Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infectious Agent and Immune Response Characteristics of Chronic Enterocolitis in Captive Rhesus Macaques

ABSTRACT Chronic enterocolitis is the leading cause of morbidity in colonies of captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). This study's aim was to identify the common enteric pathogens frequently associated with chronic enterocolitis in normal, immunocompetent rhesus monkeys and to elucidate the influence of this clinical syndrome on the host immune system. We analyzed the fecal specimens from 100 rhesus macaques with or without clinical symptoms of chronic diarrhea. Retrospective analysis revealed an increased incidence of Campylobacter spp. (Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni), Shigella flexneri, Yersinia enterocolitica, adenovirus, and Strongyloides fulleborni in samples collected from animals with chronic diarrhea (P < 0.05). The presence of additional enteric pathogens, such as Escherichia coli, carrying the eaeA intimin or Stx2c Shiga toxin virulence genes, Balantidium coli, Giardia lamblia, Enterocytozoon bieneusi, and Trichuris trichiura was found in all animals regardless of whether diarrhea was present. In addition, the upregulation of interleukin-1α (IL-1α), IL-3, and tumor necrosis factor alpha cytokine genes, accompanied by an increased presence of activated (CD4+ CD69+) T lymphocytes was found in gut-associated lymphoid tissues collected from animals with chronic enterocolitis and diarrhea in comparison with clinically healthy controls (P < 0.05). These data indicate that chronic enterocolitis and diarrhea are associated, in part, with a variety of enteric pathogens and highlight the importance of defining the microbiological status of nonhuman primates used for infectious disease studies. The data also suggest that chronic colitis in rhesus macaques may have potential as a model of inflammatory bowel disease in humans.
Do short sellers exploit the persistent risk culture of banks? Evidence from two banking crises

We find that change of short interests predict banks’ stock returns during the two recent banking crises. More interestingly, before the 2007-2009 crisis, short interests increase more for the banks that suffered more in the LTCM crisis. We also find that change in short interests predict banks’ loan quality and default risk during crises. The results are stronger for banks with higher risk-taking behavior. Overall, our findings indicate that short sellers are informed about the risk exposure of banks for the two financial crises and target those with a culture for risky business models.
Meta-emotions in daily life: Associations with emotional awareness and depression.

Meta-emotions are emotions that occur in response to other emotions (e.g., guilt about anger). Although emotion theories often discuss them, much about meta-emotions remains unknown. In the present study, we aim to assess the frequency of meta-emotions in everyday life, determine whether increased attention to and clarity of emotions are associated with a greater likelihood of meta-emotions, and examine whether negative emotions about negative emotions (negative-negative meta-emotional experiences) are associated with depressive severity. We recruited a diverse adult community sample (n = 79) to complete 7 days of experience sampling and a self-report measure of depressive severity. At each survey, they indicated current attention to emotion, clarity of emotion, and whether and what kind of meta-emotional experience they were having. Meta-emotional experiences were categorized as negative-negative (NN), negative-positive (NP), positive-negative (PN) or positive-positive (PP). Approximately 53% of participants reported at least 1 meta-emotional experience. Meta-emotional experiences were reported about twice a week; negative-negative experiences were most frequent. Using multilevel modeling, we found that although attention to and clarity of emotion each individually positively predicted the likelihood of meta-emotional experiences, only attention to emotion explained unique variance. Higher depressive severity was associated with higher likelihood of meta-emotional experiences and specifically negative-negative experiences. Most adults experienced meta-emotions, especially during moments of high attention to emotion, and negative-negative experiences were positively associated with depressive severity. These findings are an important step forward in understanding individual and within-person differences in reactions to emotional experience. Implications for theories of emotion generation and regulation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
Mixing Time on the Kagome Lattice

