Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of the visual attention span on child reading performance: A cross-sectional study

The visual attention (VA) span deficit hypothesis was found successfully to account for variability in developmental dyslexia (Bosse, Tainturier & Valdois, 2007). We conducted a cross-sectional study on 417 typically developing children from first, third and fifth grades examining the role of VA span on the development of reading skills. A battery including reading, phoneme awareness and VA span tasks was administered. Results show that VA span predicts variations in learning to read independent of the influence of phoneme awareness. Moreover, whereas the specific influence of VA span on pseudoword reading declines from first to third grade, VA span has a significant and sustained influence across grades for the irregular words. In addition to phoneme awareness, the VA span contributes to reading performance from the beginning of literacy instruction, suggesting that it might have a long-term influence on specific orthographic knowledge acquisition.
[Differences in fecal Bifidobacterium species between patients with type 2 diabetes and healthy individuals].

OBJECTIVE To determine the changes in fecal Bifidobacterium species in patients with type 2 diabetes in comparison with healthy individuals. METHODS The bacterial DNA were extracted from the fecal samples from 50 type 2 diabetic patients and 30 healthy individuals. Real-time quantitative PCR was employed to determine the copy numbers of the bacteria in the fecal samples using 16S rRNA-targeted genus- and species-specific PCR primers for a selected group of fecal Bifidobacterium species including total Bifidobacterium, B.longum, B.breve, B.adolescent, and B. infantis. RESULTS The diabetic group had significantly lower copy numbers of total Bifidobacterium and B.adolescent compared to the healthy individuals (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Type 2 diabetic patients have a lowered number of Bifidobacterium species in the gut microflora.
Website localization

This paper presents the development of a methodology for presenting websites to an audience culturally different that the ones from which they originate. The process, called website localization, consists of far more than just textual translation of websites. The three-step procedure outlined is the first step in determining more effective techniques for website localization. Included is a case study that highlights the important aspects of localization.
Molecular modeling of the structures properties and glycating power of some reducing disaccharides

The molecular structures properties and glycating power of some reducing disaccharides Cellobiose Gentiobiose Isomaltose Lactose Laminaribiose Maltose Mannobiose and Xylobiose have been studied by resorting to Chemical Reactivity Theory including Conceptual DFT and Molecular Electron Density Theory MEDT The reactivity sites for nucleophilic and electrophilic attacks have been chosen by relating them to the Fukui function indices the condensed dual descriptor f r and the Parr functions The glycating power of the reducing disaccharides is compared with that of simple hexoses and pentoses through the values of the calculated reactivity descriptors
Influence of the tool edge geometry on specific cutting energy at high-speed cutting

This paper presents specific cutting energy measurements as a function of the cutting speed and tool cutting edge geometry. The experimental work was carried out on a vertical CNC machining center with 7,500 rpm spindle rotation and 7.5 kW power. Hardened steels ASTM H13 (50 HRC) were machined at conventional cutting speed and high-speed cutting (HSC). TiN coated carbides with seven different geometries of chip breaker were applied on dry tests. A special milling tool holder with only one cutting edge was developed and the machining forces needed to calculate the specific cutting energy were recorded using a piezoelectric 4-component dynamometer. Workpiece roughness and chip formation process were also evaluated. The results showed that the specific cutting energy decreased 15.5% when cutting speed was increased up to 700%. An increase of 1o in tool chip breaker chamfer angle lead to a reduction in the specific cutting energy about 13.7% and 28.6% when machining at HSC and conventional cutting speed respectively. Furthermore the workpiece roughness values evaluated in all test conditions were very low, closer to those of typical grinding operations (~0.20 mm). Probable adiabatic shear occurred on chip segmentation at HSC.
Assessing the Risk of Impact of Farming Intensification on Calcareous Grasslands in Europe: A Quantitative Implementation of the MIRABEL Framework

