Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender Differentials in Accessing Forest Products as Means of Livelihood in Ondo

This study examined gender differentials in accessing forest products as means of livelihood in Ondo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to identify socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, main forest products assessable in the area, factors influencing level of participation of the respondents in forest products and problems encountered in accessing forest products. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 196 respondents. Descriptive statistics and truncated regression model were used to analyze the data collected. The results revealed that men (59.7%) were more than women (40.3%). Majority of the women (82.3%) engaged in Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) while men (76.1%) that were engaged in timber forest products (TFPs) were high. The results of the truncated regression model revealed that age, source of information, non-forest income, land tenure, experience, household size and unit price of forest product were the main factors that significantly affected the level of male and female’s participation in forest products. This study, therefore, recommended that government should put in place a sustainable governance structure in the forests communities for a conducive and friendly environment that will ease the burden of the women, being the most vulnerable.
Evaluation of Oxidant and Anti-Oxidant Balancein Experimentally Induced TesticularInjury by Ischemia Reperfusion in Rats

Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the oxidant and antioxidant balance in experimentally induced testicular injury by ischemia reperfusion in rats with different time intervals of torsion/detorsion of the spermatic cord. Method: Male rats were divided into thirteen groups and each group containing six rats. All rats were subjected to right spermatic cord torsion followed by detorsion for different time intervals except the sham control group. Result: Malondialdehyde, super oxide dismutase, catalase levels were estimated in testicular tissue of each rat. Spermatic cord torsion/ detorsion induced a significant increase in testicular malondialdehyde contents and significant decrease in SOD, catalase levels when compared to sham control group in a time dependent manner. Conclusion: Our findings clearly represents that torsion for 4 hours followed by detorsion for 4 hours induces the highest oxidative stress with a great extent of lipid peroxidation and drastic reduction of SOD and catalase levels of the testis and is, therefore, a valid model for studying the oxidative antioxidant effects of the ischemia/ reperfusion injury in rat testis.
Informal Out-of-Pocket Payments for Health Care in Russia

On the basis of data from interviews with medical personnel in two Russian regions, the extent to which informal payments in different kinds of medical institutions and departments are spread has been analyzed. It is argued that informal payments is a forced way of adaptation of the medical staff and their patients to the transition period. Rules of informal payments were described, and various models of such payments were built. On this basis, an evaluation is made of the possible outcomes of the legalization of informal payments for medical services.
Potassium Channel Modulation by a Toxin Domain in Matrix Metalloprotease 23*

Peptide toxins found in a wide array of venoms block K+ channels, causing profound physiological and pathological effects. Here we describe the first functional K+ channel-blocking toxin domain in a mammalian protein. MMP23 (matrix metalloprotease 23) contains a domain (MMP23TxD) that is evolutionarily related to peptide toxins from sea anemones. MMP23TxD shows close structural similarity to the sea anemone toxins BgK and ShK. Moreover, this domain blocks K+ channels in the nanomolar to low micromolar range (Kv1.6 > Kv1.3 > Kv1.1 = Kv3.2 > Kv1.4, in decreasing order of potency) while sparing other K+ channels (Kv1.2, Kv1.5, Kv1.7, and KCa3.1). Full-length MMP23 suppresses K+ channels by co-localizing with and trapping MMP23TxD-sensitive channels in the ER. Our results provide clues to the structure and function of the vast family of proteins that contain domains related to sea anemone toxins. Evolutionary pressure to maintain a channel-modulatory function may contribute to the conservation of this domain throughout the plant and animal kingdoms.
Cellular resistance to daunomycin in Chinese hamster cells in vitro.

