Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cortical actin dynamics

The actin cytoskeleton plays essential roles in cell polarization and cell morphogenesis of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast cells utilize formin-generated actin cables as tracks for polarized transport, which forms the basis for a positive feedback loop driving Cdc42 dependent cell polarization. Previous studies on cable organization mostly focused on polarized actin cables in budded cells and their role as relatively static tracks for myosin-dependent organelle transport. Using quantitative live cell imaging, we have recently characterized the dynamics of cortical actin cables throughout the yeast cell cycle. Surprisingly, randomly oriented actin cables in G1 cells exhibited the highest level of dynamics, while cable dynamics was markedly slowed down upon cell polarization. We further demonstrated that the rapid dynamics of randomly oriented cables were driven by the formin Bni1 and Myosin V. Our data suggested a precise spatio-temporal regulation of the two yeast formins, as well as an unexpected mechanism of actin cable rearrangement through myosins. Here we discuss the immediate significance of these findings, which illustrates the importance of generating randomness for cellular organization.
Serendipity and information seeking: an empirical study

“Serendipity” has both a classical origin in literature and a more modern manifestation where it is found in the descriptions of the problem solving and knowledge acquisition of humanities and science scholars. Studies of information retrieval and information seeking have also discussed the utility of the notion of serendipity. Some have implied that it may be stimulated, or that certain people may “encounter” serendipitous information more than others. All to some extent accept the classical definition of serendipity as a “fortuitous” accident. The analysis presented here is part of a larger study concerning the information‐seeking behaviour of interdisciplinary scholars. This paper considers the nature of serendipity in information‐seeking contexts, and reinterprets the notion of serendipity as a phenomenon arising from both conditions and strategies – as both a purposive and a non‐purposive component of information seeking and related knowledge acquisition.
FOXM1 Regulated by ERK Pathway MediatesTGF-β1-Induced EMT in NSCLC

FOXM1, a member of the Forkhead transcriptional family, plays an important role in the EMT process, and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) has been identified as the most potent factor that can independently induce EMT in various types of cancer cells. Here we examine the important role of FOXM1 in TGF-β1-induced EMT and investigate the mechanism underlying the relationship between TGF-β1 and FOXM1. Lentivirus-mediated transfection was used to stably upregulate the expression of FOXM1, and a small interfering RNA (siRNA) was introduced to silence the expression of FOXM1. Transwell and wound-healing assays were then performed to assess the invasion and motility potential of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. The NSCLC cell lines exhibited EMT characteristics, including an elongated fibroblastoid shape, induced expression of EMT marker proteins, and increased migratory and invasive potential after induction with TGF-β1. The overexpression of FOXM1 enhanced TGF-β1-induced EMT in NSCLC cells. Knockdown of FOXM1 reversed TGF-β1-induced EMT in NSCLC cell lines but had no effect on the phosphorylation level of ERK. Additionally, U0126, an ERK signaling inhibitor, exerted a reversible effect on TGF-β1-induced EMT and inhibited FOXM1 expression. FOXM1 regulated by the ERK pathway can mediate TGF-β1-induced EMT in NSCLC and is a potential target for the treatment of NSCLC.
A Supply Network Model with Base-Stock Control and Service Requirements

We develop a supply network model that takes as input the bill of materials, the (nominal) lead times, the demand and cost data, and the required customer service levels. In return, the model generates the base-stock level at each store--the stocking location for a part or an end-product, so as to minimize the overall inventory capital throughout the network and to guarantee the customer service requirements. The key ingredient of the model is a detailed, albeit approximate, analysis of theactual lead times at each store and the associated demand over such lead times, along with a characterization of the operation at each store via an inventory-queue model. The gradients are derived in explicit forms, and a conjugate gradient routine is used to search for the optimal solution. Several numerical examples are presented to validate the model and to illustrate its various features.
Marriage, violence and HIV: the shifting policy context in Uganda

Abstract The policy environment for vulnerable women in Uganda is rapidly changing, with the aim of introducing more punitive measures for violent offenders and more options for women seeking help. This paper examines HIV-positive women who experienced intimate partner violence in two regions of Uganda prior to the enactment of the Domestic Violence Act of 2010. Based on in-depth interviews and observations, it reports on women’s views of marriage and relationships, and their strategies for help seeking to show the interaction between the two phenomena within the local cultural and political context. HIV-positive women in Uganda reshape their notions of marriage and love based on experiences of violence, illness management and broader social factors. Their narratives of relationships and conflict reveal an ambivalence toward formal marriage because of both its security and rights and its potential to inhibit leaving, as well as a reluctance to seek help through formal means. This construction of marriage is intertwined with the shifting social backdrop in Uganda, in particular the increasing rollout of antiretroviral treatment for HIV and the development of new policies surrounding violence, marriage and divorce. Women’s experiences show potential points of intervention and the need for multi-sectoral responses to violence.
Approximating milk yield and milk fat and protein concentration of cows through the use of mathematical and artificial neural networks models.

