Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acid on the production performance of gilts

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the supplementation of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in feed mixtures influences the parameters of production performance in gilts. The experimental work was realized in operating conditions of a production pig farm. Total number of 40 gilts (20 gilts in control group and 20 gilts in experimental group) of hybrid combination Czech Large White x Czech Landrace (CLW x CL) were included in the observation. During the experiment the gilts kept for rearing were fed with a control compound feed and an experimental compound feed suplemented with 2% of CLA for the time of 65 days. At the beginning and the end of the experiment, performance tests were conducted in accordance with the methodology of CSN 466164 on Performance and progeny testing in pigs. The gilts in the experimental group reached higher weight 148.05 ± 15.80 kg versus 135.75 ± 17.60 kg (P < 0.05) at the end of the test. The evaluation of mean achieved daily gain for the time from birth to the end of the test confirmed higher values for the gilts in the experimental group 586.05 ± 66.64 g*day-1 against 539.00 ± 62.19 g*day-1 for the gilts in the control group (P < 0.05). Within other parameters of efficiency in gilts, i.e. lean meat content, backfat thickness and depth of MLLT muscle, no significant influence of CLA on their phenotypic manifestation was found. The results of study indicate, that the supplementation of feed mixture for rearing gilts with conjugated linoleic acid can influence the growth ability of gilts.
COMPARING THE EFFICACY OF TWO NATURAL SURFACTANTS, CUROSURF AND ALVEOFACT, IN TREATMENT OF RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME IN PRETERM INFANTS

Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is mainly observed in preterm newborn infants. The surfactant production is insufficient in preterm infants that lead to reduced pulmonary compliance, increased surface tension; and increased risk of alveolar collapse (1-3). Surfactant replacement therapy and respiratory support are the corn stones for RDS treatment (4). Two main types of surfactant are natural and synthetic. Natural surfactants, which are animal derived, have been considered superior to synthetic types (5-7). Numerous trials have compared the efficacy of various natural surfactants including Beractant, Curosurf and Calfactant (8-12). Poractant Alfa (Curosurf) is derived from minced porcine lungs. Alveofact and Beractant (Survanta) are bovine derived. Trials that compared Curosurf versus Beractant identified no significant difference in outcomes including pneumothorax, and intraventricular hemorrhage (810,12,13), when the same initial dose (100 mg/kg) was administered, but significant reduction in mortality and need for re-dosing has been reported in 200 mg/ kg Curosurf dose (11). While the efficacy of surfactant in the prevention and treatment of RDS has been well documented, the superior type of surfactant is still unknown. In our country Curosurf and Aveofact are more available than other natural surfactants. There is limited studies compared Alveofact and Curosurf in management of RDS in preterm infants. We conducted this study to compare the efficacy of these two types of surfactant with respect to short term outcome in the preterm infants.
A Wideband Differentially Fed Dual-Polarized Antenna with Stable Radiation Pattern for Base Stations

A new wideband differentially fed dual-polarized antenna with stable radiation pattern for base stations is proposed and studied. A cross-shaped feeding structure is specially designed to fit the differentially fed scheme and four parasitic loop elements are employed to achieve a wide impedance bandwidth. A stable antenna gain and a stable radiation pattern are realized by using a rectangular cavity-shaped reflector instead of a planar one. A detailed parametric study was performed to optimize the antenna’s performances. After that, a prototype was fabricated and tested. Measured results show that the antenna achieves a wide impedance bandwidth of 52% with differential standing-wave ratio <1.5 from 1.7 to 2.9 GHz and a high differential port-to-port isolation of better than 26.3 dB within the operating frequency bandwidth. A stable antenna gain ( $\approx 8$ dBi) and a stable radiation pattern with 3-dB beamwidth of 65° ±5° were also found over the operating frequencies. Moreover, the proposed antenna can be easily built by using printed circuit board fabrication technique due to its compact and planar structure.
EVALUASI FUNGSI EKOLOGIS DAN ESTETIKA PADA BEBERAPA TAMAN KOTA DI JAKARTA SELATAN