Summary Chinese hamster cell lines resistant to daunomycin (DM) were developed by direct exposure to the antibiotic. Increase in resistance up to 883-fold was obtained. Evaluation of dose-response data for sensitive and resistant sublines revealed complete cross-resistance to the chemically closely related antibiotic adriamycin as well as considerable cross-resistance to actinomycin D. Radioautographic experiments demonstrated that degree of resistance to DM is inversely related to degree of nuclear labeling by tritiated DM. Thus, correspondence between decreased sensitivity and decreased uptake for the DM-resistant cells, and the similarity of these results with those obtained in a previous radioautographic study of actinomycin D- and DM-resistant sublines with tritiated actinomycin D suggest that resistance to DM is due primarily to differences in the cellular membrane resulting in decreased permeability to drug.
Profiling Family Firms in the Autonomous Region of the Azores

Este estudo tem como objetivo traçar o perfil das empresas familiares localizadas na Região Autónoma dos Açores. Recorrendo a uma amostra de 82 empresas familiares, são analisados vários aspetos importantes na caracterização de empresas familiares, como a propriedade e administração, a gestão e experiência e a cultura organizacional. Outros indicadores são, igualmente, tidos em conta: setor de atividade, anos em operação, número de colaboradores e volume de negócios do último ano. Os resultados obtidos revelam que estas empresas são detidas e controladas exclusivamente pela família e os proprietários e gerentes são a geração fundadora. Atuam no setor do retalho, contam com menos de 10 colaboradores, encontram-se em atividade há mais de 30 anos e têm um volume de negócios inferior a €500.000 por ano. Os membros da família mostram ter orgulho, empenho e identificam-se com as empresas, considerando, ainda, que a família tem uma importante influência no negócio.
Optimization of 3D Poisson–Nernst‐Planck model for fast evaluation of diverse protein channels

We show the accuracy and applicability of our fast algorithmic implementation of a three‐dimensional Poisson–Nernst–Planck (3D‐PNP) flow model for characterizing different protein channels. Due to its high computational efficiency, our model can predict the full current‐voltage characteristics of a channel within minutes, based on the experimental 3D structure of the channel or its computational model structure. Compared with other methods, such as Brownian dynamics, which currently needs a few weeks of the computational time, or even much more demanding molecular dynamics modeling, 3D‐PNP is the only available method for a function‐based evaluation of very numerous tentative structural channel models. Flow model tests of our algorithm and its optimal parametrization are provided for five native channels whose experimental structures are available in the protein data bank (PDB) in an open conductive state, and whose experimental current‐voltage characteristics have been published. The channels represent very different geometric and structural properties, which makes it the widest test to date of the accuracy of 3D‐PNP on real channels. We test whether the channel conductance, rectification, and charge selectivity obtained from the flow model, could be sufficiently sensitive to single‐point mutations, related to unsignificant changes in the channel structure. Our results show that the classical 3D‐PNP model, under proper parametrization, is able to achieve a qualitative agreement with experimental data for a majority of the tested characteristics and channels, including channels with narrow and irregular conductivity pores. We propose that although the standard PNP model cannot provide insight into complex physical phenomena due to its intrinsic limitations, its semiquantitative agreement is achievable for rectification and selectivity at a level sufficient for the bioinformatical purpose of selecting the best structural models with a great advantage of a very short computational time. Proteins 2013; 81:1802–1822. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Gut microbiota composition correlates with changes in body fat content due to weight loss.

