Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Variation at the Phospholipid Transfer Protein Locus Affects Its Activity and High-Density Lipoprotein Size and Is a Novel Marker of Cardiovascular Disease Susceptibility

Background— In contrast to clear associations between variants in genes participating in low-density lipoprotein metabolism and cardiovascular disease risk, such associations for high-density lipoprotein (HDL)–related genes are not well supported by recent large studies. We aimed to determine whether genetic variants at the locus encoding phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP), a protein involved in HDL remodeling, underlie altered PLTP activity, HDL particle concentration and size, and cardiovascular disease risk. Methods and Results— We assessed associations between 6 PLTP tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms and PLTP activity in 2 studies (combined n=384) and identified 2 variants that show reproducible associations with altered plasma PLTP activity. A gene score based on these variants is associated with lower hepatic PLTP transcription (P=3.2×10−18) in a third study (n=957) and with an increased number of HDL particles of smaller size (P=3.4×10−17) in a fourth study (n=3375). In a combination of 5 cardiovascular disease case-control studies (n=4658 cases and 11 459 controls), a higher gene score was associated with a lower cardiovascular disease risk (per-allele odds ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.90 to 0.98; P=1.2×10−3; odds ratio for highest versus lowest gene score, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.55 to 0.86; P=1.0×10−3). Conclusions— A gene score based on 2 PLTP single nucleotide polymorphisms is associated with lower PLTP transcription and activity, an increased number of HDL particles, smaller HDL size, and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. These findings indicate that PLTP is a proatherogenic entity and suggest that modulation of specific elements of HDL metabolism may offer cardiovascular benefit.
What Factors Influence Consumers' Trust in Travel Affiliate Websites? An Exploratory Study

websites and e-loyalty. The study seeks to examine the influence of some factors on the degree of consumer trust for affiliate travel websites. Moreover, the study goes further to measure the impact of overall trust on e-loyalty. The question of how to win consumer trust is an urgent matter for practitioners eager to harness the new capabilities enabled by the internet. There is a strong evidence of direct effects of trust on loyalty. Consumer trust in the website is fundamental to e-loyalty. Affiliate marketing is likely to become the principal mainstream marketing strategy for e-commerce businesses in the future. The specific setting for the study; a travel affiliate website (skyscanner.net), is devised for testing the interrelationship for the required variables. Five constructs are proposed for building consumer trust in affiliate website (disposition to trust; navigation; social cues; brand strength and structural assurances). The key findings reveal that the influences of factors affecting consumer trust in travel affiliate website are different. The study confirmed that disposition to trust, navigation and social cues have a significant effect on trust in affiliate travel websites. The study will help affiliate websites managers to better understand consumers trust perspective, thereby gaining more loyal consumers.
Evolution of thermal properties from graphene to graphite

We report on the evolution of thermal properties from graphene to graphite as a function of layer thickness and temperature. The onset of the inter-layer compressional elastic constant C33 and the shear elastic constant C44 results in a large difference between the magnitudes and temperature dependencies of the specific heat and in-plane lattice thermal conductivity of bi-layer graphene (BLG) and single-layer graphene. The changes between BLG and few-layer graphene (FLG) decrease with increase in the number of layers. The cross-plane lattice thermal conductivity increases almost linearly with the number of layers in ultra-thin FLG.
Characterization of cancer stem-like cells in chordoma.

OBJECT Chordomas are locally aggressive bone tumors known to arise from the remnants of the notochord. Because chordomas are rare, molecular studies aimed at developing new therapies are scarce and new approaches are needed. Chordoma cells and cancer stem-like cells share similar characteristics, including self-renewal, differentiation, and resistance to chemotherapy. Therefore, it seems possible that chordomas might contain a subpopulation of cancer stem-like cells. The aim of this study is to determine whether cancer stem-like cells might be present in chordomas. METHODS In this study, the authors used gene expression analysis for common cancer stem-like cellmarkers, including c-myc, SSEA-1, oct4, klf4, sox2, nanog, and brachyury, and compared chordoma cells and tissues with nucleus pulposus tissues (disc degenerated nontumorigenic tissues). Differentiation through agents such as all-trans retinoic acid and osteogenic differentiation medium was induced to the chordoma cells. Additionally, U-CH1 cells were sorted via magnetic cell sorting for stem cell markers CD133 and CD15. After separation, positive and negative cells for these markers were grown in a nonadherent environment, soft agar, to determine whether the presence of these cancer stem-like cells might be responsible for initiating chordoma. The results were compared with those of untreated cells in terms of migration, proliferation, and gene expression by using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS The results indicate that chordoma cells might be differentiating and committing into an osteogenic lineage when induced with the osteogenic differentiation agent. Chordoma cells that are induced with retinoic acid showed slower migration and proliferation rates when compared with the untreated cells. Chordoma cells that were found to be enriched by cancer stem-like cell markers, namely CD133 and CD15, were able to live in a nonadherent soft agar medium, demonstrating a self-renewal capability. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that cancer stem-like cell markers were also found to be expressed in chordoma cells and tissues. CONCLUSIONS Cancer stem-like cell detection might be an important step in determining the recurrent and metastatic characteristics of chordoma. This finding may lead to the development of new approaches toward treatments of chordomas.
Effect of Anthropogenic Land-Use and Land-Cover Changes on Climate and Land Carbon Storage in CMIP5 Projections for the Twenty-First Century

