Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The feasibility of implementing food-based dietary guidelines in the South African primary-school curriculum

Abstract Objective To explore the perceptions of educators from the Western Cape Province about the feasibility of implementing South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) in the national curriculum of primary schools. Design Combined quantitative and qualitative methods. We report on the quantitative component. Setting Twelve public primary schools of different socio-economic status in three education districts of the Western Cape: Metro Central, Metro East and Cape Winelands. Subjects Educators (n 256) participated in the self-completed questionnaire survey. Results Educators assessed that FBDG were appropriate to South African schoolchildren (94%), could be used as an education tool (97%) and fill gaps in the current curriculum about healthy dietary habits (91%). Besides Life Orientation, FBDG could be taught in other learning areas from grades 3 to 7 (9–13 years old). Important barriers to implementing FBDG in the curriculum were educators’ workload (61%), insufficient time (46%), learners’ disadvantaged background (43%) and educators’ lack of knowledge (33%). Other approaches to teach children about FBDG included linking these to the National School Nutrition Programme (82%), school tuck shops (79%), parent meetings (75%), school nutrition policy (73%) and school assembly (57%). Educators in high-income schools perceived that learners’ lifestyle was significantly worse (P < 0·001) and that tuck shops and the school assembly were the best means to teach pupils about FBDG (P < 0·001 and P < 0·05). Conclusions Implementing FBDG in the national school curriculum is seen as important together with optimizing the school physical environment. Key factors required for successful implementation in the curriculum are sufficient educational materials, adequate time allocation and appropriate educator training.
Clinical evaluation of pramipexole in advanced Parkinson's disease: Results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study

We compared the efficacy, safety, an tolerability of pramipexole, an aminobenzathiazol-derived dopamine agonist with novel properties, with those of placebo in advanced PD patients with motor fluctuations under levodopa treatment. Pramipexole improved motor function of patients during "on" and"off" periods, decreased the time spent in "off" periods, reduced the severity of "off" periods, decreased disability and PD severity during "on" and "off" periods, as assessed by the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale, and permitted a reduction in levodopa dosage. Adverse effects related to the central nervous system were similar to those reported with other dopamine agonists, and the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular tolerability of the compound was satisfactory.
Heterogeneous Host Susceptibility Enhances Prevalence of Mixed-Genotype Micro-Parasite Infections

Dose response in micro-parasite infections is usually shallower than predicted by the independent action model, which assumes that each infectious unit has a probability of infection that is independent of the presence of other infectious units. Moreover, the prevalence of mixed-genotype infections was greater than predicted by this model. No probabilistic infection model has been proposed to account for the higher prevalence of mixed-genotype infections. We use model selection within a set of four alternative models to explain high prevalence of mixed-genotype infections in combination with a shallow dose response. These models contrast dependent versus independent action of micro-parasite infectious units, and homogeneous versus heterogeneous host susceptibility. We specifically consider a situation in which genome differences between genotypes are minimal, and highly unlikely to result in genotype-genotype interactions. Data on dose response and mixed-genotype infection prevalence were collected by challenging fifth instar Spodoptera exigua larvae with two genotypes of Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV), differing only in a 100 bp PCR marker sequence. We show that an independent action model that includes heterogeneity in host susceptibility can explain both the shallow dose response and the high prevalence of mixed-genotype infections. Theoretical results indicate that variation in host susceptibility is inextricably linked to increased prevalence of mixed-genotype infections. We have shown, to our knowledge for the first time, how heterogeneity in host susceptibility affects mixed-genotype infection prevalence. No evidence was found that virions operate dependently. While it has been recognized that heterogeneity in host susceptibility must be included in models of micro-parasite transmission and epidemiology to account for dose response, here we show that heterogeneity in susceptibility is also a fundamental principle explaining patterns of pathogen genetic diversity among hosts in a population. This principle has potentially wide implications for the monitoring, modeling and management of infectious diseases.
Domain Generalization via Invariant Feature Representation

This paper investigates domain generalization: How to take knowledge acquired from an arbitrary number of related domains and apply it to previously unseen domains? We propose Domain-Invariant Component Analysis (DICA), a kernel-based optimization algorithm that learns an invariant transformation by minimizing the dissimilarity across domains, whilst preserving the functional relationship between input and output variables. A learning-theoretic analysis shows that reducing dissimilarity improves the expected generalization ability of classifiers on new domains, motivating the proposed algorithm. Experimental results on synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate that DICA successfully learns invariant features and improves classifier performance in practice.
Acoustic correlates of Politeness: prosodic and voice quality measures in Polite and informal speech of Korean and German speakers

