Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Breeding Phenology of Birds: Mechanisms Underlying Seasonal Declines in the Risk of Nest Predation

Seasonal declines in avian clutch size are well documented, but seasonal variation in other reproductive parameters has received less attention. For example, the probability of complete brood mortality typically explains much of the variation in reproductive success and often varies seasonally, but we know little about the underlying cause of that variation. This oversight is surprising given that nest predation influences many other life-history traits and varies throughout the breeding season in many songbirds. To determine the underlying causes of observed seasonal decreases in risk of nest predation, we modeled nest predation of Dusky Flycatchers (Empidonax oberholseri) in northern California as a function of foliage phenology, energetic demand, developmental stage, conspecific nest density, food availability for nest predators, and nest predator abundance. Seasonal variation in the risk of nest predation was not associated with seasonal changes in energetic demand, conspecific nest density, or predator abundance. Instead, seasonal variation in the risk of nest predation was associated with foliage density (early, but not late, in the breeding season) and seasonal changes in food available to nest predators. Supplemental food provided to nest predators resulted in a numerical response by nest predators, increasing the risk of nest predation at nests that were near supplemental feeders. Our results suggest that seasonal changes in foliage density and factors associated with changes in food availability for nest predators are important drivers of temporal patterns in risk of avian nest predation.
Edible Polymers: Challenges and Opportunities

Edible polymers have established substantial deliberation in modern eons because of their benefits comprising use as edible materials over synthetic polymers. This could contribute to the reduction of environmental contamination. Edible polymers can practically diminish the complexity and thus improve the recyclability of materials, compared to the more traditional non-environmentally friendly materials and may be able to substitute such synthetic polymers. A synthetic hydrogel polymer unlocked a new possibility for development of films, coatings, extrudable pellets, and synthetic nanopolymers, particularly designed for medical, agricultural, and industrial fields. Edible polymers offer many advantages for delivering drugs and tissue engineering. Edible polymer technology helps food industries to make their products more attractive and safe to use. Novel edible materials have been derived from many natural sources that have conventionally been regarded as discarded materials. The objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive introduction to edible polymers by providing descriptions in terms of their origin, properties, and potential uses.
Methods, Tools and Current Perspectives in Proteogenomics *

With combined technological advancements in high-throughput next-generation sequencing and deep mass spectrometry-based proteomics, proteogenomics, i.e. the integrative analysis of proteomic and genomic data, has emerged as a new research field. Early efforts in the field were focused on improving protein identification using sample-specific genomic and transcriptomic sequencing data. More recently, integrative analysis of quantitative measurements from genomic and proteomic studies have identified novel insights into gene expression regulation, cell signaling, and disease. Many methods and tools have been developed or adapted to enable an array of integrative proteogenomic approaches and in this article, we systematically classify published methods and tools into four major categories, (1) Sequence-centric proteogenomics; (2) Analysis of proteogenomic relationships; (3) Integrative modeling of proteogenomic data; and (4) Data sharing and visualization. We provide a comprehensive review of methods and available tools in each category and highlight their typical applications.
GTM‐Based QSAR Models and Their Applicability Domains

In this paper we demonstrate that Generative Topographic Mapping (GTM), a machine learning method traditionally used for data visualisation, can be efficiently applied to QSAR modelling using probability distribution functions (PDF) computed in the latent 2‐dimensional space. Several different scenarios of the activity assessment were considered: (i) the “activity landscape” approach based on direct use of PDF, (ii) QSAR models involving GTM‐generated on descriptors derived from PDF, and, (iii) the k‐Nearest Neighbours approach in 2D latent space. Benchmarking calculations were performed on five different datasets: stability constants of metal cations Ca2+, Gd3+ and Lu3+ complexes with organic ligands in water, aqueous solubility and activity of thrombin inhibitors. It has been shown that the performance of GTM‐based regression models is similar to that obtained with some popular machine‐learning methods (random forest, k‐NN, M5P regression tree and PLS) and ISIDA fragment descriptors. By comparing GTM activity landscapes built both on predicted and experimental activities, we may visually assess the model’s performance and identify the areas in the chemical space corresponding to reliable predictions. The applicability domain used in this work is based on data likelihood. Its application has significantly improved the model performances for 4 out of 5 datasets.
Cross-Cultural Evaluation of Antonovsky’s Orientation to Life Questionnaire: Comparison Between Australian, Finnish, and Turkish Young Adults