We consider tilings of a closed region of the Kagome lattice (partition of the plane into regular hexagons and equilateral triangles such that each edge is shared by one triangle and one hexagon). We are interested in the rate of convergence to the stationarity of a natural Markov chain defined on the set of Kagome tilings. The rate of convergence can be represented by the mixing time which mesures the amount of time it takes the chain to be close to its stationary distribution. We obtain a $\mathcal{O}(N^4)$ upper bound on the mixing time of a weighted version of the natural Markov chain. We also consider Kagome tilings restrained to two prototiles, prove flip-connectivity and draw a $\mathcal{O}(N^4)$ upper bound as well on the mixing time of the natural Markov chain in a general (non weighted) case. Finally, we present simulations that suggest existence of a long range phenomenon.
In vitro characterization of the relationship between the Q-angle and the lateral component of the quadriceps force

Abstract Although the Q-angle is routinely measured, the relationship between the Q-angle and the lateral component of the quadriceps force acting on the patella is unknown. Five cadaver knees were flexed on a knee simulator with a normal Q-angle, and flexed after increasing and decreasing the Q-angle by shifting the quadriceps origin laterally and medially, respectively. The motion of the femur, tibia and patella was tracked from 20 to 90° of flexion using electromagnetic sensors. The motion of landmarks used to quantify the Q-angle was tracked to determine the ‘dynamic Q-angle’ during flexion. The lateral component of the force applied by the actuator secured to the quadriceps tendon was also quantified throughout flexion. Increasing the initial Q-angle significantly (p < 0.05) increased the dynamic Q-angle and the lateral force exerted through the quadriceps tendon throughout flexion. Decreasing the initial Q-angle significantly decreased the dynamic Q-angle at 90° of flexion and significantly decreased the lateral force exerted through the quadriceps tendon from 20 to 40° of flexion. Even though the dynamic Q-angle changes during flexion, an abnormally large initial Q-angle can be an indicator of an abnormally large lateral force acting on the patella during flexion.
AMORI : A Metric-based One Rule Inducer Niklas Lavesson

The requirements of real-world data mining problems vary extensively. It is plausible to assume that some of these requirements can be expressed as application-specific performance metrics. An algorithm that is designed to maximize performance given a certain learning metric may not produce the best possible result according to these applicationspecific metrics. We have implemented A Metric-based One Rule Inducer (AMORI), for which it is possible to select the learning metric. We have compared the performance of this algorithm by embedding three different learning metrics (classification accuracy, the F-measure, and the area under the ROC curve), on 19 UCI data sets. In addition, we have compared the results of AMORI with those obtained using an existing rule learning algorithm of similar complexity (One Rule) and a state-of-the-art rule learner (Ripper). The experiments show that a performance gain is achieved, for all included metrics, when using identical metrics for learning and evaluation. We also show that each AMORI/metric combination outperforms One Rule when using identical learning and evaluation metrics. The performance of AMORI is acceptable when compared with Ripper. Overall, the results suggest that metric-based learning is a
The plastid genome of the hornwort Nothoceros aenigmaticus (Dendrocerotaceae): phylogenetic signal in inverted repeat expansion, pseudogenization, and intron gain.

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY The previously sequenced plastome of the hornwort Anthoceros angustus differs from that of other bryophytes by an expanded inverted repeat (IR) and the presence of a type I intron in the 23S ribosomal RNA (rrn23) gene. We assembled the plastome of the hornwort Nothoceros aenigmaticus, contrasted its architecture to that of other bryophytes, and assessed the phylogenetic significance of genomic characters in hornwort evolution. • METHODS The Nothoceros plastome was reconstructed from shotgun sequencing of genomic DNA. Comparison with the Anthoceros plastome revealed three structural differences. We sequenced these regions in taxa spanning the hornwort phylogeny. • KEY RESULTS The Nothoceros plastome is colinear with other bryophyte plastomes, but differs from the Anthoceros plastome by several gene regions located within the IR in Anthoceros being in the large single-copy region in Nothoceros, by the rrn23 gene lacking an intron, and by the rpl2 being a pseudogene. Comparisons across the hornwort phylogeny indicate that the first two characters are restricted to Anthocerotaceae, while rpl2 pseudogenization diagnoses the sister lineage to Anthocerotaceae. • CONCLUSIONS The Nothoceros plastome is structurally similar to that of most bryophytes. However, we identified more structural differences within hornworts than have been described within either the mosses or the liverworts. The distribution of the gene duplication involving the IR and an intron in the rrn23 gene are restricted to Anthocerotaceae. Occurrence of the intron and the conserved intron sequence between Anthoceros and distantly related chlorophyte algae may be due to horizontal gene transfer.
Conversations with Gatekeepers: An Exploratory Study of Agricultural Publication Editors' Decisions to Publish Risk Coverage

