Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigating Ruminal Nitrogen Metabolism In Vitro and In Vivo Studies Using 15 N-labelled Forage Nitrogen Fractions

Nitrogen losses from dairy production have negative impacts on the environment and on production economics. In Northern Europe, dairy cattle are mainly fed forage-based diets supplemented with protein feeds such as rapeseed meal. This thesis sought to develop and evaluate new methods for forage protein evaluation and to improve the value of locally produced protein feeds. Ruminal metabolism of the grass silage soluble nitrogen (SN) fraction and of Nlabelled ammonia was modelled based on degradation kinetics determined in vivo. Kinetic models were developed to provide an optimal fit between predicted and observed values of N atom excess in different rumen N pools. Microbial N synthesis was around 20% greater with soluble non-ammonia N (SNAN) than with ammonia N, proving that SNAN stimulates microbial growth. The protozoal contribution to direct protein degradation in cows fed at high intake was rather small, with around 95% of protozoal N originating from bacterial N. An estimated 12.5% of SNAN escaped ruminal degradation. The in vitro degradation rates of SN fractions were very similar to those observed in other in vitro studies, but much lower than those measured in vivo. Immediate predicted microbial uptake of SN in grass silage was similar to that observed in vivo (20% and 14%, respectively), but significantly greater for red clover SN fractions (> 50%). Proportionally more grass silage insoluble N was degraded (detected) to ammonia N than of red clover, and of dried forages than of silage. Dried forage had a higher concentration of utilisable crude protein (uCP) than silage. Heat treatment of legume seeds (field bean, lupin and peas) increased uCP concentrations, but high temperatures (over 140°C in oven or 120°C in autoclave for more than 30 min) also significantly increased the indigestible N fraction in the feeds. The in vitro method shows potential for estimating uCP concentrations, but requires further development to estimate degradation of proteins in vivo. Using N-labelled forages is a promising method for future protein metabolism studies.
Induction of paroxysmal discharges in the dentate gyrus: frequency dependence and relationship to afterdischarge production.

1. Electrical-stimulus trains activated hippocampal circuits in urethan-anesthetized rats. Responses were monitored with recordings of extracellular potentials and with measurements of the extracellular potassium ([K+]o). Stimulating electrodes were placed in the CA3 region contralateral to the recording electrode (cCA3) and in the ipsilateral angular bundle (AB) while recording in the CA1 pyramidal-cell layer or the granule-cell layer of the dentate gyrus. Patterns of maximal activation were identified. 2. In the CA1 region, maximal activation was indicated by the presence of 10- to 15-mV population spikes, a smooth rise in [K+]o of 5-6 mM above base-line levels of 3 mM, and a negative shift of the sustained DC potential of 2-4 mV. The dentate gyrus was considered to be maximally activated when bursts of large-amplitude (20-40 mV) population spikes were present. These population spikes were associated with a secondary rise in [K+]o to 6-8 mM above base line and an abrupt negative shift of the DC potential of 5-8 mV. 3. Maximal activation depended on the stimulus intensity, frequency, and duration. Trains of 10-Hz stimuli were used to determine the lowest stimulus intensity needed to elicit complete activation in CA1 and in the dentate gyrus. At this intensity, afterdischarges were not produced, and these responses could be elicited repeatedly. 4. By the use of this threshold stimulus intensity, cCA3 stimulation produced a rapid and progressive augmentation of CA1 responses until maximal activation was reached. In comparison, stimulation of the AB could produce the same end result, but the appearance of CA1 population spikes was delayed. Stimulation of the AB produced a steady increase in the evoked granule-cell population spike until the appearance of the paroxysmal large-amplitude population spikes. In contrast, cCA3 stimulation produced two positive evoked responses in the dentate gyrus before the paroxysms of population spikes began. 5. The frequency dependence of the responses was determined by giving stimulus trains ranging from 2 to 100 Hz. Stimulation of cCA3 produced population spikes in CA1 up to 100 Hz that were all associated with the same peak rise in [K+]o. AB stimulation only produced CA1 responses with stimulation frequencies between 15 and 25 Hz. The paroxysmal dentate population spikes were generated by stimulus frequencies between 15 and 30 Hz with both AB and cCA3 stimulation. 6. Unilateral colchicine injections caused a loss of dentate granule cells and a loss of maximal dentate activation on the side of the injection. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Further Studies on the Hypercoagulable State of Patients with Cushing’s Syndrome

