Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECTS OF LIQUID CARBOHYDRATE INGESTION ON MARKERS OF ANABOLISM FOLLOWING HIGH‐INTENSITY RESISTANCE EXERCISE

We examined the effects of liquid carbohydrate (CHO) supplementation on markers of anabolism following high-intensity resistance exercise. Nine resistance-trained men consumed either CHO or placebo (PLC) 10 minutes before and immediately following 2 resistance exercise sessions. Cortisol (CORT), insulin (INS), ammonia (AMM), and glucose (GLU) were measured before, immediately after, and 1.5 and 4 hours after exercise. Urinary nitrogen (NH+3) was measured 24 hours before and after exercise. There was a significant difference in INS levels immediately after exercise and 1.5 hours after exercise. No significant differences were observed for CORT, AMM, GLU, or NH+3between treatments. Significant within-group differences were found for the PLC group: CORT before compared with immediately after exercise; INS before compared with immediately after exercise and before compared with 1.5 hours after exercise; and AMM before compared with immediately after exercise and before compared with 1.5 hours after exercise. Significant within-group differences were found for the CHO group: CORT immediately after compared with 1.5 hours after exercise and immediately after compared with 4 hours after exercise; INS before compared with 1.5 hours after exercise; and AMM before compared with immediately after exercise. Liquid CHO ingestion leads to a more favorable anabolic environment immediately following a resistance exercise bout; however, our indirect measures of protein degradation were not altered by CHO ingestion.
Pilot study of the pulsatile neuro-peripapillary retinal deformation in glaucoma and its relationship with glaucoma risk factors

ABSTRACT Purpose: To perform a pilot study of the neuro-peripapillary retinal tissue deformation during the cardiac cycle among healthy eyes, ocular hypertensive (OHT), open angle glaucoma suspect (OAG-S), and early open angle glaucoma (EOAG) patients using video rate optical coherence tomography (OCT) image series. Methods: OCT line scan sequences of the same region of the optic nerve head (ONH) were obtained from 15 EOAG, 6 OHT, 10 OAG-S, and 10 healthy age-matched eyes. One eye per patient was studied. Changes in the axial distance between the inferotemporal peripapillary retina and the prelaminar tissue, in time, were determined using an automated custom made algorithm. Linear correlations between this neuro-peripapillary retinal (N-PP) deformation and variables measured during the full ophthalmic examination are analyzed. Results: Healthy eyes showed larger N-PP deformation (4.8 ± 1 µm) than the OHT (3.5 ± 0.3 µm, p = 0.015), OAG-S (3.8 ± 0.8 µm, p = 0.045), and EOAG (3.2 ± 0.7 µm, p < 0.001) groups. Eyes with lower ocular pulse amplitude, thinner RNFL’s, or worse visual fields showed smaller N-PP deformation, depending on the diagnosis. A linear model to explain deformation within the EOAG group with intraocular pressure and systolic perfusion pressure as predictors was found to be significant (R2 = 0.767, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Smaller mean N-PP deformation was observed in the EOAG, OAG-S, and OHT groups compared to healthy eyes in this pilot study. The measured deformation correlated with risk factors for the glaucomatous optic neuropathy, but these correlations varied depending on the diagnosis. The role of pulsatile neuro-peripapillary retinal deformation in the pathophysiology of OAG remains to be determined.
Street Vendors, their Contested Spaces, and the Policy Environment: A View from Caloócan, Metro Manila

In developing states of Southeast Asia, street vendors play a significant but frequently unappreciated role in both the vibrancy of public spaces as well as the informal economy. Yet, they are subject to indiscriminate purges from sidewalks and other contested territories, which they occupy for lack of provision of spaces in which they could otherwise do business. But such occurrences, and the conflicts that may follow, can be addressed by revisiting policies, which seem anti-vendor or which fail to comprehend their presence and needs. This research studied street vendors of one of the active commuter interchanges of Metro Manila, the Monumento Station area in Caloócan City, framing their needs, issues and aspirations against existing laws. Simultaneously examined were typical uses of shifting, often contested stretches of roads, corners, and easements where hawkers, among other users, daily negotiate a claim to the city’s space.
Assessment of Production and Distribution of Printed Information Education Communication (IEC) Materials in Ethiopia and Utilization in the Case of Jimma Zone, Oromiya National Regional State: A Cross Sectional Study

