Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Item Position Effects Are Moderated by Changes in Test-Taking Effort

This article examines the interdependency of two context effects that are known to occur regularly in large-scale assessments: item position effects and effects of test-taking effort on the probability of correctly answering an item. A microlongitudinal design was used to measure test-taking effort over the course of a large-scale assessment of 60 min. Two components of test-taking effort were investigated: initial effort and change in effort. Both components of test-taking effort significantly affected the probability to solve an item. In addition, it was found that participants’ current test-taking effort diminished considerably across the course of the test. Furthermore, a substantial linear position effect was found, which indicated that item difficulty increased during the test. This position effect varied considerably across persons. Concerning the interplay of position effects and test-taking effort, it was found that only the change in effort moderates the position effect and that persons differ with respect to this moderation effect. The consequences of these results concerning the reliability and validity of large-scale assessments are discussed.
The influence of barefoot and shod running on plantar fascia strain during the stance phase of running

The current investigation aimed to examine the influence of barefoot running or barefoot inspired footwear and shod running on the strain experienced by the plantar fascia during the stance phase of running. Fifteen male runners ran at 4.0 m.s in four different footwear conditions: barefoot, Vibram Five-Fingers, Nike Free, and conventional trainers. Plantar fascia strain was quantified using a motion capture system and compared between footwear using a one-way repeated measures ANOVA. The results showed that plantar fascia strain was significantly larger in the conventional (12.58 ± 4.65) and Nike Free footwear (10.18 ± 4.44) compared to the barefoot (5.54 ± 3.36) and Vibram five-fingers (6.24 ± 3.23) conditions. Given the proposed relationship between plantar fascia strain and the etiology of plantar fasciitis, it is proposed that runners may attenuate their risk of developing this pathology by training without shoes or using more minimalist barefoot inspired footwear.
Biochars from olive mill waste have contrasting effects on plants, fungi and phytoparasitic nematodes

Olive mill waste (OMW), a byproduct from the extraction of olive oil, causes serious environmental problems for its disposal, and extensive efforts have been made to find cost-effective solutions for its management. Biochars produced from OMW were applied as soil amendment and found in many cases to successfully increase plant productivity and suppress diseases. This work aims to characterize biochars obtained by pyrolysis of OMW at 300 °C to 1000 °C using 13C NMR spectroscopy, LC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy). Chemical characterization revealed that biochar composition varied according to the increase of pyrolysis temperature (PT). Thermal treated materials showed a progressive reduction of alkyl C fractions coupled to the enrichment in aromatic C products. In addition, numerous compounds present in the organic feedstock (fatty acids, phenolic compounds, triterpene acids) reduced (PT = 300 °C) or completely disappeared (PT ≥ 500 °C) in biochars as compared to untreated OMW. PT also affected surface morphology of biochars by increasing porosity and heterogeneity of pore size. The effects of biochars extracts on the growth of different organisms (two plants, one nematode and four fungal species) were also evaluated. When tested on different living organisms, biochars and OMW showed opposite effects. The root growth of Lepidium sativum and Brassica rapa, as well as the survival of the nematode Meloidogyne incognita, were inhibited by the untreated material or biochar produced at 300 °C, but toxicity decreased at higher PTs. Conversely, growth of Aspergillus, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and Trichoderma fungi was stimulated by organic feedstock, while being inhibited by thermally treated biochars. Our findings showed a pattern of association between specific biochar chemical traits and its biological effects that, once mechanistically explained and tested in field conditions, may lead to effective applications in agriculture.
Premotor Neuron Divergence Reflects Vocal Evolution

To identify mechanisms of behavioral evolution, we investigated the hindbrain circuit that generates distinct vocal patterns in two closely related frog species. Male Xenopus laevis and Xenopus petersii produce courtship calls that include a fast trill: trains of ∼60 Hz sound pulses. Although fast trill rates are similar, X. laevis fast trills have a longer duration and period than those of X. petersii. To pinpoint the neural basis of these differences, we used whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in a key premotor hindbrain nucleus (the Xenopus parabrachial area, PBX) in ex vivo brains that produce fictive vocalizations, vocal nerve activity corresponding to advertisement call patterns. We found two populations of PBX neurons with distinct properties: fast trill neurons (FTNs) and early vocal neurons (EVNs). FTNs, but not EVNs, appear to be intrinsically tuned to produce each species' call patterns because: (1) X. laevis FTNs generate longer and slower depolarizations than X. petersii FTNs during their respective fictive vocalizations, (2) current steps in FTNs induce burst durations that are significantly longer in X. laevis than X. petersii, and (3) synaptically isolated FTNs oscillate in response to NMDA in a species-specific manner: longer and slower in X. laevis than in X. petersii. Therefore, divergence of premotor neuron membrane properties is a strong candidate for generating vocal differences between species. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The vertebrate hindbrain includes multiple neural circuits that generate rhythmic behaviors including vocalizations. Male African clawed frogs produce courtship calls that are unique to each species and differ in temporal patterns. Here, we identified two functional subtypes of neurons located in the parabrachial nucleus: a hindbrain region implicated in vocal and respiratory control across vertebrates. One of these neuronal subtypes exhibits distinct properties across species that can account for the evolutionary divergence of song patterns. Our results suggest that changes to this group of neurons during evolution may have had a major role in establishing novel behaviors in closely related species.
Resection of retroperitoneal sarcoma en‐bloc with inferior vena cava: 20 year outcomes of a single institution

