Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of NUCB2 and Their Genetic Associations with Milk Production Traits in Dairy Cows

We previously used the RNA sequencing technique to detect the hepatic transcriptome of Chinese Holstein cows among the dry period, early lactation, and peak of lactation, and implied that the nucleobindin 2 (NUCB2) gene might be associated with milk production traits due to its expression being significantly increased in early lactation or peak of lactation as compared to dry period (q value < 0.05). Hence, in this study, we detected the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of NUCB2 and analyzed their genetic associations with milk yield, fat yield, fat percentage, protein yield, and protein percentage. We re-sequenced the entire coding and 2000 bp of 5′ and 3′ flanking regions of NUCB2 by pooled sequencing, and identified ten SNPs, including one in 5′ flanking region, two in 3′ untranslated region (UTR), and seven in 3′ flanking region. The single-SNP association analysis results showed that the ten SNPs were significantly associated with milk yield, fat yield, fat percentage, protein yield, or protein percentage in the first or second lactation (p values <= 1 × 10−4 and 0.05). In addition, we estimated the linkage disequilibrium (LD) of the ten SNPs by Haploview 4.2, and found that the SNPs were highly linked in one haplotype block (D′ = 0.98–1.00), and the block was also significantly associated with at least one milk traits in the two lactations (p values: 0.0002–0.047). Further, we predicted the changes of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) that are caused by the SNPs in the 5′ flanking region of NUCB2, and considered that g.35735477C>T might affect the expression of NUCB2 by changing the TFBSs for ETS transcription factor 3 (ELF3), caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2), mammalian C-type LTR TATA box (VTATA), nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT), and v-ets erythroblastosis virus E26 oncogene homolog (ERG) (matrix similarity threshold, MST > 0.85). However, the further study should be performed to verify the regulatory mechanisms of NUCB2 and its polymorphisms on milk traits. Our findings first revealed the genetic effects of NUCB2 on the milk traits in dairy cows, and suggested that the significant SNPs could be used in genomic selection to improve the accuracy of selection for dairy cattle breeding.
Clinical and Scientific Challenges to Multispecialty Team Care

Copyright: © 2014 van der Marck MA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The complex nature of many neurodegenerative disorders warrants the need for multi-component interventions. These disorders, like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, are typically characterized by a broad range of symptoms. Because of this, these disorders pose a significant challenge to medical specialists, not only for adequate diagnosis but also for the management of the wide array of symptoms. An additional difficulty is the fact that the clinical presentation is highly variable across individuals, in terms of disease manifestation and progression, as well as the individual perception of most troublesome problems [1]. This great inter-individual variation creates an even greater challenge to optimize treatment tailored to each individual patient’s needs and priorities. Due to this complexity, treatment by health care professionals from multiple complementary disciplines seems warranted. Here, some examples will be described to illustrate the complexity of designing en evaluating these multidisciplinary team approaches.
Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria

For this collection, the author wishes to thank the following persons. Mr. and Mrs. D. I. Hartley, Malvern, Victoria and Mr. and Mrs. R. Hall, Prospect, South Australia, for a parcel of specimens collected jointly at Coobowie, South Australia. Mr. D. Howlett of Ceduna forwarded several specimens collected at Ceduna Bay, and Mr, P. Trenberth of Tumby Bay forwarded specimens collected at Fiddlers Bay, Spencer Gulf. Miss J. PI. Macpherson, National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne made available a single specimen of a remarkable species from Peak Bay, Spencer Gulf.
Interest, motivation and attitude towards science and technology at K-12 levels: a systematic review of 12 years of educational research

The relationship that exists between students and science and technology (S&T) is a complex and important one. If it is positive, then social, economic and environmental consequences are to be expected. Yet, many problems of interest/motivation/attitude (I/M/A) towards S&T have been recorded. A lot of research has been conducted on this topic and a certain number of syntheses have been proposed, but very few of them have followed sufficiently systematic procedures. In this article, we offer a synthetic and systematic description of 228 research articles that were published between 2000 and 2012 and indexed in the ERIC database under I/M/A for S&T at K-12 levels. We focus on the origin of these articles, on the constructs they use and define, on the instruments, and finally on the results they provide, whether correlative or causal. Conclusions and recommendations for future research and interventions are formulated.
Self-Regulation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Exposure of Children and Adolescents to Erectile Dysfunction Commercials.

