Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tomato juice protects the lungs of the offspring of female rats exposed to nicotine during gestation and lactation

Maternal nicotine exposure during gestation and lactation adversely affects lung development in the offspring. It has been suggested that the “program” that control long‐term maintenance of the structural integrity of the lung may be compromised. The aim of the study was to study the long‐term effect of maternal nicotine exposure on the structural integrity of the lungs of the offspring, and secondly to determine whether supplementing the mother's diet with tomato juice, as a rich source of antioxidants such as lycopene, will prevent the effects of nicotine on the lungs of the offspring. Wistar rats were used in the study. After mating the rats were randomly divided into three groups. One group received nicotine (1 mg/kg body weight/day); a second group received tomato juice; and a third group received nicotine and tomato juice. The controls receive saline. Morphological and morphometric techniques were used to evaluate changes in the lung structure of the offspring at postnatal days 21, 42, 63, and 84. Neither nicotine nor tomato juice had any effect on the growth of the offspring. Although maternal nicotine exposure during gestation and lactation had no effect on the lung parenchyma of the offspring up to weaning, deterioration, and other structural changes started to appear around postnatal day 42, that is, 3 weeks after weaning and thus the onset of nicotine withdrawal. Microscopic emphysema was apparent at postnatal day 42, the increase in male and female lung volume from postnatal day 63 and thickening of the alveolar walls at postnatal day 84. All these nicotine‐induced structural changes were prevented by supplementing the mother's diet with tomato juice. Pediatr. Pulmonol. 2011; 46:976–986. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Manganese‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for in vivo assessment of damage and functional improvement following spinal cord injury in mice

In past decades, much effort has been invested in developing therapies for spinal injuries. Lack of standardization of clinical read‐out measures, however, makes direct comparison of experimental therapies difficult. Damage and therapeutic effects in vivo are routinely evaluated using rather subjective behavioral tests. Here we show that manganese‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI) can be used to examine the extent of damage following spinal cord injury (SCI) in mice in vivo. Injection of MnCl2 solution into the cerebrospinal fluid leads to manganese uptake into the spinal cord. Furthermore, after injury MEMRI‐derived quantitative measures correlate closely with clinical locomotor scores. Improved locomotion due to treating the detrimental effects of SCI with an established therapy (neutralization of CD95Ligand) is reflected in an increase of manganese uptake into the injured spinal cord. Therefore, we demonstrate that MEMRI is a sensitive and objective tool for in vivo visualization and quantification of damage and functional improvement after SCI. Thus, MEMRI can serve as a reproducible surrogate measure of the clinical status of the spinal cord in mice, potentially becoming a standard approach for evaluating experimental therapies. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Relationship between bone mineral density changes with denosumab treatment and risk reduction for vertebral and nonvertebral fractures

Dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometric bone mineral density (DXA BMD) is a strong predictor of fracture risk in untreated patients. However, previous patient‐level studies suggest that BMD changes explain little of the fracture risk reduction observed with osteoporosis treatment. We investigated the relevance of DXA BMD changes as a predictor for fracture risk reduction using data from the FREEDOM trial, which randomly assigned placebo or denosumab 60 mg every 6 months to 7808 women aged 60 to 90 years with a spine or total hip BMD T‐score < −2.5 and not < −4.0. We took a standard approach to estimate the percent of treatment effect explained using percent changes in BMD at a single visit (months 12, 24, or 36). We also applied a novel approach using estimated percent changes in BMD from baseline at the time of fracture occurrence (time‐dependent models). Denosumab significantly increased total hip BMD by 3.2%, 4.4%, and 5.0% at 12, 24, and 36 months, respectively. Denosumab decreased the risk of new vertebral fractures by 68% (p < 0.0001) and nonvertebral fracture by 20% (p = 0.01) over 36 months. Regardless of the method used, the change in total hip BMD explained a considerable proportion of the effect of denosumab in reducing new or worsening vertebral fracture risk (35% [95% confidence interval (CI): 20%–61%] and 51% [95% CI: 39%–66%] accounted for by percent change at month 36 and change in time‐dependent BMD, respectively) and explained a considerable amount of the reduction in nonvertebral fracture risk (87% [95% CI: 35% – >100%] and 72% [95% CI: 24% – >100%], respectively). Previous patient‐level studies may have underestimated the strength of the relationship between BMD change and the effect of treatment on fracture risk or this relationship may be unique to denosumab. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
TFP: an efficient algorithm for mining top-k frequent closed itemsets