Abstract Intensification of farming practices is still a major driver of biodiversity loss in Europe, despite the implementation of policies that aim to reverse this trend. A conceptual framework called MIRABEL was previously developed that enabled a qualitative and expert-based assessment of the impact of agricultural intensification on ecologically valuable habitats. We present a quantitative update of the previous assessment that uses newly available pan-European spatially explicit data on pressures and habitats at risk. This quantitative assessment shows that the number of calcareous grasslands potentially at risk of eutrophication and overgrazing is rapidly increasing in Europe. Decreases in nitrogen surpluses and stocking densities that occurred between 1990 and 2000 have rarely led to values that were below the ecological thresholds. At the same time, a substantial proportion of calcareous grassland that has so far experienced low values for indicators of farming intensification has faced increases between 1990 and 2000 and could well become at high risk from farming intensification in the near future. As such, this assessment is an early warning signal, especially for habitats located in areas that have traditionally been farmed extensively. When comparing the outcome of this assessment with the previous qualitative MIRABEL assessment, it appears that if pan-European data are useful to assess the intensity of the pressures, more work is needed to identify regional variations in the response of biodiversity to such pressures. This is where a qualitative approach based on regional expertise should be used to complement data-driven assessments.
Androgen receptor gene amplification and protein expression in recurrent prostate cancer.

PURPOSE The androgen receptor (AR) is highly expressed in androgen dependent and recurrent prostate cancer, suggesting that it has a role in tumor growth and progression after androgen deprivation. AR amplification may contribute to androgen receptor activation in relative androgen absence. MATERIALS AND METHODS Formalin fixed and frozen specimens of recurrent prostate cancer were obtained by transurethral resection from men with increasing serum level of prostate specific antigen in whom urinary retention developed. AR amplification and X-chromosome number were determined by 2-color fluorescence in situ hybridization, and AR protein expression was determined by automated image analysis. We compared clinical characteristics and survival of patients with recurrent prostate cancer whose tumors did or did not exhibit AR amplification and X-chromosome polysomy. RESULTS Thirty-three percent of the 24 recurrent prostate cancer specimens 8 (33%) showed AR amplification. AR was more intensely immunostained in tumors with amplified (AMP) AR (mean optical density 0.36 +/- 0.07) than in tumors lacking amplification (NO AMP) (mean optical density 0.24 +/- 0.09). No differences were found between the 2 groups when comparing serum levels of prostate specific antigen (AMP 11.9, 14.8; NO AMP 26.0, 60.3), Gleason sum (AMP 9.0, 0.5; NO AMP 9.0, 1.0), clinical TNM stage (AMP 4 cases M0, M1 4; NO AMP 8 M0, 8 M1), race (AMP 6 white and 2 black men, NO AMP white and 7 black men) or survival in months (AMP 47.5, 28.5; NO AMP 33.5, 72.0). Three of the recurrent prostate cancer specimens (13%) demonstrated X-chromosome copy number 2 or greater and no differences were found when comparing clinical characteristics between these groups. CONCLUSIONS AR amplification in recurrent prostate cancer results in higher levels of AR protein expression but does not affect survival.
The transactivation region of the Fis protein that controls site‐specific DNA inversion contains extended mobile β‐hairpin arms

The Fis protein regulates site‐specific DNA inversion catalyzed by a family of DNA invertases when bound to a cis‐acting recombinational enhancer. As is often found for transactivation domains, previous crystal structures have failed to resolve the conformation of the N‐terminal inversion activation region within the Fis dimer. A new crystal form of a mutant Fis protein now reveals that the activation region contains two β‐hairpin arms that protrude over 20 Å from the protein core. Saturation mutagenesis identified the regulatory and structurally important amino acids. The most critical activating residues are located near the tips of the β‐arms. Disulfide cross‐linking between the β‐arms demonstrated that they are highly flexible in solution and that efficient inversion activation can occur when the β‐arms are covalently linked together. The emerging picture for this regulatory motif is that contacts with the recombinase at the tip of the mobile β‐arms activate the DNA invertase in the context of an invertasome complex.
Mass spectrometric immunoassay raises doubt for the existence of parathyroid hormone fragment 7-84.

