Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic relationships of lamb weight, maternal ability, and mature ewe weight in Swedish finewool sheep.

Genetic parameters were estimated for weights of lambs from birth to 1 d before slaughter and mature ewe weight (EMW) using REML procedures and single- and two-trait animal models. The data consisted of weight registrations from 5,001 animals descended from 131 sires, 788 dams, 48 maternal grandsires, and 530 maternal granddams in an experimental flock with Swedish finewool sheep. Direct heritabilities increased with lamb age from . 07 for birth weight to . 21 for weight before slaughter. Maternal heritabilities declined with age from . 30 to . 07. Direct-maternal genetic correlations were positive and increased with age from . 11 for birth weight to . 73 for weight before slaughter. For daily gain during shorter periods, direct heritability increased from . 07 for the period from birth until 3 wk of age to . 14 for the period from weaning until 1 d before slaughter. The values for maternal heritabilities were . 16 and . 03, respectively. The direct-maternal genetic correlations ranged from -. 11 to . 59. The direct heritability for EMW varied between analyses from . 29 to . 63. A nonsignificant maternal heritability of . 22 was noted for EMW. Direct genetic correlations between EMW and various lamb weights varied between . 36 to . 85. Genetic correlations between direct effects on EMW and maternal effects on lamb weights varied between . 39 and . 53. Direct and maternal genetic correlations between the lamb weights were positive. The results showed that the maternal influence on lamb weights decreased with age. It was indicated that positive genetic relationships exist between ewe weight and maternal effects on lamb weight. Therefore, selection for larger lamb weights alone will not only increase ewe weights but also improve the maternal ability to the ewe.
Hypothesis: Vascular Compromise Is the Central Pathogenic Mechanism for Acute Hemorrhagic Pancreatitis

Central to an understanding of the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis lies the question of progression: from interstitial edema and fat cell injury which spares acinar cells and is clinically mild, to often fatal hemorrhagic, acinar cell necrosis. Three theories have been proposed over the course of this century to account for this progression. These are: (1) acinar cell injury from pancreatic fat necrosis; (2) intrapancreatic activation of enzymes ("autoactivation") leading to "autodigestion"; and (3) vascular compromise causing ischemic necrosis. In what follows, I consider certain aspects of these theories which have led me to reject both fat necrosis or autodigestion as playing a decisive role in the progression, and to favor vascular compromise as the critical pathogenic mechanism.
Epileptic Seizure Prediction in EEG Signals using EMD and DWT

In this study, normal (healthy), pre-seizure and seizure states were analyzed using EEG data from BONN database. In this paper, we propose a new method of using SVM, KNN and Decision Tree for classification analysis in order to improve the detection accuracy of seizure. First, due to the presence of significant noise in the EEG signals, for signal pre-processing we performed noise removal. Second, two methods of frequency space transformation were used such as Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), separating signal into sub-bands and Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) technique to decompose signal into the Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs). Before the classification, the statistical moments of the signals in the frequency domain were obtained for feature extraction. Using these features, the performances of Support Vector Machines (SVM), Decision Tree, K-nearest Neighborhood (KNN) classifiers were analyzed. The experiment results show that the most accurate detection of epilepsy was obtained by applying EMD method with classifiers SVM, KNN and Decision Tree, and such algorithm with EMD can achieve accuracy for normal, pre-seizure, and seizure equal to 100%, 100% and 96.67%, respectively.
Structural Abnormalities in the Hair of a Patient with a Novel Ribosomopathy

We report the biophysical characterization of hair from a patient with a de novo ribosomopathy. The patient was diagnosed with a mutation on gene RPS23, which codes for a protein which comprises part of the 40S subunit of the ribosome. The patient presents with a number of phenotypes, including hypotonia, autism, extra teeth, elastic skin, and thin/brittle hair. We combined optical microscopy, tensile tests, and X-ray diffraction experiments on hair samples obtained from the scalp of the patient to a multi-scale characterization of the hair from macroscopic to molecular length scales and observe distinct differences in the biophysical properties in the patient’s hair when compared to hair from other family members. While no differences were observed in the coiled-coil structure of the keratin proteins or the structure of the intermediate filaments, the patient’s hair was 22% thinner, while the Young’s modulus remained roughly constant. The X-ray diffraction results give evidence that the amount of lipids in the cell membrane complex is reduced by 20%, which well accounts for the other observations. The pathologies characterized by these techniques may be used to inform the diagnosis of similar de novo mutations in the future.
The Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale: cutoffs, minimally important differences, and a revised short version.

V asomotor symptoms (VMS), or hot flashes and night sweats, are experienced by most women during their menopausal transition. For many women, menopause and associated symptoms are not a problem; yet 20% to 40% will experience bothersome VMS. Bothersome VMS are associated with impaired quality of life and are the main reason why women seek help during their menopausal transition. For health professionals, identifying the degree of symptom bother or interference for woman is important to inform appropriate management of symptoms and monitor effectiveness over time. One of the first psychometrically developed measures available for clinicians and researchers to assess VMS bother was the Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale (HFRDIS). Comprised of 10 items, the scale measures the women’s self-perceived interference on 10 aspects of their lives in the past week. An average score on the items is calculated, ranging from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of interference. The measure is a popular and well-used measure throughout the world, and available in 12 languages at the time of this publication. However, in their article, Carpenter et al noted several areas for improvement. These included the dearth of evaluated cutoffs, and minimally important differences (MIDs) in scores (the minimum changes in scores perceived as important by patients) from which to help inform clinician response to patients’ experience of menopause symptoms. In addition, anecdotal observations by the authors suggest possible redundant items in the HFRDIS as several items are often left empty or given a zero by women, suggesting a shorter measure could be produced. Their study therefore attempted to address these issues and achieve three key aims: (1) to reduce the length of the HFRDIS; (2) develop useful cutoffs for both the original HFRDIS and shortened version; and (3) to identify MIDs for both measures. Using a sample of 899 periand post-menopausal women participants in three Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health trials in the United States, Carpenter et al produced a psychometrically valid condensed three-item measure called the Hot Flash Interference scale (HFI), which focuses on hot flash interference with sleep,
Transforming staff practice through active support