Margin negative resection offers the best chance of long‐term survival in retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS). En‐bloc resection of adjacent structures, including the inferior vena cava (IVC), is often required to achieve negative margins. We review our 20‐year experience of en‐bloc IVC and RPS resection.
Quantitative PCR (qPCR) Detection of Mucorales DNA in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid To Diagnose Pulmonary Mucormycosis

Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to improving the outcome of mucormycosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the contribution of quantitative PCR detection of Mucorales DNA in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids for early diagnosis of pulmonary mucormycosis. ABSTRACT Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to improving the outcome of mucormycosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the contribution of quantitative PCR detection of Mucorales DNA in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids for early diagnosis of pulmonary mucormycosis. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples (n = 450) from 374 patients with pneumonia and immunosuppressive conditions were analyzed using a combination of 3 quantitative PCR assays targeting the main genera involved in mucormycosis in France (Rhizomucor, Mucor/Rhizopus, and Lichtheimia). Among these 374 patients, 24 patients had at least one bronchoalveolar lavage fluid sample with a positive PCR; 23/24 patients had radiological criteria for invasive fungal infections according to consensual criteria; 10 patients had probable or proven mucormycosis, and 13 additional patients had other invasive fungal infections (4 probable aspergillosis, 1 proven fusariosis, and 8 possible invasive fungal infections). Only 2/24 patients with a positive PCR result on a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid sample had a positive Mucorales culture. PCR was also positive on serum in 17/24 patients. In most cases, a positive PCR result was first detected using sera (15/17). However, a positive PCR on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was the earliest and/or the only biological test revealing mucormycosis in 4 patients with a final diagnosis of probable or proven mucormycosis, 3 patients with probable aspergillosis, and one patient with a possible invasive fungal infection. Mucorales PCR performed on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid could provide additional support for earlier administration of Mucorales-directed antifungal therapy, thus improving the outcome of lung mucormycosis cases.
Sourcing strategy of Belgian SMEs: empirical evidence for the accounting services

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the sourcing strategy for one business function (accounting services), by looking at the degree of outsourcing for each task of this function. Three research questions are addressed: (1) What sourcing strategy do SMEs use for accounting services? (2) What are the reasons? (3) Is there a link between sourcing strategy and company characteristics? The research design consisted of a postal survey sent out to 1200 managers of SMEs in Belgium. The main results showed that 53% use selective outsourcing, i.e. combining both an inhouse accountant with an accounting service provider. The results also showed that 35% use total insourcing and 12% prefer total outsourcing. Surprisingly, cost reduction is not the main reason for outsourcing. External expertise is the main reason for selectively outsourcing. SMEs select a total insourcing strategy because they want the accounting information at hand. Finally, larger SMEs decide for a total insourcing strategy and prefer to keep the accounting services internal. The conclusions show that future research should focus on the degree of outsourcing. The practical implication of this study is that accounting service providers should highlight their expertise and overcome the disadvantage of remote data analysis to attract more SME-customers.
Experimental Measurements of Constriction Resistance for Electrical Contacts Simulated Using Microfabrication

Contact resistance in electrical connectors is a consequence of both film resistance and constriction resistance. Film resistance is caused by a material’s high resistivity (e.g., oxidized metals) or contamination of the material. Constriction resistance results from the narrowing of the current as it passes through the electrical connector. In this paper, we propose a method for evaluating how contact structure affects constriction resistance using physically simulated samples processed using microfabrication. The samples’ physical structure was designed and fabricated arbitrarily with an electron-beam lithography system so that the complicated contact structure could be simulated physically. Several samples representing the contact-simulated structure with various distributions of “A-spots” were fabricated, and their electrical resistances were measured precisely. The influence of electrode thickness on constriction resistance was estimated based on these precise measurements. To compare the experimental result eliminating the influences with an expression for constriction resistance, the validity of our method with physically simulated samples was confirmed. By comparing the electrical resistances of various samples with different A-spot distributions, we were able to establish a relationship between contact structure and constriction resistance.
Sex Differences in Acute Myocardial Infarction Hospital Management and Outcomes