Genetics, lifestyle, and dietary habits contribute to metabolic syndrome, but also an altered gut microbiota has been identified. Based on this knowledge it is suggested that host bacterial composition tends to change in response to dietary factors and weight loss. The aim of this study was to identify bacteria affecting host metabolism in obesity during weight loss and to correlate them with changes of the body composition obtained from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). We recruited obese individuals receiving a dietary intervention according DACH (German, Austrian, and Swiss Society of Nutrition) reference values and guidelines for 'prevention and therapy of obesity' of DAG e.V. , DDG, DGE e.V. , and DGEM e.V. over three months. Faecal microbiota and BIA measurements were conducted at three time points, before, during, and after the intervention. Gut microbiota was analysed on the basis of 16S rDNA with quantitative real time PCR. Additionally, a food frequency questionnaire with questions to nutritional behaviour, lifestyle, and physical activity was administered before intervention. After weight reduction, obese individuals showed a significant increase of total bacterial abundance. The ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes significantly decreased during intervention. Lactobacilli significantly increased between the first and the second time point. These differences also correlated with differences in weight percentage. During the intervention period Clostridium cluster IV increased significantly between the second and the third time point. In contrast Clostridium cluster XIVa showed a decreased abundance. The dominant butyrate producer, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, significantly increased as did the abundance of the butyryl-CoA: acetate CoA-transferase gene. Archaea and Akkermansia were significantly more prevalent after weight reduction. Our results show a clear difference in the gut bacterial composition before and after dietary intervention with a rapid change in gut microbial composition after a few weeks, but also indicate that a major shift requires long term dietary treatment.
Large-scale Structural Reranking for Hierarchical Text Categorization

Current hierarchical text categorization (HTC) methods mainly fall into three directions: (1) Flat one-vs.-all approach, which flattens the hierarchy into independent nodes and trains a binary one-vs.-all classifier for each node. (2) Top-down method, which uses the hierarchical structure to decompose the entire problem into a set of smaller subproblems, and deals with such sub-problems in top-down fashion along the hierarchy. (3) Big-bang approach, which learns a single (but generally complex) global model for the class hierarchy as a whole with a single run of the learning algorithm. These methods were shown to provide relatively high performance in previous evaluations. However, they still suffer from two main drawbacks: (1) relatively low accuracy as they disregard category dependencies, or (2) low computational efficiency when considering such dependencies. In order to build an accurate and efficient model we adopted the following strategy: first, we design advanced global reranking models (GR) that exploit structural dependencies in hierarchical multi-label text classification (TC). They are based on two algorithms: (1) to generate the k-best classification of hypotheses based on decision probabilities of the flat one-vs.-all and top-down methods; and (2) to encode dependencies in the reranker by: (i) modeling hypotheses as trees derived by the hierarchy itself and (ii) applying tree kernels (TK) to them. Such TK-based reranker selects the best hierarchical test hypothesis, which is naturally represented as a labeled tree. Additionally, to better investigate the role of category relationships, we consider two interesting cases: (i) traditional schemes in which node-fathers include all the documents of their child-categories; and (ii) more general schemes, in which children can include documents not belonging to their fathers. Second, we propose an efficient local incremental reranking model (LIR), which combines a top-down method with a local reranking model for each sub-problem. These local rerankers improve the accuracy by absorbing the local category dependencies of subproblems, which alleviate the errors of top-down method in the higher levels of the hierarchy. The application of LIR recursively deals with the sub-problems by applying the corresponding local rerankers in top-down fashion, resulting in high efficiency. In addition, we further optimize LIR by (i) improving the top-down method by creating local dictionaries for each sub-problem; (ii) using LIBLINEAR instead of LIBSVM; and (iii) adopting the compact representation of hypotheses for learning the local reranking model. This makes LIR applicable for large-scale hierarchical text categorization. The experimentation on different hierarchical datasets has shown promising enhancements by exploiting the structural dependencies in large-scale hierarchical text categorization.
Variations in Cloud Cover and Cloud Types over the Ocean from Surface Observations, 1954-2008

AbstractSynoptic weather observations from ships throughout the World Ocean have been analyzed to produce a climatology of total cloud cover and the amounts of nine cloud types. About 54 million observations contributed to the climatology, which now covers 55 years from 1954 to 2008. In this work, interannual variations of seasonal cloud amounts are analyzed in 10° grid boxes. Long-term variations O(5–10 yr), coherent across multiple latitude bands, remain present in the updated cloud data. A comparison to coincident data on islands indicates that the coherent variations are probably spurious. An exact cause for this behavior remains elusive. The globally coherent variations are removed from the gridbox time series using a Butterworth filter before further analysis.Before removing the spurious variation, the global average time series of total cloud cover over the ocean shows low-amplitude, long-term variations O(2%) over the 55-yr span. High-frequency, year-to-year variation is seen O(1%–2%). Among the cl.
Experiences of being diagnosed with tuberculosis among immigrants in Norway — Factors associated with diagnostic delay: A qualitative study

