Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PERSPECT IVE The effects of phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation on forecasts of species range shifts under climate change

Fernando Valladares, Silvia Matesanz, Franc ois Guilhaumon, Miguel B. Ara ujo, Luis Balaguer, Marta Benito-Garz on, Will Cornwell, Ernesto Gianoli, Mark van Kleunen, Daniel E. Naya, Adrienne B. Nicotra, Hendrik Poorter and Miguel A. Zavala Abstract Species are the unit of analysis in many global change and conservation biology studies; however, species are not uniform entities but are composed of different, sometimes locally adapted, populations differing in plasticity. We examined how intraspecific variation in thermal niches and phenotypic plasticity will affect species distributions in a warming climate. We first developed a conceptual model linking plasticity and niche breadth, providing five alternative intraspecific scenarios that are consistent with existing literature. Secondly, we used ecological niche-modeling techniques to quantify the impact of each intraspecific scenario on the distribution of a virtual species across a geographically realistic setting. Finally, we performed an analogous modeling exercise using real data on the climatic niches of different tree provenances. We show that when population differentiation is accounted for and dispersal is restricted, forecasts of species range shifts under climate change are even more pessimistic than those using the conventional assumption of homogeneously high plasticity across a species’ range. Suitable population-level data are not available for most species so identifying general patterns of population differentiation could fill this gap. However, the literature review revealed contrasting patterns among species, urging greater levels of integration among empirical, modeling and theoretical research on intraspecific phenotypic variation.
Comparison of Techniques for Transsphenoidal Pituitary Surgery

Background The aim of this study was to compare three different techniques for transsphenoidal pituitary surgery: (1) sublabial transseptal approach with microscopic resection, (2) transnasal transseptal approach with endoscopic resection, and (3) endoscopic approach with endoscopic resection. Methods We performed a retrospective review of 50 pituitary surgeries performed by the same neurosurgeon. Demographic, radiographic, and clinical data were collected. Results Fifteen patients underwent sublabial approach with microscopic tumor resection, 21 patients underwent the transnasal approach with endoscopic resection, and 14 patients underwent the completely endoscopic technique. There were a total of 20 complications in the sublabial group, 13 transnasal complications, and 6 endoscopic complications. Cerebrospinal fluid leak incidence was 53% in the sublabial approaches, 47% transnasal, and 28% in the endoscopic patients. Diabetes insipidus was encountered in 33% of sublabial approaches, 5% of transnasal approaches, and 7% of endoscopic approaches. Lumbar drains were required in 40% of sublabial approaches, 38% of transnasal approaches, and 7% of endoscopic approaches. Nasal packing was used in 100% of sublabial and transnasal approaches and 0% of endoscopic approaches. Mean recurrence rate and follow-up was sublabial in 6.6% (50 months), transnasal in 9.5% (11 months), and endoscopic in 0% (7 months). Average hospital stay for sublabial approaches, transnasal approaches, and endoscopic approaches was 8.3, 6.2, and 3.4 days, respectively (p < 0.05). Conclusion Transsphenoidal pituitary surgery has evolved over the past several decades, because advances in technology have been the catalyst for minimally invasive surgeries. Less invasive approaches, such as the transnasal approach with endoscopic resection of tumor and the completely endoscopic technique have less morbidity and a shorter hospital stay than traditional sublabial approaches. Continued follow-up is needed to confirm long-term benefits and similar recurrence rates.
Hydatidosis / Echinococcosis : its prevalence , economic and public health significance in Dodola district , western Arsi zone of Oromia region , Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study on bovine hydatidosis was conducted in Dodola municipality abattoir from November 2013 to April 2014 with the aim of investigating the prevalence, cyst characterization and assessment of financial losses in cattle slaughtered for human consumption. Out of the total 384 cattle examined 195 (50.78%) were found infected with hydatidosis. From the examined animals, 97 (25.26%), 79 (20.57%), 12 (3.13) and 7 (1.82%) contained hydatid cyst in their lungs, livers, spleens and hearts, respectively. Age related infection was significant in that older animals were more infected (P<0.05, x2 = 5.3341, df =1). Hydatid cyst sized determination showed that there were a total of 147/274 (53.6%) small, 79/274 (28.8%) medium and 48/274 (17.5%) large sized cysts in their lungs, livers, spleens and hearts, respectively. Concerning the fertility test, 23.7%, 50.0% and 26.3% were fertile, sterile and calcified cysts respectively were observed. There was no reported case of human hydatidosis in the health centers during this study period which may not suggest that the study region is free of this disease. The total annual economic loss due to direct and indirect loss was estimated to be 168,881.05 Ethiopian Birr which is equivalent to 3,318,512.60 USD. The present study showed that hydatidosis is considerably prevalent disease of cattle in the study area with considerable economic and serious public health concern.
MRI-compatible robotics for neuroimaging of rehabilitation induced recovery

