Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The reproductive and feeding ecology of rodents in Sekoru district, Southwest Ethiopia

A study on reproductive and feeding ecology of rodents was conducted in agricultural areas of some selected kebeles (the smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia) of Sekoru district from February 2014 to December 2014. Rodents were captured by snap trapping using rat traps. During the whole study period, four rodent species, namely, Rattus rattus, Mastomys natalensis, Arvicanthis dembeensis and Lemniscomys barbarus were identified from a total of 326 rodents captured in 1320 trap nights. The proportion of male and female individuals captured was not different from a 1:1 ratio. Scrotal males and perforate females were captured throughout the study period though reproduction was seasonal. Breeding started in the later part of the rainy season and declined at the beginning of the dry season. The average number of embryo counted per pregnant females was 5.57±1.09, 8.65±1.80, 6.38. ±1.70 and 4.00 ± 1.41 for R. rattus, M. natalensis, L. barbarus and A. dembeensis, respectively. The food items identified during the stomach content analysis were grouped into leaves, seeds, animal matter and unrecognized food item. There was no variation in the type of food item identified among the four rodent species. Some variations were observed in the proportion of the different food items consumed by the four rodent species in different trapping sessions. Awareness creation and the need of rodent pest control in all growth stage of crops and after harvest were recommended.
Ion Release and Surface Characterization of Nanostructured Nitinol during Long-Term Testing

The corrosion resistance of nanostructured nitinol (NiTi) was investigated using long-term tests in solutions simulating physiological fluids at static conditions, reflecting the material structure and metal concentration in the solutions. Mechanical polishing reduced the ion release by a factor of two to three, whereas annealing deteriorated the corrosion resistance. The depassivation and repassivation of nitinol surfaces were considered. We found that nanostructured nitinol might increase the corrosion leaching of titanium into solutions, although the nickel release decreased. Metal dissolution did not occur in the alkaline environment or artificial plasma. A Ni-free surface with a protective 25 nm-thick titanium oxide film resulted from soaking mechanically treated samples of the NiTi wire in a saline solution for two years under static conditions. Hence, the medical application of nanostructured NiTi, such as for the production of medical devices and implants such as stents, shows potential compared with microstructured NiTi.
Fiscal Policy And the Nominal Term Premium

Distortionary income taxation in a standard New Keynesian model substantially increases the nominal term-premium on long-term bonds relative to a model with lumpsum taxes. Also the empirical level of the nominal term premium can be matched with lower risk-aversion coefficient in case of a model with income taxes relative to a model with long-run inflation risks.
Chemoresistance of Lung Cancer Cells: 2D and 3D In Vitro Models for Anticancer Drug Screening

Chemoresistance of lung cancer cells is a key factor that limits the treatment of lung cancer patients. Patients may initially respond to standard chemotherapy, but this is often followed by rapid development of drug resistance and disease progression. Tumor heterogeneity and the presence of putative cancer stem-like cells (CS-LCs) provide a viable explanation for the chemoresistance of several types of tumors. In this book chapter, we will first describe the current knowledge of the role of both tumor heterogeneity and CS-LCs in lung cancer chemoresistance, tumor progression and metastasis. Next, we will discuss ongoing strategies at the in vitro level to screen for more effective anticancer drugs. We will specifically focus in three-dimensional (3D) culture systems (Spheroids and tumorspheres) and their application in anticancer drug discovery for lung cancer.
Regional freight movement and its impact on air quality: simulation of freight traffic and pavement maintenance operations

Freight movement emits greenhouse gases (GHGs) and deteriorates pavement- thereby causing additional emissions from pavement maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) treatments. This study predicts the carbon dioxide equivalent GHGs (CO2 eGHGs) emission from simulated freight movement and pavement M&R operations on regional highways connecting the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Quebec. This study estimates the equivalent single axle loads (ESALs), CO2 e GHGs emissions, and vehicle-distance on every regional highway for a 30 years period. The International Roughness Index (IRI) estimates pavement deterioration curves for highways based on ESALs and observed pavement strength. Linear programming of life-cycle optimization estimates the pavement M&R operations required to maintain the pavement in good condition during the design period. The simulated freight traffic will emit 1.279 million tons of carbon dioxide gas while emissions from pavement M&R treatments will be 1.403-1.755 million tons of CO2e GHG.
Clinical Performance of Radiofrequency Ablation for Treatment of Uterine Fibroids: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies

