Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The good, the bad, and the statutory: are statutory or non-statutory natural resource management plans higher in quality?

ABSTRACT Numerous governments around the world have adopted statutory mandates on plan content based on the assumption that they lead to greater consistency and higher quality of plans. While a number of studies have examined the relationship between mandates to develop plans and plan quality, there has been limited study of the influence of state mandates for plan content on plan quality in a regional natural resource management (NRM) planning context. This paper explores the relationship between the quality of regional NRM plans between statutory and non-statutory NRM regions in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. An analysis of 22 regional NRM plans indicates that there is no evidence of a relationship between plan quality and the presence of statutory mandates for regional NRM plans in New South Wales and Queensland. However, the paper identifies and discusses several other factors with unexpected relationships with an impact on the quality of NRM plans in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia.
Environmental surveillance of filamentous fungi in three tertiary care hospitals in Greece.

The environmental fungal load (FL) of three hospitals was studied in representative regions in Greece (Thessalonika, Northern Greece, Athens, Central Greece and Heraklion, Southern Greece). Air, surfaces and tap water from high-risk departments were sampled monthly during one year. Air FL was [median (range)] 10.6 (1.2-37), 5.5 (3-28.8) and 7.7 (3.1-12.1) cfu/m(3) at Thessalonika, Athens and Heraklion, respectively. Air FL was lower in winter and higher in summer and autumn but seldom above acceptable levels. Aspergillus spp. constituted 70.5% of the filamentous fungi isolated. Aspergillus niger was the most prevalent species in the air of all the hospitals followed by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus fumigatus. The least contaminated departments were the intensive care units, whilst most contaminated were the solid organ transplantation in Athens and haematology departments in Thessalonika. No correlation between fungal species, season, hospital or departments was observed. Sixty per cent of all surfaces examined yielded filamentous fungi and/or blastomycetes. While no fungi were recovered from water in Thessalonika and Athens, one-third of the samples in Heraklion (apart from those of ICU) yielded multiple fungal species. The higher air FL in Thessalonika and Athens was recorded in departments located close to renovation works. These findings suggest that the air and surface FL fluctuates over the year, is due to varying fungal species, but does not differ greatly among hospitals. The variation among hospitals, as well as the role of hospital water fungal contamination and appropriate measures to eliminate it, need further study.
Value of ER-D5 Immunocytochemical Determination in Routine Tissue Sections of Human Breast Cancer

ER-D5 is a recently identified protein related to estrogen receptors (ER). Generally ER measurement requires fresh frozen tissue and for ER-D5 assay ethanol (E) fixation of the specimen is recommended. We evaluated the possibility of immunocytochemical detection of ER-D5 in routine formalin-fixed (F) sections in 51 breast cancers comparing the results with those obtained in the same specimens using E as fixative. The results of ER-D5 assay were expressed by the staining index (SI) taking values ≥5 as positive. In all tumors ER was also assayed by a biochemical method (DCCA). The sensitivity of ER-D5 detection in F was only 33.3%, while the specificity was 94.4%. A lower cut-off value of SI for F sections (≥2) increased the sensitivity to 66.6%, leaving the specificity unchanged. A strong correlation was found between the SI of ER-D5 in E and F (p<0.001). The SI of ER-D5 in F sections was also well correlated with ER concentrations (p<0.001). These results suggest that immunocytochemical determination of ER-D5 in routine sections may be useful in retrospective studies of hormone dependence in breast cancer.
What is the Role of Innovation Strategies? Evidence from Spanish Firms

This paper discusses the determinants of two alternative measures of innovative success/output by looking at firm’s innovation strategies. These relationships are also discussed by distinguishing between firms belonging to manufacturing and services sectors.Our econometric analysis is based on an extensive sample of 3,919 firms taken from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for the period 2008–2012. Alongside the empirical analysis we applied a two-step procedure. We first identified a diverse range of innovation strategies by applying a principal component analysis (absence, mixed and oriented). Then, after controlling for positive skewness of the dependent variables, we used a generalized linear model (GLM) to examine the impact of these strategies. Our empirical results have some interesting aspects. Firstly, firms that do not design innovation strategies have a lower probability of being a successful innovative firm. Secondly, firms that design a strategy, but one that is not oriented on any specific direction, are prone to achieving lower success rates than firms with an oriented strategy. Finally, the results also show that there is a good fit between the oriented strategy pursued by a firm and its innovation success.
A transcriptional coregulator, SPIN·DOC, attenuates the coactivator activity of Spindlin1

