Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of various risk factors predisposing subjects to allergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND In Korea, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) is increasing, as in other industrialized countries. However, no large population-based study defining risk factors for AR has yet been conducted. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of AR in large population-based study. METHODS A cross-sectional study was performed using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We evaluated data from 31,217 subjects who were interviewed between 2008 and 2011. RESULTS The prevalence of AR decreased with age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.985; 95% CI = 0.984-0.987). Higher-level stress (AOR for severe stress = 1.470; 95% CI = 1.209-1.788); asthma (AOR = 1.868; 95% CI = 1.582-2.205); atopic dermatitis (AOR = 1.552; 95% CI = 1.309-1.841); pulmonary tuberculosis (AOR = 1.320; 95% CI = 1.119-1.555); depression (AOR = 1.250; 95% CI = 1.117-1.400); and thyroid disease (AOR = 1.328; 95% CI = 1.104-1.597) increased the risk of AR. Participants whose parents had a history of AR also had higher AORs (father, AOR = 1.566; 95% CI = 1.130-2.172; mother, AOR = 1.546; 95% CI = 1.190-2.008). Marriage (AOR = 0.846; 95% CI = 0.741-0.966) decreased the risk of AR. Farmers, fishers, laborers, and soldiers were at lower risk of AR. Although high BMI, a high educational level, living in a large household, specific types of daily living, and a history of diabetes mellitus have been reported as risk factors for AR; none of these factors attained statistical significance in the present study. CONCLUSION Our study revealed that age, stress level, marriage, occupation, asthma, atopic dermatitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, depression, thyroid disease, and parental AR history, all affected the prevalence of AR. We believe that defining the influence of various factors on AR will help to prevent development of the condition in the future.
Involvement of endogenous glucagon-like peptide-1 in regulation of gastric motility and pancreatic endocrine secretion

Abstract Objective. To study the role of endogenous glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) on gastric emptying rates of a solid meal as well as postprandial hormone secretion and glucose disposal. Material and methods. In nine healthy subjects, gastric emptying of a 310-kcal radio-labelled solid meal and plasma concentrations of insulin, glucagon and glucose were measured during infusion of saline or the GLP-1 receptor antagonist exendin(9-39)amide (Ex(9-39)) at 300 pmol·kg−1·min−1. Results. Ex(9-39) infusion had no effect on the total gastric emptying curve, but changed the intra-gastric distribution of the meal. During infusion of Ex(9-39), more content stayed in the upper stomach (79.1 ± 2.5% of total during Ex(9-39) compared to 66.6 ± 5.7% during saline at 5 min). During Ex(9-39) infusion, higher concentrations of plasma glucagon were measured both before (after 40 min of Ex(9-39) infusion the glucagon level was 15.1 ± 0.7 pmol·L−1 compared to 5.4 ± 1.4 during saline) and after the meal, and postprandial GLP-1 levels increased. Basal insulin and glucose levels were not affected by Ex(9-39), but the postprandial rise of insulin and glucose enhanced during Ex(9-39). Conclusions. Endogenous GLP-1 is involved in the regulation of gastric motility in relation to meal intake and also in the regulation of postprandial insulin and glucose levels. Furthermore, endogenous GLP-1 seems to tonically restrain glucagon secretion.
Patient self-management of acute asthma: adherence to national guidelines a decade later.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Children in the emergency department (ED) with acute asthma were enrolled to assess the impact of asthma on their activities of daily living and evaluate their access to care and preventive strategies, determine the proportion who adhered to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) guidelines for proper steps to take at home during an acute asthma exacerbation, and compare adherence rates for those with persistent and mild intermittent asthma. DESIGN AND METHODS Children 2 to 18 years old who presented to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's ED with acute asthma exacerbations were enrolled prospectively. Parents and patients completed the 108-item Asthma Exacerbation Response Questionnaire with a focus on determining the home management steps they took both at the onset of the asthma exacerbation and just before coming to the ED. RESULTS Among the 433 children studied, 76% had at least 1 doctor visit, 75% had at least 1 ED visit, and 43% had at least 1 hospitalization for asthma in the preceding 12 months. Overall, 64% had persistent asthma by NHLBI criteria, yet just 4% were cared for by an allergist or pulmonologist, 38% took daily anti-inflammatory therapy, and 18% received a daily inhaled corticosteroid. Also, 48% did not use a holding chamber with their metered-dose inhalers, and 66% did not use their peak flow meters. Regarding exacerbation response, 71% did not have a written action plan, and 89% did not maintain a symptom diary. Both at the onset of wheezing and just before coming to the ED, administration of a beta2-agonist was the only step that the majority of children performed. One-third or fewer followed the other steps recommended by the NHLBI, including using a peak flow meter, beginning oral corticosteroids, calling or going to see the doctor, or going to the ED. Children with persistent asthma were not more adherent to the guidelines than those with mild intermittent disease. CONCLUSIONS Asthma has a significant adverse effect on the lives of these children. The NHLBI guidelines, first published a decade ago, were designed to reduce asthma's increasing morbidity and mortality, but this study uncovered a high rate of nonadherence with many aspects of the guidelines, including preventive strategies and home management of an exacerbation.
Visualization of the wake behind a sliding bubble

