Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Different quantities and quality of fat in milk products given to young children: effects on long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids in plasma

In this study we compared plasma contents of long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC‐PUFAs) and trans fatty acids in triglycerides (TG), phospholipids (PL) and cholesterolesters (CE) in young children fed milk diets containing different amounts of linoleic (LA) and α‐linolenic acid (ALA). Because the diets differed in vitamin A and E content, plasma concentrations of vitamin A and E were also studied. Thirty‐seven 1‐y‐old children were randomly assigned to one of four feeding groups: (1) low‐fat milk (LF) (1.0 g cow's milk fat/dL); (2) standard‐fat milk (SF) (3.5 g cow's milk fat/dL); (3) partially vegetable fat milk (PVF) (3.5 g fat/dL; 50% vegetable fat from rapeseed oil, 50% milk fat); and (4) full vegetable fat milk (FVF) (3.5 g fat/dL; 100% vegetable fat from palm‐, coconut‐ and soybean oil). We found higher amounts of plasma LA in the FVF group than in the LF and SF groups (p < 0.001) and higher amounts of ALA in the PVF group than in the SF (p < 0.001 in TGs, p < 0.05 in CEs) and LF (p < 0.01 in PLs and CEs, p < 0.05 in TGs) groups. However, amounts of plasma arachidonic acid (AA) were similar between groups as well as the amounts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in CEs and PLs. Total trans FAs were lower in CEs in the PVF and FVF groups than in the SF group (p < 0.05 SF vs PVF; p < 0.01 SF vs FVF). Plasma concentrations of α‐tocopherol were higher in the FVF group than in the other groups (p < 0.05 FVF vs SF, p < 0.01 FVF vs SF and PVF).
Measurement of Antibody Levels against Region II of the Erythrocyte-Binding Antigen 175 of Plasmodium falciparum in an Area of Malaria Holoendemicity in Western Kenya

ABSTRACT Region II of the 175-kDa erythrocyte-binding antigen (EBA-175RII) of Plasmodium falciparum is functionally important in sialic acid-dependent erythrocyte invasion and is considered a prime target for an invasion-blocking vaccine. The objectives of this study were to (i) determine the prevalence of anti-EBA-175RII antibodies in a naturally exposed population, (ii) determine whether naturally acquired antibodies have a functional role by inhibiting binding of EBA-175RII to erythrocytes, and (iii) determine whether antibodies against EBA-175RII correlate with immunity to clinical malaria. We treated 301 lifelong residents of an area of malaria holoendemicity in western Kenya for malaria, monitored them during a high-transmission season, and identified 33 individuals who were asymptomatic despite parasitemia (clinically immune). We also identified 50 clinically susceptible individuals to serve as controls. These 83 individuals were treated and monitored again during the subsequent low-transmission season. Anti-EBA-175RII antibodies were present in 98.7% of the individuals studied. The antibody levels were relatively stable between the beginning and end of the high-transmission season and correlated with the plasma EBA-175RII erythrocyte-binding-inhibitory activity. There was no difference in anti-EBA-175RII levels or plasma EBA-175RII erythrocyte-binding-inhibitory activity between clinically immune and clinically susceptible groups. However, these parameters were higher in nonparasitemic than in parasitemic individuals at enrollment. These results suggest that although antibodies against EBA-175RII may be effective in suppressing some of the wild parasite strains, EBA-175RII is unlikely to be effective as a monovalent vaccine against malaria, perhaps due to allelic heterogeneity and/or presence of sialic acid-independent strains.
Variations in the formation of the median nerve and its clinical correlation.

