Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed development considered harmful?

We offer a case study illustrating three rules for reporting research to industrial practitioners. Firstly, report “relevant” results; e.g. this paper explores the effects of distributed development on software products. Second: “recheck” old results if new results call them into question. Many papers say distributed development can be harmful to software quality. Previous work by Bird et al. allayed that concern but a recent paper by Posnett et al. suggests that the Bird result was biased by the kinds of files it explored. Hence, this paper rechecks that result and finds significant differences in Microsoft products (Office 2010) between software built by distributed or collocated teams. At first glance, this recheck calls into question the widespread practice of distributed development. Our third rule is to “reflect” on results to avoid confusing practitioners with an arcane mathematical analysis. For example, on reflection, we found that the effect size of the differences seen in the collocated and distributed software was so small that it need not concern industrial practitioners. Our conclusion is that at least for Microsoft products, distributed development is not considered harmful.
Transcriptional and physiological changes in the S assimilation pathway due to single or combined S and Fe deprivation in durum wheat (Triticum durum L.) seedlings

The effect of iron (Fe) and sulphur (S) deprivation on sulphate uptake and assimilation pathways was investigated in durum wheat by analysing the expression of genes coding for major transporters and enzymes involved in sulphate assimilation and reduction: high-affinity sulphate transporters (TdSultr1.1 and TdSultr1.3), ATP sulphurylase (TdATPSul1 and TdATPSul2), APS reductase (TdAPR), sulphite reductase (TdSiR), O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase (TdOASTL1 and TdOASTL2), and serine acetyltransferase (TdSAT1 and TdSAT2). Further experiments were carried out to detect changes in the activities of these enzymes, together with the evaluation of growth parameters (fresh biomass accumulation, leaf green values, and total S, thiol, and Fe concentrations). Fe shortage in wheat plants under adequate S nutrition resulted in an S deficiency-like response. Most of the genes of the S assimilatory pathway induced by S deprivation (TdATPSul1, TdAPR, TdSir, TdSAT1, and TdSAT2) were also significantly up-regulated after the imposition of the Fe limitation under S-sufficient conditions. However, the differential expression of genes encoding the two high-affinity transporters (TdSultr1.1 and TdSultr1.3) indicates that the mechanisms of sulphate uptake regulation under Fe and S deficiency are different in wheat. Moreover, it was observed that the mRNA level of genes encoding ATPS, APR, and OASTL and the corresponding enzyme activities were often uncoupled in response to Fe and S availability, indicating that most probably their regulation involves a complex interplay of transcriptional, translational, and/or post-translational mechanisms induced by S and/or Fe deficiency.
Why a Single Index to Measure Sleep Apnea Is Not Enough.

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Vol. 15, No. 5 May 15, 2019 The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) measures the frequency of potentially significant breathing events and plays a central role in the management of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Classically the AHI is compared to cutoffs to determine whether OSA is present and, if present, its level of physiologic severity. Although this dual use is common, we will argue that a single metric is not adequate for both purposes. Causing further confusion, two popular definitions of AHI exist that incorporate different criteria to define partial breathing pauses (hypopneas). The definition recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM: 3% ODA) requires that a hypopnea be associated with either an electroencephalogram arousal or ≥ 3% oxygen desaturation, whereas the definition accepted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (4%OD) is more restrictive, requiring ≥ 4% oxygen desaturation. The systematic review and meta-analysis presented in this issue of Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine by Mansukhani et al. assesses the effect of different AHI definitions.1 Specifically the authors focus on OSA diagnosis, severity, and clinical implications. The authors identify 33 studies that compare AHI based on differing hypopnea criteria. Based on the pooled meta-analysis of 6 studies comparing the 3%ODA criteria to 4% OD, 17% of individuals meeting a cutoff using the first criteria would be missed by the second. Not surprisingly, more inclusive definitions of hypopnea lead to higher AHI values and estimates of severity. Considering this discordance, the common practice of using uniform cutoffs (< 5, 5–15, 15–30, > 30) across hypopnea definitions is problematic. For example, an individual with mild/no disease in the 4%OD measure could have severe OSA defined by the 3%ODA definition. These discrepancies also give rise to two natural questions: which measure should clinicians focus on, and when should they choose one measure over another? A core issue is whether hypopnea events without oxygen desaturation have clinical significance. This has been evaluated by studies not covered by the systematic review. In a noteworthy study using the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, breathing events with > 30% decrease in nasal pressure amplitude of breaths for > 10 seconds were classified as nondesaturation events if they were associated with oxygen saturation drops of less than 2%. 2 The index of nondesaturation events was associated with objective sleepiness as measured by the Multiple Sleep COMMENTARY
Toll‐like receptor polymorphism in host immune response to infectious diseases: A review