AbstractThe effects of land-use changes on climate are assessed using specified-concentration simulations complementary to the representative concentration pathway 2.6 (RCP2.6) and RCP8.5 scenarios performed for phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). This analysis focuses on differences in climate and land–atmosphere fluxes between the ensemble averages of simulations with and without land-use changes by the end of the twenty-first century. Even though common land-use scenarios are used, the areas of crops and pastures are specific for each Earth system model (ESM). This is due to different interpretations of land-use classes. The analysis reveals that fossil fuel forcing dominates land-use forcing. In addition, the effects of land-use changes are globally not significant, whereas they are significant for regions with land-use changes exceeding 10%. For these regions, three out of six participating models—the Second Generation Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2); Hadley Centre Glo.
Presumptive Diagnosis and Treatment of Malaria in Febrile Children in Parts of South Eastern Nigeria

Background: Malaria treatment in Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan Africa is largely based on presumptive diagnosis leading to poor management of non-malaria febrile illness and abuse of antimalarial drugs. Objectives: To evaluate malaria treatments based on presumptive diagnosis and describe the actual density of uncomplicated malaria among febrile children in South Eastern Nigeria. Methods: Parasitological diagnosis using microscopy was done among 560 febrile children, 0-12 years attending Paediatric Clinics in a tertiary health facility in the study area. Their blood samples were collected prior to malaria treatment using IMCI guidelines and standard routine clinical practice. These children were grouped into under 5 years and 5-12 years. Data was analysed using SPSS. Results: Out of 560 children (0-12 years) enrolled in this study, 156(27.9%) were positive for malaria parasites, while 404(72.1%) were negative. Children’s age was significantly related to the prevalence of uncomplicated malaria (p<0.05) and a high determinant in explaining 6.4% of the variance in the prevalence of uncomplicated malaria (F=37.915 and p<0.05). Children 5-12 years (51.9%) had higher parasite density (40,678.2 P/μl) compared to those less than 5. The negative result of 72.1% indicated possibility of overtreatment with antimalarial. Conclusion: The findings highlight the need for the scaling-up of parasitological confirmation of all malaria suspected cases before treatment with the artemesinin-based combination therapies. Improving the diagnostic system for effective health care delivery in endemic areas will not only provide a good platform for malaria treatment/ monitoring but also reduce rapid onset of drug resistance.
Challenges Facing Small Scale Entrepreneuresin Accessing Loan from Banks at Ngongongare , Meru District , Arusha Region in Tanzania

The aim of this study was to assess the challenges facing small scale entrepreneurs in accessing loan from banks at Ngongongare, Meru district, Arusha region in Tanzania. A sample size of 100 respondents was used, whereby 65 respondents filled the questionnaire and returned. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze and tabulate data. The following findings were obtained: Collateral is a challenge to small entrepreneurs in accessing loan from the bank; the cost of transaction was found to be high and interest rate was also found to be high; the availability of accounting information was difficult to be obtained from small entrepreneurs so as to grant credit facilities and also the study revealed that capital for SSE is particularly from other sources like SACCOS. The study concluded that collateral, high interest rates, lack of adequate accounting information were the challenges facing small scale entrepreneurs in accessing loans from banks. The researcher recommended that banks should lower their interest rates and also grant loans on business asset and income as collateral securities. In addition, small scale entrepreneurs should be given some training in form of seminars through trade organizations. The study further recommends future researchers to undertake a comparative study between small scale entrepreneurs and small and medium entrepreneurs.
Title Hidden Markov model analysis reveals better eye movementstrategies in face recognition

Here we explored eye movement strategies that lead to better performance in face recognition with hidden Markov models (HMMs). Participants performed a standard face recognition memory task with eye movements recorded. The durations and locations of the fixations were analyzed using HMMs for both the study and the test phases. Results showed that in the study phase, the participants who looked more often at the eyes and shifted between different regions on the face with long fixation durations had better performances. The test phase analyses revealed that an efficient, short first orienting fixation followed by a more analytic pattern focusing mainly on the eyes led to better performances. These strategies could not be revealed by analysis methods that do not take individual differences in both temporal and spatial dimensions of eye movements into account, demonstrating the power of the HMM approach.
Stuck in the Middle Revisited: The Case of the Airline Industry