CONTEXT Spending on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for prescription pharmaceuticals has risen to record levels, five times as much as in 1996 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Major health care provider organizations have called for additional regulation of DTCA. These organizations argue that the negative impact of such advertising outweighs the informational value claimed by the pharmaceutical industry. The industry maintains that further restrictions on DTCA are not warranted because it is successfully self-regulating via "guiding principles" for DTCA as certified by firm executives. METHODS The authors measured recent industry spending on DTCA and used regression models of Nielsen Monitor-Plus data to assess pharmaceutical firm self-regulation after the public disclosure of noncompliance with industry self-regulatory principles, specifically regarding the exposure of children and adolescents to broadcast advertisements for erectile dysfunction drugs. FINDINGS Public disclosure of noncompliance with self-regulatory DTCA standards did not bring advertising into compliance. Results demonstrate that firms failed to meet the industry standard during every quarter of the six-year period of this study. CONCLUSIONS Results support previous research findings that pharmaceutical self-regulation is a deceptive blocking strategy rather than a means for the industry to police itself. Policy recommendations include broadcast restrictions on adult content and deincentivizing DTCA via tax reform.
Unconventional ideas conventionally arranged: A study of grant proposals for exceptional research

Exceptional research involves exceptional, rather than established, approaches, theories, methods and technologies. Nevertheless, to gain funding for such research, scientists are forced to outline unconventional ideas in ways that still relate to recognized concepts and findings, as well as adhering to the conventional requirements of relevant fields of research. Surprisingly, we know very little about the approaches scientists take to overcome these obstacles. In this article, we investigate how applicants use rhetorical moves and argumentative patterns to rationalize their unorthodox ideas and how they rhetorically combine their hypotheses or ideas with those of previous research that used specific methods and recognized technologies. The study concentrates on neuroscience grant proposals in Germany for a funding programme intended to support exceptional research. In addition, we look for the argumentative patterns favoured by members of and reviewers for the organization’s funding programme in order to understand if the successful applications share rhetorical characteristics. An analysis of 52 applications disclosed four different argumentative patterns: (1) solving practical problems, (2) exploring specific phenomena, (3) expanding confirmed knowledge and (4) offering an alternative theory. Only one persuasive strategy explicitly challenges established theories by proposing alternatives. Despite this, the funding programme continued to ask for radical and extraordinary ideas and many scientists continued to present potentially ground-breaking ideas that did not invalidate earlier work.
The identification of management-process critical success factors that will achieve competitiveness and sustainable growth for South Africa as tourist destination

Existing destination competitiveness models do not clearly identify the strategic relationships between the critical factors and how they can be integrated for sustainable growth and competitive advantage. Against this background, this article focuses on the development and testing of a destination competitiveness model that can be used to identify and integrate critical success factors for a tourism destination. The destination competitiveness model that is presented makes provision for the identification and integration of critical success factors within four strategic perspectives, namely, sustainable growth, the customer, destination management processes, and learning and growth. To test the model, a survey was undertaken among the primary tourism stakeholders in South Africa involved in attracting and servicing international tourists. This survey was used to identify critical success factors in the destination management processes that could have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction and the achievement of sustainable growth objectives. Specific conclusions are made and key actions recommended on the basis of the results obtained.
Survival of Casualties Undergoing Prehospital Supraglottic Airway Placement Versus Cricothyrotomy.

BACKGROUND Airway compromise is the second leading cause of preventable death on the battlefield. Unlike a cricothyrotomy, supraglottic airway (SGA) placement does not require an incision and is less technically challenging. We compare the survival of causalities undergoing cricothyrotomy versus SGA placement. METHODS We used a series of emergency department (ED) procedure codes to search within the Department of Defense Trauma Registry (DODTR) from January 2007 to August 2016. This is a subanalysis of that data set. RESULTS During the study period, 194 casualties had a documented cricothyrotomy and 22 had a documented SGA as the sole airway intervention. The two groups had similar proportions of explosive injuries (57.7% versus 63.6%, p = .328), similar composite injury severity scores (25 versus 27.5, p = .168), and similar AIS for the head, face, extremities, and external body regions. The cricothyrotomy group had lower AIS for the thorax (0 versus 3, p = .019), a trend toward lower AIS for the abdomen (0 versus 0, p = .077), more serious injuries to the head (67.5% versus 45.5%, p = .039), and similar rates of serious injuries to the face (4.6% versus 4.6%, p = .984). Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores were similar on arrival to the ED (3 versus 3, p = .467) as were the proportion of patients surviving to discharge (45.4% versus 40.9%, p = .691). On repeated multivariable analyses, the odds ratios for survival were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS We found no difference in short-term outcomes between combat casualties who received an SGA vs those who received a cricothyrotomy. Military prehospital personnel rarely used either advanced airway intervention during the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
When do employees cross boundaries? Individual and contextual determinants of career mobility