Summary Factors XII, XI, IX and VIII, plasminogen and alpha2-antiplasmin levels were found to be increased in a group of patients affected by Cushing’s syndrome. High activity of these coagulation factors could be due to their increased release and synthesis mediated by cortisol. A significant correlation between the main arterial pressure and either factor VIII antigen, ristocetin cofactor or factor XII activity was found. Moreover a similar correlation between factor XII activity and either factor VIII antigen or ristocetin cofactor was seen. In conclusion, the presence of a hypercoagulable state in Cushing’s syndrome seems confirmed. Synergic release of factor XII and factor VIII from endothelium could be due to high blood vessel tone secondary to hypercorticism. Finally, decreased fibrinolytic activity was suspected according to plasminogen and alpha2-antiplasmin increase.
The impact of current residence and high school drinking on alcohol problems among college students.

OBJECTIVE This study examines relationships between type of (current) residence, heavy episodic drinking in high school and alcohol-related problems among college students. METHOD The study participants were respondents in the 1993, 1997 and 1999 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS) surveys of students attending 119 4-year U.S. colleges. Based on responses from 6,525 (55.6% female) students in the 1993 CAS, an exploratory factor analysis of the alcohol problem items was specified in a confirmatory factor analysis framework based on a four-factor solution, and related to study variables. The 1993 data were cross-validated with the 1997 and 1999 surveys. RESULTS When compared with students living in single-gender dormitories, students living off campus with parents reported lower alcohol-related problem consequences and a higher probability of drinking/driving. Students residing off campus without parents, compared with students in single-gender dorms, reported a higher probability of drinking/driving. Associations between off-campus residence and probabilities for drinking/driving were mediated by frequency of driving. Students living in coed dormitories, when compared with students in single-gender dorms, incurred more problem consequences related to drinking but reported significantly lower probabilities associated with designated driving and drinking/driving. Heavy episodic drinking in high school was related to higher probabilities of problems on all outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS The presence of direct and independent effects for both heavy drinking prior to college and high-risk environmental factors in collegiate drinking practices support targeted and diverse strategies for prevention activities.
Towards Automatic Identiﬁcation of Fake News: Headline-Article Stance Detection with LSTM Attention Models

As participants in Fake News Challenge 1 (FNC-1), we approach the problem of fake news via stance detection. Given an article as ”ground truth”, we attempt to classify whether a headline discusses, agrees, disagrees, or is unrelated to a given article. In this paper, we ﬁrst leverage an SVM trained on TF-IDF cosine similarity features to discern whether a headline-article pairing is related or unrelated . If we classify the pairing as the former, we then employ various neural network architectures built on top of Long-Short-Term-Memory Models (LSTMs) to label the pairing as agree , disagree , or discuss . Ultimately, our best performing neural network architecture proved to be a pair of Bidirectional Con-ditionally Encoded LSTMs with Bidirectional Global Attention. Using our linear SVM for the unrelated/related subproblem and our best neural network for the agree/disagree/discuss subproblem, we scored . 8658 according to the FNC-1’s performance metric.
Yolk sac, body dimensions and hatchling quality of ducklings, chicks and poults