The United States’ agriculture industry is impacted by numerous f inancial, human, legal, and production risks. These risks are frequently reported in mass media and agricultural publications. Farmers often use agricultural magazines to help them make production decisions and learn about new technology, which both involve some element of risk. Gatekeeping is the process of determining what information is included in media coverage in which editors serve as gatekeepers and make decisions regarding what topics to report. The purpose of this study was to discover how agricultural publication editors, in their role as gatekeepers, make decisions regarding coverage of risk related to agriculture and to explore the forces that influence this coverage. Researchers interviewed seven purposively selected editors of national or regional agricultural magazines. The f indings indicated that the editors conceptualize risk in agriculture differently from how agricultural risks are reported in the mainstream media for the more general public; many emphasized the issues in terms of marketing or f inancial risk. Editors emphasized that they report on risk from an action angle, providing advice or information on how to mitigate the risk. The public’s perception of agriculture, advertisers, and personal topic preferences were cited as influencers of their risk coverage. When covering risk stories, agricultural publication editors prefer journalists who can write well and have an agricultural background or knowledge of the industry. Future research should be conducted to expand on the results from this exploratory study.
ICT – Tools for Providing Information, Advice and Services for Rural SMEs?

With the recent rapid adoption of ICTs by rural SMEs those operating in peripheral areas should no longer be disadvantaged in the “knowledge economy” as they are now reported to have improved access to a wide variety of business information to assist with the increasingly complex business decisions they face. However, digital exclusion and poor connection with the ‘knowledge economy’ are identified by many as barriers to the sustainable development of rural businesses. This exclusion, coupled with the fact that the majority of business support information is supply driven, and rarely founded on the clear analysis of end-user needs, means that some SMEs are clearly not benefiting from the digital age and the wealth of knowledge it is proclaimed to provide access to. The RuBIES project has focused is on addressing the problems faced by rural SMEs, located in the Northern Periphery Region of Europe, in sourcing, processing and using pertinent and timely business support information to make efficient and effective business decisions. Tools utilising ICTs are being developed as part of the project to help solve problems of information exchange and provide new solutions and methods for it from the demand driven point of view thus providing relevant and meaningful assistance and support to rural SMEs in the Northern Periphery. Background to the research In recent years there has been a proliferation of discourse giving attention to the “knowledge economy”, “information society”, “e-governance”, etc., as the exposure to and use of information communication technologies (ICTs) has become common place for many people and businesses. Contemporary wisdom suggests that in order to live and work in this “information age” the ability to use ICTs is imperative with the Internet being described as “the fourth major communications medium after word of mouth, the printed word, and broadcast media” (O’Neill, 1999). The use of ICTs has changed the way in which many SMEs interact with customers, suppliers, advisers and government. Governments throughout Europe1 are committed to e-government and digital access to on-line information, policies, papers and it has been found that rather than for conducting ebusiness “much of the use of the Internet is for accessing more general contextual information” (Commission of the European Communities, 2004). The significant research base in the field of knowledge management in business, offers an insight into the information requirements of corporations, companies as well as SMEs. Information is now supplied to rural SMEs from a wide-variety of sources, through a variety of pathways and about a variety of topics. Institutional 1 See: UK: http://www.cabinetoffice. gov.uk/e-goverment/ or http://www.egovmonitor. com/ Finland: http://www.tietoyhteiskuntaohjelma. fi/en_GB/ Iceland: http://eng.forsaetisraduneyti. is/information-society/
Metabolic effect of a LoBAG 30 diet in men with type 2 diabetes