Variations in the formation of the median nerve are of interest to anatomists, radiologists, and surgeons. These variations may be vulnerable to damage in surgical operations, but their knowledge also helps in the interpretation of a nervous compression having unexplained clinical symptoms. We studied the variation in the formation of the median nerve in 87 cadavers, i.e. 174 upper limbs of formalin preserved cadavers at the department of Anatomy, Subharti medical college. We observed an additional root taking part in the formation of the median nerve in 26.4% of upper limbs, unusual low formation of the median nerve in the arm in front of the brachial artery in 18.4% of upper limbs, and median nerve formation medial to the axillary artery in 10.3% of upper limbs. Knowledge of such anatomical variations is of interest to the anatomist and clinician alike. Surgeons who perform procedures involving neoplasm or trauma repair need to be aware of these variations.
Biochemical Evidence that Dendroctonus frontalis Consists of Two Sibling Species in Belize and Chiapas, Mexico

ABSTRACT Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is a major economic pest of pines in the United States, Mexico, and Central America. We report biochemical investigations relevant to the taxonomic status and semiochemistry of two distinct morphotypes of D. frontalis recently detected in the Central American region. Morphotype A beetles (pre-episternal area of prothorax of both sexes smooth, bulging callus on anterolateral margin of prothorax of females) and morphotype B beetles (pre-episternal area of prothorax of both sexes with fine ridges, reduced female callus) collected in infestations in Chiapas, Mexico differed significantly in their production of 10 behaviorally-active compounds occurring in the genus Dendroctonus, including the major pheromone components for D. frontalis. Notably, host-attacking morphotype B females produced hundreds of nanograms of both endo-brevicomin and frontalin, whereas morphotype A females produced similar amounts of frontalin but subnanogram quantities of endo-brevicomin. Reanalysis of a published D. frontalis trapping study in Chiapas indicated that both morphotypes responded in greatest numbers when frontalin and endo-brevicomin baits were both present. In addition, we quantified 18 different cuticular hydrocarbons (the methyl-branched alkane components) from both morphotypes collected in Belize and Chiapas as well as morphotype A beetles from the southeastern United States, and principal component analysis revealed nonoverlapping clusters associated with either morphotype. This evidence of two distinct, complex phenotypes coexisting in the same sites and host trees supports the hypothesis that the D. frontalis morphotypes represent separate species and consequently indicates that the taxonomy of D. frontalis should be re-evaluated in the Central American region.
Biased Listing in Electronic Marketplaces: Exploring Its Implications in On-Line Hotel Distribution

Biased listing is the practice of listing items in electronic marketplaces according to criteria other than the normally expected ones (e.g., relevance or quality). This study investigates the existence, nature, and implications of biased listing effects using the case of an on-line hotel distribution platform. The study is based on real-life booking data provided by Hotel.de, the second-largest hotel-booking platform in Europe, which lists hotels according to the value of their contracts. The contribution of the study is threefold: (1) it reveals the existence of biased listing effects in an e-marketplace for products and services; (2) it explores the nature and functioning of biased listing as a combination of ranking and labeling effects, revealing a crowding-out effect that affects hotels that do not switch to higher-value contracts; (3) it discusses the implications and strategic options for the market parties. The study shows how market providers that engage in biased listing practices are able to exploit their gatekeeper position by making suppliers compete for listing positions on the platform. This research contributes to a better understanding of the role of e-marketplaces as gatekeepers between supply and demand and, at the same time, is part of a wider context of research on consumer decision-making in informationrich decision situations.
Respecting Autonomy in Difficult Medical Settings: A Questionnaire Study in Japan

Some people in Japan are still comfortable with the paternalistic role of doctors, but others wish that their own decisions would receive a greater amount of respect. A total of 747 students of universities and colleges and 114 parents of these students participated in a questionnaire survey. Most of the participants thought that autonomy should be respected in situations involving death with dignity and euthanasia, whereas it should not be respected in attempted suicide and involuntary admission of individuals with mental illness. A cluster analysis revealed that the participants could be divided into the following groups: aid in dying advocates (n = 577), complete libertarians (n = 109), protectors of the mentally ill (n = 90), complete paternalists (n = 29), and questionables (n = 27). The assertion of independence score of the Scale for Independent and Interdependent Construal of the Self showed a significant difference among the 5 clusters. These findings suggest that the traditional paternalistic relationship between doctor and patient is undergoing a gradual transformation in Japan.
Structure-function relation in the coronary artery tree: from fluid dynamics to arterial bifurcations.