In the milk manufacturing process, yield is of great economic importance, and fat and protein concentration of milk are the most important factor influencing the quality. Milk yield and concentration of fat and protein are commonly analyzed with empirical mathematical Wood models. This study is focused on the capability of artificial neural networks to predict the milk yield and fat and protein concentration of milk for each cow as affected by the lactation stage, number of milking day (lactation number), and season of the year. A total of 48 dairy cows were selected from a research farm according to the lactation stage and number of milking day. Milk samples were taken on test day from April 2004 till April 2005. A large database of 584 patterns were used to analyze the effects of lactation stage, number of milking day, and season of the year on milk yield and milk quality by using the Wood model. The data were also used to develop a comprehensive model for milk yield and fat and protein concentration using four-layer feed-forward neural networks (ANNs). The results showed that a very good performance of the ANN was achieved. Among the various ANN structures, a model of good performance was produced by 3-18-8-3 structure with a training algorithm of back propagation and Sigmoid transfer function in the hidden and output layers. The model was able to properly learn the relationship between the input and output parameters (RMSE = 0.102 and R= 0.45). The results confirmed that a properly trained neural network was able to produce simultaneously more than one output, unlike traditional models where one mathematical model was required for each output. The accuracy of predictions was better than those obtained with theoretical Wood model. The ability of ANN to predict simultaneously milk yield and concentration of fat and protein of milk could significantly reduce the computation time and the amount of practical work required to build the Wood models.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy-related bile duct injuries: a health and financial disaster.

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to evaluate the total costs associated with repair of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC)-related bile duct injuries. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA The popularity of LC with both patients and surgeons is such that this procedure now exceeds open cholecystectomy by a ratio of approximately 4 to 10:1. However, costs associated with LC-related injuries, particularly regarding treatment patterns, have up to now not been explored fully. METHODS The complete hospital and interventional radiology (IR) billing records for 49 patients who have completed treatment for laparoscopic cholecystectomy-related bile duct injuries were divided into 8 categories. These records were totaled for comparison of costs between patient groups that experienced different injuries and treatment patterns. RESULTS Patients with LC-related bile duct injuries were billed a mean of $51,411 for all care related to repair of their bile duct injury. Patients incurred an average of 32 days of inpatient hospitalization and 10 outpatient care days. Postoperative treatment included long-term chronic biliary intubation averaging 378 days. Two patients (4%) died as a result of their LC-related complications. Patients with bile duct injuries that were recognized immediately at the time of the initial surgery ultimately experienced a total cost for their repair and hospitalization of 43% to 83% less than for patients in whom recognition of the injury was delayed (p < 0.019 to 0.070). In addition, the total hospitalization and outpatient care days was reduced by as much as 76% with early recognition of an iatrogenic injury. CONCLUSIONS Repair of cholecystectomy-related bile duct injuries can run 4.5 to 26.0 times the cost of the uncomplicated procedure and carries a significant mortality rate. Intraoperative recognition of such an injury with immediate conversion to an open procedure for definitive repair can result in significant cost savings and relates directly to a decreased morbidity, mortality, length of hospitalization, and number of outpatient care days.
PAYMENT SYSTEM DESIGN, VERTICAL INTEGRATION , AND AN EFFICIENT CONTINUUM OF CARE

Using the model of Banks, Parker, and Wendel (2001), we analyze how the design of payment systems affects the strategic interaction between sequential health care providers. We find that this model explains why the implementation of prospective payments led to reduced efficiency and increased vertical integration, and why expanding prospective payments to all providers will not solve the problem. We then consider the impact of bundled payments, and find that efficiency will be improved, and the motive for vertical integration reduced, under only one of three alternative bundled payment systems.
A comparison of two alcohol craving questionnaires.