When Porter (1 980) introduced his typology of business strategies, he used Laker Airways' as an example to illustrate the danger of being stuck in the middle between the two basic types of competitive advantage, namely low cost and differentiation. However, the changing nature of competitive pressure in many business sectors and the accompanying need to perform well simultaneously in several aspects of operations performance, have eventually lead Porter (1 990) to revisit his early idea. When presenting Porter's generic competitive strategies, most strategy textbooks now offer a new choice, namely the "integrated cost leadershiptdifferentiation" strategy (Coulter, 2002; Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2003), or the "best-cost provider" strategy (Thompson & Strickland, 2001). Given this background, the purpose of this theoretical paper is to build upon the strategic management and operations strategy literature to develop a conceptual framework that will subsequently be used to explore the extent that airline companies successfully pursue the best-cost provider (or integrated cost leadershiptdifferentiation) strategy, and how they manage to resolve the trade-off between low-cost and differentiation. We aim at revisiting the "stuck in the middle" prescription by demonstrating that a number of aviation strategic options exist between the ''traditional'' and "low-
The Dynamics of Intense Work Groups: A Study of British String Quartets

Portions of this paper were written while the first author was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. We are grateful for the financial support provided by the National Science Foundation (#BNS87-00864 and SES88-15566), the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Research Board of the Graduate College of the University of Illinois. This study was conducted while the first author was a visiting professor of Business Studies at Warwick University. We sincerely thank Andrew Pettigrew and Cynthia Hardy for encouragement, support, and direction; Guillermo Perich for music school contacts; Anne Copay, Gina Gargano, and Stephan Ahadi for research assistance; Max Bazerman, Cynthia Hardy, Greg Oldham, Bob Sutton, and three anonymous reviewers for constructive comments; and Dick Boland and Linda Pike for their invaluable stimulation of our ideas. This paper focuses on the relationship between the internal dynamics and success of a population of intense work groups, professional string quartets in Great Britain. We observed three basic paradoxes: leadership versus democracy, the paradox of the second violinist, and confrontation versus compromise. The central findings indicate that the more successful quartets recognized but did not openly discuss the paradoxes. Instead, they managed these inherent contradictions implicitly and did not try to resolve them. The discussion addresses the study of intense work groups, the forces that drive these paradoxes, and potential applications to other organizational groups. '
Aalborg Universitet New exercise-integrated technology can monitor the dosage and quality of exercise performed against an elastic resistance band by adolescents with patellofemoral pain Rathleff

Question: Is the exercise-integrated Bandcizer system feasible for recording exercise dosage (time under tension (TUT) and repetitions) and pain scores among adolescents with patellofemoral pain? Do adolescents practise the exercises as prescribed (TUT and repetitions)? Do adolescents accurately report the exercises they do in an exercise diary? Design: Observational feasibility study. Participants: Twenty adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age with patellofemoral pain. Intervention: Participants were prescribed three exercise sessions per week (one with and two without supervision) for 6 weeks. The exercises included three hip and one knee exercise with an elastic resistance band. Participants were instructed to perform three sets with a predefined TUT (3 seconds concentric; 2 seconds isometric; 3 seconds eccentric; 2 seconds pause), equating to 80 seconds for 10 repetitions (one set). Outcome measures: The exercise-integrated system consisted of a sensor attached to the elastic resistance band that was connected to the Bandtrainer app on an electronic tablet device. Pain intensity was reported on a visual analogue scale on the app. Participants also completed a self-report exercise diary. Results: No major problems were reported with the system. Participants performed 2541 exercise sets during the 6 weeks; 5% were performed with the predefined TUT (ie, within 10 seconds of the 80-second target) and 90% were performed below the target TUT. On average, the participants received 15% of the instructed exercise dosage based on TUT. The exercise dosage reported in the exercise diaries was 2.3 times higher than the TUT data from the electronic system. Pain intensity was successfully collected in 100% of the exercise sets. Conclusion: The system was feasible for adolescents with patellofemoral pain. The system made it possible to capture detailed data about the TUT, repetitions and sets during home-based exercises together with pain intensity before and after each exercise. [Rathleff MS, Bandholm T, McGirr KA, Harring SI, Sørensen AS, Thorborg K (2016) New exercise-integrated technology can monitor the dosage and quality of exercise performed against an elastic resistance band by adolescents with patellofemoral pain: an observational study. Journal of Physiotherapy 62: 159–163] 2016 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Autophagy in Atherosclerosis: A Cell Survival and Death Phenomenon With Therapeutic Potential