ABSTRACT This study investigates the joint effects of individual characteristics and the labour market on career mobility. We propose that level of education, openness to experience, and a favourable labour market relate positively to employees crossing organizational, industrial, and occupational boundaries. Management programme alumni (N = 503) provided information through an online survey about their career histories, their level of education, and their openness to experience. Additionally, we used the unemployment rate as an indicator for yearly changes in the labour market. The results of our cross-classified multilevel analysis indicate that both individual characteristics and the labour market are determinants of career mobility. Level of education had a positive effect on organizational and industrial boundary crossing, and changes in the labour market related to organizational boundary crossing. Against our assumptions, openness to experience had no effect on career mobility, and none of the predictors were related to occupational boundary crossing. Our results demonstrate the importance of investigating career mobility from a boundary perspective combined with a focus on both individual and contextual characteristics. The dominance of education compared to personality and the difficulty of explaining occupational mobility open new research avenues and yield practical implications for employees, career counsellors, and organizations.
College Instructors’ Implicit Theories About Teaching Skills and Their Relationship to Professional Development Choices

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Psychology Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@lmu.edu. Repository Citation Thadani, Vandana; Dewar, Jacqueline; and Breland, William, "College Instructors’ Implicit Theories About Teaching Skills and Their Relationship to Professional Development Choices" (2010). Psychology Faculty Works. 9. http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/psyc_fac/9
Effect of photoperiod on parasitization by Trichogramma principium (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

The effect of photoperiod on parasitization of the eggs of the Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier, 1789) by Trichogramma principium Sugonyaev & Sorokina, 1976 was investigated under several photoperiodic regimes of L : D = 3 : 21, 6 : 18, 9 : 15, 12 : 12, 15 : 9, 18 : 6 and 21 : 3. In all regimes, certain wasps delayed ovipositing in this non-preferred host. Potential fecundity of T. principium females (the number of mature ovarial eggs at emergence) and subsequent oogenesis (estimated by the number of mature ovarial eggs in non-ovipositing females) was independent of photoperiod. However, the percentage of females that oviposited was higher for females that developed and were kept under 6-12 h long photophase than for those that developed and were kept under ultra short (3L : 21D) and under long (18L : 6D and 21L : 3D) photophases. The average duration of the pre- oviposition (egg retention) period showed the opposite pattern to the photoperiodic response. A possible explanation of this reaction is that the delay in oviposition is adaptive if the probability of finding a better host is high. In autumn, when the last Trichogramma females are still active but their lepidopteran hosts are already much less abundant, then parasitization of any suitable host is the best strategy.
Serum N-Glycosylation in Parkinson’s Disease: A Novel Approach for Potential Alterations

In this study, we present the application of a novel capillary electrophoresis (CE) method in combination with label-free quantitation and support vector machine-based feature selection (support vector machine-estimated recursive feature elimination or SVM-RFE) to identify potential glycan alterations in Parkinson’s disease. Specific focus was placed on the use of neutral coated capillaries, by a dynamic capillary coating strategy, to ensure stable and repeatable separations without the need of non-mass spectrometry (MS) friendly additives within the separation electrolyte. The developed online dynamic coating strategy was applied to identify serum N-glycosylation by CE-MS/MS in combination with exoglycosidase sequencing. The annotated structures were quantified in 15 controls and 15 Parkinson’s disease patients by label-free quantitation. Lower sialylation and increased fucosylation were found in Parkinson’s disease patients on tri-antennary glycans with 2 and 3 terminal sialic acids. The set of potential glycan alterations was narrowed by a recursive feature elimination algorithm resulting in the efficient classification of male patients.
A Solution to the Dilemma of Writing in a Foreign Language: Adaptive Mentorship

This study exami ned the effect of Adaptive Mentorship on the development of intermediate L2 learners' writing ability. At the outset of the study, the participants filled in two self-confidence and writing attitude questionnaires and placed themselves in the right cells on the D- (protege’s developmental level) and A- (mentor’s adaptive required to response) grids of the AM model . They were also required to judge themselves in the form of short reports in terms of self-confidence, writing attitude, and writing competence so that the researcher could classify them more accurately into different groups regarding the above constructs. Finally, a test of writing was administered to the participants to measure their writing ability prior to the treatment. At the end of the 4 month treatment period, which was intended to provide both psychological support and instruction on writing in line with each student’s needs following a more individualized approach, the two questionnaires and the D- and A- grids were filled by the participants again. They were also given a writing posttest on the same topic as the pretest. A comparison of the initial and final results revealed that the student writers had made statistically significant improvements in terms of self-confidence, their attitude to writing in a foreign language, and competence in L2 writing.
PD-1hi CD8+ resident memory T cells balance immunity and fibrotic sequelae

