Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of the dietary requirement for vitamin D in free-living adults >=64 y of age.

BACKGROUND Older adults may be more prone to developing vitamin D deficiency than younger adults. Dietary requirements for vitamin D in older adults are based on limited evidence. OBJECTIVE The objective was to establish the dietary intake of vitamin D required to maintain serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations above various cutoffs between 25 and 80 nmol/L during wintertime, which accounted for the effect of summer sunshine exposure and diet. DESIGN A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, 22-wk intervention was conducted in men and women aged >/=64 y (n = 225) at supplemental levels of 0, 5, 10, and 15 microg vitamin D(3)/d from October 2007 to March 2008. RESULTS Clear dose-related increments (P < 0.0001) in serum 25(OH)D were observed with increasing supplemental vitamin D(3) intakes. The slope of the relation between total vitamin D intake and serum 25(OH)D was 1.97 nmol . L(-1) . microg intake(-1). The vitamin D intake that maintained serum 25(OH)D concentrations >25 nmol/L in 97.5% of the sample was 8.6 microg/d. Intakes were 7.9 and 11.4 microg/d in those who reported a minimum of 15 min daily summer sunshine exposure or less, respectively. The intakes required to maintain serum 25(OH)D concentrations of >37.5, >50, and >80 nmol/L in 97.5% of the sample were 17.2, 24.7, and 38.7 microg/d, respectively. CONCLUSION To ensure that the vitamin D requirement is met by the vast majority (>97.5%) of adults aged >/=64 y during winter, between 7.9 and 42.8 microg vitamin D/d is required, depending on summer sun exposure and the threshold of adequacy of 25(OH)D. This trial was registered at http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN20236112 as ISRCTN registration no. ISRCTN20236112.
Metabolic Capacity and the Evolution of Biogeographic Patterns in Oscine and Suboscine Passerine Birds

Biogeographic analyses of passerine birds demonstrate that suboscines are numerically dominant in South America, whereas oscines are dominant elsewhere. This suggests that oscines generally outcompete suboscines and that suboscine dominance likely persists in South America because of its long isolation from other continents, where oscines have diversified. One hypothesis for oscine competitive superiority is that oscines possess higher metabolic capacities than suboscines, and this favors oscines in most habitats. We tested this hypothesis by comparing summit metabolic rates (Msum, maximum thermoregulatory metabolic rate) between oscines and suboscines using conventional and phylogenetically informed statistical approaches. We predicted that if the metabolic-capacity hypothesis is valid, then oscines should have higher Msum than suboscines. Both conventional and phylogenetically informed ANCOVA on regressions of log Msum against log mass showed that oscines had higher Msum than suboscines: least squares mean Msum was 74% greater for oscines. Moreover, conventional and phylogenetically informed multiple regressions identified log mass, winter-range temperature, and clade (oscines vs. suboscines) as significant effectors of log Msum. Thus, oscines have generally higher Msum than suboscines, which is consistent with the metabolic-capacity hypothesis and suggests that metabolic capacity is one factor influencing the evolution of broad biogeographical patterns in passerines.
Thymosin β4 induces folding of the developing optic tectum in the chicken (Gallus domesticus)

Thymosin β4 (Tβ4) is a highly conserved G‐actin binding polypeptide with multiple intra‐ and extracellular functions. While stem‐cell activation as well as promotion of cell survival and migration by Tβ4 have been investigated in various in vitro and in vivo studies, there are few data on the implications of Tβ4 in brain development. In the present study we analyzed Tβ4 expression in the developing optic tectum of the chicken (Gallus domesticus) and performed in ovo retroviral transduction and plasmid electroporation for overexpression and knockdown of Tβ4. We found marked Tβ4 expression in the tectal plate and in all neuronal layers of later developmental stages, but not in the ventricular zone where neural stem cells reside and divide. Knockdown of Tβ4 inhibited growth of Tβ4‐depleted hemispheres, whereas overexpression of Tβ4 led to the production of neuroepithelial folds resembling gyri and sulci, which are not normally present in avian brains. The mechanism yielding enhanced growth of Tβ4 overexpressing hemispheres involved enhanced proliferation, thus indicating an impact of Tβ4 on the neural stem cell and/or progenitor cell population. In summary, we found that due to its effects on proliferation, Tβ4 expression has a large impact on neuroepithelial and macroscopic brain development. J. Comp. Neurol. 520:1650–1662, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
NEED AND INTERVENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN PUBLIC H EALTH CARE SERVICES AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The past 25 years have witnessed considerable devel opm nts in Public health in India. There are number of catalyzing forces behind the significant developmen ts facilitating Public Health. National Health Poli cies and strategies for Health for All were formulated and implemented with in the context of National Health and Socio-economi c Development. For this vast number of health workers have been tr ained and developed. They have proven to be accepta bl o the community and serving as a bridge between the commu nity and health care programmes. The co-operation of human resources is required for health programmes and its ut lization. Social workers play an important role in Community organization, awareness building and mobilization. They are actively engaged in examining social facto rs hat contribute in promoting good health and control of diseases by gi vin social dimension of Health and well-being. The y are making persistent efforts to understand health from social perspective in addressing health care and social d evelopment. Their works provide a comprehensive understanding of heal t issues from a social – cultural perspective. This paper emphasizes the role, need and interventi on of social Workers in building the bridges betwee n communities and government agencies working in this direction. It analyses the contribution of Social Science, which provide a comprehensive understanding of health iss ues from socio-cultural perspective. Further, the s tudy finds and suggests the ways to integrate social and culture a sp cts for efficient Public health care planning an d development.
Determination of Escherichia coli Contamination with Chromocult Coliform Agar Showed a High Level of Discrimination Efficiency for Differing Fecal Pollution Levels in Tropical Waters of Kampala, Uganda