Autophagy is a reparative, life-sustaining process by which cytoplasmic components are sequestered in double-membrane vesicles and degraded on fusion with lysosomal compartments. A growing body of evidence suggests that autophagy is stimulated in advanced atherosclerotic plaques by oxidized lipids, inflammation, and metabolic stress conditions. However, despite the increasing interest in autophagy in various pathophysiological situations such as neurodegeneration, cancer, and cardiac myopathies, the process remains an underestimated and overlooked phenomenon in atherosclerosis. As a consequence, its role in plaque formation and stability is poorly understood. Most likely, autophagy safeguards plaque cells against cellular distress, in particular oxidative injury, by degrading damaged intracellular material. In this way, autophagy is antiapoptotic and contributes to cellular recovery in an adverse environment. An interesting observation is that basal autophagy can be intensified by specific drugs. Excessively stimulated autophagic activity is capable of destroying major proportions of the cytosol, leading finally to type II programmed cell death that lacks several hallmarks of apoptosis or necrosis. Because atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disorder of the arterial intima, pharmacological approaches could be developed to stabilize vulnerable, rupture-prone lesions through selective induction of macrophage autophagic death.
Productive and reproductive performances of Brown Bengal goat (Hilly goat) at research farm level

A nucleus-breeding flock of selected Brown Bengal goat was established in the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI), Regional Station, Naikhongchari, Bandarban, with the objective of characterization, conservation and improvement of the breed. A total of 69 does of different generations (Foundation = 07, Generation one = 32, Generation two = 23 and Generation three = 07.) and 07 bucks (All were first generation) were used to study the genetic parameters of Brown Bengal goat on productive and reproductive traits. The studied Animals were bred naturally. Goats were reared under semi-intensive management system in which goats were browsing in nature and allowed to graze in field as well as mounting in hills. All goats were housed in a plastic made floor house and allowed to graze 6-8 hours in a day and concentrate was offered twice daily during morning and evening at the rate of 1% of their body weight per day. The adult body weight of hilly goat was 20.95 kg. The phenotypic characteristics like the face, horn, ear and udder length were 15.56, 7.18, 12.19 and 12.67 cm respectively. On the other hand the hearth girth, front leg, hind leg and body length were 61.51, 46.8, 49.48 and 55.24 cm respectively. The gestation length, kidding to first heat, kidding to conception and kidding interval were 148.52 ± 1.06, 33.48 ± 2.85, 33.40 ± 1.98 and 176.86 ± 1.98 days, respectively. According to parity the GL, AFH, KC and KI were not followed trends up to 3 rd parity but kid birth weight was increasing trends with increasing parity up to fifth. The birth weight of male kid (1.25 ± 0.25 kg) was higher than that of female kid (1.13± 0.27 kg). The highest birth weight (1.24±0.02 kg) was found in single birth. According to litter size the birth weight of single kid (1.24 ± 0.01 kg) stood first followed by twine (1.20 ± 0.01), triplet (1.1±0.03 kg) and quadruplet kids (0.93±0.08 kg). The productive and reproductive performances of brown Bengal goat were not affected by parity. Birth weights of kids were significantly varied with birth type. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. September 2016, 2(3): 477-482
What Has Been Neglected in the Green Revolution? Developing Crop Poly-Genotype Varieties for Improving (Intra-Variety) Genetic Diversity in Agriculture

Modern agriculture, based on the improved single-genotype crop varieties and the intensive and monocultural managements, has contributed tremendously to the world’s food supply. However, it is also challenged by stagnant yield growth, increasingly high input, mounting environmental pollution and pressing sustainability of development. In comparison, old agriculture of 100 years ago, based on the traditional multi-genotype landraces and low-input cultivation, prevailed thousands of years and still exists now in subsistence farming in marginal areas in spite of its low productivity. Crop multi-genotype breeding, which combines the advantages of both old and modern agriculture at the high level of productivity, will give us a promising strategy to break the predicament of modern agriculture. The concept, necessity, principle, technical tactics and characteristics of crop multi-genotype breeding are first elucidated in detail here. Two successful cases of application in rice and cotton are presented. Firstly, rice multi-genotype inbred varieties (colony variety) have commercialized using MAGIC lines. In cotton, a multi-genotype hybrid variety Jing-Mi 1 revealed superiority in seeded cotton and lint yields over the check variety in regional trial. Multigenotype variety could be maintained and recover the genetic diversity in production system. In their progenies of the MAGIC lines, most of them could be transmitted to the multi-genotype varieties, implying that the genetic diversity of agro-ecosystem could be effectively restored by crop multi-genotype varieties. We believe crop multi-genotype breeding will make a substantial contribution to restoring genetic diversity of agro-ecosystem, preventing the exacerbation of vulnerable environment and promoting the sustainable development of agriculture. We call for ever-increasing efforts to develop and apply the crop multi-genotype breeding in agriculture.