Immunopolymorphism is considered as an important aspect behind the resistance or susceptibility of the host to an infectious disease. Over the years, researchers have explored many genetic factors for their role in immune surveillance against infectious diseases. Polymorphic characters in the gene encoding Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) play profound roles in inducing differential immune responses by the host against parasitic infections. Protein(s) encoded by TLR gene(s) are immensely important due to their ability of recognizing different types of pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). This study reviews the polymorphic residues present in the nucleotide or in the amino acid sequence of TLRs and their influence on alteration of inflammatory signalling pathways promoting either susceptibility or resistance to major infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, malaria and filariasis. Population‐based studies exploring TLR polymorphisms in humans are primarily emphasized to discuss the association of the polymorphic residues with the occurrence and epidemiology of the mentioned infectious diseases. Principal polymorphic residues in TLRs influencing immunity to infection are mostly single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). I602S (TLR1), R677W (TLR2), P554S (TLR3), D299G (TLR4), F616L (TLR5), S249P (TLR6), Q11L (TLR7), M1V (TLR8), G1174A (TLR9) and G1031T (TLR10) are presented as the major influential SNPs in shaping immunity to pathogenic infections. The contribution of these SNPs in the structure‐function relationship of TLRs is yet not clear. Therefore, molecular studies on such polymorphisms can improve our understanding on the genetic basis of the immune response and pave the way for therapeutic intervention in a more feasible way.
Natural porous and nano fiber chitin structure from Gammarus argaeus (Gammaridae Crustacea)

Chitin and its derivatives are commercially important biopolymers due to their applications in medicine, agriculture, water treatment, cosmetics and various biotechnological areas. Since chitin and its derivatives exhibit different chemical and physical properties depending on the source and isolation method, there is a growing demand for new chitin sources other than crab and shrimp worldwide. In this study Gammarus, a Crustacea, was investigated as a novel chitin source. Gammarus, which belongs to the family Gammaridae Crustacea, lives in the bottom of aquatic ecosystems. More than 200 species are known worldwide. One of these species, G. argaeus was investigated for chitin isolation. The alpha chitin isolated from G. argaeus was characterized by using analysis techniques such as infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All these analyses confirmed that the isolated chitin from G. argaeus was in the alpha form. Furthermore, we described that dry weight of this species contained 11-12 % chitin. SEM examination of the isolated α-chitin revealed that it was composed of nanofibrils (15-55 nm) and pores (about 150 nm).
Nonpharmacological Interventions for Anxiety and Dementia in Nursing Homes: A Systematic Review

Abstract Anxiety is a major mental disorder in later life that impacts on activities of daily living and quality of life for adults living with dementia in nursing homes. The aim of this article was to systematically review nonpharmacological interventions for older adults living in nursing homes who experience comorbid anxiety and dementia. Method A systematic literature search was conducted across key databases (Cinahl, ASSIA, Cochrane reviews and trials, psycARTICLES, psycINFO, and PubMed) to identify studies measuring anxiety as an outcome for an intervention for older adults living with dementia in nursing homes, up to December 31, 2017. Results The search yielded a total of 1,925 articles with 45 articles accessed for full article review. A total of 13 articles were included in this review following quality appraisal based on Cochrane methodology with six different anxiety measures used. The studies included were moderate to high-quality randomized control trials although heterogeneity precluded a combined meta-analysis. Clinical implications The most common interventions used to address anxiety in this population were music therapy and activity-based interventions although there was limited evidence for the efficacy of either intervention. Little is known about effective nonpharmacological treatment for anxiety for people living with dementia in nursing homes. Further research using consistent measurement tools and time points is required to identify effective interventions to improve the quality of life for people living with both dementia and anxiety in nursing homes.
Comparing Scalpel, Electrocautery and Ultrasonic Dissector Effects: The Impact on Wound Complications and Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Levels in Wound Fluid from Mastectomy Patients

Purpose Introducing the relationship between the surgical instruments used in modified radical mastectomy and wound complications is important for preventing and decreasing complications. This prospective randomized trial was designed to assess the impact of scalpel, electrocautery, and ultrasonic dissector usage on wound complications and tissue damage. Methods Eighty-two consecutive patients operated with mastectomy were studied. The postoperative time period needed for hemovac drainage, the amount and duration of seroma, infection, flap ecchymosis and necrosis rates were compared. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in drainage fluids were determined to confirm the inflammatory response and tissue damage. Results The numbers of patients included in the scalpel, electrocautery and ultrasonic dissector groups were 27, 26, and 29, respectively. The groups were homogenous with respect to age, body mass index, stage, cormorbidities, breast volume and flap area. Operation time and the amount of bleeding were statistically higher in the scalpel group. The incidence of seroma was higher in the electrocautery group and arm mobilization had to be delayed in this group. There were no differences between groups with respect to hematoma, infection, ecchymosis, necrosis, hemovac drainage and the total and first 3 days of seroma volume. TNF-α and IL-6 levels were significantly higher in samples obtained from the drains of patients operated with electrocautery. Conclusion Ultrasonic dissector decreases operation time by decreasing the amount of bleeding without increasing the seroma incidence. High cytokine levels in drainage fluids from patients operated with elecrocautery indicates that electrocautery induces more tissue damage and acute inflammatory response. Therefore, seroma, due to acute inflammatory response, was seen more frequently in the electrocautery group. Ultrasonic dissector coagulates protein by breaking hydrogen bonds which may close vascular and lymphatic channels more precisely. But, its actual preventive effect on seroma formation might be related to diminished inflammatory response.
Biogeochemical, Isotopic and Bacterial Distributions Trace Oceanic Abyssal Circulation