Nuttall, Frank Q. , Kelly Schweim, Heidi Hoover, and Mary C. Gannon. Metabolic effect of a LoBAG30 diet in men with type 2 diabetes. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 291: E786–E791, 2006. First published May 23, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00011. 2006. —We recently reported that in subjects with untreated type 2 diabetes a 5-wk diet of 30:30:40 carbohydrate/protein/fat ratio resulted in a significant decrease in 24-h integrated glucose, total %glycohemoglobin, and total cholesterol compared with a control diet of 55:15:30 carbohydrate/ protein/fat given at the beginning of the 5-wk period. Body weight was stable and insulin was unchanged. We now present data on other hormones and metabolites considered to be affected by dietary macronutrient changes. The test diet resulted in an elevated fasting plasma total IGF-I, but not growth hormone. Urinary free cortisol was increased. Serum renin and urinary aldosterone remained unchanged. Blood pressure was stable. Serum creatinine and uric acid were increased. Urinary microalbumin was decreased. Creatinine clearance, serum B12, folate, homocysteine, TSH, and free thyroxine were unchanged. Total triiodothyronine was decreased. Plasma -amino nitrogen, urea nitrogen, and serum albumin were increased. Urea production rate was increased such that a new steady state was present. The calculated urea production rate accounted for 84% of protein ingested on the control diet but only 68% on the test diet, suggesting net nitrogen retention on the latter. Overall, the lack of negative effects, the improved glucose control, and the positive nitrogen balance suggest such a diet will be beneficial for older subjects with type 2 diabetes. Nevertheless, the long-term effects and general applicability of the diet remain to be determined.
ANTIDIABETIC AND HYPOLIPIDEMIC EFFECT OVALIFOLIA ( URTICACEAE ) IN ALLOXAN INDU

Laportea ovalifolia (Scham and Thonn) is wi treatment of diabetes mellitus. The present study w antidiabetic and hypolipidaemic effects of aqueous extra part in normal and alloxan diabetic rats. Diabetes w injection of alloxan (150 mg kg –1 body weight). The tre After the treatment a significant reduction was observed in the treated diabetics rats. L. ovalifolia treatment sho serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol in the treated diabetic group. These re ovalifolia aqueous extract of the aerial part possesses a effects in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.
Measuring vibrational motion in the presence of speckle using off-axis holography.

We present a holographic laser vibrometer designed to mitigate the effects of speckle noise when measuring the vibrational motion of a rough object. We show that multiplexing the interferometric measurement across 105 pixels provides a 50 dB reduction in the incoherent noise. Using a high-speed camera, this enables a displacement sensitivity of 50 fm/√Hz with a bandwidth of 12.5 kHz when measuring rough objects, representing a 20 dB improvement compared with a commercially available single-detector-based laser vibrometer. Finally, we show that the holographic vibrometer system is capable of stand-off acoustic sensing by measuring the acoustic-induced vibrations of a piece of paper with sensitivity as low as 10 dB (re 20 μPa). The ability to sensitively and noninvasively measure the vibrations of arbitrary rough surfaces could enable new applications in laser vibrometry.
Definition of a 14-Amino-Acid Peptide Essential for the Interaction between the Murine Leukemia Virus Amphotropic Envelope Glycoprotein and Its Receptor