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, and sulfite-reducing anaerobic spore formers from different polluted sites in a tropical environment were determined in order to test for their indication ability for fecal contamination. Quantification of E. coli contamination with Chromocult coliform agar proved to be efficient and feasible for determining fecal pollutions in the investigated area within 24 h. The other microbial parameters showed a lower ability to differentiate sites and cannot be recommended for monitoring fecal pollution in the studied tropical surface waters.
Les Nouvelles Ecclésiastiques (1728-1750) face à leurs opposants : quelques polémiques autour du prêt à intérêt

Cet article s’attache a souligner la demarche d’opposition du plus important journal clandestin du XVIIIe siecle, les Nouvelles Ecclesiastiques (1728-1750), concernant la diffusion des nouvelles idees « liberales », et ce notamment a propos des debats touchant au pret d’argent a interet. La clandestinite du processus de publication offre deux avantages : une liberte de ton pour les auteurs, et une large diffusion assuree par les imprimeries de province. L’article montre deux elements importants. D’une part, le periodique developpe une argumentation fondee sur l’incidence sociale du credit, influencant quelques premiers economistes autour du cercle de Gournay. D’autre part, en denoncant les theses des « premiers philosophes », l’organe de presse va favoriser l’essor d’une pensee philosophique irreligieuse et permettre une plus large diffusion de l’Encyclopedie.
Thailand equatorial F2-layer peak height and comparison with the IRI-2001 model

In this paper, the F2-layer peak height (hmF2) are calculated from the observed M(3000)F2 and then compared with IRI-2001 model. The data used for this study are obtained from bottomside ionogram recorded by the FM/CW ionosonde at Chumphon campus of King Mongkut's institute of Technology Ladkrabang (latitude 10.72°N and longitude 99.37°E), Thailand, located near the magnetic equator. The measurement data including March, June, September and December in 2004, 2005 and 2006 for the period of low solar activity, are analyzed and then compared with IRI-2001 model predictions. Our study shows that the agreement between the data and the model at Southeast Asia will be better if the Shimazaki's formula is used. The results are important for the future improvements of the IRI model for the hmF2 at Thailand equatorial latitude.
Hypercapnia is essential to reduce the cerebral oxidative metabolism during extreme apnea in humans

The cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) is reduced during apnea that yields profound hypoxia and hypercapnia. In this study, to dissociate the impact of hypoxia and hypercapnia on the reduction in CMRO2, 11 breath-hold competitors completed three apneas under: (a) normal conditions (NM), yielding severe hypercapnia and hypoxemia, (b) with prior hyperventilation (HV), yielding severe hypoxemia only, and (c) with prior 100% oxygen breathing (HX), yielding the greatest level of hypercapnia, but in the absence of hypoxemia. The CMRO2 was calculated from the product of cerebral blood flow (ultrasound) and the radial artery-jugular venous oxygen content difference (cannulation). Secondary measures included net-cerebral glucose/lactate exchange and nonoxidative metabolism. Reductions in CMRO2 were largest in the HX condition (−44 ± 15%, p < 0.05), with the most severe hypercapnia (PaCO2 = 58 ± 5 mmHg) but maintained oxygen saturation. The CMRO2 was reduced by 24 ± 27% in NM (p = 0.05), but unchanged in the HV apnea where hypercapnia was absent. A net-cerebral lactate release was observed at the end of apnea in the HV and NM condition, but not in the HX apnea (main effect p < 0.05). These novel data support hypercapnia/pH as a key mechanism mediating reductions in CMRO2 during apnea, and show that severe hypoxemia stimulates lactate release from the brain.
Approaches to therapy against prion diseases focused on the individual defence system