Frequent itemset mining has been studied extensively in literature. Most previous studies require the specification of a min/spl I.bar/support threshold and aim at mining a complete set of frequent itemsets satisfying min/spl I.bar/support. However, in practice, it is difficult for users to provide an appropriate min/spl I.bar/support threshold. In addition, a complete set of frequent itemsets is much less compact than a set of frequent closed itemsets. In this paper, we propose an alternative mining task: mining top-k frequent closed itemsets of length no less than min/spl I.bar/l, where k is the desired number of frequent closed itemsets to be mined, and min/spl I.bar/l is the minimal length of each itemset. An efficient algorithm, called TFP, is developed for mining such itemsets without mins/spl I.bar/support. Starting at min/spl I.bar/support = 0 and by making use of the length constraint and the properties of top-k frequent closed itemsets, min/spl I.bar/support can be raised effectively and FP-Tree can be pruned dynamically both during and after the construction of the tree using our two proposed methods: the closed node count and descendant/spl I.bar/sum. Moreover, mining is further speeded up by employing a top-down and bottom-up combined FP-Tree traversing strategy, a set of search space pruning methods, a fast 2-level hash-indexed result tree, and a novel closed itemset verification scheme. Our extensive performance study shows that TFP has high performance and linear scalability in terms of the database size.
Role of Working Memory in Children's Understanding Spoken Narrative: A Preliminary Investigation.

The role of phonological short-term memory (PSTM), attentional resource capacity/allocation, and processing speed on children's spoken narrative comprehension was investigated. Sixty-seven children (6–11 years) completed a digit span task (PSTM), concurrent verbal processing and storage (CPS) task (resource capacity/allocation), auditory–visual reaction time (AVRT) task (processing speed), and the Test of Narrative Language. Correlation and regression analyses examined the association between the memory variables and comprehension. The main findings were (a) CPS and AVRT correlated with comprehension and (b) after accounting for age, CPS accounted for a significant 7.9% of unique variance and AVRT accounted for another significant 5.2%. The results indicate that resource capacity/allocation and processing speed are important to children's ability to understand spoken narrative.
Sexism, Personality, Psychopathology, and Leisure Activities in Colombian Adolescents: Differences as a Function of the Level of Development of the City of Residence

The purpose of the study was to analyze the differences between the adolescents from two Colombian cities (Barranquilla and Bogota), with different levels of development, in sexism, personality traits, social competences, psychopathological symptoms, and leisure activities. The 87 Sexismo, personalidad, psicopatologia y actividades de tiempo libre en adolescentes colombianos: Diferencias en funcion del nivel de desarrollo de la ciudad de residencia Psicologia desde el Caribe. Universidad del Norte. No 27: 85-111, 2011 sample comprised 846 Colombian adolescents, aged 14 to 16 years, 51.7% from Barranquilla and 48.3% from Bogota (59.3% male; 40.7% female). Seven assessment instruments, with guarantees of reliability and validity, were administered, using a cross-sectional, descriptive, and comparative research design. The results of the analyses (MANOVA, t-test) confirmed that: 1) The adolescents from both cities had similar levels of hostile sexism and neosexism, but in benevolent and ambivalent sexism and in sexual role ideology, the adolescents from Barranquilla scored significantly higher; 2) The adolescents from Barranquilla obtained significantly higher scores in self-concept, extraversion, agreeableness, responsibility, behaviors of social sensitivity, helpcollaboration, and firmness in interaction and prosocial leadership; whereas the adolescents from Bogota scored significantly higher in neuroticism, aggressive behaviors, anxiety-shyness, and the global index of psychopathological symptoms; and 3) In their free time, Colombian adolescents usually perform social and sports activities and, to a lesser degree, artistic activities, and few intellectual activities; although the adolescents from Bogota carried out more sports activities than those from Barranquilla, there were no differences in the rest of the activities. Although they were more sexist, the adolescents from Barranquilla had a more adaptive personality and social behavior profile, and fewer psychopathological symptoms than those from Bogota. The implicit influence of culture in personality and psychopathological patterns is discussed.
POLYTICS: Provenance-Based Analytics of Data-Centric Applications

