Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small Changes in Dietary Sugar and Physical Activity as an Approach to Preventing Excessive Weight Gain: The America on the Move Family Study

OBJECTIVES. The intent of this study was to evaluate whether small changes in diet and physical activity, as promoted by the America on the Move initiative, could prevent excessive weight gain in overweight children. METHODS. In this family-intervention study, the America on the Move small-changes approach for weight-gain prevention was evaluated in families with at least 1 child (7–14 years old) who was overweight or at risk for overweight. These children were the primary target of the intervention, and parents were the secondary target. Families were randomly assigned to either the America on the Move group (n = 100) or the self-monitor–only group (n = 92). Families who were assigned to the America on the Move group were asked to make 2 small lifestyle changes: (1) to walk an additional 2000 steps per day above baseline as measured by pedometers and (2) to eliminate 420 kJ/day (100 kcal/day) from their typical diet by replacing dietary sugar with a noncaloric sweetener. Families who were assigned to the self-monitor group were asked to use pedometers to record physical activity but were not asked to change their diet or physical activity level. RESULTS. During a 6-month period, both groups of children showed significant decreases in BMI for age. However, the America on the Move group compared with the self-monitor group had a significantly higher percentage of target children who maintained or reduced their BMI for age and, consistently, a significantly lower percentage who increased their BMI for age. There was no significant weight gain during the 6-month intervention in parents of either group. CONCLUSIONS. The small-changes approach advocated by America on the Move could be useful for addressing childhood obesity by preventing excess weight gain in families.
Immunogenicity of Ly5 (CD45)‐Antigens Hampers Long‐Term Engraftment Following Minimal Conditioning in a Murine Bone Marrow Transplantation Model

Various techniques are available for distinguishing donor from host cells evaluating the efficacy of conditioning regimen for experimental bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Techniques include the use of extracellular immunological markers, such as Ly5 (CD45), and intracellular biochemical markers, such as glucose‐phosphate‐isomerase (Gpi). Because Ly5 is an extracellular protein, the disparity between donor (Ly5.1) and host (Ly5.2) antigens may induce a weak immune response whereas with Gpi, no immune response is expected. This difference may be of particular concern in experimental transplantation approaches that use minimal conditioning such as low‐dose total body irradiation (TBI). Such mild conditioning may not induce the immunosuppression required to overcome host rejection of Ly5 disparate cells.
Applying machine learning to identify autistic adults using imitation: An exploratory study

Autism spectrum condition (ASC) is primarily diagnosed by behavioural symptoms including social, sensory and motor aspects. Although stereotyped, repetitive motor movements are considered during diagnosis, quantitative measures that identify kinematic characteristics in the movement patterns of autistic individuals are poorly studied, preventing advances in understanding the aetiology of motor impairment, or whether a wider range of motor characteristics could be used for diagnosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether data-driven machine learning based methods could be used to address some fundamental problems with regard to identifying discriminative test conditions and kinematic parameters to classify between ASC and neurotypical controls. Data was based on a previous task where 16 ASC participants and 14 age, IQ matched controls observed then imitated a series of hand movements. 40 kinematic parameters extracted from eight imitation conditions were analysed using machine learning based methods. Two optimal imitation conditions and nine most significant kinematic parameters were identified and compared with some standard attribute evaluators. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to apply machine learning to kinematic movement parameters measured during imitation of hand movements to investigate the identification of ASC. Although based on a small sample, the work demonstrates the feasibility of applying machine learning methods to analyse high-dimensional data and suggest the potential of machine learning for identifying kinematic biomarkers that could contribute to the diagnostic classification of autism.
Cytokine Regulation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Entry and Replication in Human Monocytes/Macrophages through Modulation of CCR5 Expression