To the Editor: Parathyroid hormone (PTH)1 plays an important role in the regulation of systemic calcium and phosphate homeostasis and bone remodeling, and its measurement in serum or plasma is used to diagnose hyperparathyroidism. Traditionally, PTH has been quantified using 2-site immunochemical assays. Previous comparisons of immunoassays demonstrated significant proportional biases as well as sample-specific discrepancies between immunoassays, due to differences in calibration, interferences, or both (1–3). Biochemically, PTH is a heterogeneous collection of molecules with posttranslational modifications that include phosphorylation, oxidation, and proteolytic cleavage. Different assays variably detect these modified PTH molecules. Previous experiments used HPLC to fractionate serum and identify a peak that cross-reacts with many PTH immunoassays. This peak did not coelute with intact PTH (1–84), but did coelute with PTH fragment (7–84) (4). It has been proposed and generally accepted that this fragment (and to a lesser extent other PTH fragments) interferes with most second-generation immunoassays (those that target amino acid residues proximal to the amino terminus). We aimed to evaluate whether PTH fragments interfere with 2 commonly used US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved second-generation clinical immunoassays: the Roche Elecsys/Cobas e601 and the Beckman Access DxI 800 intact PTH assays. The monoclonal capture antibody in the Roche assay detects amino …
The 1997 Pan American Climate Studies Tropical Eastern Pacific Process Study. Part I: ITCZ Region

Abstract The Pan American Climate Studies Tropical Eastern Pacific Process Study (TEPPS) obtained a comprehensive set of observations of the structure of clouds and precipitating storms over the eastern tropical Pacific from 28 July to 6 September 1997. The TEPPS data can address a wide range of problems involving tropical oceanic clouds and precipitation. The main goal of the project was to understand why passive microwave satellite algorithms indicate an E—W gradient in the precipitation pattern in the tropical Pacific with heavier rainfall in the east while infrared satellite algorithms indicate heavier rainfall in the west. Satellite—derived precipitation estimates are based on characteristics of the vertical structure of precipitating clouds: in the case of infrared methods, cloud—top temperature, and in the case of microwave methods, the vertically integrated ice scattering and/or water absorption determined by the vertical profile of hydrometeors. The premise of the expedition was that by obtaining.
Genetic Relationships between Cultivated and Wild Olive Trees (Olea Europaea L. Var. Europaea and Var. Sylvestris) Based on Nuclear and Chloroplast SSR Markers

The olive is widely cropped in Tunisia where also oleaster trees thrive all around orchards and in natural sites. Little is known on the genetic relationships between the olive crop and oleaster trees in Tunisia. Fifty-two oleaster trees and fifteen cultivars were sampled from Tunisia. SSR genotyping was performed in polyacrylamide gels after fluorescent labeling. We used seven nuclear and two chloroplast SSR markers. AFC analyses showed close genetic relationships between cultivated and oleaster trees. Genetic relationships were also displayed in a dendrogram based on Unweighted Pair Group Method (UPGMA). Five clusters were defined mixing cultivar and oleaster trees suggesting close relationship between some cultivar and some oleaster trees. One oleaster is single in a cluster. The chlorotype SSR markers show probably three olive origins. Some cultivars have the CE chlorotype originates from the East of the Mediterranean basin, the CCK haplotype originates from Maghreb and the COM chlorotype originates from West Mediterranean. The cultivars were 1) introduced from the East; 2) selected in the West; 3) or selected in the North Africa region. The Tunisian oleaster trees carry eastern and western Mediterranean chlorotype CCK, COM and CE.
A gradient of affinities for sensory bristles across the wing blade of Drosophila melanogaster