AIM To compare two multi-dimensional questionnaires to measure cravings and urges for alcohol: the Alcohol Craving Questionnaire (ACQ: Singleton, Henningfield and Tiffany, 1994a) and the Desires for Alcohol Questionnaire (DAQ: Clark et al., 1996). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Both questionnaires were administered, in a counterbalanced order, to a total of 380 recreational drinkers. In a further study, a shortened version of the DAQ was administered to a sample of 131 drinkers attending AA or a treatment centre. Exploratory factor analyses were carried out on the data and relationships between questionnaire score and other variables were assessed. FINDINGS In recreational drinkers both instruments appeared to have a three-factor structure. The DAQ appeared superior to the ACQ in a number of respects: it produced more reliable factors; its structure accounted for a higher proportion of the variance; the factor inter-correlations were somewhat lower; in a combined analysis of both instruments most of the factors retained came from the DAQ; and the DAQ discriminated better between bing and non-binge drinkers and excessive and moderate drinkers. A similar factor structure was found for the DAQ in the alcoholic subjects with addition of a factor of "controllability". CONCLUSIONS The results support a multifactorial account of alcohol craving, and indicate that the DAQ has some advantages over the ACQ as a research tool.
Efficacy of an individualized written home‐management plan in the control of moderate persistent asthma: A randomized, controlled trial

Background: The management of childhood asthma necessitates a comprehensive approach including pharmacological treatment as well as education about self‐evaluation and home management of the condition. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of adding an individualized written home‐management plan in the control of moderate persistent asthma. Methods: Children with moderate persistent asthma were randomized to receive either an individualized written home‐management plan or no plan, in addition to standard asthma therapy including education. They were followed up with serial measurement of outcome variables. Results: Children receiving an individualized written home‐management plan had fewer acute asthma events, fewer lost school days, lower symptom score and less nocturnal awakening than those who did not receive a written plan.
Fact, Fiction and Momentum Investing

It’s been over 20 years since the academic discovery of momentum investing (Jegadeesh and Titman (1993), Asness (1994)), yet much confusion and debate remains regarding its efficacy and its use as a practical investment tool. In some cases “confusion and debate” is us attempting to be polite, as it is near impossible for informed practitioners and academics to still believe some of the myths uttered about momentum — but that impossibility is often belied by real world statements. In this article, we aim to clear up much of the confusion by documenting what we know about momentum and disproving many of the often-repeated myths. We highlight ten myths about momentum and refute them, using results from widely circulated academic papers and analysis from the simplest and best publicly available data.
Expectations of patients, nurses and physicians in geriatric nursing home emergencies

Objectives To determine contentment with the performance of primary mission emergency care providers. Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted using key informant interviews to assess quality of life and self-rated degree of contentment with care in geriatric emergencies. Results Interviews concerning a total of 152 geriatric emergency cases in nursing homes were conducted with patients in 13 (8.6%) cases, geriatric nurses in 132 (86.8%) cases and emergency physicians in 116 (76.3%) cases within a 3-month period. All responding patients as well as the majority of nurses (96.2%) and physicians (79.4%) were content with the quality of emergency care, but showed less contentment with communication (57.6% of nurses; 22.4% of physicians) and with cooperation on-site (57.6% of nurses; 20.7% of physicians). Conclusions Participants perceived a deficit in communication and cooperation on-site. There is a need for intensified education in managing geriatric emergency patients, especially with regard to communication and psychosocial issues.
A global assessment of the timing of extreme rainfall from TRMM and GPM for improving hydrologic design

The tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) has revolutionized the measurement of precipitation worldwide. However, TRMM significantly underestimates rainfall in deep convection systems, being therefore of little help for the analysis of extreme precipitation depths. This work evaluates the ability of both TRMM and the recently launched global precipitation measurement (GPM) mission to help in the identification of the timing of severe rainfall events. We compare the date of occurrence of the most severe daily rainfall recorded each year by a global rain gauge network with the ones estimated by TRMM. The match rate between the two is found to approach 50%, indicating significant consistency between the two data sources. This figure rises to 60% for GPM, indicating the potential for this new mission to improve the accuracy associated with TRMM. Further efforts are needed in improving the GPM conversion algorithms in order to reduce the bias affecting the estimation of intense depths. The results however show that the timing estimated from GPM can provide a solid basis for an extensive characterization of the spatio-temporal distribution of extreme rainfall in poorly gauged regions of the world.
Duration of spermatogenesis and daily sperm production in the rodent Proechimys guyannensis