Antonovsky’s concept “sense of coherence” (SOC) and the related measurement instrument “The Orientation to Life Questionnaire” (OLQ) has been widely applied in studies on health and well-being. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the cultural differences in factor structures and psychometric properties as well as mean scores of the 13-item form of Antonovsky’s OLQ among Australian (n = 201), Finnish (n = 203), and Turkish (n = 152) students. Three models of factor structure were studied by using confirmatory factor analysis: single-factor model, first-order correlated-three-factor model, and the second-order three-factor model. Results obtained in all three countries suggest that the first- and second-order three-factor models fitted the data better that the single-factor model. Hence, the OLQ scoring based on comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness scales was supported. Scale reliabilities and inter-correlations were in line with those reported in earlier studies. Two-way analyses of variance (gender × nationality) with age as a covariate showed no cultural differences in SOC scale scores. Women got higher scores on the meaningfulness scale than men, and age was positively related to all SOC scale scores indicating that SOC increases in early adulthood. The results support the three-factor model of OLQ which thus should be used in Australia, Finland, and Turkey instead of a single-factor model. Need for cross-cultural studies taking into account cultural correlates of SOC and its relation to health and well-being indicators as well as studies on gender differences in the OLQ are emphasized.
Mobile gait analysis via eSHOEs instrumented shoe insoles: a pilot study for validation against the gold standard GAITRite®

Abstract Clinical gait analysis contributes massively to rehabilitation support and improvement of in-patient care. The research project eSHOE aspires to be a useful addition to the rich variety of gait analysis systems. It was designed to fill the gap of affordable, reasonably accurate and highly mobile measurement devices. With the overall goal of enabling individual home-based monitoring and training for people suffering from chronic diseases, affecting the locomotor system. Motion and pressure sensors gather movement data directly on the (users) feet, store them locally and/or transmit them wirelessly to a PC. A combination of pattern recognition and feature extraction algorithms translates the motion data into standard gait parameters. Accuracy of eSHOE were evaluated against the reference system GAITRite in a clinical pilot study. Eleven hip fracture patients (78.4 ± 7.7 years) and twelve healthy subjects (40.8 ± 9.1 years) were included in these trials. All subjects performed three measurements at a comfortable walking speed over 8 m, including the 6-m long GAITRite mat. Six standard gait parameters were extracted from a total of 347 gait cycles. Agreement was analysed via scatterplots, histograms and Bland–Altman plots. In the patient group, the average differences between eSHOE and GAITRite range from −0.046 to 0.045 s and in the healthy group from −0.029 to 0.029 s. Therefore, it can be concluded that eSHOE delivers adequately accurate results. Especially with the prospect as an at home supplement or follow-up to clinical gait analysis and compared to other state of the art wearable motion analysis systems.
DIAGNOSABILITY OF HYBRID SYSTEMS: ANALYSIS AND VERIFICATION CAST IN DES FRAMEWORK

— The diagnosability analysis proposed for Discrete Event Systems (DES) can be extended to Hybrid Systems (HS) which are systems with combined discrete and continuous behavior. In this paper we propose an approach based on the combination of the diagnosability of the underlying DES and the distinguishability of the continuous modes of the HS. The main idea is to build an observer of the underlying DES enriched with new events associated to the distinguishability of the continuous variables. We also introduce the deﬁnition of diagnosability of HS and a method to verify if a HS is diagnosable using the hybrid diagnoser.
Influence of Micropolar Lubricants on Asymmetric Slot-Entry Journal Bearings

Performance of asymmetric slot-entry hydrostatic and hybrid journal bearings lubricated under micropolar lubricant has been presented numerically. For chosen values of microploar parameters, the effects of micropolar lubricant on both the bearings have been simulated. FEM has been applied for the solution of Reynolds equation for micropolar lubricated asymmetric slot-entry bearings. Micropolar lubrication provides the larger minimum fluid film thickness for hydrostatic bearing than hybrid bearing. It has also been found that values of the coefficient of fluid film stiffness and damping are more for micropolar fluid lubricated hybrid journal bearing than hydrostatic bearing. The presented results of asymmetric slot-entry hydrostatic and hybrid journal bearings under micropolar lubrication are expected to provide the useful information to the bearing designer.
Structural and Electronic Properties of β – CuPc: First Principles Study

Structural and electronic properties of CuPc in β structure (β - CuPc) were investigated by first principles calculations. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) was used to describe the exchange-correlation with the projector-augmented wave (PAW) method. Under ambient pressure, the calculated structural parameters were calculated and found to be in good agreement with other experimental and theoretical values. The calculated direct band gap was found to be 0.683 eV. The results of electronic properties under various pressures were presented. To investigate the properties under pressure, β - CuPc was calculated at several reduced volumes. It was found that the energy gap decreases when the pressure increases. The behaviors of electronic properties under pressure were also discussed.
Social Media–Promoted Weight Loss Among an Occupational Population: Cohort Study Using a WeChat Mobile Phone App-Based Campaign

