Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Commensal Akkermansia muciniphila Exacerbates Gut Inflammation in Salmonella Typhimurium-Infected Gnotobiotic Mice

Excessive mucin degradation by intestinal bacteria may contribute to inflammatory bowel diseases because access of luminal antigens to the intestinal immune system is facilitated. This study investigated how the presence of a mucin degrading commensal bacterium affects the severity of an intestinal Salmonella enterica Typhimurium-induced gut inflammation. Using a gnotobiotic C3H mouse model with a background microbiota of eight bacterial species (SIHUMI) the impact of the mucin-degrading commensal bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila (SIHUMI-A) on inflammatory and infectious symptoms caused by S. Typhimurium was investigated. Presence of A. muciniphila in S. Typhimurium-infected SIHUMI mice caused significantly increased histopathology scores and elevated mRNA levels of IFN-γ, IP-10, TNF-α, IL-12, IL-17 and IL-6 in cecal and colonic tissue. The increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines was accompanied by 10-fold higher S. Typhimurium cell numbers in mesenteric lymph nodes of SIHUMI mice associated with A. muciniphila and S. Typhimurium (SIHUMI-AS) compared to SIHUMI mice with S. Typhimurium only (SIHUMI-S). The number of mucin filled goblet cells was 2- to 3- fold lower in cecal tissue of SIHUMI-AS mice compared to SIHUMI-S, SIHUMI-A or SIHUMI mice. Reduced goblet cell numbers significantly correlated with increased IFN-γ mRNA levels (r2 = −0.86, ***P<0.001) in all infected mice. In addition, loss of cecal mucin sulphation was observed in SIHUMI mice containing both A. muciniphila and S. Typhimurium compared to other mouse groups. Concomitant presence of A. muciniphila and S. Typhimurium resulted in a drastic change in microbiota composition of SIHUMI mice: the proportion of B. thetaiotaomicron in SIHUMI-AS mice was 0.02% of total bacteria compared to 78% – 88% in the other mouse groups and the proportion of S. Typhimurium was 94% in SIHUMI-AS mice but only 2.2% in the SIHUMI-S mice. These results indicate that A. muciniphila exacerbates S. Typhimurium-induced intestinal inflammation by its ability to disturb host mucus homeostasis.
Sequence-to-Sequence Models Can Directly Transcribe Foreign Speech

We present a recurrent encoder-decoder deep neural network architecture that directly translates speech in one language into text in another. The model does not explicitly transcribe the speech into text in the source language, nor does it require supervision from the ground truth source language transcription during training. We apply a slightly modiﬁed sequence-to-sequence with attention architecture that has previously been used for speech recognition and show that it can be repurposed for this more complex task, illustrating the power of attention-based models. A single model trained end-to-end obtains state-of-the-art performance on the Fisher Callhome Spanish-English speech translation task, outperforming a cascade of independently trained sequence-to-sequence speech recognition and machine translation models by 1.8 BLEU points on the Fisher test set. In addition, we ﬁnd that making use of the training data in both languages by multi-task training sequence-to-sequence speech translation and recognition models with a shared encoder network can improve performance by a further 1.4 BLEU points.
The lysyl oxidase inhibitor β-aminopropionitrile reduces body weight gain and improves the metabolic profile in diet-induced obesity in rats

ABSTRACT Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling of the adipose tissue plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of obesity. The lysyl oxidase (LOX) family of amine oxidases, including LOX and LOX-like (LOXL) isoenzymes, controls ECM maturation, and upregulation of LOX activity is essential in fibrosis; however, its involvement in adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity is unclear. In this study, we observed that LOX is the main isoenzyme expressed in human adipose tissue and that its expression is strongly upregulated in samples from obese individuals that had been referred to bariatric surgery. LOX expression was also induced in the adipose tissue from male Wistar rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Interestingly, treatment with β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN), a specific and irreversible inhibitor of LOX activity, attenuated the increase in body weight and fat mass that was observed in obese animals and shifted adipocyte size toward smaller adipocytes. BAPN also ameliorated the increase in collagen content that was observed in adipose tissue from obese animals and improved several metabolic parameters – it ameliorated glucose and insulin levels, decreased homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index and reduced plasma triglyceride levels. Furthermore, in white adipose tissue from obese animals, BAPN prevented the downregulation of adiponectin and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), as well as the increase in suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) levels, triggered by the HFD. Likewise, in the TNFα-induced insulin-resistant 3T3-L1 adipocyte model, BAPN prevented the downregulation of adiponectin and GLUT4 and the increase in SOCS3 levels, and consequently normalised insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Therefore, our data provide evidence that LOX plays a pathologically relevant role in the metabolic dysfunction induced by obesity and emphasise the interest of novel pharmacological interventions that target adipose tissue fibrosis and LOX activity for the clinical management of this disease. Highlighted Article: Lysyl oxidase (LOX) could play a role in the metabolic dysfunction induced by obesity, and consequently the inhibition of LOX activity could be a valuable strategy to ameliorate obesity-related metabolic disturbances.
[Comparison of lead concentration and isotope ratios in children's blood and hair].