Annually, fifteen million people worldwide suffer a stroke, of which five million are left permanently disabled. Most patients show a certain degree of spontaneous or therapy induced recovery over time after the damage to their nervous system. This can be attributed to brain plasticity in the sense that cortical areas adjacent or distant to the lesion take over the function of the damaged neural regions. Robotic rehabilitation devices deliver high intensity and reproducible therapy with low cost, relieving clinicians from the heavy physical burden in the rehabilitation therapies. Although many programs to suggest recovery have emerged over the last years, the effectiveness of rehabilitation in improving functioning and quality of life for patients has not been definitely shown. Further, robot-based measures are not as well established as clinical scales and their relationship with clinical scales is mostly unknown. To achieve the best recovery, rehabilitative therapies should be individualized according to each patient’s specific lesion and recovery process, which demands standardized tools to bridge the patient’s brain function with the behavioral performance. A robotic system working together with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and functional MRI (fMRI) can establish a standardized platform addressing the aforementioned neuroscientific, clinical and engineering needs, to prove and improve rehabilitation induced recovery. MRI has become a standard medical imaging modality to visualize body structure, and fMRI measures signal changes in the brain resulting from neural activation with great spatial resolution and good temporal resolution. However, the strong and high dynamic electromagnetic fields employed by MRI/fMRI have imposed difficult obstacles for the development of mechatronic devices intended to work inside the MRI environment. The device must not bring any safety hazards, must not be disturbed by the electromagnetic fields, and must not interfere with the imaging procedures. To cope with the stringent challenges, this thesis project started with inspecting the possible mutual interferences between an MRI system and mechatronic devices working in its vicinity. MRI-compatibility criteria were founded by defining quantitative measures for these formulated interferences, and then, transformed into a component-wise matrix to facilitate practical design. Based on this formulation, design principles for mechatronic devices to be applied inside the MRI environment were proposed so that potential problems in safety, device functioning and image quality can be considered and dealt with already in the design phase. Methods were proposed to assess the MRIcompatibility of mechatronic devices. A robotic system that is able to work compatibly with MRI/fMRI techniques, the MAg-
Performance assessment. Family physicians in Montreal meet the mark!

OBJECTIVE To assess the clinical performance of a representative non-volunteer sample of family physicians in metropolitan Montreal, Que. DESIGN Assessment of clinical performance was based on inspection visits to offices, peer review of medical records, and chart-stimulated recall interviews. The procedure was the one usually followed by the Professional Inspection Committee of the Collège des médecins du Québec. SETTING Family physicians' practices in metropolitan Montreal. PARTICIPANTS One hundred randomly selected family physicians. INTERVENTIONS For each physician, 30 randomly chosen patient charts with data on three to five previous visits were reviewed using explicit criteria and a standard scale using global scores from 1 to 5 (unacceptable to excellent). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Scores were assigned for office practices; record keeping; number of continuing medical education (CME) activities; and quality of clinical performance assessed in terms of investigation plan, diagnostic accuracy, treatment plan, and relevance of care. RESULTS Overall performance was judged to be good to excellent for 98% of physicians in their private practices; for 90% of physicians concerning CME activities; for 94% of physicians concerning their clinical performance in terms of quality of care; and for 75% of physicians as to record keeping. There was a link between record keeping and quality of care as well as between the number of CME activities and quality of care. CONCLUSION The overall clinical performance of family physicians in the greater Montreal region is excellent.
Methodological and Ideological Options European Timber Consumption : Developing a Method to Account for Timber Flows and the EU ' s Global Forest Footprint