Spindlin1 (SPIN1) is a transcriptional coactivator with critical functions in embryonic development and emerging roles in cancer. SPIN1 harbors three Tudor domains, two of which engage the tail of histone H3 by reading the H3–Lys-4 trimethylation and H3–Arg-8 asymmetric dimethylation marks. To gain mechanistic insight into how SPIN1 functions as a transcriptional coactivator, here we purified its interacting proteins. We identified an uncharacterized protein (C11orf84), which we renamed SPIN1 docking protein (SPIN·DOC), that directly binds SPIN1 and strongly disrupts its histone methylation reading ability, causing it to disassociate from chromatin. The Spindlin family of coactivators has five related members (SPIN1, 2A, 2B, 3, and 4), and we found that all of them bind SPIN·DOC. It has been reported previously that SPIN1 regulates gene expression in the Wnt signaling pathway by directly interacting with transcription factor 4 (TCF4). We observed here that SPIN·DOC associates with TCF4 in a SPIN1-dependent manner and dampens SPIN1 coactivator activity in TOPflash reporter assays. Furthermore, knockdown and overexpression experiments indicated that SPIN·DOC represses the expression of a number of SPIN1-regulated genes, including those encoding ribosomal RNA and the cytokine IL1B. In conclusion, we have identified SPIN·DOC as a transcriptional repressor that binds SPIN1 and masks its ability to engage the H3–Lys-4 trimethylation activation mark.
A History and Review of Quantitative Electroencephalography in Traumatic Brain Injury

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a physiologic measure of cerebral function that has been used by some to assess coma and prognosticate survival and global outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Surface recordings of the brain's electrical activity reveal distinct patterns that indicate injury severity, depth of unconsciousness, and patient survival. The data produced with traditional qualitative studies, however, does not allow resolution and quantification of the wave frequency spectrum present in the brain. As a result, conventional EEG typically has only been used for gross and qualitative analyses and is not practical for use in long-term patient monitoring or as a sophisticated prognostic tool. One area of investigation that is working to address the limitations of conventional EEG has been the development and implementation of Fourier Transform (FT) EEG which resolves and quantifies frequency bands present in the brain. When FT analysis is applied to EEG, it provides concurrent and continuous monitoring, resolution, and quantification of all frequencies emitted. This review discusses the history and significance of conventional EEG and provides a review of how FT-EEG, commonly referred to as Quantitative EEG (QEEG), is being used in the clinical setting. The specific applications and significance of QEEG methods regarding treatment of patients with TBI are discussed in detail. The advantages, disadvantages, and future directions of QEEG in TBI are also discussed.
The Micro-Foundations of an Open Economy Money Demand: An Application to the Central and Eastern European Countries

This paper investigates and compares currency substitution between the currencies of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and the euro. In addition, we develop a model with microeconomic foundations, which identifies difference between currency substitution and money demand sensitivity to exchange rate variations. More precisely, we posit that currency substitution relates to money demand sensitivity to the interest rate spread between the CEE countries and the euro area. Moreover, we show how the exchange rate affects money demand, even absent a currency substitution effect. This model applies to any country where an international currency offers liquidity services to domestic agents. The model generates empirical tests of long-run money demand using two complementary cointegrating equations. The opportunity cost of holding the money and the scale variable, either household consumption or output, explain the long-run money demand in CEE countries.
The Inhibitory G Protein &agr;-Subunit, G&agr;z, Promotes Type 1 Diabetes-Like Pathophysiology in NOD Mice

The α-subunit of the heterotrimeric Gz protein, Gαz, promotes β-cell death and inhibits β-cell replication when pancreatic islets are challenged by stressors. Thus, we hypothesized that loss of Gαz protein would preserve functional β-cell mass in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) model, protecting from overt diabetes. We saw that protection from diabetes was robust and durable up to 35 weeks of age in Gαz knockout mice. By 17 weeks of age, Gαz-null NOD mice had significantly higher diabetes-free survival than wild-type littermates. Islets from these mice had reduced markers of proinflammatory immune cell infiltration on both the histological and transcript levels and secreted more insulin in response to glucose. Further analyses of pancreas sections revealed significantly fewer terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)-positive β-cells in Gαz-null islets despite similar immune infiltration in control mice. Islets from Gαz-null mice also exhibited a higher percentage of Ki-67-positive β-cells, a measure of proliferation, even in the presence of immune infiltration. Finally, β-cell-specific Gαz-null mice phenocopy whole-body Gαz-null mice in their protection from developing hyperglycemia after streptozotocin administration, supporting a β-cell-centric role for Gαz in diabetes pathophysiology. We propose that Gαz plays a key role in β-cell signaling that becomes dysfunctional in the type 1 diabetes setting, accelerating the death of β-cells, which promotes further accumulation of immune cells in the pancreatic islets, and inhibiting a restorative proliferative response.
Electrochemical detection and quantification of the acetylated and deacetylated C8-deoxyguanosine DNA adducts induced by 2-acetylaminofluorene.