Background Being overweight and obese are major risk factors for noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is high throughout the world and these issues are very serious in the Shunyi District in China. As mobile technologies have rapidly developed, mobile apps such as WeChat are well accepted and have the potential to improve health behaviors. Objective This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile app (WeChat) as an intervention on weight loss behavior. Methods This study was conducted among an occupational population from August 2015 to February 2016 in the Shunyi District of Beijing. Before the intervention, the Shunyi District Government released an official document for weight loss to all 134 government agencies and enterprises in Shunyi District. Participants willing to use our official WeChat account were enrolled in a WeChat group and received 6 months of interventions for weight loss; those who were not willing to use the account were in a control group given routine publicity on weight loss. Results In total, 15,310 occupational participants including 3467 participants (22.65%) in the control group and 11,843 participants (77.35%) in the WeChat group were enrolled. Participants in the WeChat group lost more weight (mean 2.09, SD 3.43 kg) than people in the control group (mean 1.78, SD 2.96 kg), and the difference in mean weight loss between the two groups for males was significant based on the stratification of age and educational level. To control for confounding factors and to explore the effects of WeChat on weight loss, the propensity score method with a multinominal logistic regression was utilized. For males, this showed that the WeChat group (with both active and inactive subgroups) had a higher probability of maintaining weight, weight loss from 1 to 2 kg, or weight loss more than 2 kg than the control group. However, the control group had higher probability of weight loss from 0 to 1 kg. Being active in WeChat was likely to be associated with weight loss. The more active participants were in the weight loss program via WeChat, the more weight they lost. Conclusions The weight loss intervention campaign based on an official WeChat account focused on an occupation-based population in Shunyi District was effective for males. The more active male participants were in using WeChat, the more weight they lost. There might be no effect or there may even be a negative effect on weight loss for females. Future research should focus on how to improve adherence to the WeChat weight loss interventions, to improve and refine the WeChat content such as developing a variety of materials to attract interest, and to protect personal privacy, especially for females.
Comparison of high- and low-viscosity cement in the treatment of vertebral compression fractures

Background: High-viscosity cement (HVC) has been gradually applied in percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP). Although HVC has been reported to reduce cement leakage, different opinions exist. To assess the complications of HVC in cement leakage in the treatment of vertebral compression fractures and to evaluate the clinical effect of HVC compared with low-viscosity cement (LVC). Methods: EMBASE, PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library databases were comprehensively searched from their inception to August 2017. Two researchers independently searched for articles and reviewed all retrieved studies. Forest plots were used to illustrate the results. The Q-test and I2 statistic were employed to evaluate between-study heterogeneity. Potential publication bias was assessed by funnel plot. Results: HVC reduced the occurrence of cement leakage (risk ratio (RR) = 0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.29 to 0.51, P < 0.00001), especially in the disc space (RR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.45 to 0.80, P = 0.007) and the vein (RR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.35 to 0.85, P = 0.008) but not in the intraspinal space (RR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.19 to 1.23, P = 0.13) or the paravertebral area (RR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.32 to 1.22, P = 0.17). No significant differences in the visual analogue scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), injected cement volume or adjacent vertebral fracture were noted between HVC and LVC (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with LVC, HVC results in a reduced incidence of cement leakage for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures, especially in the disc space and vein but not in the intraspinal space or the paravertebral area. In addition, HVC yields the same satisfactory clinical effect as LVC.
On a Probable Relationship Between the Solar Prominences and Corona

IN a previous number of this Journal (NATURE, yol. lxvii. p. 569, April 16) an account was given of the results which had been deduced from a minute investigation of the percentage frequency of prominences as determined from observations made by Secchi and Tacchini at Rome, and Ricco and Mascari at Catania and Palermo. It was there shown that the chief centres of prominence action, that is, the zones in which the greatest percentage frequency of prominences occurred, indicated movements in heliographic latitudes, the general tendency of these being in a direction towards the solar poles, and not towards the equator, as is the case with the spots. Attention was also directed to the fact that these centres of prominence activity were not restricted to a narrow zone like the spots, which only occur between the latitudes ±50°and ±35°, but that at times they were numerous in such, high latitudes as ±8o°, and even higher.
Edinburgh Research Explorer Identification of a sex-linked SNP marker in the salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) using RAD sequencing