Aims: The aim of this paper is to explore experiences of being diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) among immigrants in Norway, with a view to factors associated with diagnostic delay. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted among 22 participants diagnosed with TB who originated from Somalia or Ethiopia. Results: One-third of the participants reported less than 2 months from onset of symptoms to treatment were initiated. The factors associated with little delay included a medical history that gave suspicion of TB, presenting with typical TB symptoms, or being screened for TB at arrival. Two-thirds of the participants told about extensive diagnostic processes. Persistent cough not accompanied by symptoms such as: weight loss and weakness; mild, diffuse, atypical, and/or intermittent symptoms; and a sense of not being a likely victim of TB could delay patients’ first initiative to seek help. Participants experienced that the diagnostic process in the health services could endure for months, even years. The diagnosis could be difficult to confirm, but health professionals appeared to have difficulties with associating their symptoms with TB. This resulted in delays in initiating diagnostic tests for TB, especially in cases of extra-pulmonary TB. Conclusions: Public health efforts to increase awareness about TB transmission, its diversity in manifestations, and its progression from latent to active disease, may decrease patient delay. An increased awareness among health professionals about typical and atypical symptoms of TB, aspects of the patient’s history, and being aware and sensitive to patients’ own interpretation of symptoms may reduce diagnostic delay in the health services.
A digitally stabilized type-III PLL using ring VCO with 1.01psrms integrated jitter in 65nm CMOS

The design of low-jitter VCO-based PLLs is quite challenging as high VCO control gain, KVCO, increases the phase noise contribution arising from the charge pump and loop filter. To resolve this problem, dual-tuning PLLs (DT-PLLs) have been studied [1-4]. The DT-PLL structure adds a narrow-bandwidth coarse (high-KVCO) path to the fine (low-KVCO) path consisting of a type-II PLL. The narrow-bandwidth analog filter in the coarse path plays an important role in preventing the charge pump and the loop filter from increasing the output jitter, while a wide-tuning range is maintained. Moreover, the coarse path adds another pole at origin to the fine path and transforms it from a type-II to type-III PLL [3-4]. Compared to a type-II PLL, owing to its boosted low-frequency loop gain, a type-III PLL can better suppress a low-frequency disturbance to the ring VCO, such as temperature drift. However, a type-III PLL has stability problems. To ensure sufficient phase margin (PM), a type-III PLL requires an extremely narrow-bandwidth (e.g. ~10-100Hz) analog filter in the coarse path or must make the KVCO of the fine path larger. The former requires a nano-Farad capacitor or a fairly complex design for shrinking the capacitance, while the latter way increases total jitter. This paper presents a digitally stabilized type-Ill PLL with a ring VCO. It employs a DT-PLL structure and improves its stability by composing the coarse path with a digital integrator and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). It can set the Kvco of the fine path to 10MHz/V, which is 1000χ lower than that of the coarse path with a sufficient PM. For further in-band phase-noise reduction, the proposed type-Ill PLL adopts a sub-sampling PLL (SS-PLL) in its fine path [5], and achieves 1.01 psrms integrated jitter.
A stochastic method for minimizing functions with many minima

An efficient stochastic method for continuous optimization problems is presented. Combining a novel global search with typical local optimization methods, the proposed method specializes in hard optimization problems such as minimizing multimodal or ill-conditioned unimodal objective functions. Extensive numerical studies show that, starting from a random initial point, the proposed method is always to find the global optimal solution. Computational results in comparison with other global optimization algorithms clearly illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the method. As traditional supervised neural-network training is formulated as a continuous optimization problem, the method presented can be applied to neural-network learning.
Effects of high-pressure processing on the safety, quality, and shelf life of ready-to-eat meats.

