Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leukemia inhibitory factor enhances bovine oocyte maturation and early embryo development

The present study was conducted to examine the effects of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) on bovine oocyte maturation and early embryo development in vitro. Results showed that LIF supplementation (25 ng/ml) enhanced nuclear maturation of intact cumulus‐oocyte complexes (COCs) compared to the vehicle control. Similar results were observed in denuded oocytes, indicating that LIF directly influences oocyte development. LIF‐treated oocytes showed a higher cortical‐granule‐migration rate and increased expression of CD9, a tetraspanin transmembrane protein essential for fertilization. After in vitro fertilization, oocytes receiving LIF supplementation exhibited a higher cleavage rate and yielded a significantly higher number of blastocysts. To further dissect the molecular mechanism underlying this LIF‐induced bovine oocyte maturation phenotype, we examined the involvement of two signaling cascades, mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPK3/1)‐ and the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)‐dependent pathways. Western blot results revealed that LIF phosphorylated MAPK3/1 and STAT3. Inhibition of MAPK3/1 activation with MEK inhibitor U0126 only partially blocked LIF‐induced nuclear maturation, although it attenuated oocyte cytoplasmic maturation. Inhibition of JAK/STAT3 activation with a specific pharmacological inhibitor completely abolished the LIF‐response in bovine oocyte. In summary, these data revealed a novel role for LIF in bovine oocyte maturation subsequent embryonic development. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 81: 608–618, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Role of Surface Information in Object Recognition: Studies of a Visual Form Agnosic and Normal Subjects

Three experiments were conducted to explore the role of colour and other surface properties in object recognition. The effects of manipulating the availability of surface-based information on object naming in a patient with visual form agnosia and in two age-matched control subjects were examined in experiment 1. The objects were presented under seven different viewing conditions ranging from a full view of the actual objects to line drawings of those same objects. The presence of colour and other surface properties aided the recognition of natural objects such as fruits and vegetables in both the patient and the control subjects. Experiment 2 was focused on four of the critical viewing conditions used in experiment 1 but with a large sample of normal subjects. As in experiment 1, it was found that surface properties, particularly colour, aided the naming of natural objects. The presence of colour did not facilitate the naming of manufactured objects. Experiment 3 was focused on possible ways by which colour could assist in the recognition of natural objects and it was found that object naming was facilitated only if the objects were presented in their usual colour. The results of the experiments show that colour does improve recognition for some types of objects and that the improvement occurs at a high level of visual analysis.
Some virulence characteristics of uropathogenic Escherichia coli in different patient groups.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE Uropathogenic Escherichia coli have virulence properties, that are absent in non pathogenic E. coli. The distribution of these markers can vary according to patient populations. Hence, a study was undertaken to describe the presence of virulence factors like Pfimbriae, type 1 fimbriae and haemolysin in E.coli causing urinary infections in three groups of patients. Antibiogram was also recorded to determine differences, if any, between the groups. METHODS E. coli isolated from three groups of subjects, in counts of >10(5) CFU/ml and in pure growth were tested for mannose resistant haemagglutination (MRHA) to indicate P fimbriae and mannose sensitive haemagglutination (MSHA) to indicate type 1 fimbriae. Haemolysin production and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were also recorded. RESULTS Significantly more isolates from antenatal and postnatal women possessed P fimbriae compared to groups with urologic abnormalities (P=0.05). Haemolysin production was also significantly higher (P<0.001) in this group. Greater proportions of isolates from pregnant women were susceptible to commonly used antimicrobials. However, resistance to third generation cephalosporins was present even in these isolates from community infections. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION In patients with urological abnormality, E. coli with lower virulence can cause infections. Isolates from these patients exhibited greater drug resistance. In pregnant women and in community acquired infections, simple antimicrobial drugs like nitrofurantoin might still be useful. However, urgent and stringent policies for antimicrobial use and infection control in hospitals are required in India.
The paradox of declining fertility but increasing twinning rates with advancing maternal age.

BACKGROUND Advancing female age is associated with declining fertility potential due to decreasing numbers and quality of oocytes but also with a distinct increase in dizygotic twinning rates, a phenomenon that has never been explained. METHOD An analysis of follicle development was made in 959 spontaneous ovulatory cycles of 507 women. RESULTS Multiple ovarian follicular development (>1 follicle >14 mm) and, by implication, multiple rather than single ovulations occurred in 105 women whose mean age (36.1 versus 34.6 years) and mean basal FSH concentrations (10.3 versus 7.7 IU/l) were significantly greater than those with monofollicular development (P < 0.01). The prevalence of multifollicular development increased with age. CONCLUSIONS Dizygotic twinning must be associated with the development of >1 large follicle, which we found to be a significantly more frequent occurrence in older women. It is hypothesized that the response of pituitary release of FSH to the decreased negative feedback induced by impending ovarian failure often 'overshoots', causing multiple follicular development. In the presence of two good-quality oocytes, a twin pregnancy may result.
Cancer incidence among Finnish world class male athletes.