The salmon louse ( Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer, 1837)) is a parasitic copepod that can, if untreated, cause considerable damage to Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar Linnaeus, 1758) and incurs significant costs to the Atlantic salmon mariculture industry. Salmon lice are gonochoristic and normally show sex ratios close to 1:1. While this observation suggests that sex determination in salmon lice is genetic, with only minor environmental influences, the mechanism of sex determination in the salmon louse is unknown. This paper describes the identification of a sex- linked Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) marker, providing the first evidence for a genetic mechanism of sex determination in the salmon louse. Restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) was used to isolate SNP markers in a laboratory-maintained salmon louse strain. A total of 85 million raw Illumina 100 base paired-end reads produced 281,838 unique RAD-tags across 24 unrelated individuals. RAD marker Lsa 101901 showed complete association with phenotypic sex for all individuals analysed, being heterozygous in females and homozygous in males. Using an allele-specific PCR assay for genotyping, this SNP association pattern was further confirmed for three unrelated salmon louse strains, displaying complete association with phenotypic sex in a total of 96 genotyped individuals. The marker Lsa 101901 was located in the coding region of the prohibitin-2 gene, which showed a sex- dependent differential expression, with mRNA levels determined by RT-qPCR about 1.8-fold higher in adult female than adult male salmon lice. This study’s observations of a novel sex-linked SNP marker are consistent with sex determination in the salmon louse being genetic and following a female heterozygous system. Marker Lsa 101901 provides a tool to determine the genetic sex of salmon lice, and could be useful in the development of control strategies.
The University of Wisconsin Breast Cancer Epidemiology Simulation Model: An Update

The University of Wisconsin Breast Cancer Epidemiology Simulation Model (UWBCS), also referred to as Model W, is a discrete-event microsimulation model that uses a systems engineering approach to replicate breast cancer epidemiology in the US over time. This population-based model simulates the lifetimes of individual women through 4 main model components: breast cancer natural history, detection, treatment, and mortality. A key feature of the UWBCS is that, in addition to specifying a population distribution in tumor growth rates, the model allows for heterogeneity in tumor behavior, with some tumors having limited malignant potential (i.e., would never become fatal in a woman’s lifetime if left untreated) and some tumors being very aggressive based on metastatic spread early in their onset. The model is calibrated to Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) breast cancer incidence and mortality data from 1975 to 2010, and cross-validated against data from the Wisconsin cancer reporting system. The UWBCS model generates detailed outputs including underlying disease states and observed clinical outcomes by age and calendar year, as well as costs, resource usage, and quality of life associated with screening and treatment. The UWBCS has been recently updated to account for differences in breast cancer detection, treatment, and survival by molecular subtypes (defined by ER/HER2 status), to reflect the recent advances in screening and treatment, and to consider a range of breast cancer risk factors, including breast density, race, body-mass-index, and the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy. Therefore, the model can evaluate novel screening strategies, such as risk-based screening, and can assess breast cancer outcomes by breast cancer molecular subtype. In this article, we describe the most up-to-date version of the UWBCS.
Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Inflammatory Parameters Including Neopterin in the Setting of Pneumonia, COPD, and Acute Exacerbations

ABSTRACT Acute exacerbations and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are severe complications in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, we analyzed inflammatory parameters in serum including C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and serum neopterin (NPT) to determine their potential to differentiate between patients with CAP+COPD and with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) without pneumonia. 102 (39 women and 63 men) patients were included in this retrospective study, of whom 48 presented with CAP without underlying COPD, 20 with CAP+COPD and 34 with AECOPD. CRP, PCT, and blood counts were determined by routine automated tests, and NPT concentrations were determined by ELISA. The ratios of CRP to NPT levels were calculated. Upon patient admission, CRP, PCT, and NPT levels were significantly higher in patients with CAP compared to those in AECOPD patients. CRP/NPT ratio was lower in AECOPD compared to CAP (+/−COPD) patients. Positive correlations were found between duration of hospitalization and CRP levels and the CRP/NPT ratio at study entry. Patients who were readmitted within 30 days tended to have higher NPT levels at initial presentation. Patients under ongoing corticosteroid treatment presented with lower inflammatory parameters. The CRP/NPT-ratio was suited well to discriminate between AECOPD and CAP on the basis of COPD, a CRP/NPT cutoff of 0.346 provided a sensitivity of 65% and a specificity of 79%. The combinatory use of inflammatory patterns might help to differentiate patients with AECOPD from those with CAP on the basis of COPD.
Microstructure Evolution of Hybrid TiO2 Nanowire-Nanotube Structure Fabricated by Anodization

Hybrid TiO2 nanowire–nanotube structure was synthesized by a facile anodization on Ti substrate. To study the origin and evolution of TiO2 nanotubes, the morphology of TiO2 nanotubes was investigated. It was found that nanotubes corrode gradually into nanowires, and the critical time was about 8.5 h after the beginning of anodization. Uniform nanotubes were obtained by ultrasonic cleaning. It was demonstrated experimentally that the inner diameter of TiO2 nanotube increased with the extension of anodization time, but the outer diameter of TiO2 nanotubes, which were fabricated under different anodization time, was almost the same.