City park as one type of the public green open space has an important role in improving the environmental quality. There are two important aspects that need to be evaluated within a city park which are its ecological function and aesthetic. In order to know how far the implementation of the ecological function and aesthetic is required, there need to be a thorough evaluation of these aspects. This study aims to identify the vegetation, evaluate the implementation of ecological function and aesthetic, and also to know user perceptions and preferences of the landscape in each park. This study takes time for seven months and located at four park in South Jakarta namely Ayodya Park, Martha Tiahahu Park, Tangkuban Perahu Park and Mataram Park. The method of this study is divided into two methods, the evaluation of ecological function and the evaluation of aesthetic quality in each park. Ecological function will be evaluated by comparing the existing condition with standard criteria for ecological function, while aesthetic quality will be evaluated by using of scenic beauty estimation (SBE) method as well as user preferences and perceptions. The result of evaluation on ecological function showed that Tangkuban Perahu Park has the best function of noise reductor and wind barrier, Ayodya Park has the best function of temperature control, while Martha Tiahahu Park has the best function of humidity control. Based on aesthetic aspect, Ayodya Park is as the highest quality of aesthetic, while Tangkuban Perahu was the lowest quality of aesthetic. Good ecological condition affect the aesthetics condition of the park.
Randomised trial of expectant versus surgical management of spontaneous miscarriage

Thirty‐five women with retained products of conception after spontaneous miscarriage were randomised to expectant (n=19) or surgical (n=16) management, respectively. Women were reviewed at one week, two weeks and six months. There were no significant differences in the number of days of pain, bleeding, sick leave or return to normal periods. Nine of twelve women from the expectant group and six of nine from the surgical group who attempted to conceive did so by six months. All 16 women were satisfied with conservative management. This study provides further reassurance when considering expectant management for spontaneous miscarriage both in the short and medium term.
A Convex Approach to Robust Stability for Linear Systems with Uncertain Scalar Parameters

In this paper, robust stability for linear systems with several uncertain (complex and/or real) scalar parameters is studied. A countable family of conditions sufficient for robust stability is given, in terms of solvability of some simple linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). These conditions are of increasing precision, and it is shown conversely that robust stability implies solvability of these LMIs from a certain rank and beyond. This result constitutes an extension of the characterization by solvability of Lyapunov inequality of the asymptotic stability for usual linear systems. It is based on the search of parameter-dependent quadratic Lyapunov functions, polynomial of increasing degree in the parameters.
A prime-boost approach to HIV preventive vaccine using a recombinant canarypox virus expressing glycoprotein 160 (MN) followed by a recombinant glycoprotein 160 (MN/LAI). The AGIS Group, and l'Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le SIDA.

The safety and the immunogenicity of a recombinant canarypox live vector expressing the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp160 gene from the MN isolate, ALVAC-HIV (vCP125), followed by booster injections of a soluble recombinant hybrid envelope glycoprotein MN/LAI (rgp160), were evaluated in vaccinia-immune, healthy adults at low risk for acquiring HIV-1 infection. Volunteers (n = 20) received vCP125 (10(6) TCID50) at 0 and 1 month, followed randomly by rgp160 formulated in alum or in Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA) at 3 and 6 months. Local and systemic reactions were mild or moderate and resolved within the first 72 hr after immunization. No significant biological changes in routine tests were observed in any volunteer. Two injections of vCP125 did not elicit antibodies. Neutralizing antibodies (NA) against the HIV-1 MN isolate were detected in 65 and 90% of the subjects after the first and the second rgp 160 booster injections, respectively. Six months after the last boost, only 55% were still positive. Seven of 14 sera with the highest NA titers against MN weakly cross-neutralized the HIV-1 SF2 isolate; none had NA against the HIV-1 LAI or against a North American primary isolate. Specific lymphocyte T cell proliferation to rgp 160 was detected in 25% of the subjects after vCP125 and in all subjects after the first booster injection and 12 months after the first injection. An envelope-specific cytotoxic lymphocyte activity was found in 39% of the volunteers and characterized for some of them as CD3+, CD8+, MHC class I restricted. The adjuvant formulation did not influence significantly the immune responses. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Supervisor and Self-Ratings of Graduates From a Medical School With a Problem-Based Learning and Standard Curriculum Track