1. One-day-old chicks of Pekin duck, turkey, layer fowl and broiler fowl were examined for bacteria in the yolk sac and yolk fluid. 2. Whole hatchling, yolk-free hatchling and yolk sac weights were recorded for all species along with crown–rump length and beak-tip to toe-tip length. 3. Bacteriology revealed positive results for the whole yolk sacs of 43 to 64% of the birds in the sample of ducklings, poults and layer chicks. Broiler chicks had a 6·6% incidence of bacteria isolated from the whole yolk sac. By contrast, there were very few positive results from swabs of yolk fluid for any of the bird types. 4. The presence of bacteria in the yolk sac of hatchlings suggests that there is colonisation, rather than infection, of the yolk sac membrane during the hatching period or the first few hours post-hatching. Isolation of bacteria from the yolk sacs of young chicks might no longer be considered as solely indicative of yolk sac infection but further research is required to confirm this result. 5. Contrary to what is being suggested in commercial practice relationships between linear dimensions and hatchling weight suggest that measurement of chick length is at best a very crude measure of chick quality.
Isolation of Echinococcus multilocularis from the liver of swine in Hokkaido, Japan.

Cysts from the liver of. swine, naturally infected with Echinococcus in Hokkaido, were squashed finely, then injected into the peritoneal cavities of the Mongolian gerbils. Six months later, although no protoscoleces were observed in the cysts from the swine, well-developed cysts bearing mature protoscoleces of E. multilocularis were obtained from the injected gerbils. This observation showed that although E. multilocularis cysts in the liver of swine are sterile (i. e., lacking protoscoleces), they are viable and retain their ability to develop protoscoleces in the favourable rodent host.
Mobile health for early retention in HIV care: a qualitative study in Kenya (WelTel Retain)

Many people newly diagnosed with HIV are lost to follow-up before timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART). A randomised controlled trial (RCT), WelTel Kenya1, demonstrated the effectiveness of the WelTel text messaging intervention to improve clinical outcomes among patients initiating ART. In preparation for WelTel Retain, an RCT that will evaluate the effect of the intervention to retain patients in care immediately following HIV diagnosis, we conducted an informative qualitative study with people living with HIV (n = 15) and healthcare providers (HCP) (n = 5) in October 2012. Study objectives included exploring the experiences of people living with HIV who have attempted to engage in HIV care, the use of cell phones in everyday life, and perceptions of communicating via text message with HCP. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted and recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using NVivo software. Analysis was guided by the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Technology Acceptance Model. Results indicate that while individuals have many motivators for engaging in care after diagnosis, structural and individual barriers including poverty, depression and fear of stigma prevent them from doing so. All participants had access to a mobile phone, and most were comfortable communicating through text messages, or were willing to learn. Both people living with HIV and HCP felt that increased communication via the text messaging intervention has the potential to enable early identification of problems, leading to timely problem solving that may improve retention and engagement in care during the first year after diagnosis.
Antifungal susceptibility profile of clinical Fusarium spp. isolates identified by molecular methods.

OBJECTIVES To analyse the susceptibility pattern of a collection of Fusarium clinical isolates. METHODS The antifungal susceptibility pattern of 67 isolates of Fusarium was analysed. Strains were identified by morphological and molecular methods by means of sequencing elongation factor alpha. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Six different species were identified. Fusarium solani was the most frequently isolated, followed by Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium proliferatum and Fusarium verticilloides. Amphotericin B was the only drug with in vitro activity (range: 0.015-32 mg/L). The rest of the antifungals tested (itraconazole, voriconazole, ravuconazole, posaconazole and terbinafine) showed very poor activity against Fusarium, confirming the multiresistant nature of this genus.
Risk based uncertainty (RibUt) of power system considering the increased of load demand

Disturbance to the electric power system often occurs with different impact. Those power system disturbances cannot be avoided but it can be mitigated by having a premeditated action which refers to the risk assessment. This paper presents the bootstrap technique that used to assess the risk of a power system at every uncertainty level of system states and load variations. In addition, the risk based uncertainty assessment is determined when the load is increased by 20%, 40% and 60% from the base case condition. The effectiveness of bootstrap technique in risk based uncertainty assessment is tested on a case study of 24-bus IEEE Reliability Test System (RTS).
Perception of English palatal codas by Korean speakers of English