This paper investigates phonetic and prosodic features of polite versus informal speech. Two different communicative tasks were performed by speakers of two unrelated and culturally distant languages, Korean and German. We found that the polite speech of Korean speakers can be characterized by an increase of filled pauses and extralinguistic markers, a higher degree of breathiness, as well as lower measures of average fundamental frequency, intensity, period perturbation and amplitude perturbation. We also found that German polite speech shares similar tendencies. The parameters studied seem to contradict previously claimed universals about polite speech.
Interleukin‐30: A novel antiinflammatory cytokine candidate for prevention and treatment of inflammatory cytokine‐induced liver injury

The liver is the major metabolic organ and is subjected to constant attacks from chronic viral infection, uptake of therapeutic drugs, life behavior (alcoholic), and environmental contaminants, all of which result in chronic inflammation, fibrosis, and, ultimately, cancer. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover effective therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of liver injury, the ideal drug being a naturally occurring biological inhibitor. Here we establish the role of IL30 as a potent antiinflammatory cytokine that can inhibit inflammation‐induced liver injury. In contrast, interleukin (IL)27, which contains IL30 as a subunit, is not hepatoprotective. Interestingly, IL30 is induced by the proinflammatory signal such as IL12 through interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) / signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 signaling. In animal models, administration of IL30 by way of a gene therapy approach prevents and treats both IL12‐, IFN‐γ‐, and concanavalin A‐induced liver toxicity. Likewise, immunohistochemistry analysis of human tissue samples revealed that IL30 is highly expressed in hepatocytes, yet barely expressed in inflammation‐induced tissue such as fibrous/connective tissue. Conclusion: These novel observations reveal a novel role of IL30 as a therapeutic cytokine that suppresses proinflammatory cytokine‐associated liver toxicity. (Hepatology 2012)
Phase Transitions in Least-Effort Communications 3 local minima

We critically examine a model that attempts to explain emergence of power laws (e.g., Zipf’s law) in human language. The model is based on the principle of least effort in communications — specifically, the overall effort is balanced between the speaker effort and listener effort, with some trade-off. It has been shown that an information-theoretic interpretation of this principle is sufficiently rich to explain emergence of Zipf’s law in the vicinity of the transition between referentially useless systems (one signal for all referable objects) and indexical reference systems (one signal per object). The phase transition is defined in the space of communication accuracy (information content) expressed in terms of the trade-off parameter. Our study explicitly solves the continuous optimisation problem, subsuming a recent, more specific result obtained within a discrete space. The obtained results contrast Zipf’s law found by heuristic search (that attained only local minima) in the vicinity of the transition between referentially useless systems and indexical reference systems, with an inverse-factorial (sub-logarithmic) law found at the transition that corresponds to global minima. The inverse-factorial law is observed to be the most representative frequency distribution among optimal solutions. Phase Transitions in Least-Effort Communications 2
Dielectric Probing of Relaxation Behaviors in PMMA/Organoclay Nanocomposites: Effect of Organic Modification

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)–clay nanocomposites (PCN) were prepared with PMMA/clay concentrates and POP-diamines modified clay via melt blending. Partially exfoliated clay layers were uniformly dispersed in the nanocomposites as evidenced from XRD study. The subglassβ relaxation and the segmental α relaxation were observed from the dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). The PCNs at 5 wt% clay level from clay concentrate exhibited significantly higher glass-transition temperatures and dynamic storage moduli relative to the neat PMMA. The confinement effect from the tethering of polymer chain to the clay surface would contribute to such a dramatic difference. In addition to the normal-mode relaxations, the αβ-merging process above T g and the subglass interfacial polarization were detected from the dielectric analysis. Significant increase in dielectric permittivities and dielectric losses due to interfacial polarization and ionic conduction at low frequency were observed for the PCNs. The intensity of the interfacial polarization process increases with the dispersion degree of clay layers and hence the process can be assigned to the space charge polarization of the ionic species in the clay intergalleries.
High density lipoprotein reverses inhibitory effect of oxidized low density lipoprotein on endothelium-dependent arterial relaxation.