The wing blade of Drosophila melanogaster is composed of dorsal and ventral surfaces covered with hairs and rows of morphologically distinct bristles round the margin. The mutant shaggy causes a complete transformation of hairs into bristles over the entire wing surfaces. Clones of mutant bristles have a tendency to line up into straight bristle rows. Clones are straight and orderly near the wing margin but form bundles and vesicles when a long distance from the margin. Furthermore the bristle cells move distally along the future wing blade in the general direction of the margin. From these studies, we postulate the existence of a gradient of cell affinities for bristle cells that is maximal at the dorsoventral wing margin and decreases with distance away from it. The bristle clones also move onto the wing veins and often induce the formation of new veins in the surrounding shaggy+ cells. These new veins run from the clone and join up to existing veins. We conclude that there is a close relationship between bristles and veins.
“Atypical” Pleomorphic Lipomatous Tumor: A Clinicopathologic, Immunohistochemical and Molecular Study of 21 Cases, Emphasizing its Relationship to Atypical Spindle Cell Lipomatous Tumor and Suggesting a Morphologic Spectrum (Atypical Spindle Cell/Pleomorphic Lipomatous Tumor)

The classification of the until recently poorly explored group of atypical adipocytic neoplasms with spindle cell features, for which recently the term atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor (ASLT) has been proposed, remains challenging. Recent studies have proposed ASLT as a unique entity with (in at least a significant subset of cases) a specific genetic background, namely deletions/losses of 13q14, including RB1 and its flanking genes RCBTB2, DLEU1, and ITM2B. Similar genetic aberrations have been reported in pleomorphic liposarcomas (PLSs). This prompted us to investigate a series of 21 low-grade adipocytic neoplasms with a pleomorphic lipoma–like appearance, but with atypical morphologic features (including atypical spindle cells, pleomorphic [multinucleated] cells, pleomorphic lipoblasts and poor circumscription), for which we propose the term “atypical” pleomorphic lipomatous tumor (APLT). Five cases of PLS were also included in this study. We used multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification to evaluate genetic changes of 13q14. In addition, array-based comparative genomic hybridization was performed on 4 APLTs and all PLSs. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification showed consistent loss of RB1 and its flanking gene RCBTB2 in all cases of APLT. This genetic alteration was also present in all PLSs, suggesting genetic overlap, in addition to morphologic overlap, with APLTs. However, array-based comparative genomic hybridization demonstrated more complex genetic alterations with more losses and gains in PLSs compared with APLTs. APLTs arose in the subcutis (67%) more frequently than in the deep (subfascial) soft tissues (33%). With a median follow-up of 42 months, recurrences were documented in 2 of 12 APLTs for which a long follow-up was available. Herein, we also demonstrate that APLTs share obvious overlapping morphologic, immunohistochemical, genetic and clinical characteristics with the recently defined ASLT, suggesting that they are related lesions that form a spectrum (atypical spindle cell/pleomorphic lipomatous tumor).
Relationship Between Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in 17-Year-Olds and Socioeconomic and Environmental Factors

To investigate the association between childhood obesity and neighborhood-level socio-economic and environmental factors in Japan. The prevalence of childhood obesity in 2008 was obtained from annual reports of the School Health Survey. The following 12 factors were publicly available: income per person, ratio of people completing up to college or university education, population density, total length of roads per square kilometer, number relative to the population of food and drink stores, restaurants, large-scale retail stores, convenience stores, passenger cars, traffic accidents, criminal offenses, and death by accidents. The ratio of people completing up to college or university education was inversely associated with obesity in boys and girls. No association was found between obesity and the other factors examined. An inverse association was shown between educational level and childhood obesity in both boys and girls. Further studies integrating associations between childhood obesity and neighborhood-level factors are needed.
Iron Homeostasis Controls Myeloid Blood Cell Differentiation in Drosophila