We consider in this demonstration the analysis of complex data-intensive applications. We focus on three classes of analytical questions that are important for application owners and users alike: Why was a result obtained? What would be the result if the application logic or database is modified in a particular way? How can one interact with the application to achieve a particular goal? Answering these questions efficiently is a fundamental step towards optimizing the application and its use. Noting that provenance was a key component in answering similar questions in the context of database queries, we have developed POLYTICS, a system that employs novel provenance-based solutions for these analytic questions for data-centric applications. We propose to demonstrate POLYTICS using an online bicycle shop application as an example, letting participants play the role of both analysts and users.
An LDPC decoding method for fault-tolerant digital logic

A decoding algorithm and logic implementation is proposed for fast, low-complexity error correction in environments with a high rate of transient faults as well as hard errors. The circuit is able to correct a single error in one clock cycle, making it suitable for mitigating faults in pipelined digital logic systems. The proposed method is also resilient against internal transient gate errors that may occur within the decoder itself. In the presence of a high input error rate (0.001) and high internal gate fault rate (10-5), the new decoding algorithm is able to reduce the error probability by two orders of magnitude. An asynchronous implementation is also presented for the new algorithm, which performs iterative error-correction with reduced latency compared to synchronous algorithms.
Detecting Online Firestorms in Social Media

As social media has increased the reach and speed of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), so it has intensified customers' exposure to negative eWOM. Consequently, companies increasingly suffer from massive outbursts of negative eWOM, known as online firestorms. Because of their dynamics, it is nearly impossible to stop online firestorms if their emergence is not detected promptly. However, well-founded approaches that provide automated, real-time detection are missing. We design an Online Firestorm Detector that includes an algorithm inspired by epidemiological surveillance systems. Real-world data from a firestorm suffered by Coca-Cola is used to prove the utility and validity of the proposed approach. We show that online firestorms can be reliably detected shortly after the first piece of related negative eWOM has been generated, and that the number of false alarms is low. A comparison with competing artifacts shows that the Online Firestorm Detector is superior to approaches that could be alternatively used.
Environmental effects in the performance of daily tasks in healthy adults.

OBJECTIVE We examined the effect of switching from a familiar to an unfamiliar setting on household task performance in healthy adults. We also examined the influence of the cognitive functions abstract reasoning and memory on the ability to adapt to different environments. METHOD Thirty healthy adults were observed in two different settings while they performed two daily tasks. We evaluated process skill abilities in task performance, time needed to perform each task, memory functioning, and abstract reasoning. RESULTS Performance of both tasks required significantly more time in the unfamiliar kitchen. Scores on process skill abilities were significantly lower in the unfamiliar kitchen. We found no associations between environmental effects and abstract reasoning or memory. CONCLUSION We found environmental effects on task performance in healthy adults. These findings have important implications for rehabilitation practice. Addressing facilitation of transfer of training effects to familiar environments is of great importance to rehabilitation programs.
Letters, Imagined Communities, and Literate Identities: Perspectives from Rural Ugandan Women