R. O’Reilly Meehan,1 K. Grennan,2 I. Davis,1 K. Nolan,1 and D. B. Murray2 1Thermal Management Research Group, Efficient Energy Transfer (η ET) Department, Nokia Bell Labs, Blanchardstown Business & Technology Park, Snugborough Rd, Dublin 15, Ireland 2Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland (Received 24 March 2017; published 13 October 2017)
Capsule Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine against Diarrheal Disease Caused by Campylobacter jejuni

ABSTRACT The capsule polysaccharide (CPS) of Campylobacter jejuni is one of the few identified virulence determinants of this important human pathogen. Since CPS conjugate vaccines have been so effective against other mucosal pathogens, we evaluated this approach using CPSs from two strains of C. jejuni, 81-176 (HS23 and HS36 serotype complex) and CG8486 (HS4 serotype complex). The CPSs of 81-176 and CG8486 were independently linked to the carrier protein CRM197 by reductive amination between an aldehyde(s), strategically created at the nonreducing end of each CPS, and accessible amines of CRM197. In both cases, the CPS:CRM197 ratio used was 2:1 by weight. Mass spectrometry and gel electrophoresis showed that on average, each glycoconjugate preparation contained, at least in part, two to five CPSs attached to one CRM197. When administered subcutaneously to mice, these vaccines elicited robust immune responses and significantly reduced the disease following intranasal challenge with the homologous strains of C. jejuni. The CPS81-176-CRM197 vaccine also provided 100% protection against diarrhea in the New World monkey Aotus nancymaae following orogastric challenge with C. jejuni 81-176.
Escaping paradise: Larval export from Hawaii in an Indo-Pacific reef fish, the Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens).

The depauperate marine ecosystems of the Hawaiian Archipelago share a high proportion of species with the southern and western Pacific, indicating historical and/or ongoing connections across the large oceanic expanse separating Hawaii from its nearest neighbors. The rate and direction of these interactions are, however, unknown. While previous biogeographic studies have consistently described Hawaii as a diversity sink, prevailing currents likely offer opportunities for larval export. To assess interactions between the remote reefs of the Hawaiian Archipelago and the species rich communities of the Central and West Pacific, we surveyed 14 nuclear microsatellite loci (nDNA; n = 857) and a 614 bp segment of mitochondrial cytochrome b (mtDNA; n = 654) in the Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens). Concordant frequency shifts in both nDNA and mtDNA reveal significant population differentiation among three West Pacific sites and Hawaii (nDNA F' CT = 0.116, mtDNA ϕ CT = 0.098, P < 0.001). SAMOVA analyses of microsatellite data additionally indicate fine scale differentiation within the 2600 km Hawaiian Archipelago (F' SC = 0.026; P < 0.001), with implications for management of this heavily-exploited aquarium fish. Mismatch analyses indicate the oldest contemporary populations are in the Hawaiian Archipelago (circa 318,000 y), with younger populations in the West Pacific (91,000 - 175,000 y). Estimates of Yellow Tang historical demography contradict expectations of Hawaii as a population sink, and instead indicate asymmetrical gene flow, with Hawaii exporting rather than importing Yellow Tang larvae.
Timing modeling at RT-level by separation of design- and stress related aging impacts

The simulation of aging induced degradation mechanisms is a challenging task during the design of digital systems. Parametrical degradations can be handled most accurately at TCAD level, as the physical models like [1] and [2] can be implemented directly. On the other hand, timing failures caused by such degradations cannot be assessed exactly lower than Register Transfer Level (RTL), where the notion of clock delay and critical paths is introduced. Since System-Level designers have no influence on device level abstractions, this is the lowest level for them to perform optimization. However accurate and realistic timing estimation of different component designs at RTL under aging is problematic as entire components are either too large to be simulated by circuit level simulators like SPICE or the simulations become unacceptably slow. Thus a compact, accurate and efficient model for aging aware timing estimation at RTL is needed to support design technology co-optimization for digital circuits. This work evaluates a new RTL timing model concept with respect to accuracy and capability of separating design- and stress related impacts on aging, by applying different stress scenarios at RTL to a selection of ISCAS89 Benchmark circuits. The results indicate that the modeled timing estimations are sufficiently accurate, with average RMS of 1.13% for the deviation between circuit-level and the model. Results also demonstrate that the separation of design- and stress related aging impacts provided by the approach is adequate with average RMS of 2.06% respectively. This is a significant step towards a black box RTL timing model for aging assessment.
Male Specific Expression of Lipocalin-Type Prostaglandin D Synthase (cPTGDS) during Chicken Gonadal Differentiation: Relationship with cSOX9

