Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lean Healthy Children with Short Stature Have Distinct Eating Patterns

Nutrition plays an essential role in normal linear growth in children. Knowledge of the eating styles and dietary consumption of healthy short children from developed countries is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the dietary patterns in idiopathic short stature (ISS) and relatively low weight children compared to children with normal stature and weight. This research is a case-control study of 86 pre-pubertal healthy children, mean age 5.9 ± 1.5 years. The study group comprised 43 ISS children; 43 age-matched children with normal stature and weight served as controls. Outcome measures included: dietary patterns and physical activity. The absolute daily average energy, protein and carbohydrate intake was significantly lower in the ISS children (P < 0.05); after correcting for body surface area, no significant differences were found between groups. Intake of micronutrients calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin C, expressed as percentage from Recommended Dietary Allowance, was significantly lower in the ISS children (P < 0.05), who had lower food responsiveness, higher satiety responsiveness, lesser enjoyment of food and were slower eaters (P < 0.001). Physical activity was sedentary in both the ISS cases and controls. Our findings in healthy, pre-pubertal, relatively lean ISS children point to a distinct eating pattern with no alteration in physical activity. Understanding the differences in dietary intake and eating behaviors may be beneficial in the development of targeted nutritional intervention for lean ISS children.
The role of L-type voltage gated calcium channels and psychiatric risk gene CACNA1C in associative learning

CACNA1C codes for the alpha-1 subunit of Cav1.2 L-type voltage gated calcium channels (LVGCCs). Variation in CACNA1C has been reliably implicated in psychiatric illness, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Analyses have indicated a convergence of genetic risk for schizophrenia on abnormalities in the synapse and in behaviours including associative learning. LVGCCs play a role in synaptic plasticity and learning, partly through regulation of gene transcription. Their role in specific aspects of associative learning that are relevant for symptoms of psychiatric illness is yet to be fully elucidated. A hippocampal-dependent fear conditioning paradigm was used to determine the role of Cacna1c and LVGCCs in specific aspects of associative learning in rats. Studies measured the activity-regulated expression of Cacna1c and the effect of inhibition of LVGCCs. A genetic Cacna1c knockdown rat model was used to investigate the effects of reduced expression on behaviour and the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This model was additionally tested on reward-based reversal-learning. Analyses were translated to humans, to assess whether disease relevant variation in CACNA1C was associated with similar deficits in reversal learning and expression. Inhibition of LVGCCs affected the consolidation, extinction and latent inhibition of contextual fear memory, whereas reduced expression of Cacan1c had a selective effect on latent inhibition. There were no effects on the acquisition of reward associations, but reversal learning was impaired. Similar deficits in reversal learning were associated with disease relevant variation in CACNA1C in humans. Reduced CACNA1C expression was found to be associated with changes in the expression of BDNF in both rats and humans. Results indicate a role for Cacna1c and LVGCCs in the appropriate formation and update of aversive and reward associations. Impairments in these processes can underlie specific symptoms of disease including emotion dysregulation and delusions. The cross-species effects on BDNF require further investigation.
Comparing single-unit recordings taken from a localist model to single-cell recording data: a good match*

ABSTRACT Single-cell recording studies show that some neurons respond to complex visual information (e.g. words, objects, faces) in a highly selective manner, with individual neurons responding to about 0.5% of presented images. Such data have often been taken as inconsistent with “grandmother cell” theories as well as with localist models in psychology. In particular, it is commonly assumed that units in localist models respond to only one input, resulting in greater levels of selectivity than seen in single-cell results. To test this assumption, we recorded unit activity from a localist model of word identification. Our results show that the model can capture the levels of selectivity reported in neuroscience. Accordingly, single-cell data do not rule out localist coding schemes. We propose that the term grandmother cell should be reserved for the hypothesis that the brain implements localist representations: neurons that represent one and only one thing but respond to multiple things.
Mapping of balanced chromosome translocation breakpoints to the basepair level from microdissected chromosomes

The analysis of structural variants associated with specific phenotypic features is promising for the elucidation of the function of involved genes. There is, however, at present no approach allowing the rapid mapping of chromosomal translocation breakpoints to the basepair level from a single chromosome. Here we demonstrate that we have advanced both the microdissection and the subsequent unbiased amplification to an extent that breakpoint mapping to the basepair level has become possible. As a case in point we analysed the two breakpoints of a t(7;13) translocation observed in a patient with split hand/foot malformation (SHFM1). The amplification products of the der(7) and of the der(13) were hybridized to custom‐made arrays, enabling us to define primers at flanking breakpoint regions and thus to fine‐map the breakpoints to the basepair level. Consequently, our results will also contribute to a further delineation of causative mechanisms underlying SHFM1 which are currently unknown.
Chaperone-mediated coupling of endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial Ca2+ channels

The voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) of the outer mitochondrial membrane mediates metabolic flow, Ca2+, and cell death signaling between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondrial networks. We demonstrate that VDAC1 is physically linked to the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-release channel inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) through the molecular chaperone glucose-regulated protein 75 (grp75). Functional interaction between the channels was shown by the recombinant expression of the ligand-binding domain of the IP3R on the ER or mitochondrial surface, which directly enhanced Ca2+ accumulation in mitochondria. Knockdown of grp75 abolished the stimulatory effect, highlighting chaperone-mediated conformational coupling between the IP3R and the mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake machinery. Because organelle Ca2+ homeostasis influences fundamentally cellular functions and death signaling, the central location of grp75 may represent an important control point of cell fate and pathogenesis.
Blind and Semi-Blind Deblurring of Natural Images

A method for blind image deblurring is presented. The method only makes weak assumptions about the blurring filter and is able to undo a wide variety of blurring degradations. To overcome the ill-posedness of the blind image deblurring problem, the method includes a learning technique which initially focuses on the main edges of the image and gradually takes details into account. A new image prior, which includes a new edge detector, is used. The method is able to handle unconstrained blurs, but also allows the use of constraints or of prior information on the blurring filter, as well as the use of filters defined in a parametric manner. Furthermore, it works in both single-frame and multiframe scenarios. The use of constrained blur models appropriate to the problem at hand, and/or of multiframe scenarios, generally improves the deblurring results. Tests performed on monochrome and color images, with various synthetic and real-life degradations, without and with noise, in single-frame and multiframe scenarios, showed good results, both in subjective terms and in terms of the increase of signal to noise ratio (ISNR) measure. In comparisons with other state of the art methods, our method yields better results, and shows to be applicable to a much wider range of blurs.
Solid Waste Management for Sustainable Development and Public health: A Case Study of Lagos State in Nigeria

Public health is a fundamental requirement to human existence. Waste is directly linked to human development, both technologically and socially, some components of waste have economical value and can be recycled once correctly recovered. Effects of poor environmental hygiene on public health were studied in the precarious living quarters of Lagos state in Nigeria. This study examined the waste management; identified the challenges facing its operation; proffered possible solutions necessary for the growth of the waste market, and also the need to harness the inherent economic and environmental benefits. Data collected in various centers in the town on cases of morbidity, revealed that malaria is much contracted by populations with 58% cases against 14% for diarrhea and 28% for acute respiratory infections. Under-five children are much affected with 24% of the patients among which 43% were cases of the diarrheic diseases. Also, malaria and respiratory infections are more important during rainy seasons, in contrast to diarrheal diseases caused by poor hygiene of people. It has been ascertained that the level of education affects the public health. The concept transformation of waste from an exhausted utility to a valuable commodity as a mechanism for effective solid waste management is yet to be properly utilized in Lagos State.
Low-Turnover Drug Molecules: A Current Challenge for Drug Metabolism Scientists

In vitro assays using liver subcellular fractions or suspended hepatocytes for characterizing the metabolism of drug candidates play an integral role in the optimization strategy employed by medicinal chemists. However, conventional in vitro assays have limitations in their ability to predict clearance and generate metabolites for low-turnover (slowly metabolized) drug molecules. Due to a rapid loss in the activity of the drug-metabolizing enzymes, in vitro incubations are typically performed for a maximum of 1 hour with liver microsomes to 4 hours with suspended hepatocytes. Such incubations are insufficient to generate a robust metabolic response for compounds that are slowly metabolized. Thus, the challenge of accurately estimating low human clearance with confidence has emerged to be among the top challenges that drug metabolism scientists are confronted with today. In response, investigators have evaluated novel methodologies to extend incubation times and more sufficiently measure metabolism of low-turnover drugs. These methods include plated human hepatocytes in monoculture, and a novel in vitro methodology using a relay of sequential incubations with suspended cryopreserved hepatocytes. In addition, more complex in vitro cellular models, such as HepatoPac (Hepregen, Medford, MA), a micropatterned hepatocyte-fibroblast coculture system, and the HµREL (Beverley Hills, CA) hepatic coculture system, have been developed and characterized that demonstrate prolonged enzyme activity. In this review, the advantages and disadvantages of each of these in vitro methodologies as it relates to the prediction of clearance and metabolite identification will be described in an effort to provide drug metabolism scientists with the most up-to-date experimental options for dealing with the complex issue of low-turnover drug candidates.
The Griffiths Scales of Mental development: an evaluation of their prediction of scholastic achievement

