Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mutations Seen in Families with Factor X Deficiency Composed of Only Heterozygous Patients who Present a Bleeding Tendency

Objective: The objective of the study was to ascertain the mutations prevalent in families with patients with heterozygous Factor X (FX) deficiency and a bleeding tendency. Patients and Methods: Eight families with proven heterozygous FX deficiency were investigated. Two of these families were studied by the authors, whereas six were gathered from the literature. All families were composed only by heterozygotes or normal subject. No homozygotes were present. FX activity was evaluated according to the extrinsic (tissue thromboplastin), intrinsic (cephalin), and Russell viper venom-dependent assay. FX antigen was assayed by an ELISA method. Molecular analysis was carried out by the Sanger method. Results: FX activity was about 50% of normal regardless of the assay used. FX antigen was instead normal. The two home investigated families showed the Pro343Ser and the Arg405Gly mutation. The mutations reported in the other families were Asp282Asn, Gla25Lys, Gly366Ser, Arg114Gly, Arg405Gly, and Val196Met. Five of these mutation involved exon 8 of the catalytic domain. The remaining three involved exons 2, 5, or 6, respectively. Conclusions: There is no association between a specific mutation and the bleeding tendency. Bleeding in heterozygous FX deficiency correlates with FX activity level rather than with mutations.
Restoration of lakeshore vegetation using sediment seed bank : Studies and practices in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan

Recovery of lost or degraded vegetation and plant diversity is an important but often difficult step in the wetland restoration processes. At Lake Kasumigaura, Japan, a project was launched in 2002 to recover lakeshore vegetation using soil seed banks as the plant material. In this project, lake sediments containing soil seed banks were spread thinly (~10 cm) on the surfaces of artificial lakeshores with microtopographic variations, which were constructed in front of the concrete levees. In total 180 species, including six endangered or vulnerable plants and twelve native submerged plants that had disappeared from the above-ground vegetation of the lake, were recorded on five restored lakeshores (totally 65,200 m) during the first year of the restoration project. The distribution of each recolonized species suggested the importance of arrangement of ground height for restoration of species-rich lakeshore vegetation. Foreseen changes in the vegetation, such as the disappearance of disturbance-dependent species from the above ground vegetation, replacement of submerged-plant dominated vegetation by Typha-dominated plants, and the invasion of the invasive exotic, Solidago altissima, were recognized in the early stages of monitoring at the restored sites. Vegetation management including selective removal of the invasive exotics started as a collaborative activity among citizens, government and researchers. Here, we summarize the methods and achievements of the vegetation restoration and management.
Smallholder Risk Management in Developing Countries

This paper addresses various aspects of risk and risk management for smallholders in developing countries, and presents a quantitative assessment of farm-level risks and risk management strategies in three emerging economies: Brazil, China and Viet Nam. The analysis covers production, income, and poverty risks. Institutional and political settings in developing countries are frequently less developed and this contributes to a greater incidence of market imperfections in key areas such as credit and insurance, and which in turn lowers farmers’ access to risk management tools and strategies. The result is a widespread reliance on informal mechanisms and community strategies. The effects of risk and responses to risk are also different in developing countries, with smallholders often forced to rely on strategies that perpetuate poverty. When risk is an important consideration in a farm household’s decision on sector transition, insurance or safety-net mechanisms could assist these households to make that transition. The analysis of two regions in Viet Nam shows that those households able to successfully transit to the non-farm sector continued to maintain small plots of land for self-consumption, suggesting that agriculture remains a kind of safety net.
Cascading water underneath Wilkes Land, East Antarctic ice sheet, observed using altimetry and digital elevation models

We describe a major subglacial lake drainage close to the ice divide in Wilkes Land, East Antarctica, and the subsequent cascading of water underneath the ice sheet toward the coast. To analyse the event, we combined a data from several sources and subglacial topography. We estimated the total volume of water that drained from Lake Cook(E2) by differencing digital elevation models (DEM) derived from ASTER and SPOT5 stereo imagery acquired in January 2006 and February 2012. At 5.2 +/- 1.5 km(3), this is the largest single subglacial drainage event reported so far in Antarctica. Elevation differences between ICESat laser altimetry spanning 2003-2009 and the SPOT5 DEM indicate that the discharge started in November 2006 and lasted approximately 2 years. A 13m uplift of the surface, corresponding to a refilling of about 0.6 +/- 0.3 km(3), was observed between the end of the discharge in October 2008 and February 2012. Using the 35-day temporal resolution of Envisat radar altimetry, we monitored the subsequent filling and drainage of connected subglacial lakes located downstream of Cook(E2). The total volume of water traveling within the theoretical 500-km-long flow paths computed with the BEDMAP2 data set is similar to the volume that drained from Lake Cook(E2), and our observations suggest that most of the water released from Lake Cook(E2) did not reach the coast but remained trapped underneath the ice sheet. Our study illustrates how combining multiple remote sensing techniques allows monitoring of the timing and magnitude of subglacial water flow beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet.
Rejecting New Technology: The Case of Genetically Modified Wheat