Background: Medical schools recognize the importance of following up on graduates to evaluate performance during residency. Such performance is of particular interest for schools with problem-based learning (PBL) and conventional curriculum tracks. Purposes: Our purposes were to determine any differences in ratings of resident performance in 3 competency areas compared across two different curriculum tracks, 1st and 3rd postgraduate years, and self versus supervisor. Methods: Performance ratings by residents and their supervisors for the 9 years during which 2 curriculum tracks were operative were analyzed using t tests. Effect sizes for statistically significant results were calculated. Results: Several comparisons found differences, although effect sizes were almost uniformly small. The exception was the rating of self-directed learning habits, in which graduates from the problem-based track rated themselves higher than graduates from the standard curriculum (both Years 1 and 3) and higher than their supervisors in Year 3. Conclusions: Ratings by supervisors for both groups and both rating times are above average in the rating scale. Supervisors differentiated between the curricula tracks in postgraduate year 3 (PGY-3), rating Standard Curriculum graduates higher than PBL graduates in 5 of 6 noncognitive items and in two of three general ratings. Supervisor ratings increased between PGY-1 and PGY-3 for Standard Curriculum graduates in 9 of the competencies, whereas there were no changes for PBL graduates. In conclusion, performance differences and effect sizes are minimal, and it is possible to conclude that graduates from the 2 curricular tracks achieve at similar levels during their residency programs.
A new 0-1 formulation of the restricted container relocation problem based on a binary encoding of congurations

The Container Relocation Problem (CRP), also called Block Relocation Problem (BRP), is concerned with finding a sequence of moves of containers that minimizes the number of relocations needed to retrieve all containers, while respecting a given order of retrieval. The restricted CRP enforces that only containers blocking the target container can be relocated. We improve upon and enhance an existing binary encoding and using it, formulate the restricted CRP as a binary integer programming problem in which we exploit structural properties of the optimal solution. This integer programming formulation reduces significantly the number of variables and constraints compared to existing formulations. Its efficiency is shown through computational results on small and medium sized instances taken from the literature.
[Value of serum soluble interleukin-2R, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein in the early diagnosis of Kawasaki disease].

OBJECTIVE Immunovasculitis is a pathologic process of Kawasaki disease (KD) in the early stage and it is more likely to result from abnormal immunoactivation. It is thus speculated that the serum levels of some cytokines have changed before immunovasculitis occurs, suggesting the cytokines may be useful markers for the early diagnosis of KD. In this study, we measured the serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptors (sIL-2R), interleukin-6(IL-6) and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in patients with KD to evaluate the significance of these cytokines in the early diagnosis of KD. METHODS Serum levels of sIL-2R and IL-6 were measured by rapid one-step sandwich enzyme immunoassay and the serum hs-CRP level was measured by Dade Behring BN ProSpec in 32 KD patients before and after intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy. Twenty healthy children were used as the controls. RESULTS Before IVIG therapy serum levels of sIL-2R (9253.41 +/- 2568.38 pg/mL vs 2161.53 +/- 696.92 pg/mL; P < 0.05), IL-6 (57.19 +/- 45.78 ng/mL vs 7.04 +/- 1.69 ng/mL; P < 0.05) and hs-CRP (117.69 +/- 42.05 mg/L vs 1.15 +/- 0.54 mg/L; P < 0.05) in KD patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls. After IVIG therapy in KD patients serum IL-6 levels returned to normal and sIL-2R and hs-CRP levels decreased significantly but remained significantly higher than controls (P < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between sIL-2R and hs-CRP levels (r=0.60, P < 0.01). IL-6 levels positively correlated with hs-CRP levels in KD patients before IVIG therapy (r=0.68, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS IL-2R, IL-6 and hs-CRP are activated in the development of KD, and they may be of important value in the early diagnosis of KD.
Scaffold proteins in MAP kinase signaling: more than simple passive activating platforms