Historically, letter reading and writing have been pervasive across human societies, cultures, and communities (Barton & Hall, 2000). Like all literate activities, it derives its meaning and significance from how it is situated within cultural beliefs, values, and practices. Despite its prevalence, however, little is known about the meanings and uses of letter reading and writing in diverse cultural contexts. The purpose of this article is to examine the desire to independently read and write letters as a rationale for rural Ugandan women to join an adult literacy program. Drawing on sociocultural theories, and in particular, the frameworks of a literacy ecology of communities, communities of practice, and imagined communities, the authors use ethnographic techniques to explore the role of letter reading and writing in the lives of 15 women participating in an adult literacy program in 1 rural Ugandan community. The authors argue that letter reading and writing practices, personhood, and identity are intertwined within an imagined community to which these women hope to belong, and these imagined communities may play a critical role in their success in adult literacy programs.
Solitary Bone Plasmacytoma Progressing into Retroperitoneal Plasma Cell Myeloma with No Related End Organ or Tissue Impairment: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Solitary bone plasmacytomas and plasma cell myeloma are clonal proliferations of plasma cells. Many patients with solitary bone plasmacytomas develop plasma cell myeloma on follow-up. We present a case of a 70-year-old man who presented with fracture and a lytic lesion in the subtrochanteric region of the left femur and was assigned a diagnosis of solitary bone plasmacytoma. He received local curative radiotherapy. However, 4 months later his serum M protein and β2-microglobulin levels increased to 2.31 g/dL and 5.965 mg/L, respectively. He complained of abdominal fullness and constipation. Ultrasound and non-contrast CT imaging revealed multiple retroperitoneal masses. Colonoscopic examination was normal. Biopsy of the a retroperitoneal mass confirmed it to be a plasmacytoma. Repeat hemogram, blood urea, serum creatinine, skeletal survey, and bone marrow examination revealed no abnormalities. This is an unusual presentation of plasma cell myeloma, which manifested as multiple huge extramedullary retroperitoneal masses and arose from a solitary bone plasmacytoma, without related end organ or tissue impairment and bone marrow plasmacytosis. The patient succumbed to his disease 8 months after the appearance of the retroperitoneal masses. This case highlights the importance of close monitoring of patients diagnosed with solitary bone plasmacytoma with increased serum M protein and serum β2-microglobulin levels, so that early therapy can be instituted to prevent conversion to plasma cell myeloma.
Mentoring in social work: key findings from a women's community-based mentoring program

Based on a social intervention research study into mentoring with women from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, this study considers some of the key differences between traditional workplace and community-based mentoring when used as a social work intervention. The study involved 18 women who participated in a preparation-for-mentoring groupwork program for 12 months. Eleven of these participants were then matched with a mentor and supported in this relationship for a further 12 months. Qualitative analysis points to three key factors likely to enhance the success of community-based mentoring relationships: (i) relational qualities, such as trust, engagement, and authenticity; (ii) mentees' readiness for change and ability to overcome adversity; and (iii) mentors' practical assistance with tasks and overcoming obstacles. Social workers implementing a community-based mentoring program need to be mindful of the importance of these factors in order to ensure that mentees are supported to engage effectively in any mentoring relationship and overcome structural, community, and familial barriers that may adversely affect them.
Improving performance of ACO algorithms using crossover mechanism based on mean of pheromone tables

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) Algorithms have been used to solve many optimization problems in various fields and several algorithms have been proposed based on ACO metaheuristic in the literature. This paper proposes a simple crossover mechanism based on mean of pheromone tables for ACO algorithms. Main purpose of the crossover operation is to produce solutions or individuals having greater performance than their parents by selecting useful parts. Original ACO Algorithms don't have crossover. Method that we developed employs more than one ant colonies and also solutions. Suitable low-cost average based operations are then applied to pheromone tables obtained after several iterations as crossover operator. Algorithm is tested on Traveling Salesman Problem using some benchmark problems from TSPLIB and results are presented. Our experiments and comparisons show that crossover mechanism improves the performance of ACO Algorithms.
SAT-based optimal hypergraph partitioning with replication