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) sex disparities in management and outcomes have long been attributed to multiple factors, although questions regarding their relevance have not been fully addressed. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify current factors associated with sex-related AMI management and outcomes disparities in hospitals with comparable quality care standards. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 299 women and 540 men with AMI discharged in 2013 from 3 southern California hospitals with tertiary cardiac care. Outcomes (adjusted by demographic/clinical variables using multiple logistic regression) included mortality (in-hospital, 30 days), 30-day readmissions, invasive/revascularization procedures, and quality medication performance measures (aspirin, statins/antilipids, &bgr;-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, <90-minute door-balloon time). Results: Performance was similar to the top 10% National Inpatient Quality AMI Measures. Women had similar mortality, 30-day readmission rates, and performance on medication quality measures compared with men; readmissions were higher in patients with County Services/Medicaid or no medical insurance regardless of sex. Women had similar cardiac catheterization and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction percutaneous coronary intervention rates but significantly less percutaneous coronary intervention for non–ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (39.1% vs 52.1%, P = .008) and coronary artery bypass graft (6.7% vs 14.1%, P < .001) than men. Conclusions: Women with AMI had similar early mortality, 30-day readmissions and quality performance measures compared with men across hospitals with current quality care standards. Type of medical insurance influenced readmission rates for both sexes. Sex disparities in coronary revascularization procedures were likely determined by differences in AMI type and coronary disease vascular expression.
Canola Root–Associated Microbiomes in the Canadian Prairies

Canola is one of the most economically important crops in Canada, and the root and rhizosphere microbiomes of a canola plant likely impact its growth and nutrient uptake. The aim of this study was to determine whether canola has a core root microbiome (i.e., set of microbes that are consistently selected in the root environment), and whether this is distinct from the core microbiomes of other crops that are commonly grown in the Canadian Prairies, pea, and wheat. We also assessed whether selected agronomic treatments can modify the canola microbiome, and whether this was associated to enhanced yield. We used a field experiment with a randomized complete block design, which was repeated at three locations across the canola-growing zone of Canada. Roots and rhizosphere soil were harvested at the flowering stage of canola. We separately isolated total extractable DNA from plant roots and from adjacent rhizosphere soil, and constructed MiSeq amplicon libraries for each of 60 samples, targeting bacterial, and archaeal 16S rRNA genes and the fungal ITS region. We determined that the microbiome of the roots and rhizosphere of canola was consistently different from those of wheat and pea. These microbiomes comprise several putative plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria, including Amycolatopsis sp. , Serratia proteamaculans, Pedobacter sp. , Arthrobacter sp. , Stenotrophomonas sp. , Fusarium merismoides, and Fusicolla sp. , which correlated positively with canola yield. Crop species had a significant influence on bacterial and fungal assemblages, especially within the roots, while higher nutrient input or seeding density did not significantly alter the global composition of bacterial, fungal, or archaeal assemblages associated with canola roots. However, the relative abundance of Olpidium brassicae, a known pathogen of members of the Brassicaceae, was significantly reduced in the roots of canola planted at higher seeding density. Our results suggest that seeding density and plant nutrition management modified the abundance of other bacterial and fungal taxa forming the core microbiomes of canola that are expected to impact crop growth. This work helps us to understand the microbial assemblages associated with canola grown under common agronomic practices and indicates microorganisms that can potentially benefit or reduce the yield of canola.
Combined effects of cadmium exposure and temperature on the annual killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri)

Freshwater organisms are increasingly exposed to combinations of stressors. However, because it is time‐consuming and costly, research on the interaction of stressors, such as compound toxicity and global warming on vertebrates, is scarce. Studies on multigenerational effects of these combined stressors are almost nonexistent. In the present study, we tested the combined effects of 4 °C warming and cadmium (Cd) exposure on life‐history traits, biomarkers, bioaccumulation, and multigenerational tolerance in the turquoise killifish, Nothobranchius furzeri. The extremely short life cycle of this vertebrate model allows for assessment of sublethal and multigenerational effects within 4 mo. The applied Cd concentrations had only limited effects on the measured endpoints, which suggests that N. furzeri is more resistant to Cd than fathead minnow and rainbow trout. In contrast, the temperature increase of 4 °C was stressful: it delayed female maturation and lowered adult mass and fecundity. Finally, indications of synergistic effects were found on peak fecundity and embryonic survival. Overall, these results indicate the importance of studying chronic and multigenerational effects of combined stressors. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2361–2371. © 2018 SETAC.
On Selecting Constraints for Replication in Model Checking