OBJECTIVE To explore the characters of lead isotope ratios in children blood and hair, in order to obtain new data of the cumulated lead sources of human body. METHODS 28 children in Beijing area were randomly sampled to take blood and hair with a 1:1 sex ratio, half of them from the city and the others from the village. The lead concentrations and isotope ratios in the samples were then determined by ICP-MS. RESULTS Lead isotope ratios in blood had significant differences between the children living in the city and those in the village, while no lead isotope ratio differences in hair could be found between the children living in the two area. The lead isotope ratios in children blood were significantly different from those in children hair in both area, in the other words, the lead fingerprints were different between blood and hair. CONCLUSION (1) The concentrations of lead pollution of children were resemble between the city and village in Beijing, but the lead sources in the city and village might be different from each other. (2) Organs or tissues in human body might have its own mechanism to accumulate the lead isotopes. (3) It was necessary to study if the lead in hair could be used as a biomarker of lead source.
Reporting African countries in the Nigerian press: perspectives in international news

This paper examines the reporting of news about African countries with emphasis on quantity, quality and distribution in selected Nigerian newspapers. It also tries to find out the significance of the Commonwealth factor in the newspapers' reporting of foreign news. Major themes and directions of the news were also analysed. The findings indicate a clear reflection of Nigeria's foreign policy in the coverage of foreign news by the national newspapers. Africa is the most reported region compared to other regions of the world.
Field emission and strain engineering of electronic properties in boron nitride nanotubes

The electrical properties of boron nitride (BN) nanostructures, particularly BN nanotubes (NTs), have been studied less in comparison to the counterpart carbon nanotubes. The present work investigates the field emission (FE) behavior of BNNTs under multiple cycles of FE experiments and demonstrates a strain-engineering pathway to tune the electronic properties of BNNTs. The electrical probing of individual BNNTs were conducted inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM) using an in situ electrical holder capable of applying a bias voltage of up to 110 V. Our results indicate that in the first cycle a single BNNT can exhibit the current density of ∼1 mA cm−2 at 110 V and the turn-on voltage of 325 V μm−1. However, field emission properties reduced considerably in subsequent cycles. Real-time imaging revealed the structural degradation of individual BNNTs during FE experiments. The electromechanical measurements show that the conductivity of BNNTs can be tuned by means of mechanical straining. The resistance of individual BNNTs reduced from 2000 to 769 MΩ and the carrier concentration increased from 0.35 × 1017 to 1.1 × 1017 cm−3 by straining the samples up to 2.5%.
Increased MT 2-MMP expression in gastric cancer patients is associated with poor prognosis

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of proteolytic enzymes that contribute to tumorigenesis and metastasis due to their ability to degrade the extracellular matrix (ECM) and basement membrane. In despite of many reports in other solid tumors, the role of membrane type-2 MMP (MT2-MMP) in gastric cancer (GC) remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate MT2-MMP expression in human GC tissue microarray (TMA) samples using immunohistochemistry (IHC). We found that MT2-MMP expression in tumor tissues was significantly higher compared to peritumoral tissues (P < 0.01). However, there were no statistically significant differences between MT2-MMP expression and clinicopathological parameters. In addition, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis showed GC patients with high MT2-MMP expression have poor overall survival (OS) compared to patients with low MT2-MMP expression (P = 0.013, P = 0.040, respectively). In conclusion, MT2-MMP is involved in GC invasion and metastasis and may serve as an independent prognostic factor for GC patients.
Nurse case management and general practice: implications for GP consortia.

BACKGROUND Case management is widely promoted as a means of ensuring continuity of care, improving patient outcomes, and achieving efficient management of resources. Community matrons have been introduced recently as specialists in the case management of patients with multiple complex problems. AIM To understand how nurse case managers are seen by GPs and NHS managers. SETTING (1) Telephone interviews with 41 community nurse managers recruited from 10 English strategic health authorities and two Welsh health boards; (2) face-to-face interviews with 12 nurse case managers, 12 GPs and five NHS community service managers in three study sites with different population and practitioner characteristics. METHOD Semi-structured individual interviews, by telephone or face to face. RESULTS Attitudes among GPs to nurse case managers were shaped by perceptions of the quality of community nursing on the one hand and the perceived benefit of case management as a method of reducing hospital use on the other. The dominant mood was scepticism about the ability of nurse case managers to reduce hospital admissions. Community matrons were seen as staff who were imposed on local health services, sometimes to detrimental effect. CONCLUSION The introduction of case management and community matrons may disrupt existing communities of practice and be perceived negatively, at least in areas where good working relationships between nurses and GPs have developed. Commissioners should be aware of the potential resistance to changes in skill mix and role in nursing services, and promote innovation in ways that minimise disruption to functional communities of practice.
A template-free method for preparation of cobalt nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon nanofibers with a hierarchical pore structure for oxygen reduction.