A cohort of 2269 male world class athletes from the years 1920-65 was followed up through the Finnish Cancer Registry for cancer incidence during 1967-95. There were 331 cases of cancer while the expected number based on the national cancer incidence rates was 404; the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was 0.82 and its 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73-0.91. There was a decreased risk of cancers of the lung (SIR 0.35, 95% CI 0.25-0.48), especially among endurance athletes (0.12, 0.01-0.41). This fits well with the low prevalence of smoking among the athletes. The SIR for kidney cancer was also significantly low (0.43, 0.16-0.93), possibly partly due to the better diet (more vegetables, less fat). Incidence of cancers not related to smoking was not reduced. None of the cancer sites showed a significant excess in the whole cohort but hurdlers had a significantly high relative risk of sarcomas of the bone and soft tissue which according to suggested causal mechanisms might be related e.g. to injuries during their active sport period. This as well as other observations without sound a priori hypotheses needs to be confirmed in more detailed analyses and in other data sets before final conclusions.
Control of cerebral circulation in the high‐risk Neonate

A knowledge of neonatal cerebrovascular physiology is essential to the understanding of diseases that frequently affect the subsequent development of the newborn brain. Recent observations indicate that the cerebral vessels of the healthy newborn infant, even the very preterm, respond to physiological stimuli in the same manner as in the mature organism. Thus, cerebral blood flow changes with changes in arterial carbon dioxide tension (Paco2), oxygen concentration (Cao2), or glucose concentration, whereas cerebral blood flow remains constant at minor fluctuations in arterial blood pressure. In pathological states, pressure autoregulation may become impaired, and in severe cases the vessels do not react to chemical or metabolic stimuli. These infants are at high risk for developing cerebral lesions, and they may be candidates for new „brain‐protecting regimens”︁.
Dispersion Impact on the Crosstalk Amplitude Response of Homogeneous Multi-Core Fibers

A novel analytical model of the small-signal inter-core crosstalk transfer function (XTTF) in a homogeneous multi-core fiber (MCF) taking into account the group velocity dispersion (GVD) of different cores and the walkoff between cores is presented. Empirical expressions for the dependence of the mean and variance of the XTTF amplitude on the GVD and walkoff between cores are estimated from simulation results and shown to provide good estimates for dispersion parameters typical of homogeneous MCFs. Results show that GVD may cause large fluctuations and pronounced dips in the mean and variance of the XTTF amplitude. The critical walkoff, below which the GVD impact on the XTTF amplitude is observable, is derived and shown to be in qualitative agreement with experimental results.
Servant Leadership and Follower Job Performance: The Mediating Effect of Public Service Motivation

This article advances our understanding of the effects of servant leadership, an employee- and community-focused leadership style, on followers' public service motivation (PSM) and job performance. Based on social learning theory, we argue that by emphasizing to their followers the importance of serving others both inside and outside the organization and by acting as role models by serving others themselves, servant leaders enhance job performance by engendering higher PSM in their followers. A multilevel analysis of three waves of multi-source data from a Chinese government agency reveals that PSM mediates the influence that servant leadership has on followers' job performance. The results are consistent with theoretical predictions that the altruistic behaviour displayed by servant leaders elicits higher levels of the altruistic behaviours that characterize PSM, which in turn increases job performance. Hence, this study contributes to our understanding of how leadership drives institutional change and performance in the public sector.
“Every time that month comes, I remember”: using cognitive interviews to adapt grief measures for use with bereaved adolescents in South Africa

Objective: To assess standard grief measures through cognitive interviews with bereaved adolescents in Free State, South Africa, and make recommendations designed to improve the measurement of grief in this and similar populations. Methods: Twenty-one parentally bereaved adolescents participated in semi-structured cognitive interviews about the Core Bereavement Items (CBI) questionnaire, Grief Cognitions Questionnaire for Children (GCQ-C), or Intrusive Griefs Thoughts Scale (IGTS). Results: Interviewees offered valuable insights for improving grief measurement with this population (e.g., consensus that not thinking frequently about a deceased loved one was shameful, aversion to terms including “died”). Participants were better able to apply response options denoting specific frequencies (e.g., “once or twice a week”) versus general ones (e.g., “a little bit of the time”). Questions intended to gauge grief commonly elicited responses reflecting the impact of loss on adolescents’ basic survival instead of psychological wellbeing. Conclusions: The need for psychological support is high among orphans and vulnerable children. Tools for measuring psychological outcomes can provide evidence of programme effects and guide decision making about investment. Grief measures used with adolescents in South Africa should account for the issues raised by cognitive interviewees in the study, including question and response option complexity, linguistic preferences, and cultural norms.
Review the key role of self-efficacy in diabetes care