ABSTRACT Human macrophages express chemokine receptors that act as coreceptors for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and are major targets for HIV-1 infection in vivo. The effects of cytokines on HIV-1 infection of macrophages and on the expression of CCR5, the principal coreceptor for macrophage-tropic viruses, have now been investigated. Expression of CCR5 on the surface of freshly isolated human monocytes was virtually undetectable by flow cytometry with the monoclonal antibody 5C7. However, after culture of monocytes for 48 h in serum-free medium, approximately 30% of the resulting macrophages expressed CCR5 and the cells were susceptible to infection by macrophage-tropic HIV-1. Addition of either macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to the cultures markedly increased both the extent of HIV-1 entry and replication as well as surface expression of CCR5. In contrast, addition of the T-helper 2 (Th2) cell-derived cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) or IL-13 prevented the expression of CCR5 induced by culture in medium alone, and IL-4 inhibited virus entry, replication, and cytopathicity under these conditions. IL-4 or IL-13 also prevented the stimulatory effects of M-CSF or GM-CSF on CCR5 expression as well as HIV-1 entry and replication. In addition, IL-4 reversed the increase in CCR5 expression induced by pretreatment of cells with M-CSF. Although IL-10 also inhibits HIV-1 replication in macrophages, it did not suppress surface CCR5 expression induced by colony-stimulating factors. These results indicate that the cytokine environment determines the susceptibility of macrophages to HIV-1 infection by various mechanisms, one of which is the regulation of HIV-1 coreceptor expression.
Visualizing glutamatergic cell bodies and synapses in Drosophila larval and adult CNS

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS) and at Drosophila neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). Although glutamate is also used as a transmitter in the Drosophila CNS, there has been no systematic description of the central glutamatergic signaling system in the fly. With the recent cloning of the Drosophila vesicular glutamate transporter (DVGLUT), it is now possible to mark many, if not all, central glutamatergic neurons and synapses. Here we present the pattern of glutamatergic synapses and cell bodies in the late larval CNS and in the adult fly brain by using an anti‐DVGLUT antibody. We also introduce two new tools for studying the Drosophila glutamatergic system: a dvglut promoter fragment fused to Gal4 whose expression labels glutamatergic neurons and a green fluorescent protein (GFP)‐tagged DVGLUT transgene that localizes to synapses. In the larval CNS, we find synaptic DVGLUT immunoreactivity prominent in all brain lobe neuropil compartments except for the mushroom body. Likewise in the adult CNS, glutamatergic synapses are abundant throughout all major brain structures except the mushroom body. We also find that the larval ventral nerve cord neuropil is rich in glutamatergic synapses, which are primarily located near the dorsal surface of the neuropil, segregated from the ventrally positioned cholinergic processes. This description of the glutamatergic system in Drosophila highlights the prevalence of glutamatergic neurons in the CNS and presents tools for future study and manipulation of glutamatergic transmission. J. Comp. Neurol. 508:131–152, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An evaluation of the relative efficacy of a new formulation of oxytetracycline for the treatment of undifferentiated fever in feedlot calves in western Canada.

A field trial was performed under commercial feedlot conditions in western Canada to compare the efficacy of a new formulation of long-acting oxytetracycline (LA 30) to a standard long-acting oxytetracycline formulation (LA 20) and florfenicol (FLOR) for the treatment of undifferentiated fever (UF) in calves that received metaphylactic tilmicosin upon arrival at the feed-lot. Seven hundred and ninety-seven recently weaned, auction market derived, crossbred, beef calves suffering from UF were allocated to 1 of 3 experimental groups as follows: LA 30, which received intramuscular long-acting oxytetracycline (300 mg/mL formulation) at the rate of 30 mg/kg body weight (BW) at the time of allocation; LA 20, which received intramuscular long-acting oxytetracycline (200 mg/mL formulation) at the rate of 20 mg/kg BW at the time of allocation; or FLOR, which received intramuscular florfenicol administered at the rate of 20 mg/kg BW at the time of allocation and again 48 hours later. Two hundred and sixty-six animals were allocated to the LA 30 group, 265 animals were allocated to the LA 20 group, and 266 animals were allocated to the FLOR group. The relative efficacy of the LA 30 group, as compared with the LA 20 and FLOR groups, was assessed by comparing relapse, chronicity, wastage, and mortality rates. The overall mortality (RR = 0.50) rate in the LA 30 group was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than in the LA 20 group. However, the overall chronicity (RR = 2.56) and overall wastage (RR = 6.97) rates of the LA 30 group were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in the LA 20 group. There were no significant (P > or = 0.05) differences in UF relapse rates or cause specific mortality rates between the LA 30 and LA 20 groups. In the economic analysis, there was an advantage of $28.59 CDN per animal in the LA 30 group compared with the LA 20 group. The overall chronicity (RR = 2.25) and overall wastage (RR = 2.80) rates of the LA 30 group were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the FLOR group. There were no significant (P > or = 0.05) differences in UF relapse rates, overall mortality rates, or cause specific mortality rates between the LA 30 and FLOR groups. In the economic analysis, there was an advantage of $12.90 CDN per animal in the LA 30 group compared with the FLOR group. In summary, the results of this study indicate that it is more cost-effective to use a new formulation of long-acting oxytetracycline (300 mg/mL formulation administered at a rate of 30 mg/kg BW) than a standard long-acting oxytetracycline formulation (200 mg/mL formulation administered at a rate of 20 mg/kg BW) or florfenicol for the treatment of UF in feedlot calves that have previously received metaphylactic tilmicosin upon arrival at the feedlot.
Local and systemic immune responses to soybean protein ingestion in early-weaned pigs.