Since the introduction of the Griffiths Scales of Mental Development to South Africa, extensive research has been conducted in both clinical and educational settings. The aim of this study was to establish how accurately Grade I performance can be predicted from: (a) the General Quotient (GQ) of the Griffiths Scales and (b) the Subquotients (SQs) of the six Griffiths Subscales. The sample comprised 124 urban preschool children. The subject variables of gender, cultural group and socio-economic status were controlled. A correlational method was employed with scholastic performance in Grade I as the criterion variable, whilst the predictor variables were the GQ and the SQs. The findings indicated that the Griffiths Scales correlated significantly with scholastic performance. Furthermore, it could be concluded that predicting Grade 1 1 scholastic performance and hence its classification could be obtained with a relative degree of accuracy.
Report in Redundant Systems

Redundancy is a fundamental feature of biological motor systems. For example, when touching an object, many different combinations of movements of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and finger joints result in the same movement at the fingertip [1]. Exploiting this redundancy, the motor system distributes work across effectors to minimize signal-dependent noise and effort [2–4]. When an error occurs, however, the motor system must assign the error to specific effectors, even though it may be ambiguous which effector caused them. Here, we studied the principles of responsibility assignment by using a bimanual task, in which the left and right hands jointly moved a visual cursor. We found that participants assigned errors, which were induced by visual rotation of the cursor, in a unified manner for correction and adaptation; the hand that corrected more for the error within the current movement also showed a bigger adaptive change in the next movement. Righthanded participants corrected errors more with their left hands, even though they corrected faster with their right hands in nonredundant tasks. Further experiments show that the motor system assigns responsibility preferentially to the hand that was previously exposed to larger errors. Our results show that responsibility assignment is a flexible process that attributes errors to the most likely cause.
Nature-Based Child-Centered Group Play Therapy and Behavioral Concerns: A Single-Case Design

In this study, the researchers used a single-case design to examine the effectiveness of nature-based child-centered group play therapy (NBCCGPT) with early elementary schoolchildren (N = 5) exhibiting behavioral problems. Children were randomly assigned to either a treatment or wait-list group. The treatment group participants (n = 3) demonstrated improvements ranging from debatable to effective with increasing on-task behavior and decreasing total problems. Additionally, the treatment group demonstrated more improvement with increasing on-task behaviors and decreasing total problems than did the wait-list group (n = 2). Implications for using NBCCGPT are also discussed.
METODE MIND MAPPING UNTUK MENINGKATKAN HASIL BELAJAR IPS DI SEKOLAH DASAR

Abstrak: Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh hasil belajar peserta didik pada mata pelajaran IPS materi kedudukan dan peran anggota keluarga yang masih dibawah KKM (Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal). Rendahnya hasil belajar peserta didik dipengaruhi oleh kurangnya minat peserta didik untuk aktif dalam proses pembelajaran. Upaya meningkatkan hasil belajar peserta didik ini menggunakan alternatif pemecahan masalah dengan menerapkan metode Mind Mapping . Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode Penelitian Tindakan Kelas model Kemmis dan Taggart. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk meningkatkan hasil belajar peserta didik pada mata pelajaran IPS khusunya pada materi kedudukan dan peran anggota keluarga. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada tanggal 28 April 2016 dan 12 Mei 2016. Kesimpulan dari hal ini dapat terlihat dari data nilai rata-rata evaluasi dan perubahan sikap peserta didik pada setiap siklus yang mengalami peningkatan. Kurikulum yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah KTSP 2006 yang disesuiakan dengan iklim persekolahan, dengan kriteria ketuntasan minimal (KKM) 70,00 untuk mata pelajaran IPS. Hasil yang diperoleh peserta didik dari materi kedudukan dan peran anggota keluarga pada siklus I ketuntasannya mencapai 13 orang dengan persentase (61,90%). Sedangkan pada siklus II ketuntasannya mencapai 20 orang dengan persentase (95,23%).
Rural mental health

A romanticised ideal of rural life has been pervasive among the privileged members of our society for at least three centuries. The paintings of Constable and the country house retreats of the urban rich are a historical testimony to this thinking. This view of our society gives rise to assumptions which continue to influence Government policies in a wide variety of areas including transport, employment, education and health. Although one-fifth of the UK population lives in rural areas, health services have tended to concentrate clinical resources and expertise in the larger metropolitan areas and, not surpris ingly, medical research has followed suit. De spite the wealth of literature on the links between urban forms of deprivation and a wide range of health problems, there is not adequate data to support any definitive statements about rural/ urban patterns of physical disease (Watt et al, 1993) and we know even less about rural mental health.
Personality, Socio-Economic Status and Inflammation: Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study