Model Checking is an important formal method for software and hardware verification. Bounded Model Checking (BMC) and k-induction are both parameterized methods, often working together: BMC focus on bug finding, while k-induction searches for an inductive invariant. Both of them greatly rely on their underlying decision procedure, e.g. on their SAT/SMT solver. By construction, BMC and k-induction formulas can be partitioned into 3 sets, one of them being perfectly symmetric (w.r.t. the unrolling mechanism). We propose in this paper to efficiently take advantage of these symmetries in order to perform learnt clauses replications. Replicating learnt clauses was already suggested in the early years of BMC, but unfortunately abandoned because of its tendency to drown the solver with too many clauses. Recently, constraints replication has been extended to temporal induction, a technique that combines BMC and k-induction, using assumption literals to detect replicable clauses. We propose to revisit constraints replications for temporal induction in a number of new ways. First, we highlight that adding assumption literals to transition relations, as it was done recently, have a non-negligible negative impact in practice. Then, we confirm that the replication of too many clauses in the learnt clause database is also prejudicial in most of the cases, even in temporal induction. Hence, we propose to limit the replication to external (outside the solver) replication only. This allows an even simpler strategy to detect replicable clauses, which requires almost no modification of both the SAT solver and the encoding strategy used in the model checker. Then, we show that, by carefully selecting learnt clauses to replicate, we improve our model checker performance, thus challenging the common belief about clauses replications. As a last contribution, we show that ZigZag, an algorithm that combines BMC and k-induction inside a single solver, is more efficient when performed backward.
Development of EpiRisk: An online clinical tool for estimating the risk of major congenital malformations in pregnant women treated for epilepsy

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are known to associate with an increased risk of major congenital malformations (MCMs) in children born to women who become pregnant while taking them. As the indications for AEDs continue to diversify, novel AEDs emerge, and polytherapy becomes more prevalent, the volume and complexity of the information relating to teratogenic risk can become unmanageable for the clinician. This in turn makes accurate education of pregnant women treated with AEDs regarding the risk of MCMs challenging. To enable clinicians to provide better information regarding the potential teratogenic risk of AEDs, we outline here the method we have employed to underpin a new system of real‐time risk analysis, “EpiRisk. ” When launched, EpiRisk will offer a user‐friendly, online clinical tool, compatible with all modern Internet browsers, smart phones, and personal computers. Using the most current published data, as well as “real world” data from the UK and the Australian Pregnancy Registers, EpiRisk will enable clinicians to quickly and accurately assess the teratogenic risk of AEDs in mono‐ and polytherapy. EpiRisk may thus provide a future‐proof central hub for empowering patients, clinicians, and registries by delivering evidence‐based information on the teratogenic risk of the AEDs in pregnant women with epilepsy through an easily accessible platform.
Potential anti-inflammation nor-oleanane triterpenoids from the fruits of Stauntonia brachyanthera

Abstract The studies on Stauntonia brachyanthera led to the isolations of 7 normal and nor-oleanane triterpenoids, including 2 new ones. Compounds 1 and 3 showed moderate inhibitory activity on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages with the IC50 values of 16.09 and 20.19 μM, respectively, which were stronger than that of positive control. A primary structure-activity relationship was also discussed, which revealed the anti-inflammation abilities of three types triterpenoids and their potential possibilities as the candidate compounds for the treatment of inflammation.
A technique of genetic algorithm and sequence synthesis for multiple molecular sequence alignment

The currently used techniques for multiple sequence alignment are characterized by great computational complexity, which prevents the techniques from wider use. The research reported in the paper is aimed at developing a new technique for efficient multiple sequence alignment. The new technique consists of a genetic algorithm and a sequence synthesis method. The genetic algorithm identifies matches and the sequence synthesis method handles mismatches. Genetic algorithms are stochastic approaches for efficient and robust search. By converting biomolecular sequence alignment into a problem of searching for near-optimal points in a "pre-alignment space", a genetic algorithm can be used to find good alignments very efficiently. Experiments on real data sets have shown that the average computing time of this technique may be two or three orders lower than an technique based on pairwise dynamic programming, while the alignment qualities are very similar.