We explore the possibility of tracing routes of dense waters toward and within the ocean abyss by the use of an extended set of observed physical and biochemical parameters. To this purpose, we employ mercury, isotopic oxygen, biopolymeric carbon and its constituents, together with indicators of microbial activity and bacterial diversity found in bottom waters of the Eastern Mediterranean. In this basin, which has been considered as a miniature global ocean, two competing sources of bottom water (one in the Adriatic and one in the Aegean seas) contribute to the ventilation of the local abyss. However, due to a recent substantial reduction of the differences in the physical characteristics of these two water masses it has become increasingly complex a water classification using the traditional approach with temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen alone. Here, we show that an extended set of observed physical and biochemical parameters allows recognizing the existence of two different abyssal routes from the Adriatic source and one abyssal route from the Aegean source despite temperature and salinity of such two competing sources of abyssal water being virtually indistinguishable. Moreover, as the near-bottom development of exogenous bacterial communities transported by convectively-generated water masses in the abyss can provide a persistent trace of episodic events, intermittent flows like those generating abyssal waters in the Eastern Mediterranean basin may become detectable beyond the availability of concomitant measurements.
Two-Step Isolation, Purification, and Characterization of Lectin from Zihua Snap Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) Seeds

A two-step method based on an aqueous two-phase system and Sephadex G-75 was used to separate and purify lectin from the seeds of the Zihua snap bean. The preliminary properties and bioactivity of the Zihua snap bean lectin were characterized by different instrumental methods, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE), liquid chromatography-nano electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (Nano LC-ESI-MS/MS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The hemagglutinating activity of the Zihua snap bean lectin could not be inhibited by glucose, N-acetyl-d-glucosamine, d-galactose, N-acetyl-d-galactosamine, fructose, sucrose, d-maltose, d-trehalose, and lactose. It was found that the hemagglutinating activity of the lectin showed strong dependence on Mn2+ and Ca2+. The thermal and pH stability of the Zihua snap bean lectin was studied by FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy. Relatively good stability was observed when the temperature was not higher than 70 °C, as well as in the pH range of 2.0 to 10.0. Digestive stability in vitro was investigated. The untreated lectin was relatively stable to pepsin and trypsin activity, but heat treatment could significantly reduce the digestive stability in vitro. Moreover, the lectin showed an inhibitory effect on the tested bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis)), and it also showed a certain inhibitory effect on the growth of Phytophthora infestans (P. infestans) at higher concentrations.
Motor Control and Nonword Repetition in Specific Working Memory Impairment and SLI

Purpose: Debate around the underlying cognitive factors leading to poor performance in the repetition of nonwords by children with developmental impairments in language has centered around phonological short-term memory, lexical knowledge, and other factors. This study examines the impact of motor control demands on nonword repetition in groups of school children with specific impairments in language, working memory, or both. Method: Children repeated two lists of nonwords matched for motoric complexity either without constraint or with a gummi bear bite block held between their teeth. The bite block required motoric compensation to reorganize the motor plan for speech production. Results: Overall, the effect of the biomechanical constraint was very small for all groups. When analyses focused only on the most complex nonwords, children with language impairment were found to be significantly more impaired in the motorically constrained nonword repetition task than the typically developing group. In contrast, working memory difficulties were not differentially linked to motor condition. Conclusions: These findings add to the growing evidence that there is a motoric component to developmental language disorders. The results also suggest that the role of speech motor skill in nonword repetition is relatively modest.
Gating currents from a Kv3 subfamily potassium channel: charge movement and modification by BDS‐II toxin