Abstract Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has emerged as a safe and effective treatment option for women with symptomatic uterine fibroids and can be delivered by laparoscopic, transvaginal, or transcervical approaches. The evidence regarding typical patient outcomes with RFA has not previously been examined in a comprehensive fashion. Materials and Methods: We performed a systematic review of prospective studies for treatment of uterine fibroids with RFA. Main outcomes were procedure time, patient recovery metrics, change in fibroid volume, symptom severity score (SSS), health-related quality of life (HRQL), and reinterventions. Data were analyzed with random effects meta-analysis and metaregression. Results: We identified 32 articles of 1283 unique patients (median age: 42 years) treated with laparoscopic RFA (19 articles), transvaginal RFA (8 articles), or transcervical fibroid ablation (5 articles). Mean procedure time was 49 minutes, time to discharge was 8.2 hours, time to normal activities was 5.2 days, and time to return to work was 5.1 days. At 12 months follow-up, fibroid volume decreased by 66%, HRQL increased by 39 points, and SSS decreased by 42 points (all P < .001 versus baseline). The annual cumulative rate of reinterventions due to fibroid-related symptoms was 4.2%, 8.2%, and 11.5% through 3 years. Conclusions: RFA of uterine fibroids significantly reduces fibroid volume, provides significant durable improvements in fibroid-related quality of life, and is associated with favorable reintervention rates.
Emotional intelligence and motivation in athletes of different modalities

This research study aims at analysing motivational climate and emotional intelligence in athletes of different categories of sports according to their gender and category of sport practised, on a sample of 372 athletes aged between 18 and 50, evaluated by means of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2), the Schutte Self Report Inventory (SSRI) questionnaire on emotional intelligence in sports and a self-registration sheet which measured the variables of gender and category of sports practised. Results show that in the sample of athletes analysed there is a clear orientation towards task, being greater the orientation towards ego in men and standing out orientation towards task in athletes of individual categories with contact. Regarding emotional intelligence, the athletes analysed showed high ratings in the four dimensions, achieving self-emotional management the highest scores, whereas emotion utilisation obtains the lowest grade; no association has been found between emotional intelligence and gender of respondents; as for the category of sports, athletes who practise collective sports with contact are the ones to better handle their emotions. Emotional intelligence correlates directly and significantly with motivational task-oriented climate, but not with ego-oriented climate.
Iron dynamics in a subtropical estuarine tidal marsh: effect of season and vegetation

To better understand how seasonal change and the presence of plants affect biogeochemical iron (Fe) cycling in tidal marsh sediments, we examined the seasonal dynamics of microbial Fe reduction (FeR) and related Fe speciation from 2012 to 2014 using in situ vegetated and unvegetated mesocosms created with macrobenthos-proof enclosures. The pools of Fe(III) oxides, Fe sulfides, porewater Fe2+, and rates of microbial sulfate reduction (SR) peaked in summer (hot and wet), whereas rates of FeR and non-sulfidic Fe(II) levels peaked in winter (mild and dry). Sedge presence greatly increased the FeR rate, organic matter pools, and Fe(III) oxide levels, but decreased carbon:nitrogen ratios and sulfide abundances. FeR rates were mainly affected by the SR level, and temperature and plant primary productivity had comparable effects on SR rates. The dominant organic carbon mineralization pathway changed from SR in summer to FeR in winter in both vegetated and unvegetated mesocosms. FeR was more important in the vegetated mesocosms than in the unvegetated mesocosms, and seasonal change contributed more to the total variability of each anaerobic pathway than the presence of sedge. Our study reveals that temperature and plants both mediate variations in the organic carbon mineralization pathways of a subtropical estuarine tidal marsh.
Career mentoring in context: A multilevel study on differentiated career mentoring and career mentoring climate

This study explores how supervisor career mentoring contributes to contemporary organizational career development, which strives to foster employees' promotability while strengthening their intention to stay. Specifically, we focus on the implications of career mentoring in team contexts. Applying a multilevel framework, we distinguish between individual-level differentiated mentoring (i.e., an employee's mentoring perceptions as compared to those of other team members) and group-level career mentoring climate (i.e., the average perception across all group members). In a workplace setting, we collected data from vocational job starters (N ranged from 230 to 290) and their company supervisors (N ranged from 56 to 68). We find that career mentoring climate positively relates to promotability, more so than differentiated career mentoring. Both career mentoring climate and differentiated career mentoring are positively related to the intention to stay. At the individual level, this relationship is mediated by job satisfaction. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of differentiated and group-level mentoring.
Lower gut microbiome diversity and higher abundance of proinflammatory genus Collinsella are associated with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