Designing and preparing porous materials without using any templates is a challenge. Herein, single-nozzle electrospinning technology coupled with post pyrolysis is applied to prepare cobalt nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon nanofibers with a hierarchical pore structure (HP-Co-NCNFs). The resultant HP-Co-NCNFs have lengths up to several millimeters with an average diameter of 200 nm and possess abundant micro/meso/macropores on both the surface and within the fibers. Such a microstructure endows the surface area as high as 115 m(2) g(-1) . When used as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the HP-Co-NCNFs exhibit outstanding electrochemical performance in terms of activity, methanol tolerance, and durability. The hierarchically porous structure and high surface area can effectively decrease the mass transport resistance and increase the exposed ORR active sites. The sufficient amount of exposed ORR active sites along with accessible transport channel and enhanced electrical conductivity may be responsible for the good electrocatalytic performance.
Exploring citizens' intention to use e-government services: the role of cultural bias

E–government initiatives often face citizens' mistrust, particularly when they involve the collection and processing of personal data. In this paper, we present the results of an empirical study regarding citizens' intention to use a new service offered by the Greek Ministry of Finance, the so–called 'tax card'. Tax card is used to collect information about everyday purchases and aims to diminish tax avoidance. We have examined the strong influence of cultural bias on the formulation of citizens' intention to use and concluded that different cultural types of people should be addressed in different ways in order to achieve broad adoption of e–government services.
Factors Affecting Burnout and School Engagement among High School Students: Study Habits, Self- Efficacy Beliefs, and Academic Success

This study examines high school students' levels of burnout and school engagement with respect to academic success, study habits, and self-efficacy beliefs. The data were gathered during the 2011-2012 school year from 633 students attending six high schools located in Ankara, Turkey. The analyses were conducted on responses from 605 students. The research methods included the Personal Information Form comprising items about students' demographic characteristics, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Form, the Utrecht School Engagement Scale, the Study Habits Inventory, and the Scale for Self-Efficacy Expectations among Adolescents. The data were analyzed with multivariate analysis of variance. The results suggested that students with low self-efficacy beliefs had higher burnout levels. In addition, students with inadequate study skills and those with low self-efficacy beliefs were at higher risk of losing their beliefs. Another finding was that students with high academic success also had high self-efficacy. Unexpectedly, students with inadequate study skills and low self-efficacy beliefs were found to have high self-efficacy. Students with adequate study skills and high self- efficacy beliefs also had high school engagement levels. The study findings were discussed in relation to the literature and interpreted. Based on the interpretations, recommendations were made to school counselors and researchers.
LXC Container Migration in Cloudlets under Multipath TCP

The growing popularity of mobile devices and Internet of Things (IoT) has inspired the advent of the Cloudlet concept—a "small data center" close to users at the edge. It is believed that the Quality of Experience (QoE) of end users would greatly improve if they can access required resources within a one-hop distance from Cloudlet servers. Over the years, many researchers have proposed using virtual machines (VMs) as such service-provisioning servers. However, seeing the potentiality of containers—a lightweight virtualization tool, this paper adopts LXC containers as Cloudlet platforms. To facilitate container migration between Cloudlets, CRIU (Checkpoint/Restore in Userspace) has been chosen as the migration tool. Since the migration process goes through the Wide Area Network (WAN), which may experience congestion or network failures, this paper adopts the MPTCP (Multipath TCP) protocol to address the challenge. The multiple subflows established within a MPTCP connection can improve the resilience of the migration process and reduce migration time. We have conducted a number of experiments to validate the proposed approach. The experimental results show that LXC containers are suitable candidates for the problem and MPTCP protocol is effective in enhancing the migration process.
Analysis of the lipid content and the motility of human sperm after follicular fluid treatment *