Canada has stringent regulations covering the release of new wheat varieties, but the United States has virtually no regulations in this area. Monsanto Co. developed genetically modified (GM) spring wheat for North America, and made a commitment to the U.S. industry to release this new technology simultaneously in both Canada and the United States, or not at all. The Canadian regulatory bias against new varieties acted as a veto against GM wheat and caused Monsanto to shelve the technology in both countries in 2004. Substantial economic rents were foregone in North America due to the rejection of this new technology. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.
Lingual primitives and critical discourse analysis : a case of gender ideology in Cosmopolitan

This article investigates the utility of combining critical discourse analysis with the framework of lingual primitives advanced by Weideman (2011), in a critical analysis of gender ideology in the women's lifestyle magazine Cosmopolitan. More specifically, two elementary linguistic concepts are combined with the critical discourse analysis methodology in order to analyse a sample of feature articles from Cosmopolitan. The results are illustrated on the basis of a case study that is representative of this larger sample. The findings suggest that the abuse of power in this magazine is best conceptualised as the abuse of lingual trust. Linguale primitiewe en kritiese diskoersanalise : die geval van genderideologie in 'Cosmopolitan' Hierdie artikel ondersoek 'n wyse waarop kritiese diskoersanalisie gekombineer kan word met die raamwerk van linguale primitiewe as deel van 'n kritiese analiese van geslagsideologie in die vroue leefstyltydskrif Cosmopolitan. Om meer spesifiek te wees, twee basiese taalkundige begrippe word gekombineer om 'n steekproef van artikels in Cosmopolitan te analiseer. Die resultate word op die basis van 'n gevallestudie, wat verteenwoordigend is van hierdie groter steekproef, geillustreer. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat die misbruik van mag in hierdie tydskrif die beste gekonseptualiseer kan word as die misbruik van linguale vertroue.
Urban governance, neoliberalism and housing reform in China

Abstract Since 1979, housing reforms in China have been seen as successive state efforts to improve urban governance. The idea is that the state has all along failed to deliver housing efficiently and equitably through the work units and that it is believed that only through the recommodification of housing could the housing problem be ultimately resolved. The housing monetarization policy (HMP) was thus launched in 1998 to replace the long-standing in-kind housing subsidy under the old welfare housing system. The policy aims at providing workers with cash subsidies as part of their wage package to enable them to buy or rent their homes from the market. The purpose of this paper is to explain the implications of the HMP through a neoliberal urbanization perspective. Through the case study of Guiyang, it is argued that while the HMP is successful in improving certain historical housing inequalities, it does not primarily aim at eradicating housing inequalities. HMP has in fact led to more rather than less horizontal inequities. In addition, it is argued here that a market housing system is leading towards increasing urban poverty, greater social polarization and spatial segregation. To improve governance, China needs to keep neoliberal urbanization in check and pay serious attention to its adverse consequences during economic transformation.
Who Pays for Medical Errors? An Analysis of Adverse Event Costs, the Medical Liability System, and Incentives for Patient Safety Improvement

Patient safety advocates argue that the high costs of adverse events create economic incentives for hospitals to invest in safety improvements. However, this may not be the case if hospitals externalize the bulk of these costs. Analyzing data on 465 hospital adverse events derived from medical record reviews, we investigated the amounts that hospitals and other payers incurred in medical-injury-related expenses. On average, the sampled hospitals generated injury-related costs of $2,013, and negligent-injury-related costs of $1,246, per discharge. However, hospitals bore only 22% of these costs. Legal reforms or market interventions may be required to address this externalization of injury costs.
Mobile Money, Trade Credit, and Economic Development: Theory and Evidence