The growing demand for timber, in particular for renewable energy, increases pressures on global forests and requires a robust monitoring system to ensure sustainability. This article takes a first step toward more systemic monitoring by asking how the global use of forests by EU consumers can be accounted for. Specifically, this article builds on and develops the method of global land use accounting to account for the EU-27's consumption of primary timber between 2002 and 2011 in terms of both volume and forest area. It assesses international trade flows for around 100 commodities and converts them into a volume of primary raw timber based on conversion values. Results reveal that both imports and exports increased over the assessed time period, with primary EU-27 timber estimated to be around 1m/cap in 2011. Gaps, uncertainty and a lack of harmonization regarding especially trade data and conversion values are key challenges to further improving the robustness of the method and reliability of results. Future research may focus on improving the method to address in particular recycled and recovered flows as well as the question of whether area or volume is the most appropriate metric for further development of a forest footprint indicator.
Type Families and Elaboration

Type classes and type families are key ingredients to Haskell programming. Type classes were introduced to deal with ad-hoc polymorphism, although with the introduction of functional dependencies, their use expanded to type-level programming. Type families also allow encoding type-level functions, now as rewrite rules, but they lack one important feature of type classes: elaboration, that is, generating code from the derivation of a rewriting. This paper looks at the interplay of type classes and type families, how to deal with shortcomings in both of them, and discusses further relations on the assumption that type families support elaboration.
Time Course Analysis of the Reverse-Stroop Effect in Japanese Kanji

A reverse of the Stroop effect was obtained with Japanese kanji (logographic script) but not with Japanese kana (syllabic scripts) by Morikawa in 1981. In the present study, the normal effect on reaction times by word and color was altered by presenting the words before or after the color. The reverse Stroop effect was observed with kanji but not with kana even when the color was presented prior to the word. It was shown that the difference between kanji and kana in the reverse-Stroop effect could not be explained by the relative speed of processing of word and color and that the reading process of kanji is different from that of kana.
Analysis by fast protein liquid chromatography of variants of κ-casein and their relevance to micellar structure and renneting

SUMMARY Fast protein liquid chromatography was used to study the κ-casein fraction of casein micelles from bulk milk and from milk from individual animals homozygous for κ-caseins A and B. The extent of glycosylation of the κ-casein appeared to have no effect on its distribution in casein micelles of different sizes, nor did it affect the rate at which κ-casein was destroyed during renneting. The rate of breakdown of κ-casein during renneting was also almost independent of micellar size. The results may indicate a difference between methods which analyse for intact κ-casein or for the product macropeptide during renneting.
Inositol‐1,4,5‐trisphosphate induced Ca2+ release and excitation–contraction coupling in atrial myocytes from normal and failing hearts

Impaired calcium (Ca2+) signalling is the main contributor to depressed ventricular contractile function and occurrence of arrhythmia in heart failure (HF). Here we report that in atrial cells of a rabbit HF model, Ca2+ signalling is enhanced and we identified the underlying cellular mechanisms. Enhanced Ca2+ transients (CaTs) are due to upregulation of inositol‐1,4,5‐trisphosphate receptor induced Ca2+ release (IICR) and decreased mitochondrial Ca2+ sequestration. Enhanced IICR, however, together with an increased activity of the sodium–calcium exchange mechanism, also facilitates spontaneous Ca2+ release in form of arrhythmogenic Ca2+ waves and spontaneous action potentials, thus enhancing the arrhythmogenic potential of atrial cells. Our data show that enhanced Ca2+ signalling in HF provides atrial cells with a mechanism to improve ventricular filling and to maintain cardiac output, but also increases the susceptibility to develop atrial arrhythmias facilitated by spontaneous Ca2+ release.
Loughborough University Institutional Repository In vitro localization of intracranial haematoma using electrical impedance tomography semi-array