The development of local and systemic immune responses to soybean proteins was investigated in early-weaned pigs. Pigs were given either antigenic (ASP, n = 10 pigs) or non-antigenic (NASP, n = 8 pigs) soybean products (6 g of protein/d) from d 5 to 9 of age by stomach tube. After weaning at d 21, pigs were fed diets containing the corresponding soybean products and slaughtered between d 28 to 30. Diarrhea was 2.4-fold more frequent, the size of duodenal villi was reduced by 24 to 36%, and the eosinophil density in the duodenal mucosa was 13 times greater (P < .02) in the ASP pigs compared with the NASP pigs. A larger erythema area (P = .006) was observed in the ASP group than in the NASP group 30 min after an intradermal injection of glycinin, but no significant difference could be detected with alpha- or beta-conglycinin or whole soybean extracts. No difference in skin fold thickness was apparent between groups 24 h later. Intestinal, mesenteric lymph node, and blood lymphocytes did not proliferate when cultured with soybean proteins, regardless of dietary treatment. By ELISA, no difference between groups was observed in the circulating levels of total immunoglobulins (Ig) and IgM. Immunoblotting patterns of raw soybean with sera from 28-d-old pigs showed two bands (22 and 36 kDa) recognized by IgA and IgM, respectively, in the ASP group only. Finally, the adverse effects observed with antigenic soybean flour can be overcome by the use of alcohol-treated products. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Herpes simplex virus type 1 encephalitis associated with acute retinal necrosis syndrome in an immunocompetent patient.

PURPOSE The onset of acute retinal necrosis secondary to herpes simplex encephalitis is exceptional. We report such an association in an immunocompetent patient, in whom the genome of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was identified successively at both sites of infection. METHODS Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay of HSV-1 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and aqueous humour. RESULTS An immunocompetent patient aged 40 years presented with HSV-1 encephalitis, which was confirmed by imaging, viral serology and identification of the HSV-1 genome in the CSF. The subject's immunological profile was normal. The patient was treated with foscavir. Six weeks after clinical recovery and negative PCR, the patient presented with a unilateral acute retinal necrosis syndrome. Polymerase chain reaction of the aqueous humour was positive, while serology and PCR of the CSF remained negative. CONCLUSION Identification of the HSV-1 genome at the two successive sites of infection stresses the possibility of brain-to-eye transmission of HSV-1.
Bone formation at rhBMP-2-coated titanium implants in the rat ectopic model.