Using a novel enterprise survey from Kenya (FinAccess Business), we document a strong positive association between the use of mobile money as a method to pay suppliers and access to trade credit. We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous entrepreneurs, imperfect credit markets and the risk of theft to account for this empirical pattern. Mobile money dominates fiat money as a medium of exchange in its capacity to avoid theft, but comes with higher transaction costs. The interaction between risk of theft and limited access to trade credit generates demand for mobile money as a payment method with suppliers and the use of mobile money in turn raises the value of a credit relationship and hence the willingness to apply for trade credit. Calibrating the stationary equilibrium to match a set of moments that we observe in Kenyan FinAcces enterprise survey data and quantifying the importance of the endogenous interactions between mobile money and trade credit on entrepreneurial performance and macroeconomic development, we find that the availability of the mobile money technology increases GDP by 0.33-0.47%.
Screening and preliminary characterization of quenching activities of soil Bacillus isolates against acyl homoserine lactones of clinically isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Aim: Quorum quenching of Pseudomonas aeruginosa homoserine lactone signal molecules represents a new approach for control of infection of this pathogenic highly resistant microorganism. The present study aimed at screening of soil for quorum sensing inhibitory bacteria active against clinically isolated P. aeruginosa together with the characterization of their activity and finally identification of promising isolates. Methodology and results: Using a fast, reliable and simple screening method, 161 bacterial isolates collected from soil from different places in Egypt were screened for their quorum quenching activity against synthetic hexanoyl homoserine lactone using Chromobacterium violaceum mutant strain (CV026) as a biosensor. All 32 positive isolates were found to belong to Bacillus species. Secondary screening against the signals extracted from seven Pseudomonas isolates, analyzed by thin layer chromatography, was done. The activity of all the positive isolates was found to be intracellular. Activity against different concentrations of synthetic hexanoyl homoserine lactone showed that some isolates could degrade more than 20 µM even when diluted 100 fold. Selected isolates were found to have broad spectrum activity against other synthetic homoserine lactone standards. Maximum activity for most of the selected isolates was found to occur between 25-60 °C. Crude enzyme extracts of the promising isolates were collected by sonication, protein concentrations of the obtained extracts were measured and their activities were compared by well diffusion method. Finally, the isolates with promising quorum quenching activities were identified using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Having high activity against homoserine lactone autoinducers, the enzyme produced by Bacillus isolates represents a new promising antipathogenic drug suppressing Pseudomonas virulence.
Replicating and Extending Our Understanding of How Managers Can Adjust the “Warm Glow Thermostat”

This article presents four studies that replicate and extend a recent article examining how guest participation in voluntary green programs (e.g., towel reuse) increases service satisfaction by evoking a “warm glow” response. Importantly for managers, we not only replicate across new hospitality and service contexts but also conceptualize alternative incentive paradigms, and test alternative mediators. In particular, we reconceptualize the “self-benefiting” versus “other-benefiting” incentive structure presented by Giebelhausen, Chun, Cronin, and Hult to consider “virtue,” “vice,” and “cash” incentives (i.e., three different types of self-benefiting incentives). The results provide managers with a better understanding of how they should promote and reward sustainable guest behavior. In addition to managerial implications, the present research also contributes to the academic literature on a growing phenomenon that has important implications for both business and society at large.
Regeneration of woody species following burning and grazing in Aspen Parkland.

The effect of short duration, heavy grazing by cattle was evaluated 3 and 6 years after burning and seeding of an aspen (Pop&s tremuloides Michx.) grove. Replicated paddocks of June grazed (early), August grazed (late), and ungrazed treatments were established. Regardless of treatment, density of all woody species was lower 6 years after burning than after 3 years. Early or late season grazing reduced the density of aspen and wild raspberry (Rubus strigosus Michx.). Late season grazing promoted a greater density of unpalatable western snowberry (Symphoricurpos occidentalis Hook.). Grazing reduced the height of aspen, preventing the development of a forest canopy. Herbage production averaged 1,700 kg ha-l, not differing between years 3 and 6: but the proportion of smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.) increased while orchard grass (Ductylis gbmerutu C. \ declined, Burnine of asnen forest in I ---~~~~~ e --r--------~ ~~Central Alberta followed by forage seeding and short duration, heavy grazing is an effective, economical range improvement tool.
Short Communication: The clay nanoparticle impregnation for increasing the strength and quality of sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) and white meranti (Shorea bracteolata) timber