Background Health promotion and health education activities rely on a variety of well designed and effective printed Information Education Communication materials to help ensure success. However, in Ethiopia, there is no well established evidence that shows the extent to which printed Information Education Communication materials are produced distributed, utilized and the existing needs and gaps. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the process of printed Information Education Communication materials production, distribution and utilization and to identify current Information Education Communication needs and gaps. Methods Cross sectional study combining quantitative and qualitative approaches was conducted at Federal, Regional (Oromiya), zonal (Jimma) and facility levels. Fourteen health centers within Jimma Zone were randomly selected and 303 health workers working in these health centers were included in the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to identify respondents for in-depth interview. The quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS for windows version 16.0. Results The materials designed both by the Health Education Extension Center and Oromiya Regional Health Bureau were not fully culture sensitive. Information Education Communication materials inventories had not been practiced, particularly at zonal and health center levels. Furthermore, at zonal and health center level, there were no safe storage places. Chronic shortage of Information Education Communication materials was reported consistently. Only 206 (68.0%) of the participants had ever used printed Information Education Communication material. 146 (48.2%) and 29 (9.6%) of the participants were rated the IEC material they have seen as very good in terms of understablity and the extent to which it takes the local context into account, respectively. Participants who were nurse and laboratory technologist were 0.35 and 0.23 times less likely to use IEC materials than environmental Health experts [AOR=0.35, 95% CI: 0.14-0.85] and [AOR=0.23, 95%CI: 0.07-0.79], respectively. Graduates of private colleges were 10 times more likely to report utilization of IEC materials than graduates of government institutions [AOR=10.46, 95% CI: 3.47–31.50]. Conclusion This study revealed that design, production, distribution and utilization of printed Information Education Communication materials were not in line with the underlying principles of Information Education Communication material development. Thus, all concerned institutions and individuals should work towards to improvement.
COMPARISON BETWEEN LEVEL OF INTEREUKIN 10 IN THE GINGIVAL CREVICULAR FLUID AND PERI-IMPLANT SULCULAR FLUID AROUND HEALTHY DENTAL IMPLANTS (SPLIT MOUTH STUDY)

INTRODUCTION: Several methods are used in monitoring peri-implant clinical status most of these are periodontal in origin, unfortunately these methods only determine established disease rather than assessing early inflammatory response. Recently, Peri-implant sulcular fluid analysis become a major important index in monitoring peri-implant clinical status.OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare and evaluate levels of interleukin 10 in the peri-implant sulcular fluid and the gingival crevicular fluid.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients with functionally osseointigrated dental implants were conducted in this split mouth study. Crevicular fluid was collected by absorbent paper points, Interleukin 10 levels were evaluated by using ELISA method for interleukin 10 level from two sites in each subject,study sites: around dental implant and control sites: around antagonist tooth in the same arch. Specimens were evaluated by ELISA method for interleukin level.RESULTS: The levels of IL-10 for neobiotech dental implant showed a mean of 4.45±0.55 in the PISF and 2.85±0.34 GCF and for astratech dental implant IL10 showed a mean of 3.35±0.44 in PISF and 2.75± 0.41 in GCF. Levels of IL10 for the implant systems showed statistically significant higher levels in the PISF than GCF (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: IL-10 can be used as site specific marker in monitoring early inflammatory changes in both gingival crevicular fluid &peri-implant sulcular fluid.
Probabilistic Diffusion Tractography and Graph Theory Analysis Reveal Abnormal White Matter Structural Connectivity Networks in Drug-Naive Boys with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is characterized by core symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. Neuroimaging studies have suggested that these behavioral disturbances are associated with abnormal functional connectivity among brain regions. However, the alterations in the structural connections that underlie these behavioral and functional deficits remain poorly understood. Here, we used diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and probabilistic tractography method to examine whole-brain white matter (WM) structural connectivity in 30 drug-naive boys with ADHD and 30 healthy controls. The WM networks of the human brain were constructed by estimating inter-regional connectivity probability. The topological properties of the resultant networks (e.g., small-world and network efficiency) were then analyzed using graph theoretical approaches. Nonparametric permutation tests were applied for between-group comparisons of these graphic metrics. We found that both the ADHD and control groups showed an efficient small-world organization in the whole-brain WM networks, suggesting a balance between structurally segregated and integrated connectivity patterns. However, relative to controls, patients with ADHD exhibited decreased global efficiency and increased shortest path length, with the most pronounced efficiency decreases in the left parietal, frontal, and occipital cortices. Intriguingly, the ADHD group showed decreased structural connectivity in the prefrontal-dominant circuitry and increased connectivity in the orbitofrontal-striatal circuitry, and these changes significantly correlated with the inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms, respectively. The present study shows disrupted topological organization of large-scale WM networks in ADHD, extending our understanding of how structural disruptions of neuronal circuits underlie behavioral disturbances in patients with ADHD.
Comparing Genomic Prediction Models by Means of Cross Validation