6 Electrical Impedance Tomography is a non-invasive and portable method that has good 7 potential as an alternative to the conventional modalities for early detection of intracranial 8 haematomas in high risk patients. Early diagnosis can reduce treatment delays and most 9 significantly can impact patient outcomes. Two eight-electrode layouts, a standard ring full 10 array (FA) and a semi-array (SA), were investigated for their ability to detect, localise and 11 quantify simulated intracranial haematomas in vitro on ovine models for the purpose of early 12 diagnosis. SA layout speeds up electrode application and avoids the need to move and lift the 13 patient’s head. Haematomas were simulated using gel samples with the same conductivity as 14 blood. Both layouts, FA and SA, could detect the presence of haematomas at any location 15 within the skull. The mean of the relative radial position error with respect to the brain 16 radius was 7% for FA and 6% for SA, for haematomas close to the electrodes, and 11% 17 for SA for haematomas far from the electrodes at the back of the head. Size estimation was 18 not as good; the worst size estimation error for FA being around 30% while the best for SA 19 was 50% for simulated haematomas close to the electrodes. 20
A Quantitative Evaluation of Turnitin from an L2 Science and Engineering Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the functionality and accuracy of Turnitin results as applied to 68 science and engineering research papers, and the potential use of the software in a second language context. Results showed Turnitin found “similar matching” in 99% of papers; however, an analysis eliminating false positives and categorizing actual plagiarism events as outright, paraphrase and patchwork plagiarism, or stealing an apt term showed only 29% featured plagiarized material, and in most cases, evidence suggested no intent to deceive. Findings indicate that Turnitin can be useful, particularly as a pedagogical rather than policing tool, but “similarity” percentages can be misleading and careful user evaluation of the entire paper shown with flagged highlighting is necessary in order to fairly assess student intent.
Blood transmission studies of prion infectivity in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus): the Baxter study

Four secondary transmissions of variant Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (vCJD) infectivity have been associated with the transfusion of nonleukoreduced red blood cells collected from vCJD patients during the asymptomatic phase of the disease. Establishing efficient experimental models for assessing the risk of future transmissions of vCJD infectivity via blood transfusion is of paramount importance in view of a study of archived appendix samples in which the prevalence of asymptomatic vCJD infection in the United Kingdom was estimated at approximately 1 in 2000 of the population. In this study, we investigated transmission of vCJD and sporadic CJD (sCJD) infectivity from blood using the squirrel monkey, which is highly susceptible to experimental challenge with human prion disease.
PR ] 6 F eb 2 01 9 Optimal Gamma Approximation on Wiener Space

In [NP09a], Nourdin and Peccati established a neat characterization of Gamma approximation on a fixed Wiener chaos in terms of convergence of only the third and fourth cumulants. In this paper, we provide an optimal rate of convergence in the d2-distance in terms of the maximum of the third and fourth cumulants analogous to the result for normal approximation in [NP15]. In order to achieve our goal, we introduce a novel operator theory approach to Stein’s method. The recent development in Stein’s method for the Gamma distribution of Döbler and Peccati ([DP18]) plays a pivotal role in our analysis. Several examples in the context of quadratic forms are considered to illustrate our optimal bound.
Offshore Wind Farms as Potential Locations for Flat Oyster (Ostrea edulis) Restoration in the Dutch North Sea