Introduction and Aims: Diabetes is one of the chronic and prevalent diseases in the world. Diabetic patients’ number has increased 7 times during last 20 years. If this current situation continues, diabetic patients’ population will be 350 millions ones in 2030. It means that 7 millions people will be added annually. Up to now, different uncontrollable factors have been monitored in self-caring of this disease for managing and preventing from its early and late side effects. This research is conducted to study the role of self-efficacy as a determinant agent in self-caring of diabetic patients. Study Method: This is a narrative review study in which various information banks and search motors such as PubMed, ProQuest, SCOPUS, Elsevier were reviewed. Diabetes, self-care and self efficacy keywords from cross sectional, cohort, clinical experimental studies and systematic review were also used in the study construction. Iranian Banks such as IRANMEDEX, MEDLINE and also different articles from domestic research and scientific magazines were selected. Time spectrum of reviewed studies was supposed to be published from 1990 up to 2011. Results: Self-care situation among diabetic patients not only is unsatisfactory but also the studies’ results show that self-efficacy rate is low among them. The findings of the studies prove that there is a direct relation between self-efficacy and self-care in the patients in a way that this construct owns the predictability power of self-care behavior. Conclusion: Self-caring has a significant role in controlling of diabetes disease. Self-efficacy can induce motivation directly take health promoting behavior through efficacy expectations. It also affects motivation, indirectly, through perceived barriers and determining commitment or stability for following function map. So, self-efficacy is very important in changing self-care behavior process.
Conditional Generative Adversarial Nets Classifier for Spoken Language Identification

The i-vector technique using deep neural network has been successfully applied in spoken language identification systems. Neural network modeling showed its effectiveness as both discriminant feature transformation and classification in many tasks, in particular with a large training data set. However, on a small data set, neural networks suffer from the overfitting problem which degrades the performance. Many strategies have been investigated and used to improve the regularization for deep neural networks, for example, weigh decay, dropout, data augmentation. In this paper, we study and use conditional generative adversarial nets as a classifier for the spoken language identification task. Unlike the previous works on GAN for image generation, our purpose is to focus on improving regularization of the neural network by jointly optimizing the “Real/Fake” objective function and the categorical objective function. Compared with dropout and data augmentation methods, the proposed method obtained 29.7% and 31.8% relative improvement on NIST 2015 i-vector challenge data set for spoken language identification.
Empirical Study on the Interactive Relationship among Urbanization,Industrialization and Urban-Rural Income Disparity in China

Form the view of dynamic system,this paper utilizes panel data simultaneous model and 2SLS,3SLS methods,make an empirical estimation on the interactive relationship among urbanization,industrialization and urban-rural income disparity of China.The results show that:(1)The interactive relation between urban-rural income disparity and urbanization is on virtuous circle;(2)but the same relation between industrialization and urban-rural income disparity is on vicious circle;(3)there is no significant interactive relation between urbanization and industrialization;(3)urbanization,industrialization and urban-rural income disparity have no significant effect on economic development.
Confidential enquiry of perioperative equine fatalities (CEPEF-1): preliminary results.

The Confidential Enquiry into Perioperative Equine Fatalities (CEPEF-1) is an observational multi-institutional prospective study of recovery outcome at 7 days post operatively, as called for by Steffey (1991). Data from 6,255 general anaesthetics (February 91-March 93) were submitted confidentially by 62 clinics. The outcomes of 333 cases which were subjected to euthanasia and which were not classified 'alive' or 'died' at 7 days, were excluded from the analysis. The remaining 5922 cases were analysed to identify risk ratios (RR) between survivors and nonsurvivors for a variety of factors. These preliminary results indicate an overall death rate, for equine patients dying or being subjected to euthanasia within 7 days of a general anaesthetic because of perioperative complications, of 102/6255 (1.6%). This mortality rate decreased to 46/5220 (0.9%) when all colic surgery and delivery of foals under general anaesthesia were excluded. There was an increased risk for mares in the last trimester of pregnancy (RR = 6.4). Patients undergoing emergency abdominal procedures (colic patients and pregnant mares undergoing controlled or caesarean section delivery of foals) under general anaesthesia were at increased risk (RR = 12.9) compared to ear, nose and throat surgery. Within orthopaedic surgery, patients requiring internal fixation were at increased risk (RR = 3.2) compared to those undergoing miscellaneous orthopaedic surgery. There was no difference in risk between breeds. Patients not placed in dorsal recumbency were at reduced risk (RR = 0.3-0.5) compared to those which were in dorsal recumbency. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Term Limits and Authoritarian Power Sharing: Theory and Evidence from China