The genotoxic agent 2-acetylaminofluorene induces, upon metabolic activation, two main types of DNA adducts in animal tissue, i.e., (deoxyguanine-8-yl)-aminofluorene (dG-C8-AF) and N-(deoxyguanine-8-yl)-acetylaminofluorene (dG-C8-AAF). Quantification of the frequency of these adducts usually relies on the use of radioactively labeled 2-acetylaminofluorene. Here, we report the development of a sensitive, non-radioactive method for the quantification of dG-C8-AF and dG-C8-AAF. Essentially, the modified DNA bases are separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and quantified by electrochemical detection. We established that both modified bases guanine-C8-aminofluorene and guanine-C8-acetylaminofluorene are electrochemically active. Subsequently, a procedure was developed to quantify dG-C8-AF and dG-C8-AAF in genomic DNA. Following DNA hydrolysis the adducted bases were extracted by ethyl acetate, separated by HPLC, and detected electrochemically. This procedure has been applied in the analysis of dG-C8-AAF in N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene-modified calf thymus DNA and in the detection of dG-C8-AAF and dG-C8-AF in liver DNA of mice injected intraperitoneally with 150-450 mg N-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene/kg. The quantification of relatively low dG-C8-AF and dG-C8-AAF adduct levels (i.e., 0.1-1 adduct/10(6) nucleotides) in mouse liver DNA demonstrates the sensitivity of this electrochemical detection procedure. The detection limit of the method is 1 adduct per 10(6) nucleotides for both adducts using 20 micrograms of DNA and 4 adducts per 10(8) nucleotides using 500 micrograms DNA.
Danish reading span data from 283 hearing-aid users, including a sub-group analysis of their relationship to speech-in-noise performance

Abstract Objective: This study provides descriptive statistics of the Danish reading span (RS) test for hearing-impaired adults. The combined effect of hearing loss, RS score, and age on speech-in-noise performance in different spatial settings was evaluated in a subset of participants. Design: Data from published and unpublished studies were re-analysed. Data regarding speech-in-noise performance with co-located or spatially separated sound sources were available for a subset of participants. Study sample: RS scores from 283 hearing-impaired participants were extracted from past studies, and 239 of these participants had completed a speech-in-noise test. Results: RS scores (mean = 41.91%, standard deviation = 11.29%) were related to age (p <0.01), but not pure-tone average (PTA) (p = 0.29). Speech-in-noise performance for co-located sound sources was related to PTA and RS score (both p < 0.01, adjusted R-squared = 0.226). Performance for spatially separated sounds was related to PTA (p < 0.01, adjusted R-squared = 0.10) but not RS score (p = 0.484). We found no differences between the standardized coefficients of the two regression models. Conclusions: The distribution of RS scores indicated a high test difficulty. We found that age should be controlled when RS scores are compared across populations. The experimental setup of the speech-in-noise test may influence the relationship between performance and RS score.
Changing threshold for AIS scores of thoracolumbar compression fractures

ABSTRACT Background: The Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) is an anatomical-based coding system created by the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, utilized to classify and code injuries resulting from trauma, in order of severity. According to the latest version, all Thoraco-Lumbar Compression Fractures (TLCF), even without injury to other spine components and with >20% loss of height, were branded AIS 3 injuries, reflecting a serious threat to life or permanent disability. Advances in spine imaging, recent biomechanical studies, and long-term outcomes research offer the opportunity to consider these injuries differently. Objective: To re-evaluate the percent compression threshold of TLCF of the spine from motor vehicle crashes (MVC) for serious risk to life identified as surgical treatment, delineating a reliable cut-off for fracture severity and morbidity. Little national data considers degree of compression and provides adequate followup imaging to determine degree of compression, justifying this effort. Methods: Charts and radiographs of patients admitted to our institution due to vehicle crashes with isolated (vertebral body only) TLCF between 2008 and 2015 were reviewed. Data were collected on degree of compression, treatment, and long-term outcomes to determine the threshold of permanent injury. Vertebral bodies at the level of fracture were measured both anteriorly and posteriorly, and compared to adjacent segments; percentage compression was calculated. Results: 1470 patient records with diagnoses of spine trauma were reviewed; 695 isolated compression fractures were identified, of which 194 were in vehicle crashes and had adequate imaging and follow-up. Ages ranged from 19 to 82, with a male: female ratio of 60:40. No patient with vertebral body compression of less than 30% underwent surgery unless presenting with a neurological deficit. All 22 surgical patients demonstrated significant retropulsion of bone into the spinal canal. Five surgical patients suffered eight complications; there were no adverse outcomes in the nonsurgical group. Conclusions: These results are consistent with evolving clinical thinking, resulting in decreasing surgical incidence and orthosis use. Our data strongly suggests that isolated compression fractures in the absence of neurologic deficit or severe cord compression due to retropulsed bone are self-limiting. Therefore, the AIS scores for these common injuries could be reconsidered and reflect their relatively benign outlook.
Population Structuring of Glossina palpalis gambiensis (Diptera: Glossinidae) According to Landscape Fragmentation in the Mouhoun River, Burkina Faso