As in mammals, the SOX9 gene (cSOX9) is specifically expressed in male differentiating Sertoli cells during chicken gonadal development. Recent studies in mouse have shown that the prostaglandin D2 (PGD2)/lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase (PTGDS) pathway is functionally associated with the regulation of SOX9 and is specifically expressed in male developing gonads. In this study, we have shown that, as in mammals, cPTGDS is a male specific gene during chicken testicular development and is temporally expressed in the same window as cSOX9 in Sertoli cells. Using a culture of gonadal explants, we have shown that exogenous PGD2 enhances cSOX9 expression in male, and activates its ectopic expression in female gonads without up-regulating cAMH. These data indicate a conserved PGD2 modulation of SOX9 expression during testicular differentiation between birds and mammals.
Promotions in Multi-Stage Elimination Tournaments: an Experimental Investigation †

Promotion tournaments play an important role for the provision of incentives in firms. In this paper we study behavior in such multi-stage elimination tournaments in a laboratory experiment. Our main treatment is a two-stage tournament that is incentive maintaining in the sense of Rosen (1986). We compare this treatment to a strategically equivalent one-stage tournament and to another two-stage tournament with a more convex wage structure. Confirming previous findings average eort in our one-stage treatment is close to the Nash equilibrium. In contrast, subjects in our main treatment provide excess eort in the first stage both with respect to Nash predictions and compared to the equivalent one-stage tournament. The results for the more convex two-stage tournament suggest that the excess eort in the first stage is a robust finding and that subjects react only little to changes in the wage structure. We discuss several potential determinants of subjects’ behavior, such as gender or risk attitudes.
Letters from ainsworth: contesting the 'organization' of attachment.

As Main (1999) noted in her obituary for Mary Ainsworth, 'she was interacting weekly by letter and manuscript with her mentor and friend, John Bowlby, and their academic correspondence formed an important part of her, and implicitly our, life. ' These letters of Ainsworth to John Bowlby during the 1980s, available in the Wellcome Trust Library in London, contain valuable reflections on the work of her pupils to extend her system of classifying infant behaviour in the Strange Situation Procedure. Mary Main proposed a D classification and interpreted such behaviour as a breakdown in an ABC strategy caused by a conflict between a disposition to approach and flee from the caregiver. Patricia Crittenden extended the subtypes of A and C, using a developmental model of information processing, and observed that they could be used together in A/C combinations. These letters offer insight into Ainsworth's intellectual rationale for encouraging both Main and Crittenden in their conflicting endeavours.
New Labour, new environment? An analysis of the labour government's policy on climate change and biodiversity loss

Acknowledgements The authors owe an enormous debt of thanks to all the people who agreed to be interviewed for this report – without their openness and willingness to discuss environmental policy this report would have been a much poorer piece of work. Sussex) for reading and commenting on various chapters and for directing us towards useful resources. Finally, we would like to thank Mike Childs of Friends of the Earth for approaching us with the idea of writing this report and Friends of the Earth for partially funding the project. It reviews the most up-to-date science on climate change and biodiversity loss and assesses the Labour Government's performance in tackling these issues since it came to power in 1997. This serves to highlight the actions that Labour, under the new leadership of Gordon Brown, still needs to take in order to avoid the catastrophic future impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. Key Messages 1. Climate change and biodiversity loss have dire implications for the future welfare and existence of humanity. Overwhelming scientific evidence exists to support the need for urgent policy action to tackle these issues. The Labour Government has, since 1997, taken some action that begins to address climate change and biodiversity loss, but not nearly enough to address the extent of the problem as indicated by the scientific evidence. 2. Politics plays an integral role in enabling or constraining action on the environment. After nine years when there was very little pressure on the Government to be greener, the recent increase in the salience of environmental issues in party politics and public debate has led directly to a flurry of new policies. The challenge now is for all those concerned about the environment to keep environmental politics high on the political agenda and to sustain the current public enthusiasm for environmental issues. 3. There is an urgent need for joined up environmental governance to address the issues of climate change and biodiversity loss that cut across traditional policy sectors, such as energy, transport, housing and farming. Individual ministries still typically engage in a blinkered pursuit of narrow policy sector objectives with little consideration for their environmental impact. The Government must facilitate the integration of environmental concerns across every Department and policy sector. 4. These challenges require visible, committed and sustained political leadership to drive environmental considerations across government. Tony Blair provided unprecedented leadership on the international stage …
EVOLUTION OF ADDITIVE AND NONADDITIVE GENETIC VARIANCE IN DEVELOPMENT TIME ALONG A CLINE IN DROSOPHILA SERRATA