In the two decades of continuous development of genomic selection, a great variety of models have been proposed to make predictions from the information available in dense marker panels. Besides deciding which particular model to use, practitioners also need to make many minor choices for those parameters in the model which are not typically estimated by the data (so called “hyper-parameters”). When the focus is placed on predictions, most of these decisions are made in a direction sought to optimize predictive accuracy. Here we discuss and illustrate using publicly available crop datasets the use of cross validation to make many such decisions. In particular, we emphasize the importance of paired comparisons to achieve high power in the comparison between candidate models, as well as the need to define notions of relevance in the difference between their performances. Regarding the latter, we borrow the idea of equivalence margins from clinical research and introduce new statistical tests. We conclude that most hyper-parameters can be learnt from the data by either minimizing REML or by using weakly-informative priors, with good predictive results. In particular, the default options in a popular software are generally competitive with the optimal values. With regard to the performance assessments themselves, we conclude that the paired k-fold cross validation is a generally applicable and statistically powerful methodology to assess differences in model accuracies. Coupled with the definition of equivalence margins based on expected genetic gain, it becomes a useful tool for breeders.
The natural history of thalassemia intermedia

The severity of thalassemia intermedia depends on the degree of imbalance between alpha and non‐alpha chains as well as other genetic and environmental factors that modify the natural history of the disease. By definition, the patients spontaneously maintain hemoglobin at or above 7 g/dL, sometimes at the price of intense hyperplasia of the bone marrow that is in turn responsible for bone deformities, osteoporosis, and extramedullary erythropoietic masses that often characterize thalassemia intermedia. Transfusion may become necessary with advancing age, during infection and pregnancy, and when hypersplenism develops. Splenectomy is often needed. Iron overload in nontransfused patients is due to increased gastrointestinal absorption and involves mainly the liver. Complications affecting the lives of patients with thalassemia intermedia include pulmonary hypertension, leg ulcers, pseudoxanthoma elasticum, gallstones, hepatocellular carcinoma, and thromboembolic events.
Expression of the gene for ornithine decarboxylase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Escherichia coli

Diploid cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae homozygous for the spe1A mutation, which eliminates ornithine decarboxylase activity, were found to sporulate at a greatly reduced frequency in the absence of polyamines. Plasmids which complement the spe1A mutation were isolated by their ability to restore sporulation competence to these cells. Three distinct plasmids were isolated. Each plasmid insert overlapped the same 8.0-kilobase region, and each plasmid restored ornithine decarboxylase activity to spe1A mutants. These plasmids also conferred ornithine decarboxylase activity to Escherichia coli EWH319 from which the ornithine decarboxylase gene is deleted. The plasmid-encoded activity expressed in E. coli resembled S. cerevisiae ornithine decarboxylase in its kinetic characteristics, indicating that the yeast ornithine decarboxylase gene was cloned. Southern blot analysis suggested that ornithine decarboxylase is a single-copy gene in S. cerevisiae. A single 2.1-kilobase transcript was demonstrated by Northern blot analysis.
Otimização do processo de organofilização de bentonitas visando seu uso em fluidos de perfuração não aquosos.