We propose a methodology for optimal k-way partitioning with replication of directed hypergraphs via Boolean satisfiability. We begin by leveraging the power of existing and emerging SAT solvers to attack traditional logic bipartitioning and show good scaling behavior. We continue to present the first optimal partitioning results that admit generation and assignment of replicated nodes concurrently. Our framework is general enough that we also give the first published optimal results for partitioning with respect to the maximum subdomain degree metric and the sum of external degrees metric. We show that for the bipartitioning case we can feasibly solve problems of up to 150 nodes with simultaneous replication in hundreds of seconds. For other partitioning metrics, we are able to solve problems up to 40 nodes in hundreds of seconds
AmtR, a global repressor in the nitrogen regulation system of Corynebacterium glutamicum

The uptake and assimilation of nitrogen sources is effectively regulated in bacteria. In the Gram‐negative enterobacterium Escherichia coli, the NtrB/C two‐component system is responsible for the activation of transcription of different enzymes and transporters, depending on the nitrogen status of the cell. In this study, we investigated regulation of ammonium uptake in Corynebacterium glutamicum, a Gram‐positive soil bacterium closely related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As shown by Northern blot hybridizations, regulation occurs on the level of transcription upon nitrogen starvation. In contrast to enterobacteria, a repressor protein is involved in regulation, as revealed by measurements of methylammonium uptake and β‐galactosidase activity in reporter strains. The repressor‐encoding gene, designated amtR, was isolated and sequenced. Deletion of amtR led to deregulation of transcription of amt coding for the C. glutamicum (methyl)ammonium uptake system. E. coli extracts from amtR‐expressing cells were applied in gel retardation experiments, and binding of AmtR to the amt upstream region was observed. By deletion analyses, a target motif for AmtR binding was identified, and binding of purified AmtR protein to this motif, ATCTATAGN1−4ATAG, was shown. Furthermore, the binding of AmtR to this sequence was proven in vivo using a yeast one‐hybrid system. Subsequent studies showed that AmtR not only regulates transcription of the amt gene but also of the amtB–glnK–glnD operon encoding an amt paralogue, the signal transduction protein PII and the uridylyltransferase/uridylyl‐removing enzyme, key components of the nitrogen regulatory cascade. In summary, regulation of ammonium uptake and assimilation in the high G+C content Gram‐positive bacterium C. glutamicum differs significantly from the mechanism found in the low G+C content Gram‐positive model organism Bacillus subtilis and from the paradigm of nitrogen control in the Gram‐negative enterobacteria.
Combinatorial Software Testing

Combinatorial testing can detect hard-to-find software faults more efficiently than manual test case selection methods. While the most basic form of combinatorial testing-pairwise-is well established, and adoption by software testing practitioners continues to increase, industry usage of these methods remains patchy at best. However, the additional training required is well worth the effort.
Biological activities and chemical composition of purified tracheal cytotoxin of Bordetella pertussis

Specific destruction of ciliated epithelial cells lining the large airways is the primary respiratory tract cytopathology associated with human Bordetella pertussis infections. We have purified a single low-molecular-weight glycopeptide, tracheal cytotoxin (TCT), that appears to cause this pathology. By using a combination of solid-phase extraction and reversed-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography, about 700 nmol of biologically active peptide can be isolated from 1 liter of B. pertussis culture supernatant (approximately 60% yield). TCT at concentrations of 1 microM destroyed the ciliated cell population when incubated with respiratory epithelium in vitro. This concentration of TCT is similar to the concentrations found in the culture supernatant of growing B. pertussis. Purified TCT also inhibited DNA synthesis of hamster trachea epithelial cells in a quantitative, dose-dependent fashion. Endotoxin was not detected in the purified material, and neither B. pertussis nor Escherichia coli endotoxin could duplicate the biological activities of TCT. Amino acid and amino sugar analyses of purified TCT revealed the presence of glucosamine, muramic acid, alanine, glutamic acid, and diaminopimelic acid in molar ratios of 1:1:2:1:1. This suggests that TCT, the released ciliostatic principle of B. pertussis, is a disaccharide tetrapeptide subunit of peptidoglycan.