Iron is an essential divalent ion for aerobic life. Life has evolved to maintain iron homeostasis for normal cellular and physiological functions and therefore imbalances in iron levels exert a wide range of consequences. Responses to iron dysregulation in blood development, however, remain elusive. Here, we found that iron homeostasis is critical for differentiation of Drosophila blood cells in the larval hematopoietic organ, called the lymph gland. Supplementation of an iron chelator, bathophenanthroline disulfate (BPS) results in an excessive differentiation of the crystal cell in the lymph gland. This phenotype is recapitulated by loss of Fer1HCH in the intestine, indicating that reduced levels of systemic iron enhances crystal cell differentiation. Detailed analysis of Fer1HCH-tagged-GFP revealed that Fer1HCH is also expressed in the hematopoietic systems. Lastly, blocking Fer1HCH expression in the mature blood cells showed marked increase in the blood differentiation of both crystal cells and plasmatocytes. Thus, our work suggests a relevance of systemic and local iron homeostasis in blood differentiation, prompting further investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying iron regulation and cell fate determination in the hematopoietic system.
Piwis and piwi‐interacting RNAs in the epigenetics of cancer

An increasing body of evidence suggests that cancer cells acquire “stem‐like” epigenetic and signaling characteristics during the tumorigenic process, including global DNA hypo‐methylation, gene‐specific DNA hyper‐methylation, and small RNA deregulation. RNAs have been known to be epigenetic regulators, both in stem cells and in differentiated cells. A novel class of small RNAs, called piwi‐interacting RNAs (piRNAs), maintains genome integrity by epigenetically silencing transposons via DNA methylation, especially in germline stem cells. piRNAs interact exclusively with the Piwi family of proteins. The human Piwi ortholog, Hiwi, has been found to be aberrantly expressed in a variety of human cancers and in some, its expression correlates with poor clinical prognosis. However, there has been little investigation into the potential role that Piwi and piRNAs might play in contributing to the “stem‐like” epigenetic state of a cancer. This review will highlight the current evidence supporting the importance of Piwi and piRNAs in the epigenetics of cancer and provide a potential model for the role of Piwi and piRNAs in tumorigenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 373–380, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Simple fluorescence method for rapid estimation of aflatoxin levels in a solid culture medium

Aflatoxin concentrations in agar media were estimated with a direct technique that quantifies the fluorescence of agar containing aflatoxins. Tubes containing 5 ml of an agar medium inoculated with spores of aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus isolates were incubated for 3 days at 30 degrees C and set in a carriage specifically designed to carry culture tubes in a scanning densitometer. Fluorescence (450 nm and above) was elicited in the agar by UV light (365 nm) and photometrically measured. Agar fluorescence directly correlated (r2 = 0.89 +/- 0.05, P less than 0.001) with the concentration of aflatoxin within the range 0 to 18.7 micrograms/g. The lowest aflatoxin concentration detected was 50 ng/g. The technique successfully differentiated the aflatoxigenic potentials of Aspergillus isolates.
The effect of congenital deafness on duration judgment.

OBJECTIVE Congenital deafness provides the opportunity to study how atypical sensory and language experiences affect different aspects of information processing, e.g., time perception. METHODS Using two methods of temporal estimation, reproduction (Exp. 1) and production (Exp. 2), the effect of deafness on duration judgment was investigated within a time domain of a few seconds. We examined 16 congenitally deaf adolescents, aged between 16 and 19 years, and 16 normally hearing subjects, matched for gender and age. In Exp. 1 subjects were asked to reproduce durations from 1 to 5.5 s, whereas in Exp. 2 they produced durations from 1 to 6 s. RESULTS The results showed that in both experiments, the region of accurate estimation was significantly limited in deaf individuals, compared to normal hearing ones. Deaf adolescents judged accurately only intervals around 3 s, whereas they overestimated standards shorter than 2 s and underestimated those above 3 s. In contrast, controls correctly estimated the majority of standards applied in both experiments, with the exception of underreproduction of intervals longer than 3 s (Exp. 1). CONCLUSIONS The effect of deafness on the accuracy of duration judgment can be linked to differences in the use of conventional time units, applied strategy as well as cognitive processes such as attention or working memory.