Os fluidos base agua sao amplamente utilizados em operacoes de perfuracao de pocos, entretanto, em perfuracoes sensiveis ao contato com a agua, (folhelhos arenosos), e ultra profundas podem-se utilizar fluidos de perfuracao base oleo. Nestes casos, a argila bentonitica, usada como agente viscosificante, nao pode ser usada sem um previo tratamento orgânico para que suas superficies se tornem hidrofobicas e possam ser dispersas em meios orgânicos. Estas argilas depois de tratadas sao chamadas de argilas organofilicas, e sao geralmente obtidas atraves da adicao, em meio aquoso, de um sal quaternario de amonio cujo cation substitui na estrutura do argilomineral, o cation presente disponivel que geralmente e o sodio. O processo de organofilizacao, composto de varias etapas, nem sempre garante a obtencao de argilas organofilicas de boa qualidade, sendo importante destacar as variaveis de processo bem como a escolha das materias-primas a serem utilizadas. Propoe-se entao, neste trabalho, um estudo detalhado das variaveis envolvidas no processo de dispersao das argilas bentoniiticas (velocidade de agitacao, tempo e temperatura de cura), e tambem no processo de organofilizacao (tempo e temperatura de cura) procurando relacionar as viscosidades aparente e plastica das dispersoes argilosas com a eficiencia do processo de organofilizacao, bem como, observar a influencia de outras variaveis envolvidas diretamente no processo de organofilizacao (tipo de argila, tipo de tensoativo e presenca de defloculante sodico). O processo de organofilizacao sera otimizado observando-se resultados de difracao de raios X, termogravimetria, inchamento de Foster e viscosidade aparente dos fluidos. Observou-se atraves deste trabalho que as variaveis de processo tanto envolvidas na dispersao das argilas quanto na organofilizacao, do ponto de vista da caracterizacao, nao tem grande influencia na intensidade e nem na posicao dos deslocamentos dos picos referentes a distância interplanar basal provocados pela incorporacao do tensoativo as argilas bentoniticas sendo influentes o tipo de argila e tensoativo e a presenca de sodio como agente defloculante, e que tem influencia nas propriedades reologicas sendo influentes tambem o tipo de argila e tensoativo.
Were Consumer Mistakes Related to Changes in Financial Obligations Burdens?

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the increase in the proportion of U.S. households with financial obligations greater than 40% of income was due to mistakes or over-optimism. The proportion of households paying more than 40% of income for debt, rent, vehicle leases, property taxes, and homeowners insurance, which we refer to as having a heavy burden, increased from 17% in 1992 to 26% in 2007. Multivariate analyses performed for renters and for homeowners indicate that even controlling for other factors, the proportions with high burdens for renters and for homeowners were much higher in 2007 than in 1992. Education was positively related to having a heavy burden, suggesting that having a heavy burden is not simply a cognitive error. The general optimism by both households and lenders during most of the period from 1992 to 2007, possibly combined with relaxed regulations, may have led to the substantial increases in the proportions of households having high burdens.
Regional convergence analysis for skill-specific employment groups

In most of the developed countries the number of low-skilled workers decreased and the number of high-skilled workers increased. However, it is far from clear whether and how this change in the skill composition of the employees affects the evolution of regional employment disparities. Therefore, this paper investigates the hypothesis of convergence for the total employment rate and skill-specific employment rates of West German regional planning units for the time period 1989 to 2008. This paper considers different concepts of convergence. Following the cross-sectional approach to convergence provides no evidence for a catching-up process between regions. The findings from the time series approach to convergence are mixed. The results indicate for stochastic convergence in the case of total and high-skilled employment rates whereas the hypothesis of stochastic convergence is rejected for regional low-skilled and medium-skilled employment rates.
Caching for Non-independent Content: Improving Information Gathering in Constrained Networks