The “Dutch Energy Agreement” motivates governments and industries to invest in renewable energy sources, of which offshore wind energy is one of the solutions to meet the agreed target of 16% of the total energy budget from renewable resources by 2023. An option for the multi-use of wind farms is nature-inclusive building, in which the design and construction of wind farms make use of the potential for co-design with oyster bed restoration. This can support the government’s ambitions, for the Dutch North Sea, to achieve biodiversity goals, restore ecosystem functions, and enhance ecosystem services, including future seafood production. For the recovery of flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) beds, knowledge is required about the conditions under which active restoration of this species in the North Sea can be successfully implemented. This paper gives a framework and presents results to determine suitability of wind farms for flat oyster restoration, and provides recommendations for pilot studies. Our analysis showed that a number of wind farms in the Dutch section of the North Sea are suitable locations for development of flat oyster beds. Combining oyster restoration and oyster culture, as a protein source, is a viable option worth investigating.
FRIO SHALE M I N E R A L O G Y A N D THE STOICHIOMETRY OF THE SMECTITE-TO-ILLITE REACTION: THE MOST IMPORTANT REACTION IN CLASTIC

-Burial diagenesis of shales of the Frio Formation resulted in an increase in the abundance of mixed-layer illite-smectite (I-S), albite and chlorite, and a decrease in the abundance of K-feldspar, illite and kaolinite. Some of the mineralogic trends determined in this study contrast with the results of Hower et al. (1976) and other studies of Frio shales. The differences are due to improvements in laboratory and clay quantification techniques since the time of the earlier research. I-S composition changed from -20% to ->80% illite, and mineralogic and chemical reaction of I-S continued throughout burial. Shale diagenesis was an open-system process that required addition of K20 and A1203, and resulted in loss of SiO2. The amount of SiO2 made available by shale diagenesis is sufficient to be the source of the quartzovergrowth cements in the associated Frio sandstones. The relationships between I-S diagenesis and fluid flow from shales into sandstones, generation of abnormal formation-water fluid pressure, onset of sandstone diagenesis and distribution of authigenic phases in sandstones indicate that reaction of the I-S in shales is one of the most important components of the sandstone/shale/formation water diagenetic system. Key Words--Diagenesis, Illite-Smectite, Mass Balance, Mineralogy, Shale.
Patient Satisfaction and Physician Productivity: Complementary or Mutually Exclusive?

Motivating physicians to increase productivity and maximize patient satisfaction may result in conflicted behavior, raising questions about whether one must be sacrificed for the other. To determine if high satisfaction (measured by Press Ganey patient satisfaction survey) can be achieved while maintaining high productivity (measured in McGladrey relative value units, MRVU), longitudinal data collected from January 2002 to July 2004 were modeled using repeated measures regression. A total of 136 000 patient-completed satisfaction questionnaires evaluating 417 physicians were collected for analysis. Patient confidence (positively correlated; P = .001) and physician/patient time (inversely correlated; P = .001) were associated with higher physician productivity. Increases in MRVU were associated with decreases in patient perceptions of time with the physician ( P = .003). The relationships between patient satisfaction and physician productivity were relatively small, suggesting that they are not necessarily incompatible and that both can be improved simultaneously. (Am J Med Qual 2009;24:498-504)
Title Dietary compound Isoliquiritigenin prevents mammary carcinogenesis by inhibiting breast cancer stem cells through WIF 1 demethylation

Breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered as the root of mammary tumorigenesis. Previous studies have demonstrated that ISL efficiently limited the activities of breast CSCs. However, the cancer prevention activities of ISL and its precise molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we report a novel function of ISL as a natural demethylation agent targeting WIF1 to prevent breast cancer. ISL administration suppressed in vivo breast cancer initiation and progression, accompanied by reduced CSC-like populations. A global gene expression profile assay further identified WIF1 as the main response gene of ISL treatment, accompanied by the simultaneous downregulation of β-catenin signaling and G0/G1 phase arrest in breast CSCs. In addition, WIF1 inhibition significantly relieved the CSC-limiting effects of ISL and methylation analysis further revealed that ISL enhanced WIF1 gene expression via promoting the demethylation of its promoter, which was closely correlated with the inhibition of DNMT1 methyltransferase. Molecular docking analysis finally revealed that ISL could stably dock into the catalytic domain of DNMT1. Taken together, our findings not only provide preclinical evidence to demonstrate the use of ISL as a dietary supplement to inhibit mammary carcinogenesis but also shed novel light on WIF1 as an epigenetic target for breast cancer prevention.