ABSTRACT There is increasing evidence for the role of gut microbial composition in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the most serious form of NAFLD where inflammation causes liver damage that can progress to cirrhosis. We have characterized the gut microbiome composition in UK patients with biopsy-proven NASH (n = 65) and compared it to that in healthy controls (n = 76). We report a 7% lower Shannon alpha diversity in NASH patients without cirrhosis (n = 40) compared to controls (p = 2.7x 10−4) and a 14% drop in NASH patients with cirrhosis (n = 25, p = 5.0x 10−4). Beta diversity (Unweighted UniFrac distance) was also significantly reduced in both NASH (p = 5.6x 10−25) and NASH-cirrhosis (p = 8.1x 10−7) groups. The genus most strongly associated with NASH in this study was Collinsella (0.29% abundance in controls, 3.45% in NASH without cirrhosis (False Discovery Rate (FDR) p = . 008), and 4.38% in NASH with cirrhosis (FDR p = .02)). This genus, which has been linked previously to obesity and atherosclerosis, was also positively correlated with fasting levels of triglycerides (p = .01) and total cholesterol (p = 1.2x 10−4) and negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 2.8x 10−6) suggesting that some of the pathways present in this microbial genus may influence lipid metabolism in the host. In patients, we also found decreased abundance of some of the Ruminococcaceae which are known to produce high levels of short-chain fatty acids which can lower inflammation. This may thus contribute to pathology associated with NASH.
When is Good Good Enough? A Sructural Estimation of a Sequential R&D Model

Firm level data on productivity and R&D expenditures is used to estimate a model in which R&D investment solves an optimal stopping problem of repeated ”bites of the R&D apple”. The solution to this problem yields threshold levels for terminating the R&D process, which we use together with data on firms’ output, inputs, and R&D expenditures to estimate the model. The estimation procedure overcomes some irregularity conditions that otherwise produce biased maximum likelihood estimates in similar models. Despite the preliminary nature of the results, the estimated parameters display some interesting similarities and differences across sectors. If reaffirmed by further elaboration of the basic model presened here, these sectoral differences can suggest benefitial refinements of R&D support policies.
Resilience and the autotelic subject: toward a critique of the societalization of security

In discourses of resilience, there is a clear assumption that governments need to assume a more proactive engagement with society. This proactive engagement is understood to be preventive, not in the sense of preventing future disaster or catastrophe but in preventing the disruptive or destabilizing effects of such an event. In this sense, the key to security programs of resilience is the coping capacities of citizens, the ability of citizens to respond, or adapt, to security crises. The subject or agent of security thereby shifts from the state to society and to the individuals constitutive of it. In many ways, this shift away from a sovereign-based understanding to a social or societal understanding of security, under the guidance or goal of resilience, could be understood as a deliberalizing discourse, one which divests security responsibilities from the level of the state down to the level of the citizen. This article seeks to consider some of the genealogical aspects of discourses of resilience as a societal or agent-based understanding of security (particularly focusing on the work of Friedrich von Hayek and Anthony Giddens) in order to work through some of the consequences of the state's divestment of security responsibilities for traditional liberal framings of state–society relations.
The Evolution of Communicative Intentions During Change Episodes and Throughout the Therapeutic Process

The present study examines the heterogeneity of the therapeutic process through the analysis of the conversation between therapists and clients in psychotherapy. The Communicative Intentions dimension of the Therapeutic Activity Coding Sys-tem (TACS) was applied to 69 change episodes taken from 100 sessions that belong to five brief psychotherapies. Depending on what the participants are trying to achieve with their communication, the TACS distinguishes three types of Communicative Intentions: Exploring, Attuning, and Resignifying. Client and therapist verbalizations corresponding to these categories were analysed searching for differences between (a) both speakers, (b) initial, middle and final change episode stages, and (c) initial, middle and final phases of the whole therapeutic process. Results indicate that, in general, therapists resignify and attune more frequently, while clients explore more often. The analysis of Communicative Intentions within change episodes and during the whole therapeutic process reveals that there is an evolution in both: Even small therapy segments, as change episodes are, show that the process is not homogeneous, since in initial stages, the use of Exploring is more frequent than the use of Resignifying, especially for clients, while during the end of the episode clients and therapists increase their use of Resignify-ing. The analysis of the whole process confirms that Resignifying surpasses the use of Exploring in the final phases of therapy.
Analysis of Hybrid Management Strategies Master of Science Thesis