1. Departement of Interventional Cardiology, Cardiovascular Hospital and Claude Bernard University, and INSERM 886, Lyon, France; 2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indiana-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, USA; 3. Laboratory TIMC-IMAG, DynaCell, CNRS UMR 5525, Institut de l’Ingenierie et de l’Information de Sante (In3S), Grenoble, France; 4. INSERM UMR915, Institut du Thorax, Service d’Hemodynamique, and Centre Commun de Microscopie Electronique, Nantes, France
Determinants of Internet banking adoption by banks in India

Purpose – The current exploratory study is an attempt to discover the factors affecting a bank's decision to adopt Internet banking in India. Particularly, it seeks to examine the relationship between the bank's adoption decision and various bank and market characteristics.Design/methodology/approach – The data for this study consist of panel data of 88 banks in India covering the financial years 1997‐1998 to 2004‐2005. Logistic regression technique is employed to study the relationship.Findings – The results show that the larger banks, banks with younger age, private ownership, higher expenses for fixed assets, higher deposits and lower branch intensity evidence a higher probability of adoption of this new technology. Banks with lower market share also see the Internet banking technology as a means to increase the market share by attracting more and more customers through this new channel of delivery. Further, the adoption of Internet banking by other banks increases the probability that a decision to ad.
Committing memory errors with high confidence: Older adults do but children don't

We investigated lifespan differences of confidence calibration in episodic memory, particularly the susceptibility to high-confidence errors within samples of children, teenagers, younger adults, and older adults. Using an associative recognition memory paradigm, we drew a direct link between older adults’ associative deficit and high-confidence errors. We predicted that only older adults would show high-confidence error even though their memory performance was at a similar level to that of children. Participants of all ages showed higher confidence following correct responses compared to incorrect responses, demonstrating the ability to calibrate subjective confidence in relation to memory accuracy. However, older adults were disproportionately more likely to indicate high confidence following erroneously remembered word pairs than participants of the other three age groups. Results are discussed in relation to the misrecollection account of high-confidence errors and ageing-related decline in hippocampus-dependent episodic memory functions.
If current inhibition and mortality reduction in heart failure: more than just a 'pure' effect of lowering heart rate.

Copyright © Polskie Towarzystwo Kardiologiczne IF IN THE HEALTHY HEART: SINOATRIAL NODE-LIMITED F-CHANNEL EXPRESSION AND ‘PURE’ HEART RATE REGULATION Cardiac pacemaking is a basic process in health and disease. The If current (often called ‘funny’ due to its many unusual properties) is an inward mixed Na+ and K+ current which is activated at negative cell membrane potentials (hence hyperpolarisation-activated) but whose activation causes spontaneous diastolic depolarisation [1]. These If properties are suited to the generation of repetitive electrical activity and the modulation of spontaneous rate [1]. Indeed, the degree of activation of the funny current determines the steepness of spontaneous depolarisation and thus the frequency of spontaneous firing in sino-atrial node (SAN) cells [1]. Because If is controlled by intracellular cAMP and thus is regulated by beta-adrenergic and muscarinic receptor agonists, it mediates the autonomic regulation of heart rate (HR) [1]. Furthermore, independent of autonomic modulation [2, 3], If is regulated by nitric oxide (NO) [4] through an intracellular pathway that involves cGMP and mobilisation of intracellular calcium [5]. The inhibition of endogenous NO production is associated with a reduction in HR both in vitro [6] and in vivo [2, 7], indicating that endogenous NO exerts a tonic positive chronotropic effect [2, 6]. Because of the many unusual features of If, it had been queried whether such a large body of properties could correspond to one single current. This was until the If molecular basis became clear with cloning the f-channels [8], which confirmed a unique structural basis for this specific membrane current [9]. Under normal physiological conditions, If is functionally expressed exclusively in the SAN cells [1]. Thus the principal publication from SHIfT (Systolic Heart Failure Treatment with the If Inhibitor Ivabradine Trial) in Lancet in 2010 rightly states that: “[beyond If inhibition in SAN] in healthy hearts (.) ivabradine has no action on other channels in the heart or vascular system” [9].
Presence of Exogenous Sulfate Is Mandatory for Tip Growth in the Brown Alga Ectocarpus subulatus