Due to the central position of scaffold proteins in numerous signaling networks, especially in MAPK pathways, considerable efforts have been made to identify new scaffolds and to characterize their function and regulation. Most of our knowledge stems from studies of yeast MAPK scaffolds, but the identification of such scaffolds in higher eukaryotes provided a new dimension to this field and led to exciting and promising new insights into the regulation of MAPK signaling. In this review, we shortly summarize the well‐established basic functions of scaffolds in yeast and highlight concepts emerging from recent studies in yeast and higher eukaryotes. In particular, we discuss how scaffolds may actively influence MAPK signaling by inducing conformational changes of bound kinases or substrates, by controlling the localization of activated MAPK and the extent and output of MAPK activation, and by modulating MAPK kinetics through the recruitment of phosphatases or ubiquitin‐ligases. Finally, we summarize the current knowledge of scaffold regulation, and how these events may be functionally important for MAPK signaling. BioEssays 28: 146–156, 2006. © 2006 Wiley periodicals, Inc.
BIRDS AS AGENTS OF LONG‐DISTANCE DISPERSAL FOR DISJUNCT PLANT GROUPS OF THE TEMPERATE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

The existence of disjunct plant distributions has for years prompted plant geographers to offer imaginative accounts of plant dispersal methods. Favorite hypotheses have included dispersal by land bridges, drifting continents, ocean currents, and birds. The last explanation is perhaps the least controversial, although no better understood, as far as long-distance dispersal is concerned. Birds do possess characteristics that appear to qualify them, at least superficially, as agents of long-distance dispersal. It is my intent to explore the plausibility of birds carrying seeds across the tropics in one step from temperate western North America to temperate South America. Admittedly such an event, if it occurs, must be rare; however, the reasons for this rarity are not obvious, especially to the nonornithologist. Long-distance dispersal must also be a repeatable, even if random event; but not fortuitous, as Setchell (1926) has indicated in suggesting that birds blown by storms might be responsible for the movement of seeds. Botanists, in particular, have repeatedly cited the phenomenon of bird migration in attempting to solve problems of long-distance dispersal. However, they have not adequately considered the phenomenon and the processes involved, and have consequently remained unaware of basic weaknesses in their hypotheses. In view of current interest in long-distance dispersal, an examination of various facets of bird migration and birds as dispersal agents is valuable and timely. I will briefly mention the time of origin of bird migrations, discuss the dispersal of seeds by birds, review the salient features of the disjunct plant groups, comment on the various birds which migrate from the United States to Argentina and/or Chile, and, overall, consider birds as long-distance dispersal agents. Finally I will discuss morphological variation and breeding systems with respect to long-distance dispersal and suggest "mountain hopping" as an alternative to one-step, long-distance dispersal. The birds are considered with respect to the plausibility of the hypothesis that they transport seed between California and temperate South America. Although not restricted within these geographical boundaries most of the plants in question are represented in the California flora and most of the birds that migrate through the western United States migrate through California. Furthermore, factors limiting longdistance dispersal between these temperate regions apply to long-distance dispersal in general. I have purposely omitted from the discussion consideration of 16 plant species that live in coastal situations (cf. Raven, 1963, appendix IIB). First, shorebird dispersal of coastal plants is more probable than shorebird dispersal of the "inland" disjuncts considered below. Second, ocean currents might serve as a means of dispersal for these plants. With respect to biology, etc., what is true of the "inland" disjuncts is probably true also of the coastal disjuncts.
Sip, an integrase protein with excision, circularization and integration activities, defines a new family of mobile Staphylococcus aureus pathogenicity islands