We have recently reported that oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) inhibits endothelium-dependent arterial relaxation through its increased lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). In this study we examined whether high density lipoprotein (HDL) has any effect on the inhibition of endothelium-dependent relaxation by ox-LDL in isolated strips of rabbit thoracic aorta. Both low density lipoprotein (LDL) and HDL were isolated from normal human plasma, and LDL was oxidized by exposure to copper. Preincubation of arterial strips with ox-LDL (0.1-0.5 mg protein/ml) inhibited endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine (ACh) in a concentration-dependent manner. HDL (1 mg protein/ml) by itself had no effect on the relaxation to ACh. In the presence of HDL, the inhibition by ox-LDL was markedly reduced. Although synthetic L-alpha-palmitoyl LPC (5 micrograms/ml) completely abolished a relaxation to ACh, the preincubation of arterial strips with HDL completely prevented the LPC-induced inhibition. Moreover, a relaxation to ACh was almost completely recovered when the strips were washed with buffer containing HDL even after LPC-induced inhibition had occurred. HDL markedly reduced the incorporation of [1-14C]palmitate-labeled LPC ([14C]LPC) into cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells and promoted the release of cell-incorporated [14C]LPC into the medium, resulting in a reduction of the remaining [14C]LPC in the cells. Agarose electrophoresis after incubation of a mixture of ox-LDL labeled with [14C]LPC and unlabeled HDL demonstrated a transfer of [14C]LPC from ox-LDL to HDL. These results indicate that HDL reverses the ox-LDL-induced impairment of endothelium-dependent relaxation by removing LPC from ox-LDL and preventing LPC from acting on the endothelium. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Superabsorbent polymers in cementitious composites

Construction industry like any other areas of economic and social life undergoes a continuous modifications and improvements in order to successfully comply with the requirements of sustainable development. Consumers demand more durable, less labour and service intensive materials at a competitive price. To meet these expectations various types of modifications of concrete has been proposed. One of the promising solutions is modification of concrete by Superabsorbent Polymers (SAP). This paper presents the review of the recent developments in the area of SAP modified cementitious composites.
The First Example of a Polymer‐Crystal–Organic‐Dye Composite Material: The Clathrate Phase of Syndiotactic Polystyrene with Azulene

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On the Universality of Jordan Centers for Estimating Infection Sources in Tree Networks

Finding the infection sources in a network when we only know the network topology and infected nodes, but not the rates of infection, is a challenging combinatorial problem, and it is even more difficult in practice where the underlying infection spreading model is usually unknown <italic>a priori</italic>. In this paper, we are interested in finding a source estimator that is applicable to various spreading models, including the susceptible–infected (SI), susceptible–infected–recovered (SIR), susceptible–infected–recovered–infected (SIRI), and susceptible–infected–susceptible (SIS) models. We show that under the SI, SIR, and SIRI spreading models and with mild technical assumptions, the Jordan center is the infection source associated with the most likely infection path in a tree network with a single infection source. This conclusion applies for a wide range of spreading parameters, while it holds for regular trees under the SIS model with homogeneous infection and recovery rates. Since the Jordan center does not depend on the infection, recovery, and reinfection rates, it can be regarded as a <italic>universal</italic> source estimator. We also consider the case where there are <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k>1$ </tex-math></inline-formula> infection sources, generalize the Jordan center definition to a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-Jordan center set, and show that this is an optimal infection source set estimator in a tree network for the SI model. Simulation results on various general synthetic networks and real-world networks suggest that Jordan center-based estimators consistently outperform the betweenness, closeness, distance, degree, eigenvector, and pagerank centrality-based heuristics, even if the network is not a tree.
Cross-talk modulation between ABA and ethylene by transcription factor SlZFP2 during fruit development and ripening in tomato

The stress hormone ABA not only regulates stress response, but is also required for plant development and growth. Some evidences indicate that ABA plays a pivotal role in the ripening process of non climacteric as well as climacteric fruits. In a recent study, we showed that the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) transcription factor SlZFP2 fine tunes ABA biosynthesis during fruit development through direct suppression of ABA biosynthetic genes and it also regulates fruit ripening through transcriptional suppression of the ripening regulator CNR. This indicates that SlZFP2 likely modulates the cross-talk between ABA and ethylene in regulation of fruit development and ripening in tomato. Gene expression analysis using ABA deficient mutants sit and flc as well as the SlZFP2 RNAi lines of high fruit ABA production showed that ethylene biosynthetic genes LeACS1A, LeACS1 and LeACO1 were positively regulated by ABA during early fruit growth. We reason that ABA promotes basal ethylene biosynthesis in system 1 during fruit growth and likely plays a minor role in ripening regulation after the onset of ripening process.
Air quality in Rijeka, Croatia