This study aimed at looking at perception of English palatal codas by Korean speakers of English to determine if perception problems are the source of production problems. In particular, first, this study looked at the possible first language effect on the perception of English palatal codas. Second, a possible perceptual source of vowel epenthesis after English palatal codas was investigated. In addition, individual factors, such as length of residence, TOEFL score, gender and academic status, were compared to determine if those affected the varying degree of the perception accuracy. Eleven adult Korean speakers of English as well as three native speakers of English participated in the study. Three sets of a perception test including identification of minimally different English pseudo‐ or real words were carried out. The results showed that, first, the Korean speakers perceived the English codas significantly worse than the Americans. Second, the study supported the idea that Koreans perceived an extra .
Preclinical Efficacy of the c-Met Inhibitor CE-355621 in a U87 MG Mouse Xenograft Model Evaluated by 18F-FDG Small-Animal PET

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of CE-355621, a novel antibody against c-Met, in a subcutaneous U87 MG xenograft mouse model using 18F-FDG small-animal PET. Methods: CE-355621 or control vehicle was administered intraperitoneally into nude mice (drug-treated group, n = 12; control group, n = 14) with U87 MG subcutaneous tumor xenografts. Drug efficacy was evaluated over 2 wk using 18F-FDG small-animal PET and compared with tumor volume growth curves. Results: The maximum %ID/g (percentage injected dose per gram of tissue) of 18F-FDG accumulation in mice treated with CE-355621 remained essentially unchanged over 2 wk, whereas the %ID/g of the control tumors increased 66% compared with the baseline. Significant inhibition of 18F-FDG accumulation was seen 3 d after drug treatment, which was earlier than the inhibition of tumor volume growth seen at 7 d after drug treatment. Conclusion: CE-355621 is an efficacious novel antineoplastic chemotherapeutic agent that inhibits 18F-FDG accumulation earlier than tumor volume changes in a mouse xenograft model. These results support the use of 18F-FDG PET to assess early tumor response for CE-355621.
Mechanisms of social synchrony between circadian activity rhythms in cohabiting marmosets

ABSTRACT In marmosets, social synchrony between circadian profiles of activity is stronger in animals that cohabit in a family. The activity of three breeding pairs was recorded by actiwatches to investigate the mechanisms involved in the synchrony between the circadian activity profiles during cohabitation in marmoset reproductive pairs. The dyads were submitted to LD 12:12 (21 days) and LL: 1) cohabitation (24 days), 2) removal of the cage mate (20 days), 3) reintroduction of the mate into the cage of the 1st situation (30 days) and 4) removal of the cage mate (7 days). Next, they were rejoined and maintained in LD 12:12 (11 days). In conditions involving cohabitation of pair, the general and maximum correlation indexes between circadian profiles were higher in cage mates compared to animals of the same or different sex with which they maintain only acoustic and olfactive contact. This strong synchrony between rhythms was accompanied by a stable phase relationship at the activity onset and offset, with identical circadian periods between mates. When the pairs were separated, there was a break in stability in the phase relationships between activity profiles with different circadian periods and a greater phase angle difference between rhythms of cage mates. During separation, two females and one male progressively anticipated the activity onset and offset in a phase similar to that in previous conditions, expressing entrainment to the mate. During the first reintroduction, two pairs exhibited signs of masking in rhythm. Although modulation in the rhythm of some animals has been observed through acoustic cues from animals outside the colony, we suggest that cohabitation favors strong synchrony between the circadian activity profiles of marmoset reproductive pairs involving synchronization by entrainment and masking. Further studies in the absence of external social cues are necessary to clarify the role of these mechanisms on social synchronization in marmosets.
Radiation‐enhanced expression of E6/E7 transforming oncogenes of human papillomavirus‐16 in human cervical carcinoma

