyi chromosome, and the frequency of deletion between the repetitions was determined with a novel method, precision plating. The deletion frequency increases with repeat length, decreases with the distance between repeats, and requires a minimum amount of similarity to occur at measurable rates. Deletions occurred in a recA-deficient background. Their frequency was unaffected by deficiencies in mutS and was increased by inactivation of recG.
A new termite (Isoptera, Termitidae, Syntermitinae, Macuxitermes) from Colombia

Abstract A new species of termite, Macuxitermes colombicus Postle & Scheffrahn is described from soldiers and workers collected from Departamento Magdalena, Colombia. The soldier of Macuxitermes colombicus differs from its lone congener in having no protuberances on the head capsule.
Attenuation of host NO production by MAMPs potentiates development of the host in the squid–vibrio symbiosis

Bacterial pathogens typically upregulate the host's production of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and nitric oxide (NO) as antimicrobial agents, a response that is often mediated by microbe‐associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) of the pathogen. In contrast, previous studies of the beneficial Euprymna scolopes/Vibrio fischeri symbiosis demonstrated that symbiont colonization results in attenuation of host NOS/NO, which occurs in high levels in hatchling light organs. Here, we sought to determine whether V. fischeri MAMPs, specifically lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the peptidoglycan derivative tracheal cytotoxin (TCT), attenuate NOS/NO, and whether this activity mediates the MAMPs‐induced light organ morphogenesis. Using confocal microscopy, we characterized levels of NOS with immunocytochemistry and NO with a NO‐specfic fluorochrome. When added exogenously to seawater containing hatchling animals, V. fischeri LPS and TCT together, but not individually, induced normal NOS/NO attenuation. Further, V. fischeri mutants defective in TCT release did not. Experiments with NOS inhibitors and NO donors provided evidence that NO mediates apoptosis and morphogenesis associated with symbiont colonization. Attenuation of NOS/NO by LPS and TCT in the squid–vibrio symbiosis provides another example of how the host's response to MAMPs depends on the context. These data also provide a mechanism by which symbiont MAMPs regulate host development.
Understanding road safety in Kenya: views of matatu drivers.

BACKGROUND Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are estimated to cause 1.3 million deaths and 20-50 million injuries worldwide. Road safety is a challenge in Kenya with causes being multi-factorial. Matatus (minibuses) are involved in a large proportion of accidents. METHODS A literature review was completed to identify key issues and refine the scope of the study. The fieldwork included 20 semi-structured interviews with matatu drivers. All participants were male, with driving experience of 1-20 years. Thematic framework was used for analysis. Some unstructured observations on different road users and their behaviours were also recorded. RESULTS Literature showed that the causes of RTAs in Kenya are multi-factorial, but that human factors play a large part. There is also an evidence gap concerning matatu drivers, who are key stakeholders in road safety. Fieldwork showed that the matatu industry creates financial pressures on drivers and an excessive level of competition, leading to dangerous driving. Corruption of traffic police appears to be a major barrier to improving road safety, as road safety legislation is not enforced, and bribery has become the cultural norm. The general public, including passengers and private vehicles owners, also cause problems by failing to understand their role in road safety and placing the blame on others. CONCLUSIONS The key policy implication for improving road safety in Kenya is seeking measures to ensure responsibility by all road users through awareness raising in the short-term and reforming the matatu industry and addressing the root causes of corruption in the longer term.
Three-Dimensional Facial Characteristics of Caucasian Infants without Cleft and Correlation with Body Measurements

Objective The aim of this study was to characterize the soft tissue facial features of infants without cleft and to report on the correlation between these with weight, length, and head circumference. Design This was a prospective study using a noninvasive three-dimensional (3D) stereophotogrammetry (C3D) system to capture the images of the participants. Landmarks were identified on the 3D facial images. Means and SDs were derived for facial distances and angles. A facial asymmetry score was calculated for each image. Two sample Student's t tests, Pearson's correlation coefficients and analysis of covariance were used to ascertain any gender differences and determine whether these could be explained by weight differences. Participants Eighty-three infants, 41 boys and 42 girls, were captured at rest with their lips apart, at approximately 3 months of age. Results Significant sex differences, of 1 to 2 mm, were found in several facial dimensions, such as face height and nose width. The larger facial measurements correlated significantly with body measurements. Analysis of variance confirmed these differences could be explained by differences in weight. There were no sex differences in the nose/mouth width ratios or in any of the angles measured, suggesting that there may be little sex difference in shape. A slight degree of asymmetry in the faces of infants without cleft was detected. Conclusions Comparisons between noncleft controls and infants with cleft should take cognizance of normal age and sex variations in height and weight that occur among infants.
Exogenous dopamine reduces GABA receptor availability in the human brain