Abstract The impact of landscape fragmentation due to human and climatic mediated factors on the structure of a population of Glossina palpalis gambiensis Vanderplank (Diptera: Glossinidae) was investigated in the Mouhoun river basin, Burkina Faso. Allele frequencies at five microsatellite loci, and metric properties based on 11 wing landmarks, were compared between four populations. The populations originated from the Mouhoun river and one of its tributaries. The average distance between samples was 72 km with the two most widely spaced populations being 216 km apart. The sampling points traversed an ecological cline in terms of rainfall and riverine forest ecotype, along a river enlarging from downstream to upstream and oriented south to north. Microsatellite DNA comparison demonstrated structuring between the populations, but not complete isolation, with an overall Fst = 0.012 (P < 0.001). Wing geometry revealed significant centroid size and shape differences between populations, especially between the two most distant populations. There was no significant correlation between gene flow and geographic distance at this scale, but there was a positive correlation in females between metric distances (wing shape differences) and geographic distances that might be attributed to the cline of environmental conditions. The impact of the fragmentation of riparian landscapes on tsetse population structure is discussed in the context of control campaigns currently promoted by Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomosis Eradication Campaign.
Comparison of optical and electrical measurement techniques for CD metrology on alternating aperture phase-shifting masks

This paper presents a comparison of optical and electrical techniques for critical dimension (CD) metrology on binary and alternating aperture phase shifting masks. For the first time, measurements obtained from on-mask electrical CD structures are compared with optical measurements made using a deep ultra-violet (DUV) mask metrology system. Initial results show that the presence of alternating phase shifting trenches between the chrome blocking features has a detrimental effect on the optical measurements. In addition the optical metrology system appears to have problems with the measurement of the narrowest isolated features due to calibration related issues. Electrical CD measurements are seen as a way of probing the limits of optical tool calibration, and for highlighting and managing the need to extend the complexity of the calibration schedule.
Reduced Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Serum Concentrations in Acute Schizophrenic Patients Increase During Antipsychotic Treatment

Introduction: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is not only involved in the development, differentiation, and survival of dopaminergic neurons; it also regulates fast neurotransmission and neuronal activity. Methods: In this study, 22 patients with acute schizophrenia and 22 age-matched healthy volunteers were recruited, and BDNF serum concentrations were measured in unmedicated patients and after 2 weeks and 4 weeks of medication. Results: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor serum levels of unmedicated schizophrenic patients (n = 22; 4.38 ± 2.1 ng/mL) were significantly decreased compared to the age-matched healthy volunteers (n = 44, df = 42, P = 0.029). In a mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance, a significant BDNF increase has been found during treatment (&khgr;2 = 2.91; df = 1; P < 0.0001). The percental change of BDNF (increase, 173% ± 110) correlated negatively with the percental change of PANSS score (decrease: 75% ± 22; n = 18; r = −0.554; P = 0.032). Conclusions: Our study replicates studies showing that unmedicated patients with schizophrenia have decreased serum BDNF levels compared with healthy controls. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor increase during treatment seems to parallel positive and negative symptom improvement.
Can STEM education take advantage of massively multiplayers online competitions?

Collaborative learning can provide remarkable support to the efficacy of teaching Science, Technologies, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Collaboration, indeed, is essential to reinforce the interaction among learners and to foster active learning and comprehension construction in the student. In the social setting of a collaborative learning experience the learner interacts directly with the instructor and with the other actors, and these interactions can guide interpretation and construction of concepts. To test these assumptions on the field, in 2008 we created a platform and a format for Massive Multiplayer Online Competitions (MMOCs), able to support large groups of students (25 to 250 teams with 500 to 10.000 players at a time). In the last five years the platform has been used in 2 national editions of MatematiCup and 5 editions of EcologicaCup, for the Italian secondary schools. MatematiCup and EcologicaCup have the primary objective to encourage young people's interest in mathematics and sciences, to experience how to participate in the network, to propose new solutions to the logistical problems associated to large students' competitions, to spread the use of new technologies and to analyze a new form of collaborative and participatory Internet. The paper describes the proposed format and the main results of this experience.