Prion diseases are neurodegenerative disorders for which no effective treatment is available to date. Misfolded protein as aetiological agent is currently the most accepted theory. This review is focused on the hypothesis that the main basis of the progress of these disorders might fall on the individual defence system. Host protective response could convert into the early cellular event that triggers further brain tissue destruction. Specifically, neuroglial cells as main immunological cells located in brain might be influence on the pathogenic process of neurodegeneration by interaction with neurons. As consequence, neuroglia would be established as a turning point in therapeutic strategy of prion diseases. This alternative seems particularly desirable due to that they would result more effective than curative treatments trying to act on the irreversible neurodegenerating process. Moreover, all advances attained in the frame of this therapeutical approach result especially relevant for other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or Huntington’s diseases, Frontotemporal dementia or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis which are currently considered prion-like disorders since aberrant proteins spread throughout the brain during disease progression in all of them, and thus they may share molecular basis and mechanisms of propagation.
Water resources of India

3 per year, respectively. With rapid growing population and improving living standards the pressure on our water resources is increasing and per capita availabi lity of water resources is reducing day by day. Due to spatial and temporal variability in pr ecipitation the country faces the problem of flood and drought syndrome. Over- exploitation of groundwater is leading to reduction of low flows in the rivers, declining of the groundwater resources, and salt water intrusion in aquifers of the coastal areas. Over canal-irrigation in some of the com- mand areas has resulted in waterlogging and salinity. The quality of surface and groundwater resources is also deteriorating because of increasing pollutant loads from point and non-point sources. The climate change is expected to affect precipitation and water availability. So far, the data collection, processing, storage and dis- semination have not received adequate attention. The efforts initiated under the Hydrology Project Phase-I and the development of the Decision Support System proposed under Hydrology Project Phase-II are ex- pected to bridge some of the gaps between the developed advanced technologies of water resources planning, de- signing and management and their field applications. The paper presents availability and demands of water resources in India as well as describes the various issues and strategies for developing a holistic approach for sustainable development and management of the water resources of the country. It also highlight s integration of the blue and green flows and concepts of virtual water transfer for sustainable management of the wa- ter resources for meeting the demands of the present, without compromising the needs of future generations. OF all the planet's renewable resources, water has a unique place. It is essential for sustaining all forms of life, food production, economic development, and for general well being. It is impossible to substitute for most of its uses, difficult to de -pollute, expensive to transport, and it is truly a unique gift to mankind from nature. W ater is also one of the most manageable of the natural r esources as it is capable of diversion, transport, storage, and recycling. All these properties impart to water its great utility for human beings. The surface water and groundwater resources of the country play a major role in agriculture, hydropower generation, livestock production, industrial activities, fo restry, fisheries, navigation, recreational activities, etc. Accor d- ing to National Water Policy 1 in the planning and operation
Transcutaneous bilirubin in the pre-term infants.

OBJECTIVE 1) To evaluate the accuracy of transcutaneous bilirubin (T(C)B) measurement compared to total serum bilirubin level (TSB) in the pre-term infants and 2) To establish cut-off values of T(C)B that indicated need for TSB. MATERIAL AND METHOD Premature infants whose birth weight was more than 1,000 grams and gestational age less than 36 weeks had paired T(C)B-TSB assessment when jaundice was observed. T(C)B was done using JM 103 (Minolta AirShields Jaundice Meter) on the forehead. T(C)B, which corresponded to TSB level that required phototherapy, was chosen as the cut-off point that indicated blood sampling for TSB. RESULTS Two hundred and forty-nine paired T(CB)-TSB measurements from 196 premature neonates were obtained. Birth weight was 1,887 +/- 344.4 grams. TSB ranged from 4.5-17.6 mg/dL (mean 9.4, SD 2.2 mg/dL), T(C)B 4.1-17.7 mg/dL (mean 9.7, SD 2.4 mg/dL). The correlation coefficient between T(C)B and TSB was significant (r 0.79, p < 0.0001). T(C)B had a tendency to overestimate TSB with the mean difference of TSB- T(C)B = -0.3 +/- 1.5 mg/dL and 95% confidence interval of the mean -0.1 to -0.5 mg/dL. Of all the variables of birth weight, gestational age, and postnatal age, only postnatal age significantly influenced the correlation of T(C)B-TSB. In the early postnatal age of 1-4 days, the number of T(C)B reading overestimated TSB more than underestimated. However, at > or = 5 days of age, the number of underestimation was more than those of overestimation. The cut-off points of T(C)B that indicated the need for blood sampling for TSB were chosen as the same level of TSB of 6, 8, 10, 11, and 12 mg/dL when phototherapy was recommended. Screening with T(C)B would eliminate painful procedure of blood taking by 40%. CONCLUSION Noninvasive T(C)B assessment demonstrated significant accuracy when compared to TSB. T(C)B can be adopted as a screening test to identify the need for blood sampling of serum bilirubin in premature infants.
Convergent transcription initiates from oppositely oriented promoters within the 5' end regions of Drosophila melanogaster F elements