Alex T, Winarni B, Kusuma IW, Arung ET, Budiarso E. 2017. Short Communication: The clay nanoparticle impregnation for increasing the strength and quality of sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) and white meranti (Shorea bracteolata) timber. Nusantara Bioscience 9: 107-110. The clay nanoparticle impregnation for increasing the strength and quality of sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) and white meranti (Shorea bracteolata) timber. The clay nanoparticles as a fine particle material dissolved in water was impregnated into the sengon and white meranti timber in order to improve its strength properties. Impregnation is the process of inserting the material dissolved in specific water or liquid in the timber using vacuum tube and air pressure. Materials used in this study were clay nanoparticles and the sample test of sengon (P. falcataria) and white meranti (S.bracteolata) timbers with a size of 2 cm x 2 cm x 40 cm. A total of 30 samples for each type of dried timber were impregnated using clay nanoparticles with a pressure of 60 psi for 2 hours. The results showed that impregnation with clay nanoparticles at concentrations of 5% gave the retention value of sengon and white meranti timber of 22.73 kg.m3 and 24.89 kg.m3, respectively. Wood strength is indicated by the voltage value at the boundary proportion (SPL), modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE). sengon timber shows the value of SPL, MOR, MOE by 296.57 kg.cm2, 376.36 kg.cm2, and 38027.663 kg.cm2, while the white meranti timber had the value of SPL, MOR, MOE as follows: 623, 32 kg.cm2, 729.69 kg.cm2 and 160.187 kg.cm2. The strength of sengon timber was increased from class V (very low) to class IV (low), whereas white meranti was increased from class IV (low) into class II (strong).
Endogenous Opioids and the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system that affects approximately 400,000 people in the United States and 2 million individuals worldwide. The disease is chronic, often progressive, and manifests through proliferation and activation of T-lymphocytes and astrocytes, resulting in demyelination and axonal damage. Approved therapies are interferon-based or involve T-cell immune modulators; however, many treatments have unacceptable side-effects, are cost-prohibitive, and/or require clinical visits for administration. There is an unmet need for disease-modifying therapies that are non-toxic and readily available. The regulatory pathway involving opioid growth factor (OGF) and its nuclear-associated receptor, OGFr, is involved in several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis. The OGF-OGFr axis appears to be aberrant in that patients with autoimmune disorders often have reduced levels of peptide, an inhibitory growth factor targeting cell proliferation.OGF is an endogenous neuropeptide, chemically termed [Met5]-enkephalin, that ameliorates the course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis when treatment is initiated at the time of induction in mouse models of progressive disease. OGF therapy initiated at the time of disease presentation reversed progressive disease within one week. OGF treatment of the mouse model of relapse-remitting experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis resulted in a significant reduction in the severity and number of relapses. Treatment with OGF of established relapse-remitting disease diminished peak clinical disease and suppressed relapses. Preclinical studies, as well as clinical observations, support the use of endogenous opioids as safe and effective disease-modifying biotherapeutics.
Characteristics of internet use as a means of perceived stress reduction in health care students

Previous studies suggest that people use media for instrumental needs, entertainment/leisure or for social gratification. The aim of this study is to identify specific characteristics of Internet use in health care students who use the Internet as a means of perceived stress reduction. The sample included 231 students (m=34%; f=66%), aged (M=22.44; SD=2.09), who were subsequently categorised into two groups according to whether they consciously use the Internet to alleviate the consequences of stressful experiences. The individuals reporting the Internet as a means of perceived stress reduction spend considerably more time online than other Internet users. They also use contents related to entertainment, culture and sex more frequently, as well as social applications and networks. In comparison to others, these participants meet new people and potential partners more often via the Internet, spend more time on their friends' profiles, while using different entertainment applications, most commonly games. The Internet may play a significant role in reducing negative reactions to stressful events; therefore, we may regard cyberspace as a fertile ground for educational, preventive and counselling services. The main limitation to the current study is the sample (only health care students). Future studies should include assessment of perceived stress levels and their relation to study variables.
WHEN THE USER BECOMES A PUBLICIST: MOTIVATIONS FOR EWOM ON FACEBOOK

This qualitative exploratory and descriptive research study seeks to obtain information on “electronic Word of mouth” via social networking websites. Specifically, it aims to further our knowledge of both the identification of the Uses and Gratifications sought (manifest and latent motivations) by the users through becoming part of eWOM practices on Facebook, and also the gratifications obtained from such behaviors. After interviewing 25 individuals using an open ended questionnaire and qualitatively analyzing their responses, the results of this study provide information about users’ motivations for and gratifications obtained from connecting to commercial pages, publishing content on the walls of commercial pages, and exchanging information with other users about brands. The results of this study are useful for communication academics and for marketing and advertising agents.
The effect of stocking density on certain broiler welfare parameters

In broiler production, stocking density, i.e. floor surface per chicken, is very important welfare factor which directly and indirectly influences and determines the level of growth of chicken body weight, but it is also related to other welfare indicators. Objective of the paper was to define the broiler welfare in different stocking densities by evaluation of their walking ability (gait score), feathering, incidence and degree of hock burns, foot pad lesions, and by determination of the biochemical blood parameters (glucose concentration, total cholesterol concentration), as indicators of condition of stress. One day old chickens of Hubbard genotype were housed in boxes in floor rearing system, in 3 stocking densities and 5 repetitions of each treatment. Treatment A scored stocking density of 10 birds/m 2 ; treatment B, 13 birds/m 2 and treatment C, 16 birds/m 2 . Results of the trial indicate absence of significance of differences between trial groups of broilers in regard to their walking ability, condition of skin and legs, and stress indicators. In general, broiler welfare in all trial groups was satisfactory. However, determined tendencies of worsening of the condition of litter, increase of the frequency of lower scores for walking ability (gait score), hock burns and foot pad lesions which occur with increase of stocking density, indicate the importance of this rearing factor and need to define limiting stocking densities from the aspect of broiler welfare but also economical efficiency of production.