ABSTRACT Hydrophilic loops in the receptor binding domain of the amphotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV) envelope glycoprotein (SU) are predicted and may participate in SU-receptor interactions. We have replaced five segments of 6 to 15 amino acids located in each of these regions with an 11-amino-acid tag from the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G). Substitution was compatible with envelope processing, transport, and incorporation into virions. However, three substitution mutants showed a temperature-dependent phenotype, suggesting structural unstability. Accessibility of the tagging epitope for a monoclonal anti-VSV-G antibody was greater in oligomeric than in monomeric SUs when insertion was done in VRA, a domain essential for receptor recognition. In contrast, accessibility was independent of structural constraints when insertion was done in VRB, a domain playing an accessory role in receptor binding. Interaction with the amphotropic receptor was investigated by interference assay and study of binding and infection of target cells with MLV particles coated with the substituted envelopes. Envelope-receptor interaction was abolished when substitution was performed in a potential loop-forming segment located at the N-terminal half of VRA. Although interaction was affected to variable extents, depending on the substituted segment, other mutants conserved the ability to interact with the amphotropic receptor. These experiments indicate the 14-amino-acid segment between positions 50 and 64 of SU as an essential determinant of amphotropic-receptor recognition. They also show that a foreign linear epitope can be tolerated in several locations of the amphotropic SU receptor binding site, and this result has implications for the design of targeted retroviral vectors.
Protein kinase C activity regulates slow myosin heavy chain 2 gene expression in slow lineage skeletal muscle fibers

Expression of the slow myosin heavy chain (MyHC) 2 gene defines slow versus fast avian skeletal muscle fiber types. Fetal, or secondary, skeletal muscle fibers express slow MyHC isoform genes in developmentally regulated patterns within the embryo, and this patterning is at least partly dependent on innervation in vivo. We have previously shown that slow MyHC 2 gene expression in vitro is regulated by a combination of innervation and cell lineage. This pattern of gene expression was indistinguishable from the pattern observed in vivo in that it was restricted to innervated muscle fibers of slow muscle origin. We show here that slow MyHC 2 gene expression in the slow muscle fiber lineage is regulated by protein kinase C (PKC) activity. Inhibition of PKC activity induced slow MyHC 2 gene expression, and the capacity to express the slow MyHC 2 gene was restricted to muscle fibers of slow muscle (medial adductor) origin. Fast muscle fibers derived from the pectoralis major did not express significant levels of slow MyHC 2 with or without inhibitors of PKC activity. This differential expression pattern coincided with different inherent PKC activities in fast versus slow muscle fiber types. Furthermore, over‐expression of an unregulated PKCα mutant suppressed slow MyHC 2 gene expression in muscle fibers of the slow lineage. Lastly, denervation of skeletal muscles caused an increase in PKC activity, particularly in the slow medial adductor muscle. This increase in PKC activity was associated with lack of slow MyHC 2 gene expression in vivo. These results provide a mechanistic link between innervation, an intracellular signaling pathway mediated by PKC, and expression of a muscle fiber type‐specific contractile protein gene. Dev Dyn 1999;216:177–189. ©1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ADAPTIVE CORRECTION FOR ACOUSTIC IMAGING IN DIFFICULT MATERIALS

The technological developments in the design of an adaptive optical scanning acoustic microscope are described. Its two key elements include a multi‐channel acoustic wavefront detector to detect the acoustic wavefront aberration and a highly adaptive acoustic source to correct for the effects of aberration. We present experimental images acquired with the instrument that indicate the degree of performance improvement achieved when adaption is used to correct for material aberration.
Differences between academic spin-offs that utilize an incubator and those that do not

Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration.
Performance Evaluation of Mutual Funds in Oman: An Investors’ Perspective

Mutual Funds as one of the investment options have not been very popular particularly in the Middle East counties in spite of huge investment potential. Investors in the region have long been skeptical of the safety and returns of the investment options as the awareness about investment has been low for most of the investors of the region. This study aims to analyze the performances of mutual funds in Oman on the basis of risk and return criteria using different tools such as Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, and Jensen Alpha. The basic objective of the study is to provide to the investors a comparative study of the performances of the various mutual funds on offer in Oman and give an insight about the possible good choices to invest. The study concludes that mutual funds in Oman during the last five years have been performing consistently and earning good returns for its investors.