Brown algae (Phaeophyceae) are multicellular photoautrophic organisms and the largest biomass producers in coastal regions. A variety of observations indicate that their extracellular matrix (ECM) is involved with screening of salts, development, cell fate selection, and defense responses. It is likely that these functionalities are related to its constitutive structures. The major components of the ECM of brown algae are β-glucans, alginates, and fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides. The genus Ectocarpus comprises a wide range of species that have adapted to different environments, including isolates of Ectocarpus subulatus, a species highly resistant to low salinity. Previous studies on a freshwater strain of E. subulatus indicated that the sulfate remodeling of fucans is related to the external salt concentration. Here we show that the sulfate content of the surrounding medium is a key parameter influencing both the patterning of the alga and the occurrence of the BAM4 sulfated fucan epitope in walls of apical cells. These results indicate that sulfate uptake and incorporation in the sulfated fucans from apical cells is an essential parameter to sustain tip growth, and we discuss its influence on the architectural plasticity of Ectocarpus.
Attention Modifies Spatial Resolution According to Task Demands

How does visual attention affect spatial resolution? In texture-segmentation tasks, exogenous (involuntary) attention automatically increases resolution at the attended location, which improves performance where resolution is too low (at the periphery) but impairs performance where resolution is already too high (at central locations). Conversely, endogenous (voluntary) attention improves performance at all eccentricities, which suggests a more flexible mechanism. Here, using selective adaptation to spatial frequency, we investigated the mechanism by which endogenous attention benefits performance in resolution tasks. Participants detected a texture target that could appear at several eccentricities. Adapting to high or low spatial frequencies selectively affected performance in a manner consistent with changes in resolution. Moreover, adapting to high, but not low, frequencies mitigated the attentional benefit at central locations where resolution was too high; this shows that attention can improve performance by decreasing resolution. Altogether, our results indicate that endogenous attention benefits performance by modulating the contribution of high-frequency information in order to flexibly adjust spatial resolution according to task demands.
Maximum-likelihood detection for distributed space-time block coding

We investigate maximum likelihood (ML) sequence estimation for distributed space-time block coded cooperative diversity schemes over time-varying fading channels, without assuming channel knowledge. The quadratic form of the ML receiver in this case does not readily lend itself to efficient implementation. However, under quasi-static channel conditions, the likelihood function reduces to a simple form similar to the classical correlation receiver in matrix notation. It also allows the development of a recursive expression that can be easily implemented by a Viterbi-type algorithm with a reasonable complexity. Although the receiver is sub-optimum for the non-static case, its performance is close to the optimum for a range of SNRs. It also outperforms pilot symbol assisted techniques, which are widely used in practical applications.
Cultural Practices and End-of-Life Decision Making in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Taiwan

The purpose of this research was to describe conditions of decision making for dying infants and cultural effects on the process of infant death in the neonatal intensive care unit. A retrospective chart review was used in this research. Fifty charts were reviewed; the major cause of death for the research subjects was complications of prematurity (52%). Eighty-two percent of the charts documented a do not resuscitate order, and 16% of parents allowed discontinuation of ventilator support when they realized the futility of continued care. In 30 nursing records, parents and their dying infants were offered a quiet place in which to grieve. In 10 cases, nurses accompanied these parents and allowed them to express their emotions. Research findings showed great outward expression of religion at the time of death. Various cultural issues affected both the grieving process of the families and the dying process of their infants.
Differential impact of carolina rinse and university of wisconsin solutions on microcirculation, leukocyte adhesion, kupffer cell activity and biliary excretion after liver transplantation