In this paper, the hourly mean ambient concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), benzene (C6H6) and particulate matter (PM10) measured over the last 4.5 years at the two urban sites in Rijeka are analyzed. The first site is located in the center of the town, whereas the other is located in the southeastern part, closer to the industrial zone of Rijeka. The site in the center of Rijeka is subject to heavy vehicular traffic, thus exhibiting substantially higher NO2, CO and PM10 concentrations; however, the other site is characterized by much higher SO2 concentration. The diurnal and annual variations in pollutant concentrations reflect the effects of both human activity and periodic variations in meteorological conditions, whereas average weekly variations differ as per the anthropogenic emissions. Finally, in accordance with the trend of decreasing pollutant concentrations since the mid-1980s, SO2 concentrations decreased at both the sites, whereas NO2 concentration decreased at the site closer to the industrial area of Rijeka.
A New Bayesian Time-Predictable Modeling of 1 Eruption Occurrences and Forecasting : Application to 2 Mt Etna volcano and Kilauea volcano

10 In this paper we propose a model to forecast eruptions in a real for11 ward perspective. Specifically, the model provides a forecast of the next 12 eruption after the end of the last one, using only the data available up to 13 that time. We focus our attention on volcanoes with open conduit regime 14 and high eruption frequency. We assume a generalization of the classical 15 time predictable model to describe the eruptive behavior of open conduit 16 volcanoes and we use a Bayesian hierarchical model to make probabilistic 17 forecasts. We apply the model to Kilauea volcano eruptive data and Mount 18 Etna volcano flank eruption data. 19 The aims of the proposed model are: 1) to test whether or not the 20 Kilauea and Mount Etna volcanoes follow a time predictable behavior; 2) 21 to discuss the volcanological implications of the time predictable model 22 parameters inferred; 3) to compare the forecast capabilities of this model 23 with other models present in literature. The results obtained using the 24 MCMC sampling algorithm show that both volcanoes follow a time pre25
Testing Media Richness Theory in the New Media: The Effects of Cues, Feedback, and Task Equivocality

Media richness theory argues that performance improves when team members use "richer" media for equivocal tasks. This experiment studied the effects of media richness on decision making in two-person teams using "new media" (i.e., computer-mediated and video communication). Media richness was varied based on multiplicity of cues and immediacy of feedback. Subjects perceived differences in richness due to both cues and feedback, but matching richness to task equivocality did not improve decision quality, decision time, consensus change, or communication satisfaction. Use of media providing fewer cues (i.e., computer mediated communication) led to slower decisions and more so for the less equivocal task. In short, the results found no support for the central proposition of media richness theory; matching media richness to task equivocality did not improve performance.
Motion planning for smooth pickup of moving objects

Kinematic planning for robotic arms has been shown to be capable of planning for robust manipulation of static objects. However, this approach falls short when manipulating moving objects such as picking up a jar off of a conveyor belt at a bottling plant. The challenge in carefully picking up moving objects is that these actions require motions that do not involve large decelerations, to avoid jerking the object, as well as figuring out the proper time in which the object can be picked up. We present a search-based kinodynamic motion planning algorithm that generates a time-parameterized trajectory for both the arm and end-effector, capable of carefully picking up the object at the earliest feasible point in its trajectory. To combat the high-dimensionality of the time-parameterized kinodynamic planning problem, our approach employs informative heuristics and adaptive dynamic motion primitives. To validate our approach, we used a 7DOF manipulator on Willow Garage's PR2 robot to pickup objects off of a conveyor belt. We also provide a detailed set of results that demonstrate the planner's ability to generate consistent, low cost trajectories for manipulation.
Iron Biofortification and Homeostasis in Transgenic Cassava Roots Expressing the Algal Iron Assimilatory Gene, FEA1

We have engineered the tropical root crop cassava (Manihot esculenta) to express the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii iron assimilatory gene, FEA1, in its storage roots with the objective of enhancing the root nutritional qualities. Iron levels in mature cassava storage roots were increased from 10 to 36 ppm in the highest iron accumulating transgenic lines. These iron levels are sufficient to meet the minimum daily requirement for iron in a 500 g meal. Significantly, the expression of the FEA1 gene in storage roots did not alter iron levels in leaves. Transgenic plants also had normal levels of zinc in leaves and roots consistent with the specific uptake of ferrous iron mediated by the FEA1 protein. Relative to wild-type plants, fibrous roots of FEA1 expressing plants had reduced Fe (III) chelate reductase activity consistent with the more efficient uptake of iron in the transgenic plants. We also show that multiple cassava genes involved in iron homeostasis have altered tissue-specific patterns of expression in leaves, stems, and roots of transgenic plants consistent with increased iron sink strength in transgenic roots. These results are discussed in terms of strategies for the iron biofortification of plants.