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection represents the most important risk factor for cervical carcinoma. Levels of expression of E6 and E7 transforming oncoproteins of high risk HPV genotypes (i.e., HPV‐16 and HPV‐18) have been linked specifically to the mitotic activity of cervical carcinoma and appear to be necessary for maintaining the malignant phenotype. However, E6/E7 viral proteins recently have been reported to be effective tumor rejection antigens in animal models and humans. Radiation treatment represents a standardized and effective modality for contemporary cervical carcinoma therapy. However, although the physiologic and cellular changes associated with high doses of irradiation have been well documented it has been shown only recently that an increased synthesis of specific cellular proteins is observed after irradiation. In this study, the authors analyzed the effects of high doses of gamma irradiation on the expression of E6/E7 oncoproteins in HPV‐16‐infected cervical carcinoma cell lines. In addition, the effects of radiation on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) restriction elements also were studied.
Malnutrition and fecundity.

The current hypothesis that malnutrition impairs fecundity has recently been challenged by a number of investigations that examined the nutrition fecundity link. The controversy is important because of the potential implications for food aid programs for developing countries. If improving nutrition improves increases birth rates, this would exacerbate population growth problems. The author reviews the available evidence and concludes that chronic moderate malnutrition affects fecundity only to a minor extent.
The role of tissue factor isoforms in cancer biology

Tissue Factor (TF) is an evolutionary conserved glycoprotein, which is of immense importance for a variety of biologic processes. TF is expressed in two naturally occurring protein isoforms, membrane‐bound “full‐length” (fl)TF and soluble alternatively spliced (as)TF. The TF isoform expression is differentially modulated on post‐transcriptional level via regulatory factors, such as serine/arginine‐rich (SR) proteins, SR protein kinases and micro (mi)RNAs. Both isoforms mediate a variety of physiologic‐ and pathophysiologic‐relevant functions, such as thrombogenicity, angiogenesis, cell signaling, tumor cell proliferation and metastasis. In this review, we will depict the main mechanisms regulating the TF isoform expression in cancer and under other pathophysiologic‐relevant conditions. Moreover, we will summarize and discuss the latest findings regarding the role of TF and its isoforms in cancer biology.
Ultrasound-arterioportography (US-AP): A new technical approach to perform detection of liver lesions.

PURPOSE To show the feasibility of a combination of the advantages of modern contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) with the technique of arterioportography to achieve the highest sensitivity of all different modalities. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ten patients (9 m, 1 f, age 52-73 years) with suspected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in liver cirrhosis (8 ethyl toxic, 2 hepatitis) were included before transarterial chemo-embolization (TACE). In all patients during a 6-week period a double enhanced MRI (Gd-DTPA and SPIO) was performed. Before TACE a bolus <2 mL ultrasound contrast agent (SonoVue®, Bracco, Milan, Italy) was injected over a selectively placed catheter in the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and ultrasound of the liver (2.5-4 MHz, LOGIQ 9; GE Healthcare) was performed in arterioportographic phase (US-AP). Two independent readers evaluate number, size and localisation of detected lesion in MRI and US-AP. Additional diagnostic quality of both modalities was determined using a 4-point scale (1: excellent-4: not diagnostic). Differences were analysed for significance using a t-test. Interobserver variability was calculated (κ-value). RESULT In all 10 patients (100 %) US-AP was feasible. Diagnostic quality was in all cases between 1-2 for both modalities and readers (MRI standard deviation (SD) -0.51, Sono-AP SD -0.421). US-AP detected with 33.5 vs. 24.5 lesions, significant more lesions than double enhanced MRI (p < 0.022). The interobserver variability was κ -0.965 for MRI and κ -0.898 for US-AP. CONCLUSION US-AP for detection of liver lesions is feasible. Using this technique significantly more lesions in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma could be detected in comparison to MRI with liver-specific contrast agent.