We report the complete sequence of Staphylococcal pathogenicity island bovine 2 (SaPIbov2), encoding the biofilm‐associated protein Bap. SaPIbov2 contains 24 open reading frames, including sip, which encodes a functional staphylococcal integrase protein. SaPIbov2 is bordered by 18 bp direct repeats. The integration site into the chromosome lies at the 3′ end of a gene encoding GMP synthase. SaPIbov2 has extensive similarity to previously described pathogenicity islands of Staphylococcus aureus. The principal difference is that toxin genes present in the other pathogenicity islands are exchanged for a transposon‐like element that carries the bap gene and genes encoding an ABC transporter and a transposase. Also, SaPIbov2 can be excised to form a circular element and can integrate site‐specifically and RecA‐independently at a chromosomal att site in a Sip‐dependent manner. This was demonstrated both in S. aureus and with plasmid substrates ectopically in Escherichia coli. Thus, SaPIbov2 encodes a functional recombinase of the integrase family that promotes element excision and insertion/integration. In addition, we demonstrated that the presence of SaPIbov2 facilitated the persistence of S. aureus in an intramammary gland infection model. Finally, different bovine isolates of S. aureus were found to carry islands related to SaPIbov2, suggesting the existence of a family of related pathogenicity islands.
Novel approaches for the identification of inhibitors of leishmanial dipeptidylcarboxypeptidase

Introduction: Leishmaniasis imposes a substantial burden of mortality and morbidity affecting 12 million globally and continues to be a neglected tropical disease. Control of the disease is mainly based on chemotherapy, which relies on a handful of drugs with serious limitations. Over the last decade, target-based drug discovery is also being employed in addition to the random screening of compounds. Leishmanial dipeptidylcarboxypeptidase (LDCP), an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) related metallopeptidase, has been recently identified as a novel drug target for antileishmanial chemotherapy. Areas covered: This article examines dipeptidylcarboxypeptidase (DCP) of Leishmania donovani and of other sources from the international literature regarding their biochemical and structural characterization in comparison to mammalian ACE. Furthermore, the author discusses the identification of LdDCP specific inhibitors by virtual screening and their effect on parasite multiplication. Finally, the review looks ahead at areas for further exploration of DCP inhibitors in Leishmania chemotherapy. Expert opinion: The first step in targeted screening is to identify a suitable drug target and its validation followed by its use in high throughput screening of compounds. Limited studies on LDCP inhibitors have established a good correlation between parasite enzyme inhibition and their biological activity. This suggests that there is a potential for LDCP inhibitors as new antileishmanial drugs.
Learning attention for historical text normalization by learning to pronounce

Automated processing of historical texts often relies on pre-normalization to modern word forms. Training encoder-decoder architectures to solve such problems typically requires a lot of training data, which is not available for the named task. We address this problem by using several novel encoder-decoder architectures, including a multi-task learning (MTL) architecture using a grapheme-to-phoneme dictionary as auxiliary data, pushing the state-of-the-art by an absolute 2% increase in performance. We analyze the induced models across 44 different texts from Early New High German. Interestingly, we observe that, as previously conjectured, multi-task learning can learn to focus attention during decoding, in ways remarkably similar to recently proposed attention mechanisms. This, we believe, is an important step toward understanding how MTL works.
Author ' s personal copy Sound symbolism facilitates early verb learning

Some words are sound-symbolic in that they involve a non-arbitrary relationship between sound and meaning. Here, we report that 25-month-old children are sensitive to cross-linguistically valid sound-symbolic matches in the domain of action and that this sound symbolism facilitates verb learning in young children. We constructed a set of novel soundsymbolic verbs whose sounds were judged to match certain actions better than others, as confirmed by adult Japaneseas well as English speakers, and by 2and 3-year-old Japanese-speaking children. These sound-symbolic verbs, together with other novel nonsound-symbolic verbs, were used in a verb learning task with 3-year-old Japanese children. In line with the previous literature, 3-year-olds could not generalize the meaning of novel non-sound-symbolic verbs on the basis of the sameness of action. However, 3-year-olds could correctly generalize the meaning of novel sound-symbolic verbs. These results suggest that iconic scaffolding by means of sound symbolism plays an important role in early