Summary The effect of human follicular fluid (hFF) on the cholesterol and phospholipid content and the movement characteristics of human spermatozoa were studied. Semen was selected by a discontinuous Percoll gradient and incubated during in vitro capacitating conditions with B2 medium supplemented with hFF 20%. Percoll pelleted spermatozoa were incubated in either B2 (B2‐Percoll) or B2 supplemented with hFF (hFF‐Percoll). In hFF‐Percoll, we observed a time‐dependent (24 h) decrease in both the cholesterol and phospholipid contents (cholesterol: 10.1 vs. 8.7 nmol 10‐7 spermatozoa; phospholipids: 17.5 vs. 15.7 nmol 10‐7 spermatozoa, P < 0.05). This decrease in cholesterol and phospholipids in human spermatozoa was concomitant with a high straight line velocity, a high progressive motility percentage and an increased value of lateral head displacement without any significant alteration of the spermatozoal membrane. No modification of the cholesterol: phospholipid ratio after 2 and 24 h of incubation in either B2‐Percoll (0.61, 0.54) in hFF‐Percoll (0.59, 0.63) was observed when compared with original control semen. It is suggested that the decrease in cholesterol and phospholipids in hFF‐Percoll may be taken into account for the changes of membrane modification as part of the capacitation process.
Candidate Appraisal and Human Nature: Man and Superman in the 1984 Election

In this paper, we develop a theory about how people assess political candidates in order to arrive at a basic like or dislike judgment for each candidate. We argue that in deciding whether to like or dislike candidates, voters emphasize both the candidates' personal qualities and the unique nature of the campaign environment. Since initial impressions of presidential candidates are formed before voters make direct comparisons for the general election, voters may compare their images of candidates with their intuitive ideas about "human nature" or "most people. " In arriving at candidate evaluations, then, voters might rely on a "superman" standard, expecting their political leaders to rise above human nature. Alternatively, they might rely on an "everyman" standard, expecting their leaders to be as representative or typical as possible. Using data from the 1984 presidential election, we find that although the superman model fits the data better, the everyman model has some impact, particularly on feelings toward Reagan. This may explain, in part, the often-noted bias in favor of the incumbent.
Decision Support for Perceived Threat in the Context of Intrustion Detection Systems

The objective of this research is to propose a novel approach for using a behavioral biometric known as keystroke analysis, to facilitate decision making in the context of an intrusion detection system (IDS). Regardless of the situation, individuals have a specific baseline or disposition to decision making based on two psychological factors: (1) indecisiveness, and (2) intolerance of uncertainty. The IDS provides a probability of intrusion and a set of objective situational characteristics. We propose a decision support system that allows the decision maker to state a level of perceived threat and to vary the security thresholds that determines the false acceptance rates of the IDS. Our hypothesis is that perceived threat depends not only on the keystroke technology but also on the social context and disposition toward decision making of the user. This research tests this hypothesis and provides guidance in the design of better security systems.
Learning Representations of Animated Motion Sequences - A Neural Model

The detection and categorization of animate motions is a crucial task underlying social interaction and perceptual decision making. Neural representations of perceived animate objects are partially located in the primate cortical region STS, which is a region that receives convergent input from intermediate-level form and motion representations. Populations of STS cells exist which are selectively responsive to specific animated motion sequences, such as walkers. It is still unclear how and to what extent form and motion information contribute to the generation of such representations and what kind of mechanisms are involved in the learning processes. The article develops a cortical model architecture for the unsupervised learning of animated motion sequence representations. We demonstrate how the model automatically selects significant motion patterns as well as meaningful static form prototypes characterized by a high degree of articulation. Such key poses are selectively reinforced during learning through a cross talk between the motion and form processing streams. Furthermore, we show how sequence-selective representations are learned in STS by fusing static form and motion input from the segregated bottom-up driving input streams. Cells in STS, in turn, feed their activities recurrently to their input sites along top-down signal pathways. We show how such learned feedback connections enable predictions about future input as anticipation generated by sequence-selective STS cells. Network simulations demonstrate the computational capacity of the proposed model by reproducing several experimental findings from neurosciences and by accounting for recent behavioral data.
Understanding Impulsive Eaters' Choice Behaviors: The Motivational Influences of Regulatory Focus

This research attempts to understand the mechanism underlying the choice behavior of impulsive eaters. The authors propose a process according to which impulsive eaters (versus nonimpulsive eaters) spontaneously develop a promotion focus on exposure to hedonically tempting food, such as chocolate cake; their subsequent decision to consume the food is guided by this promotion orientation. Furthermore, the evoked promotion focus also influences subsequent choices in completely unrelated domains. A set of six experiments provides support for this mechanism and also examines its implications with regard to different ways of correcting impulsive eating behavior.
On the Evolution of the Firm Size Distribution: Facts and Theory

Using a comprehensive data set of Portuguese manufacturing firms, we show that the firm size distribution is significantly right-skewed, evolving over time toward a log-normal distribution. We also show that selection accounts for very little of this evolution. Instead, we propose a simple theory based on financing constraint. A calibrated version of our model does a good job at explaining the evolution of the firm size distribution.