This quantitative in vivo fluorescence microscopy study investigated the relative impact of an optimized rinse solution (warm Carolina rinse) and that of an established storage solution (University of Wisconsin solution) on various pathomechanisms of hepatic reperfusion injury after cold storage. Syngeneic orthotopic, arterialized liver transplantation was performed in male Lewis rats after 24 hr of cold ischemia (n = 24). The four experimental groups differed according to the type of preservation/rinse solution used: University of Wisconsin solution/albumin rinse (group 1), autologous blood (just external cooling)/albumin rinse (group 2), blood/Carolina rinse (group 3) and University of Wisconsin solution/Carolina rinse (group 4). Hepatic microvascular perfusion, leukocyte accumulation and phagocytic activity of Kupffer cells were assessed by means of intravital fluorescence microscopy 30 to 90 min after reperfusion. Disturbances of microvascular perfusion were most pronounced in group 2, markedly reduced by University of Wisconsin solution (group 1) and Carolina rinse (group 3) and minimized by combined use of University of Wisconsin solution and Carolina rinse in group 4. Intrahepatic leukocyteendothelium interaction in sinusoids and postsinusoidal venules was found to depend on the application of Carolina rinse before reperfusion rather than the use of University of Wisconsin solution during cold storage. Activation of phagocytosis by Kupffer cells was most pronounced in group 1, intermediate in groups 2 and 3 and not noticeable in group 4. Hepatocellular excretory function as assessed on the basis of total bile flow and excretion of bile acids during the first 90 min after reperfusion was found to be improved by application of Carolina rinse, both after storage in blood or in University of Wisconsin solution. We conclude that, in this model, flushing the graft with Carolina rinse before reperfusion may attenuate various manifestations of reperfusion injury, irrespective of the type of preservation solution used. However, because of apparently synergistic actions minimal injury is observed when preservation in University of Wisconsin solution and rinse with Carolina rinse are combined. (HEPATOLOGY 1993;18:1490–1497.)
Gaze behaviours in infancy: Rethinking their development as a dynamic system

Abstract Purpose: Eye gaze is an important element of communication and serves as an index of deficits in atypically developing children. This study examined the development of gaze behaviours in typically-developing infants within the Dynamic Systems framework which stresses variability and nesting in the development of any behaviour. Method: Nine infants (six males and three females) were videotaped during play/interactions with their primary caregiver between the ages of 3–12 months. The video samples were coded for the occurrence of six gaze behaviours. The rates of occurrence of these behaviours were calculated and non-linear methods were used to analyse the data. Result: The growth trajectories of three behaviours revealed non-linear and linear patterns and environment exploration-related behaviours demonstrated an age at which reliable change in the rate of occurrence was seen within the developmental period. Further, correlations in the occurrence of few behaviours indicated that the gaze system exhibits nested growth. Conclusion: These results suggest, with caution, that development in the gaze system is dynamic in nature. Thus, development should not only be viewed as skills achieved by an expected age due to biological maturation, but also as variable skills whose occurrence is dependent on factors such as environmental and parental influences.
Channel estimation for DS-CDMA downlink with aperiodic spreading codes

Synchronous code-division multiple-access (CDMA) techniques possess intrinsic protection against cochannel interference when orthogonal spreading codes are used. However, in the presence of multipath propagation, the signals lose their orthogonality property, leading to increased cross correlation. In these cases, channel estimation may be needed in order to improve detection. We propose and compare several algorithms for channel estimation of a synchronous CDMA point-to-multipoint link (downlink) that uses aperiodic spreading waveforms. We compare by simulation and analysis a subspace approach, a pilot-aided approach, and a decision-based approach.