Term limits that effectively govern leadership transition play an important role in authoritarian power sharing. A fixed term and a pre-appointed successor— two crucial components of term limits institution — commit the incumbent ruler to share power with other elites, and also allow the elites to monitor and coordinate against the ruler’s transgression of the power sharing agreement. While the successful adoption of term limits often requires an even balance of power among the ruling elites in the first place, once adopted, it initiates an evolving bargain over allocation of political power among multi-generations of leaders that further keeps any one faction from dominating the others. I corroborate this argument using a biographical dataset of Chinese Communist Party’s elite members from 1982 to 2012. The findings suggest the Party’s incumbent leaders and their rivals (i.e., predecessor and heir-apparent) shared equal chances in promoting their associates — which proxy their political influence, and such pattern becomes more salient since the 16th party congress, when the term limit institution that currently governs China’s leadership transition became fully fledged. This result also sheds light on the role of informal, patronage-based promotion in the institutionalization of authoritarian politics.
Demographic and Mental Health Factors Associated with Pathological Dissociation in a Portuguese Sample

ABSTRACT Pathological dissociation has been extensively studied in many countries; however, little is known about it in Portugal. This research examined the role of demographic variables and mental health on dissociation in Portugal. We assessed 505 participants from 6 samples consisting of dissociative patients (n = 37), conversive patients (n = 26), somaticizing patients (n = 59), posttraumatic stress disorder patients (n = 50), other psychiatric patients (n = 174), and nonclinical subjects (n = 159). Dissociation was measured by Portuguese versions of the Dissociative Experiences Scale and Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire; the LEAD procedure and subscales of the Brief Symptom Inventory indicated mental health. Pathological psychological dissociation was significantly more frequent in women, in the youngest of the participants, and in those with less education. Multiple logistic regression revealed that psychoticism, paranoid ideation, and depression symptoms made both men and women more vulnerable to psychological dissociation. Furthermore, psychological dissociation was more probable in men having symptoms of obsession and paranoid ideation and in women having symptoms of psychoticism and paranoid ideation. Pathological somatoform dissociation was significantly more probable in women with less education. Moreover, somatoform dissociation was more likely in women with somatization symptoms and more likely in men with symptoms of somatization and psychoticism. Even though significant associations were found, causal relations could not be established because the study was cross-sectional.
Modulation of growth in normal and malignant melanocytic cells by all‐trans retinoic acid

Human epidermal melanocytes were examined for proliferation nuclei' various conditions in the presence or absence of all‐trans retinoic acid (RA). Under conditions which supported proliferation, RA at concentrations of 0.25–1.0 μg/ml inhibited cell growth bill was not cytotoxic. When melanocytes were cultured under conditions which by themselves did 1101 support growth, RA did not overcome the growth limitation. Treatment of melanocytes with RA altered their morphological appearance. Alterations included retraction of dendritic processes, increased flattening, and a slight darkening of the cytoplasm in some of the cells. However, when examined biochemically, there was no significant change in the amount of malanin per cell or in lyrosinase activity. RA also inhibited proliferation of six different malignant melanoma lines. Inhibition was observed over the same RA concentrations and over the same time course in the melanoma cells as was seen in melanocytes. Inhibition of melanocytic and melanoma cell proliferation was slowly reversed following removal of RA from the culture medium. These results indicate that RA can inhibit proliferation of melanocytic cells.
A Twelve-Beam Steering Low-Profile Patch Antenna With Shorting Vias for Vehicular Applications

A low-profile twelve-beam printed patch antenna is presented for pattern reconfigurable applications. The patch is fed at the four sides using coaxial feeds. Diagonal lines of vias are inserted on the patch surface to restrict currents to the edges. While majority of patch antennas have only axial beam pattern, the proposed antenna produces twelve different beams. When one of its four feeds on the sides is excited and the remaining feeds are open circuited, the antenna generates a linearly polarized tilted beam (6.1 dBi, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\theta _{\mathrm {max}}= 30^{\circ }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). This beam is directed away from feeding patch corner. Therefore, the antenna can steer its tilted beam in four different space quadrants in front of the antenna by exciting one feed at a time. The antenna is also capable of generating eight other beams using multiple feed excitations. They are four additional titled beams (6.1 dBi, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\theta _{\mathrm {{max}}}= 30^{\circ }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), two tilted-twin beam (5.8 dBi, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\theta _{\mathrm {{max}}}= \pm 36^{\circ }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), one semi-doughnut beam (5.8 dBi), and one axial beam (8.2 dBi). The antenna is designed to operate at the test frequency of 2.4 GHz and has a height = 1.5 mm (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{\mathrm {{0}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/83). The impedance matching to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$50~\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula> is achieved using right-angle slots etched on the patch antenna.