Summary The spiny rat (Proechimys guyannensis) is a neotropical rodent that is used in biomedical research, particularly research related to chronic resistance to epilepsy and infectious diseases. To our knowledge, there are few reports concerning the reproductive biology of this species. Therefore, besides providing basic biometric and morphometric data, in the present study we investigated testis function and spermatogenesis in adult spiny rats. The mean testis weight and gonadosomatic index obtained were 1.63 ± 0.2 g and 1.15 ± 0.1% respectively. Based on the development of the acrosomic system, 12 stages of the seminiferous epithelium cycle were characterized. Stages VI and VII presented the highest frequencies (~17–19%), whilst stages II to V showed the lowest frequencies (~2–4%). The most advanced germ cell types labelled at 1 h or 20 days after BrdU injections were respectively preleptotene/leptotene spermatocytes at stage VII and elongated spermatids at stage III. The mean duration of one cycle was 7.5 ± 0.01 days and the entire spermatogenic process lasted 33.7 ± 0.06 days (~4.5 cycles). The seminiferous tubules (ST) occupied ~96 ± 1% of the testis parenchyma, whereas Leydig cells comprised only 1.5 ± 0.4%. The number of Sertoli cells (SC) per testis gram and the SC efficiency (spermatids/SC) were respectively 78 × 106 ± 11 × 106 and 7.9 ± 1. The daily sperm production per testis gram (spermatogenic efficiency; daily sperm production (DSP)/g/testis) was 78 × 106 ± 8 × 106. To our knowledge, this spermatogenic efficiency is among the highest found for mammals investigated to date and is probably related to the very short duration of spermatogenesis and the very high ST percentage and SC number obtained for this species.
Factors Associated with the Intention of Health Care Personnel to Respond to a Disaster

Abstract Introduction Over the past decade, numerous groups of researchers have studied the willingness of health care personnel (HCP) to respond when a disaster threatens the health of a community. Not one of those studies reported that 100% of HCP were willing to work during a public-health event (PHE). Problem The objective of this study was to explore factors associated with the intent of HCP to respond to a future PHE. Methods The theory of planned behavior (TPB) framed this cross-sectional study. Data were obtained via a web-based survey from 305 HCP. Linear associations between the TPB-based predictor and outcome variables were examined using Pearson's correlations. Differences between two groups of HCP were calculated using independent t tests. A model-generating approach was used to develop and assess a series of TBP-based observed variable structural equation models for prediction of intent to respond to a future PHE and to explore moderating and mediating effects. Results The beginning patterns of relationships identified by the correlation matrix and t tests were evident in the final structural equation model, even though the patterns of prediction differed from those posited by the theory. Outcome beliefs had both a significant, direct effect on intention and an indirect effect on intention that was mediated by perceived behavioral control. Control beliefs appeared to influence intention through perceived behavioral control, as posited by the TPB, and unexpectedly through subjective norm. Subjective norm not only mediated the relationship between control beliefs and intention, but also the relationship between referent beliefs and intention. Additionally, professional affiliation seemed to have a moderating effect on intention. Conclusion The intention to respond was influenced primarily by normative and control factors. The intent of nurses to respond to a future PHE was influenced most by the control factors, whereas the intent of other HCP was shaped more by the normative factors. Health care educators can bolster the normative and control factors through education by focusing on team building and knowledge related to accessing supplies and support needed to respond when a disaster occurs. ConnorSB. Factors associated with the intention of health care personnel to respond to a disaster. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(6):1-6 .
Treatment of Tuberculous Spondylitis with Anterior Stabilization and Titanium Cage

We retrospectively reviewed 12 patients with spinal tuberculosis of the thoracic and lumbar spine who had radical débridement, anterior decompression, interbody arthrodesis with an anterior interbody titanium cage, and autologous bone grafts, combined with a standardized perioperative antituberculous regimen. Their mean age was 55.1 years and they were observed for a mean of 65.3 months. Indications for surgery included epidural abscess, structural destruction with instability, progressive kyphosis, and/or neurologic deterioration. Kyphotic deformity was corrected from a mean of 24.6° (range, 15°-32°) to a mean of 10° (range, 4°-18°). Tuberculous infection was controlled and bony fusion was achieved in all patients. No recurrence of infection or construct failure was recorded. All patients were safely mobilized within the first postoperative week; back pain fully resolved in eight patients and improved in the remaining four. We conclude that radical débridement followed by anterior stabilization with a titanium cage and bone grafting is a reasonable alternative for tuberculous spondylitis requiring surgical treatment. It enables accurate and lasting deformity correction and provides adequate stability to allow early mobilization. The presence of a titanium cage in an area of mycobacterial infection did not preclude infection control or lead to recurrence.Level of Evidence: Therapeutic study. Level IV (case series). Please see Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.