Ready-to-eat (RTE) meats (low-fat pastrami, Strassburg beef, export sausage, and Cajun beef) were pressure treated at 600 MPa, 20 degrees C, for 180 s to evaluate the feasibility of using high-pressure processing (HPP) for the safe shelf-life extension of these products. After processing, samples were stored at 4 degrees C for 98 days during which time microbiological enumeration and enrichments were performed. Additionally, sensory analyses were undertaken to determine consumer acceptability and purchase intent over the duration of storage. Counts of aerobic and anaerobic mesophiles, lactic acid bacteria, Listeria spp. , staphylococci, Brochothrix thermosphacta, coliforms, and yeasts and molds revealed that there were undetectable or low levels for all types of microorganisms throughout storage. Comparison of consumer hedonic ratings for unprocessed and processed meats revealed no difference in consumer acceptability, and no deterioration in the sensory quality was evident for any of the products tested during the study. Additionally, inoculated pack studies were conducted to determine if HPP could be used as a postlethality treatment to reduce or eliminate Listeria monocytogenes and thus assess the potential use of HPP in a hazard analysis critical control point plan for production of RTE meats. Inoculated samples (initial level of 10(4) CFU/g) were pressure treated (600 MPa, 20 degrees C, for 180 s) and stored at 4 degrees C, and survival of L. monocytogenes was monitored for 91 days. L. monocytogenes was not detected by plating methods until day 91, but selective enrichments showed sporadic recovery in three of the four products examined. The results show that HPP at 600 MPa, 20 degrees C, for 180 s can extend the refrigerated shelf life of RTE meats and reduce L. monocytogenes numbers by more than 4 log CFU/g in inoculated product.
Methylation profiling of mesothelioma using real‐time methylation‐specific PCR: A pilot study

We tested whether methylation profiles generated by real‐time methylation‐specific PCR (MSP) can be useful in differentiating benign, reactive mesothelial cell proliferation (RM) from malignant mesothelioma (MM). Forty‐two of the 63 cases (67%) yielded informative results for RARβ2, GPC3, CDKN2A (p16), TERT, and CCND2 (cyclinD2) gene methylation. DNA methylation of any gene was observed in much higher frequency in MM cases than RM cases (63% vs. 33%, P < 0.05). Individual gene methylation was higher in the MM than the RM cases for most of the genes; however, this was not statistically significant (RARβ2: 58% vs. 33%, P > 0.05; GPC3: 36% vs. 27%, P > 0.05; CDKN2A: 4% vs. 0%; TERT: 4% vs. 0%), while CCND2 methylation was not detected in any case. Although preliminary, we demonstrate that real‐time MSP can be applied to archival specimens and gene methylation profiling may have potential to be a useful ancillary tool to help distinguish MM from RM. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2007;35:498–502. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Strategy alignment in purchasing and supply management: a systematic literature review and research framework on the performance impact

This paper studies the performance impact of multi-dimensional strategy alignment in purchasing and supply management (PSM) in a literature review (LR)-based analysis. In a first step, it evaluates the scientific state-of-the-art in a systematic LR by classifying, analysing and synthesising 29 empirical studies with reference to a conceptual framework and based on the methodologies used in the sampled papers. The results of the review indicate that coordinating purchasing strategies with: 1) goals and strategies at the corporate level; 2) other functional strategies; 3) the supplier base (and the corresponding contextual requirements) has a significant positive effect on performance. Building on the conceptual framework, we highlight managerial insights and develop a research agenda by identifying research gaps and pointing out methodological shortcomings of the sampled papers in a second step. Finally, we operationalise an integrated strategy alignment index and develop hypotheses that support future empirical research on holistic strategy alignment in PSM.