While it has recently been shown that dopamine release stimulates conscious self‐monitoring through the generation of gamma oscillations in medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex, and that the GABAergic system is effective in producing such oscillations, interaction of the two transmitter systems has not been demonstrated in humans. We here hypothesize that dopamine challenge stimulates the GABA system directly in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate region in the human brain.
Control of a Flywheel Energy Storage System for Power Smoothing in Wind Power Plants

This paper deals with the design and the experimental validation in scale-lab test benches of an energy management algorithm based on feedback control techniques for a flywheel energy storage device. The aim of the flywheel is to smooth the net power injected to the grid by a wind turbine or by a wind power plant. In particular, the objective is to compensate the power disturbances produced by the cycling torque disturbances of the wind turbines due to the airflow deviation through its tower section. This paper describes the control design, its tuning, as well as the description of the experimental setup, and the methods for the experimental validation of the proposed concepts. Results show that the fast wind power fluctuations can be mostly compensated through the flywheel support.
The Coping With Cyberbullying Questionnaire (CWCBQ): The development of a new measure.

Victims of cyberbullying report a number of undesirable outcomes regarding their well-being, especially those who are not able to successfully cope with cybervictimization. Research on coping with cyberbullying has identified a number of different coping strategies that seem to be differentially adaptive in cases of cybervictimization. However, knowledge regarding the effectiveness of these strategies is scarce. This scarcity is partially due to the lack of valid and reliable instruments for the assessment of coping strategies in the context of cybervictimization. The present study outlines the development of the Coping With Cyberbullying Questionnaire and tests of its reliability and construct validity over a total of five questionnaire development stages. The CWCBQ was developed in the context of a longitudinal study carried out in OPEN ACCESS
Co-Ingestion of Whey Protein with a Carbohydrate-Rich Breakfast Does Not Affect Glycemia, Insulinemia or Subjective Appetite Following a Subsequent Meal in Healthy Males

We aimed to assess postprandial metabolic and appetite responses to a mixed-macronutrient lunch following prior addition of whey protein to a carbohydrate-rich breakfast. Ten healthy males (age: 24 ± 1 years; body mass index (BMI): 24.5 ± 0.7 kg/m2) completed three trials in a non-isocaloric, crossover design. A carbohydrate-rich breakfast (93 g carbohydrate; 1799 kJ) was consumed with (CHO + WP) or without (CHO) 20 g whey protein isolate (373 kJ), or breakfast was omitted (NB). At 180 min, participants consumed a mixed-macronutrient lunch meal. Venous blood was sampled at 15 min intervals following each meal and every 30 min thereafter, while subjective appetite sensations were collected every 30 min throughout. Post-breakfast insulinemia was greater after CHO + WP (time-averaged area under the curve (AUC0–180 min): 193.1 ± 26.3 pmol/L), compared to CHO (154.7 ± 18.5 pmol/L) and NB (46.1 ± 8.0 pmol/L; p < 0.05), with no difference in post-breakfast (0–180 min) glycemia (CHO + WP, 3.8 ± 0.2 mmol/L; CHO, 4.2 ± 0.2 mmol/L; NB, 4.2 ± 0.1 mmol/L; p = 0.247). There were no post-lunch (0–180 min) effects of condition on glycemia (p = 0.492), insulinemia (p = 0.338) or subjective appetite (p > 0.05). Adding whey protein to a carbohydrate-rich breakfast enhanced the acute postprandial insulin response, without influencing metabolic or appetite responses following a subsequent mixed-macronutrient meal.
Causes and consequences of marine mammal population declines in southwest Alaska: a food-web perspective

Populations of sea otters, seals and sea lions have collapsed across much of southwest Alaska over the past several decades. The sea otter decline set off a trophic cascade in which the coastal marine ecosystem underwent a phase shift from kelp forests to deforested sea urchin barrens. This interaction in turn affected the distribution, abundance and productivity of numerous other species. Ecological consequences of the pinniped declines are largely unknown. Increased predation by transient (marine mammal-eating) killer whales probably caused the sea otter declines and may have caused the pinniped declines as well. Springer et al. proposed that killer whales, which purportedly fed extensively on great whales, expanded their diets to include a higher percentage of sea otters and pinnipeds following a sharp reduction in great whale numbers from post World War II industrial whaling. Critics of this hypothesis claim that great whales are not now and probably never were an important nutritional resource for killer whales. We used demographic/energetic analyses to evaluate whether or not a predator–prey system involving killer whales and the smaller marine mammals would be sustainable without some nutritional contribution from the great whales. Our results indicate that while such a system is possible, it could only exist under a narrow range of extreme conditions and is therefore highly unlikely.