This paper explores the design of in-network caching policies for non-independent spot reporting content. The problem is motivated by autonomous sensor devices, such as soldier mounted cameras, that collect and store correlated data from the physical world. Physical states exhibit correlations in space and in time that need to be considered in caching decisions. Prior work in sensor networks that exploits correlations between content items focused more on efficient data collection, not caching, whereas work on caching mostly assumed that cached objects are independent. In contrast, when cached objects overlap in information content, such as pictures of a scene taken from different vantage points, the utility from storing similar items is sub-additive, motivating a fresh look at content-aware replacement policies. We describe a new caching policy, called diversity caching, that factors in both popularity and non-independence among objects into cache replacement algorithms. In a military environment, such a caching scheme supports a multi-modal information access model. Edge devices collect more data than the terrestrial network can handle, push high priority content directly through the network, and then use delay tolerant store and forward mechanisms to transmit the remaining content upon return to base. In information fusion systems, this provides immediate access to a wide variety of user queried content while remaining within the constraints of the terrestrial network and not relying on more expensive satellite networks. This paper evaluates diversity caching in the context of a disaster response application, where survivors and first responders survey damage and up-load observations into caches that are queried by others. Evaluation shows that diversity caching substantially improves a notion of coverage over previous replacement policies, such as LRU and Intentional Caching.
The digestion of bulbils (Polygonum viviparum L.) and berries (Vaccinium myrtillus L. and Empetrum sp.) by captive ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus)

1. The digestion of three foods favoured by ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) in the wild was studied using captive birds 2. Bulbils of Polygonum viviparum L. were a good source of metabolizable energy, protein and phosphorus, but were deficient in sodium. Berries of Vaccinium myrtillus L. were the most digestible of the three foods, contained enough protein and P for maintenance, but were probably deficient in Na. A diet of Empetrum sp. berries caused the birds to be in negative nitrogen and P balance, but provided adequate Na. Both species of berries were rich sources of soluble carbohydrate 3. In the wild, ptarmigan eat a mixed diet, which presumably provides adequate Na, protein and P 4. The relative proportions of the various end-products of N metabolism varied according to the protein content of the food. With the diet of Vaccinium berries (11 g N/kg dry matter) roughly equal amounts of ammonium salts and urates were excreted. With Polygonum bulbils (29 g N/kg dry matter) the quantities of ammonium salts and urates excreted were similar to those with Vaccinium berries, but some urea was also excreted and about half the N in the birds' droppings was in an unidentified form 5. When eating Empetrum berries, ptarmigan digested lignin and tannins and excreted ornithurates. The benzoic acid moiety of the ornithuric acid molecule may have been derived partly from the digested lignin and tannins.
Subcellular localization of a bacterial regulatory RNA

Eukaryotes and bacteria regulate the activity of some proteins by localizing them to discrete subcellular structures, and eukaryotes localize some RNAs for the same purpose. To explore whether bacteria also spatially regulate RNAs, the localization of tmRNA was determined using fluorescence in situ hybridization. tmRNA is a small regulatory RNA that is ubiquitous in bacteria and that interacts with translating ribosomes in a reaction known as trans-translation. In Caulobacter crescentus, tmRNA was localized in a cell-cycle–dependent manner. In G1-phase cells, tmRNA was found in regularly spaced foci indicative of a helix-like structure. After initiation of DNA replication, most of the tmRNA was degraded, and the remaining molecules were spread throughout the cytoplasm. Immunofluorescence assays showed that SmpB, a protein that binds tightly to tmRNA, was colocalized with tmRNA in the helix-like pattern. RNase R, the nuclease that degrades tmRNA, was localized in a helix-like pattern that was separate from the SmpB-tmRNA complex. These results suggest a model in which tmRNA-SmpB is localized to sequester tmRNA from RNase R, and localization might also regulate tmRNA-SmpB interactions with ribosomes.