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to evaluate local bone formation at titanium porous oxide (TPO) implant surfaces adsorbed with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2). METHODS In vitro studies were used to estimate the kinetics of I125-labeled rhBMP-2 released from TPO surfaces with narrow (N) or open (O) pores. Machined/turned titanium (MT) surfaces served as control. The rat ectopic model was used to assess local bone formation. Briefly, TPO-N, TPO-O, and MT disc implants adsorbed with 5, 10, or 20 microg rhBMP-2, respectively, were implanted subcutaneously into the ventral thoracic region in 5-week-old male Long Evans rats. The animals were euthanized at day 14 postsurgery when implants with surrounding tissues were removed, radiographed, and gross observations recorded. The specimens were processed for histologic evaluation using conventional cut-and-grind techniques. TPO implants without rhBMP-2 included in a preliminary evaluation revealed no evidence of bone formation, tissue encapsulation, or vascularity, thus such controls were not further used. RESULTS TPO and MT implant surfaces adsorbed with 5 microg rhBMP-2 retained 2.3-5.4% rhBMP-2 following immersion and rinse in buffer, and 1.1-2.2% rhBMP-2 following repeated immersions and rinses over 27 days. TPO implants retained the most rhBMP-2 and MT implants retained the least. Explants revealed increased hard tissue formation, tissue encapsulation, and vascularity at TPO compared with MT implants. Radiographic observations were consistent with the explant observations. The histologic analysis showed greater amounts of bone formation, osteoblastic cells, osteoid, marrow, tissue encapsulation, vascularity, and bone voids for implants adsorbed with 10 and 20 microg rhBMP-2, and for TPO implants at the 5-microg rhBMP-2 dose. The histometric analysis revealed significantly greater bone formation at TPO-O than at MT implants at the 5-microg rhBMP-2 dose. All surfaces showed significant bone formation at the 10- and 20-microg dose. CONCLUSIONS rhBMP-2 adsorbed onto TPO implant surfaces executes an osteoinductive effect including bone contacting the implant surface. This effect is surface- and dose-dependent; the TPO-O surface yielding the most bone at the low discriminating rhBMP-2 dose.
LIBOR market model with SABR style stochastic volatility

We propose and study the SABR/LMM model. This is a term structure model of interest rates with stochastic volatility that is a natural extension of both the LIBOR market model and the SABR model. The key result of the paper is a closed form asymptotic formula for swaption volatility in the SABR/LMM model which allows for rapid and accurate valuation of European swaptions. 2 P. Hagan and A. Lesniewski
How Social Unrest Started Innovations in a Food Supply Chain

Transitions leading to sociotechnical innovations in food supply chains have been described in dramaturgical analyses on the basis of newspaper articles and parliamentary records. The time scale of the transitions driven by aroused public opinion on issues such as animal welfare, is typically a decade. Actors are primary producers (farmers), other supply chain parties, authorities, NGOs voicing particular opinions, political parties, and consumers. In this article, their interactions and reactions to external events are modelled in an agent-based simulation based on opinion dynamics. The purposes of the simulation are (1) to validate that hypothetical relations derived from the dramaturgical analysis indeed lead to the emergence of the observed transitions, and (2) to study how the system could have developed under different behaviours or a different course of external events. Simulation results and a sensitivity analysis are discussed.
Intellectual Capital Creation Mechanism Based on Epistemological and Ontological Perspectives

Nowadays knowledge and intellectual capital (IC) have become the economy's primary raw material and its most important outcome. The IC creation has become an important issue in the field of IC academic research today. To start with this article, the relationships between IC and knowledge are analyzed. And then Nonaka & Takeuchi's SECI model is introduced as a classical theory of knowledge creation. Its theoretical values and shortcomings are also summarized in this article. As an innovation, a new dynamic holistic model of IC creation based on epistemological and ontological perspectives is put forward in this article on the ground of above analyses
Aqueous and Micelle-bound Structural Characterization of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Juxtamembrane Domain Containing Basolateral Sorting Motifs