Kv3 channels have a major role in determining neuronal excitability, and are characterized by ultra‐rapid kinetics of gating and a high activation threshold. However, the gating currents, which occur as a result of positional changes of the charged elements in the channel structure during activation, are not well understood. Here we report a study of gating currents from wild‐type Kv3.2b channels, expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells to facilitate high time‐resolution recording. On‐gating currents (Ig,on) had extremely rapid kinetics such that at +80 mV, the time constant for the decay of Ig,on was only ∼0.3 ms. Decay of Ig,on appeared mono‐exponential at all potentials studied, and in support of this, the charge–voltage (Q–V) relationship was fitted with a single Boltzmann function, supporting the idea that only one charge system is required to account for the time course of Ig,on and the voltage dependence of Qon. The voltage (V½) for half movement of gating charge was −8.4 ± 4.0 mV (n= 6), which closely matches the voltage dependence of activation of Kv3.2b ionic currents reported before. Depolarizations to more positive potentials than 0 mV decreased the amplitude and slowed the decay of the off‐gating currents (Ig,off), suggesting that a rate‐limiting step in opening was present in Kv3 channels as in Shaker and other Kv channels. Return of charge was negatively shifted along the potential axis with a V½ of Qoff of −80.9 ± 0.8 mV (n= 3), which allowed ∼90% charge return upon repolarization to −100 mV. BDS‐II toxin apparently reduced Ig,on, and greatly slowed the kinetics of Ig,on, while shifting the Q–V relationship in the depolarizing direction. However, the Q–V relationship remained well fitted by a single Boltzmann function. These data provide the first description of Kv3 gating currents and give further insight into the interaction of BDS toxins and Kv3 channels.
Fatal skin and pulmonary infection caused by Hormographiella aspergillata in a leukaemic patient: case report and literature overview

Invasive systemic fungal infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We report the case of a fatal infection with Hormographiella aspergillata in a patient undergoing allogenic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukaemia.
Is the World Really Flat? A Look at Offshoring in an Online Programming Marketplace

In a world that is flat, where all clients and providers can easily transact with one another, offshoring represents the proposition that information technology providers from low-wage nations can now underbid providers from high-wage nations and win contracts. We examined a particularly flat "world"-an online programming marketplace-and found that this profound tilt to low-wage nations is overstated. We analyzed the entire history of transactions at one of the major online programming marketplaces, a marketplace for outsourcing small IT projects. The data spanned 38 months and included over 263,000 bids by over 31,000 providers from 70 countries on over 20,000 small IT projects requested by over 7,900 clients from 59 countries. Contrary to the world-is-flat proposition, the data in this particular site show some client preference for domestic providers. However, the largest group of clients, the American clients, are a marked exception to clients in the rest of the world: they give relatively less preference to domestic providers. In a sense, the American clients have a higher preference for offshore providers. Among non-American clients the preference for domestic providers is mitigated when both client and provider are from an English-speaking nation. Relative bid price, often very low already, also determines the winning bid, as does the ratio of purchasing power parity (PPP) between the country of the client and the country of the provider. Nonetheless, the strongest determinant of the winning bid is client loyalty: the client gives very strong preference to a provider with whom there has been a previous relationship, regardless of whether the provider is offshore or domestic.
Evidence for a protective role of interferon in resistance to murine cytomegalovirus and its control by non-H-2-linked genes

Murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) induces rapid production of a partially pH 2-stable type 1 interferon, the serum level of which is controlled by non-H-2-linked host genes. The production of high, intermediate, and low levels of interferon was found in C3H/He, C57BL/10, and BALB/c mice, respectively, and the use of H-2 congenic mice on the BALB/c or C57BL/10 background showed that H-2-associated genes were not involved. Administration of large (up to 200,000 U) daily doses of partially purified type 1 (alpha plus beta) interferon failed to protect low-producer BALB/c or BALB.K strains from lethal infection. Treatment of the higher (C3H/He) or intermediate (C57BL/10) producer strains with anti-type 1 interferon antibody significantly reduced their resistance to the virus; however, such treatment had no effect on the low-producer BALB/c strain. The decreased resistance of anti-interferon-treated C3H/He mice was accompanied by a transient reduction in serum interferon titers, decreased activation of natural killer cells, a markedly enhanced viremia, and increased viral titers in the liver. These data strongly support a protective role of interferon in defense against MCMV in certain strains of mice. Furthermore, these data suggest that previous observations of a correlation of non-H-2-linked, genetically determined resistance to MCMV with activation of natural killer cells may have its basis in the genetic control of interferon induction by MCMV.
Social Ties, Literacy, Location and the Perception of Economic Opportunity: Factors Influencing Telecentre Success in a Development Context

Telecentres have been established in many countries as a means of providing access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in order to enhance community development. This paper examines the characteristics of telecentre initiatives in Jamaica and proposes a conceptual framework for the assessment of the role of social ties in telecentre success. Social capital and social network theories provide the underpinnings of the theoretical framework for this research, and the empirical analysis draws on interviews with telecentre managers. This paper contributes to the development of theory and guidelines for successful telecentres thereby advancing research and practice in the field of community informatics.