Drosophila melanogaster F elements are mobile, oligo(A)-terminated DNA sequences that likely propagate by the retrotranscription of RNA intermediates. Plasmids bearing DNA segments from the left-hand region of a full-length F element fused to the CAT gene were used as templates for transient expression assays in Drosophila Schneider II cultured cells. Protein and RNA analyses led to the identification of two promoters, Fin and Fout, that transcribe in opposite orientations. The Fin promoter drives the synthesis of transcripts that initiate around residue +6 and are directed toward the element. Fin, that probably controls the formation of F transposition RNA intermediates and gene products, is internal to the transcribed region. Sequences important for accumulation of Fin transcripts are included within the +1 to +30 interval; an additional regulatory element may coincide with a heptamer located downstream of this region also found in the 5' end regions of F-like Drosophila retrotransposons. Analysis of the template activity of 3' deletion derivatives indicates that the level of accumulation of Fin RNA is also dependent upon the presence of sequences located within the +175 to +218 interval. The Fout promoter drives transcription in the opposite orientation with respect to Fin. Fout transcripts initiate at nearby sites within the +92 to +102 interval. Sequences downstream of these multiple RNA start sites are not required for the activity of the Fout promoter. Deletions knocking out the Fin promoter do not impair Fout transcription; conversely, initiation at the Fin promoter still takes place in templates that lack the Fout promoter. At a low level, both promoters are active in cultured cells.
The World-as-Support: Embodied Exploration, Understanding and Meaning-Making of the Augmented World

Current technical capabilities of mobile technologies are consolidating the interest in developing context-aware Augmented/Mixed Reality applications. Most of these applications are designed based on the Window-on-the-World (WoW) interaction paradigm. A significant decrease in cost of projection technology and advances in pico-sized projectors have spurred applications of Projective Augmented Reality. This research has focused mainly on technological development. However, there is still a need to fully understand its communicational and expressive potential. Hence, we define a conceptual paradigm that we call World-as-Support (WaS). We compare the WaS and WoW paradigms by contrasting their assumptions and cultural values, as well as through a study of an application aimed at supporting the collaborative improvisation of site-specific narratives by children. Our analysis of children's understanding of the physical and social environment and of their imaginative play allowed us to identify the affordances, strengths and weaknesses of these two paradigms.
Voluntary Work and Wages

The effects of voluntary work on earnings have recently been studied for some developed countries such as Canada, France and Austria. This paper extends this line of research to Italy, using data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) dataset. A double methodological approach is used in order to control for unobserved heterogeneity: Heckman and IV methods are employed to account for unobserved worker heterogeneity and endogeneity bias. Empirical results show that, when the unobserved heterogeneity is taken into account, a wage premium of 2.7 percent emerges, quite small if compared to previous investigations on Canada and Austria. The investigation into the channels of influence of volunteering on wages gives support to the hypotheses that volunteering enables the access to fruitful informal networks, avoids the human capital deterioration and provides a signal for intrinsically motivated individuals.
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs), Surgical Management and Clinical Outcome

Introduction: This study investigated the incidence, surgical management and outcome of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) in Upper Egypt. Methods: A retrospective review of all GIST patients admitted a South Egypt Cancer Institute between Jan. 2010 and Dec. 2015 was conducted. Patients’ demographics, clinical presentation, tumor characteristics, radiological, pathological and immunohistochemical findings, surgical procedures, recurrence and mortality were recorded. Results: A total of 36 GIST patients were identified, stomach was the most common site (27.8%) followed by the small intestine (19.4%) and the large intestine (16.7%). The mean age at time of diagnosis as 52.8 ± 14.4 (ranged from 17 to 76 years). Of these 36 cases, 20 (55.6%) cases were males and 16 (44.4%) cases were females with a ratio of 1.2:1. About 22 cases (61.1%) presented with primary tumors, eight cases (22.2%) had primary tumors and metastases, three cases (8.35) presented with recurrent mass, whereas one case (2.2%) presented either with recurrent mass and metastases or metastases only. The majority of cases (22) had tumorsize >5 cm. Patients were stratified as high, intermediate, low and very low risk (50.6%, 30.6%, 11.1% and 2.8%, respectively). Almost all the cases were surgically managed and 75% were completely resectable. During follow up (average 26.5 months), 22 patients showed complete recovery, 7 had recurrent or metastatic disease and 2 died due to liver metastasis. Conclusion: The incidence of GIST in Upper Egypt is apparently low. Surgical resection is the preferred choice of treatment. The demographic data of GIST patients in South Egypt Cancer institute were similar to those published in the literature. Other prospective studies are required to assess the prognosis and the effect of treatment.