Background Associations between socio-economic status (SES), personality and inflammation were examined to determine whether low SES subjects scoring high on neuroticism or hostility might suffer relatively higher levels of inflammation than affluent subjects. Methods In a cross-sectional design, 666 subjects were recruited from areas of high (most deprived – “MD”) and low (least deprived – “LD”) deprivation. IL-6, ICAM-1, CRP and fibrinogen were measured along with demographic and health-behaviour variables, and personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism (hostility). Regression models assessed the prediction of inflammation as a function of personality, deprivation and their interaction. Results Levels of CRP and IL-6 were an increasing function of neuroticism and extraversion only in LD subjects opposite trends were seen in MD subjects. The result was ascribed parsimoniously to an inflammatory ceiling effect or, more speculatively, to SES-related health-behaviour differences. Psychoticism was strongly associated with ICAM-1 in both MD and LD subjects. Conclusions The association between neuroticism, CRP and IL-6 may be reduced in MD subjects confirming speculation that the association differs across population sub-groups. The association between psychoticism and ICAM-1 supports evidence that hostility has adverse effects upon the endothelium, with consequences for cardiovascular health. Health interventions may be more effective by accounting for personality-related effects upon biological processes.
Mapping Historical Data: Recovering a Forgotten Floristic and Vegetation Database for Biodiversity Monitoring

Multitemporal biodiversity data on a forest ecosystem can provide useful information about the evolution of biodiversity in a territory. The present study describes the recovery of an archive used to determine the main Schmid’s vegetation belts in Trento Province, Italy. The archive covers 20 years, from the 1970s to the 1990s. During the FORCING project (an Italian acronym for Cingoli Forestali, i.e., forest belts), a comprehensive process of database recovering was executed, and missing data were digitized from historical maps, preserving paper-based maps and documents. All of the maps of 16 forest districts, and the related 8000 detected transects, have been georeferenced to make the whole database spatially explicit and to evaluate the possibility of performing comparative samplings on up-to-date datasets. The floristic raw data (approximately 200,000 specific identifications, including frequency indices) still retain an important and irreplaceable information value. The data can now be browsed via a web-GIS. We provide here a set of examples of the use of this type of data, and we highlight the potential and the limits of the specific dataset and of the historical database, in general.
Affective space is bipolar.

Numerous previous studies found monopolar rather than bipolar dimensions of affect (defined as emotion represented in language), but may have included methodological biases against bipolarity. The present study of self-report data (N = 150) on 11 affect scales showed that response format and acquiescence response style significantly shifted correlations between hypothesized opposites away from showing bipolarity. When these biases were taken into account, pleasure was found to be the bipolar opposite of displeasure and arousal of sleepiness. In turn, pleasure-displeasure and degree of arousal formed a twodimensional bipolar space that accounted for almost all of the reliable variance in Thayer's four factors of activation plus a measure of depression. Dominance and submissiveness factors were also included in the study, but invalidity of the scales used precluded any conclusions regarding their bipolarity.
Subsoil retention of organic and inorganic nitrogen in a Brazilian savanna Oxisol

Abstract. Nitrogen (N) loss by leaching poses great challenges for N availability to crops as well as nitrate pollution of groundwater. Few studies address this issue with respect to the role of the subsoil in the deep and highly weathered savanna soils of the tropics, which exhibit different adsorption and drainage patterns to soils in temperate environments. In an Anionic Acrustox of the Brazilian savanna, the Cerrado, dynamics and budgets of applied N were studied in organic and inorganic soil pools of two maize (Zea mays L.) – soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. ) rotations using 15N tracing. Labelled ammonium sulphate was applied at 10 kg N ha−1 (with 10 atom%15N excess) to both maize and soybean at the beginning of the cropping season. Amounts and isotopic composition of N were determined in above‐ground biomass, soil, adsorbed mineral N, and in soil solution at 0.15, 0.3, 0.8, 1.2 and 2 m depths using suction lysimeters throughout one cropping season. The applied ammonium was rapidly nitrified or immobilized in soil organic matter, and recovery of applied ammonium in soil 2 weeks after application was negligible. Large amounts of nitrate were adsorbed in the subsoil (150–300 kg NO3−‐N ha−1 per 2 m) matching total N uptake by the crops (130–400 kg N ha−1). Throughout one cropping season, more applied N (49–77%; determined by 15N tracers) was immobilized in soil organic matter than was present as adsorbed nitrate (2–3%). Most of the applied N (71–96% of 15N recovery) was found in the subsoil at 0.15–2 m depth. This coincided with an increase with depth of dissolved organic N as a proportion of total dissolved N (39–63%). Hydrophilic organic N was the dominant fraction of dissolved organic N and was, together with nitrate, the most important carrier for applied N. Most of this N (>80%) was leached from the topsoil (0–0.15 m) during the first 30 days after application. Subsoil N retention as both adsorbed inorganic N, and especially soil organic N, was found to be of great importance in determining N losses, soil N depletion and the potential of nitrate contamination of groundwater.