Abstract The EGF receptor is the prototype for four highly related receptors constituting the ErbB family. The EGF receptor is normally targeted to the basolateral membrane in polarized epithelial cells, where it relays information from underlying tissues. Two basolateral sorting signals have been mapped to the cytoplasmic juxtamembrane region of the receptor, a dominant signal comprised of a polyproline core (667-PXXP) and a preceding basic residue (Arg662), and a consensus leucine-based signal (658-LL) responsible for residual sorting when the 667-PXXP signal is absent or defective. The goal of this study was to define the structure of these signals, and gain some insights into how these structures might be regulated by cellular microenvironment. Structural information was acquired for two peptides corresponding to EGF receptor residues Arg645 and Ala674 in aqueous solution or in the presence of membrane-mimicking dodecylphosphocholine micelles, using a variety of NMR and CD spectroscopic methods. Chemical shift data indicate that the 667-PXXP signal does not bind to the micelles and is in random coil state in both aqueous solution and a micellar environment, raising the possibility that 667-PXXP switches to an ordered structure during interaction with the basolateral sorting machinery. In contrast, the adjacent region including 658-LL does bind to micelles mediated by a highly positively charged region located between Arg645 and Arg656. The micelle-bound region also includes Thr654, a known substrate for PKC. This suggests a distinct mode of regulation for this signal involving membrane association and/or phosphorylation.
Employee Empowerment: Solution to a Burgeoning Crisis?

of Geography at the Hazelton Campus of Penn State University. EDUARDO LACERDO RAMOS is with the Escola de Agronomia da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil. some, the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, as well as its transformation in China, may be thought of as vindications of capitalism. In actuality, capitalism also is in crisis. The free market no longer really applies to Western agriculture, which long ago went the way of state protection and subsidized support both in the European Union and the United States. Foundering vanguard American enterprises such as GM and IBM are dismissing workers by the tens of thousands, in order to stay afloat. They are changing CEOs and "restructuring. " But what has been done about their reliance on stocks for capitalization, which thereby virtually renders them slaves to quarterly profits, and inhibits their ability to make those long-term investments that are vital to modern
Optimization of drug cocktail on an integrated microfluidic system

Optimization of drug cocktails has been an important issue for a number of therapies of complicated diseases; however, it is an extremely task using traditional methods. Here we demonstrate a new microfluidic platform capable of automatically dispensing, mixing a small amount of drug combinations, and adding them to the cell cultures such that a precise and fine-tuned drug cocktails may be formed for the subsequent cell-level testing. Our proposed system could decrease manual bias and enhance the throughput of drug cocktail formulation on an automated and minituriazed microfluidic system.
Evaluation and characterization of multiresistant Enterococcus faecium from 12 U.S. medical centers

Forty-two Enterococcus faecium isolates resistant to ampicillin, penicillin, gentamicin, streptomycin, vancomycin, and teicoplanin (VanA phenotype) from 12 U.S. medical centers were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of chromosomal DNA. The isolates were tested for susceptibility to 12 alternative drugs. The results indicated both intrahospital and interhospital diversity among multiresistant vanA enterococcal isolates. Furthermore, the finding of isolates with identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns in different centers strongly suggests some interhospital clonal transmission.
"Day by day, day by day": A study of immigrant women's entrepreneurship and settlement in Halifax, Nova Scotia

viii List of Abbreviations Used . ix Acknowledgements. x Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Overview of Arguments and Findings. 4 1.2 Halifax: A Mid-sized City . 9 1.3 Methodology. 11 1.4 Participant Profiles. 13 1.5 My Social Location as a Researcher. 18 1.6 Chapter Outline. 19 Chapter 2: Concepts, Theory and Literature. 20 2.1 Feminist Perspectives on Work . 20 2.2 Citizenship and Multiculturalism . 23 2.3 Transnationalism. 27 2.4 Theorizing and Modelling Immigrant Entrepreneurship . 30 2.5 Conclusion . 40 Chapter 3: Separation: Making Preliminary Business Decisions . 42 3.1 The Anthropological Roots of Separation . 42 3.2 Separation in the Context of Immigration and Business . 43 3.3 Motivation: An Intimate Starting Point . 47 3.4 A Desire for Engagement and Validation. 50 3.5 Beyond Blocked Mobility and Survival Employment. 51 3.6 The Classed and Gendered Nature of the Food Sector. 57 3.7 Conclusion . 61 Chapter 4: Liminal Lives: Launching a Business, Navigating New Worlds . 63 4.1 The Anthropological Roots of Liminality . 63 4.2 Liminality in the Context of Immigration and Business . 64 4.3 Finding Funding and Managing Money . 66 4.4 Family: A Source of Labour and Support. 71