Exhausted-like CD8+ resident memory T cells in the lung limit immune activation–driven fibrosis. Keeping T cells on a tight leash Using influenza virus (IAV) as a model, Wang et al. have examined the ability of CD8+ T cells recognizing two epitopes of IAV, nucleoprotein peptide 366–374 (NP366–374) and polymerase peptide 224–233 (PA224–233), to give rise to resident memory T (TRM) cells in the lung. Although CD8+ T cell responses to both epitopes are comparable in primary infection, previous studies have shown NP366–374-specific responses to be dominant upon reinfection. Here, Wang et al. found that NP366–374-specific TRM cells express higher levels of PD1 and become more exhausted-like when compared with PA224–233-specific TRM cells after viral clearance, allowing them to be reactivated upon reinfection. Further, they show that maintenance of NP366–374-specific TRM in an exhausted-like state prevents inflammation-induced lung fibrosis. CD8+ tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells provide frontline immunity in mucosal tissues. The mechanisms regulating CD8+ TRM maintenance, heterogeneity, and protective and pathological functions are largely elusive. Here, we identify a population of CD8+ TRM cells that is maintained by major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) signaling, and CD80 and CD86 costimulation after acute influenza infection. These TRM cells have both exhausted-like phenotypes and memory features and provide heterologous immunity against secondary infection. PD-L1 blockade after the resolution of primary infection promotes the rejuvenation of these exhausted-like TRM cells, restoring protective immunity at the cost of promoting postinfection inflammatory and fibrotic sequelae. Thus, PD-1 serves to limit the pathogenic capacity of exhausted-like TRM cells at the memory phase. Our data indicate that TRM cell exhaustion is the result of a tissue-specific cellular adaptation that balances fibrotic sequelae with protective immunity.
Metabolomic insights into polyhydroxyalkanoates production by halophilic bacteria with acetic acid as carbon source

ABSTRACT A metabolomics method was established to analyze changes of intracellular metabolites and study the mechanism for enhancing polyhydroxyalkanoates production by halotolerant bacteria, Bacillus cereus strain HY-3, using acetic acid as carbon source. Maximum poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) contents for the medium with 0.5 g/L and 5.0 g/L of acetic acid were 41.0 ± 0.415% and 49.2 ± 1.21%. Principal components analysis revealed clear metabolic differences in different growth stages and different concentrations of carbon source. According to statistical analysis, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB), serine, threonine, malate, and pyruvate were determined as potential biomarkers for PHB production. Moreover, metabolic pathways analysis indicated that high level of 3-HB in death phase was due to the limitation of carbon source. Metabolism of glycine, serine, and threonine was influential pathway for PHB production among amino acid metabolisms. High levels of organic acids from the TCA cycle could stimulate the carbon source flux into PHB biosynthetic pathway. Graphical Abstract Metabolomics method based on GC/MS was used to analyze metabolites, aiming to find out biomarkers and reveal mechanism for enhancing PHA production.
Evolution of the Shape of the Raindrop Size Distribution in Simulated Shallow Cumulus

AbstractIn this paper, the evolution of the raindrop size distribution (RSD) is investigated for two isolated shallow cumulus clouds that are modeled with large-eddy simulations. For a two-moment bulk rain microphysics scheme that assumes the RSD to follow a gamma distribution, it is shown that the evolution of the rainwater content of an individual shallow cumulus cloud—in particular, its subcloud-layer rainwater amount and its surface precipitation rate—is highly sensitive to the choice of the shape parameter of the gamma distribution.To further investigate the shape of the RSD, a Lagrangian drop model is used to represent warm rain microphysics without a priori assumptions on the RSD. It is found that the shape parameter is highly variable in space and time and that existing closure equations, which are established from idealized studies of more heavily precipitating cases, are not appropriate for shallow cumulus. Although a relation of the shape parameter to the mean raindrop diameter is also found fo.
The Structure of Consensus Building in Online Design Discussions

While consensus building is inherently complex, the remote and asynchronous nature of online discussions, coupled with the large number of participants further intensifies the complexity. To better understand the nature of online consensus building, we first interviewed designers and developers contributing to design discussions in open source projects to understand the key factors in online consensus building. We then collected a large data set from an online design Web site and used regression analysis to further test how these factors affected consensus building. Our analysis showed that participants who were more experienced in the community facilitated consensus building. In addition, participants who had previous social interactions with each other would more likely reach a consensus in future discussions. We also found that even though the number of participants in each discussion was often large, small-group personal interactions did emerge, which significantly predicted the likelihood of reaching a consensus. Implication to design of interfaces that facilitate online design discussions is discussed.