Abstract Latitudinal clines provide natural systems that may allow the effect of natural selection on the genetic variance to be determined. Ten clinal populations of Drosophila serrata collected from the eastern coast of Australia were used to examine clinal patterns in the trait mean and genetic variance of the life-history trait egg-to-adult development time. Development time significantly lengthened from tropical areas to temperate areas. The additive genetic variance for development time in each population was not associated with latitude but was associated with the population mean development time. Additive genetic variance tended to be larger in populations with more extreme development times and appeared to be consistent with allele frequency change. In contrast, the nonadditive genetic variance was not associated with the population mean but was associated with latitude. Levels of nonadditive genetic variance were greatest in the region of the cline where the gradient in the change in mean was greatest, consistent with Barton's (1999) conjecture that the generation of linkage disequilibrium may become an important component of the genetic variance in systems with a spatially varying optimum.
Phenolic Profiling for Traceability of Vanilla ×tahitensis

Vanilla is a flavoring recovered from the cured beans of the orchid genus Vanilla. Vanilla ×tahitensis is traditionally cultivated on the islands of French Polynesia, where vanilla vines were first introduced during the nineteenth century and, since the 1960s, have been introduced to other Pacific countries such as Papua New Guinea (PNG), cultivated and sold as “Tahitian vanilla,” although both sensory properties and aspect are different. From an economic point of view, it is important to ensure V. ×tahitensis traceability and to guarantee that the marketed product is part of the future protected designation of the origin “Tahitian vanilla” (PDO), currently in progress in French Polynesia. The application of metabolomics, allowing the detection and simultaneous analysis of hundreds or thousands of metabolites from different matrices, has recently gained high interest in food traceability. Here, metabolomics analysis of phenolic compounds profiles was successfully applied for the first time to V. ×tahitensis to deepen our knowledge of vanilla metabolome, focusing on phenolics compounds, for traceability purposes. Phenolics were screened through a quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer coupled to a UHPLC liquid chromatography system, and 260 different compounds were clearly evidenced and subjected to different statistical analysis in order to enable the discrimination of the samples based on their origin. Eighty-eight and twenty three compounds, with a prevalence of flavonoids, resulted to be highly discriminant through ANOVA and Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) respectively. Volcano plot analysis and pairwise comparisons were carried out to determine those compounds, mainly responsible for the differences among samples as a consequence of either origin or cultivar. The samples from PNG were clearly different from the Tahitian samples that were further divided in two different groups based on the different phenolic patterns. Among the 260 compounds, metabolomics analysis enabled the detection of previously unreported phenolics in vanilla (such as flavonoids, lignans, stilbenes and other polyphenols).
Analysis of cases of violation of students' rights in Delta State secondary schools, Nigeria

This study was an investigation into violation of students’ rights by the school authorities in Nigeria. For the purpose of the study three research questions were raised and two sets of questionnaire titled “Secondary School Students’ Rights Questionnaire (SSSQ) and Identification of Students’ Knowledge of their Rights Questionnaire (ISKRQ) were administered to the respondents. The questionnaires were validated in its face and content values and the reliability of the instruments were established through the test-re-test reliability procedure with 0.72 reliability coefficient. The following findings and conclusion were made that teachers and students do not often know what the rights of students are because they lack the knowledge of the Nigerian constitution on the fundamental Human Right; and courts favour students where it was discovered that school authorities did not apply the due process of law in taking disciplinary measures. As a result, recommendations were made that school authorities should study the constitution and the statutory rights of the students to be well equipped in handling students’ disciplinary matters, and students should seek redress in courts when they perceive that their rights were being violated.
Single-molecule spectroscopy of the temperature-induced collapse of unfolded proteins

We used single-molecule FRET in combination with other biophysical methods and molecular simulations to investigate the effect of temperature on the dimensions of unfolded proteins. With single-molecule FRET, this question can be addressed even under near-native conditions, where most molecules are folded, allowing us to probe a wide range of denaturant concentrations and temperatures. We find a compaction of the unfolded state of a small cold shock protein with increasing temperature in both the presence and the absence of denaturant, with good agreement between the results from single-molecule FRET and dynamic light scattering. Although dissociation of denaturant from the polypeptide chain with increasing temperature accounts for part of the compaction, the results indicate an important role for additional temperature-dependent interactions within the unfolded chain. The observation of a collapse of a similar extent in the extremely hydrophilic, intrinsically disordered protein prothymosin α suggests that the hydrophobic effect is not the sole source of the underlying interactions. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations in explicit water show changes in secondary structure content with increasing temperature and suggest a contribution of intramolecular hydrogen bonding to unfolded state collapse.