In the automotive industry nowadays a lot of focus is set on environmental friendly vehicles, with the primary aim of reducing emissions and pollutants. The most efficient way of doing this is to increase the fuel economy, i.e. to make the vehicle drive longer on the same amount of fuel. Hybrid electric vehicles have been shown to be a popular way of achieving this, without compromising the performance and reliability present in the conventional vehicles. The idea behind this kind of vehicle is to combine two different power sources, typically a conventional fuel driven internal combustion engine and a battery driven electric machine, and use both of them to provide tractive forces to the vehicle. Adding this second power source results in a higher complexity of the powertrain, which requires a sophisticated control system to manage the power flow in the system, henceforth denoted the hybrid management strategy. This master thesis is conducted at ZF Friedrichshafen AG, which currently investigate two different hybrid management strategies for hybrid electric vehicles in a simulation environment. An analysis of these two strategies is done for different vehicles setups, where fuel consumption will be regarded as the primary factor. Before the analysis is conducted, the simulation environment is extended with some different implementations, preventing errors to occur. More parts of the strategies and some gear shift strategies are implemented as well. When the performance of the hybrid management strategies are studied, it is seen that both strategies perform well, giving similar results. Though they differ in the behavior, they manage to get similar results. An important factor to consider is the parameterization of the strategies, as this influences the behavior and results significantly. The biggest difference between the two strategies has to do with how they manage the energy flowing in the battery. As a last step, the two strategies are tested with a second gear shift logic, and it is seen that both of the strategies are able to perform well.
Effect of Side Impact Protection in Reducing Injuries

The aim of this study was to identify risk factors in side impact. In particular risk factors such as kerb weight of striking/struck passenger car, age, gender, the presence of a front-seat occupant and side airbags influence the injury outcome. The Swedish database STRADA was used to analyze and identify risk factors in side impact crashes. All near-side front seat occupants in car-to-car side impacts reported by the police from year 2003 to 2009 were included (n=3360). The severity classification made by the police was used to compare the injury risk. Pair comparison technique was used to study the relative risk between the driver in the striking car and the near-side occupant in the struck car. The higher kerb weight of the striking passenger car, the higher risk of being sever injured in the struck passenger car. The opposite relation was found regarding the kerb weight of struck passenger car. Being senior or having a passenger beside in a side impact means a higher risk of sustaining serious injuries. Current side airbag systems, such as torso bags with or without head curtains, reduce the injury risk in side impact for near-side occupants.
Combined Injury to the ACL and Lateral Meniscus Alters the Geometry of Articular Cartilage and Meniscus Soon After Initial Trauma

Combined injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus is associated with earlier onset and increased rates of post‐traumatic osteoarthritis compared with isolated ACL injury. However, little is known about the initial changes in joint structure associated with these different types of trauma. We hypothesized that trauma to the ACL and lateral meniscus has an immediate effect on morphometry of the articular cartilage and meniscus about the entire tibial plateau that is more pronounced than an ACL tear without meniscus injury. Subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging scanning soon after injury and prior to surgery. Those that suffered injury to the ACL and lateral meniscus underwent changes in the lateral compartment (increases in the posterior–inferior directed slopes of the articular cartilage surface, and the wedge angle of the posterior horn of the meniscus) and medial compartment (the cartilage‐to‐bone height decreased in the region located under the posterior horn of the meniscus, and the thickness of cartilage increased and decreased in the mid and posterior regions of the plateau, respectively). Subjects that suffered an isolated ACL tear did not undergo the same magnitude of change to these articular structures. A majority of the changes in morphometry occurred in the lateral compartment of the knee; however, change in the medial compartment of the knee with a normal appearing meniscus also occurred. Statement of clinical significance: Knee injuries that involve combined trauma to the ACL and meniscus directly affect both compartments of the knee, even if the meniscus and articular cartilage appears normal upon arthroscopic examination. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 38:759‐767, 2020
Outcomes of women age 40 or more undergoing repeat cesarean or trial of labor after cesarean

Abstract Aim Despite the increasing trend in delayed childbirth and the known associated complications in advancing maternal age, limited information exists regarding outcomes in very advanced maternal age by delivery type. This study aims to evaluate maternal and neonatal outcomes in women age 40 or more undergoing cesarean delivery or trial of labor after cesarean delivery. Materials and methods We performed a secondary analysis of the Cesarean Section Registry Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network data, which was a prospective study of women undergoing repeat cesarean delivery or trial of labor after cesarean delivery from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2002. Women age 40 years or more at the time of delivery were compared to the control group of women less than 40 years of age. Results There were 67,389 cases identified that met inclusion criteria. 2,436 (3.6%) were age ≥40 years old, and 65,403 (97.05%) were <40 at delivery. The >40 group had a higher rate of PRBC transfusion (aRR 1.75; 95% CI 1.20–2.56), maternal ICU admission (aRR 2.02; 1.41–2.89), bowel injury (aRR 3.65; 1.43–9.31), placenta accreta (aRR 1.92; 1.09–3.38) and classical uterine incision (aRR 1.59; 1.43–9.31) compared to the control group. Maternal death rates were similar in both groups (p = .30). Conclusion Women aged 40 or more undergoing repeat cesarean delivery or trial of labor after cesarean delivery are more likely to have maternal complications including intraoperative transfusion, maternal ICU admission, abnormal placentation and surgical complications in comparison to women under age 40.