Abstract Background Active support is being introduced in many residential and respite homes in an effort to improve engagement in meaningful activity of people with intellectual disability. Method A train-the-trainer approach was used in a large government organisation that supports people with intellectual disability in Australia. Five apprentice trainers were trained to provide active support training to 65 staff associated with 6 group homes. These 5 trainers were then monitored to provide training to 54 staff in another 6 group homes. Staff evaluated their interactive training experiences, and pre and post outcome data were collected for a small number of service users from the second set of group homes, along with staff outcome data regarding residential working practices, group home management, and staffing practices. Results The train-the-trainer model proved to be an effective strategy for training large numbers of staff. The interactive training component was particularly effective and was associated with improvements in service user engagement in domestic tasks and decreased depression levels. Staff job satisfaction increased and significant improvements were recorded in residential working practices. Conclusions Active support training is an effective strategy for empowering staff to better support people with an intellectual disability to be meaningfully engaged in daily activities. There are implications for organisations related to ongoing implementation and practice improvement.
Biresidue Error-Correcting Codes for Computer Arithmetic

In an earlier paper [11] a scheme for detecting errors in ADD, COMPLEMENT, SHIFT, and ROTATE operations using a residue check circuitry was presented. A scheme for error location and correction in those operations is derived by a suitable application of a code called biresidue arithmetic code described here. Any single error position can be located and also corrected by use of two residue checkers which work separately and in parallel with the arithmetic unit. The estimated cost of redundancy is approximately the same as that required for duplication of the arithmetic unit.
Influence of surfactants on the release behaviour and structural properties of sol-gel derived silica xerogels embedded with metronidazole

The aim of this study was to obtain stable and controlled release silica xerogels containing metronidazole (MT) prepared with surfactants with different charges: cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), which could be the promising carrier materials used as the implantable drug delivery systems. The xerogels were prepared by the sol-gel method. The influence of various formulation precursors on porosity parameters and drug release were investigated. Addition of surfactants showed a promising result in controlling the MT release. Dissolution study revealed increased release of MT from silica modified SDS and CTAB, whereas the release of MT from silica modified HPC considerably decreased, in comparison with unmodified silica. The addition of surfactants showed slight changes in porosity parameters. All xerogels are characterized by a highly developed surface area (701–642 m2 g−1) and mesoporous structure. The correlation between pore size obtained matrices and release rate of drug was also observed. Based on the presented results of this study, it may be stated that applied xerogel matrices: pure silica and surfactants-modified silica could be promising candidates for the formulation in local delivery systems.
Formative feedback in Digital Lofts: Learning environments for real world innovation

Civic innovators design real-world solutions to societal problems. Teaching civic innovation presents serious challenges in classroom orchestration because facilitators must manage a complex learning environment (which may include community partners, open-ended problems and long time scales) and cannot rely on traditional classroom orchestration techniques (such as fixed schedules, pre-selected topics and simplified problems). Here we consider how digital lofts--online learning environments for civic innovation might overcome orchestration challenges through the use of badges, cases, crowd-feedback, semiautomatically created instruction, self-assessment triggered group instruction, social media, and credentialing. Together these features create three types of feedback loops: a crowd critique loop in which learners receive formative feedback on their innovation work from a broader community, a case development loop in which examples of student work are semi-automatically created to provide instruction, and a learner-driven instructional loop, in which self-assessments determine which group instruction is provided. Researching and developing digital lofts will help us to understand how to support real-world innovation across design disciplines such as engineering, policy, writing and even science; and result in technologies for disseminating and scaling civic innovation education more broadly.
Antioxidant activity of Nigella sativa essential oil

The essential oil of black cumin seeds, Nigella sativa L. , was tested for a possible antioxidant activity. A rapid evaluation for antioxidants, using two TLC screening methods, showed that thymoquinone and the components carvacrol, t‐anethole and 4‐terpineol demonstrated respectable radical scavenging property. These four constituents and the essential oil possessed variable antioxidant activity when tested in the diphenylpicrylhydracyl assay for non‐specific hydrogen atom or electron donating activity. They were also effective ·OH radical scavenging agents in the assay for non‐enzymatic lipid peroxidation in liposomes and the deoxyribose degradation assay.
Inhibition of volume‐regulated anion channels by expression of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator

1 To investigate whether the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) interacts with volume regulated anion channels (VRACs), we measured the volume‐activated chloride current (ICl,swell) using the whole‐cell patch‐clamp technique in calf pulmonary artery endothelial (CPAE) cells and in COS cells transiently transfected with wild‐type (WT) CFTR and the deletion mutant ΔF508 CFTR. 2 I Cl,swell was significantly reduced in CPAE cells expressing WT CFTR to 66.5 ± 8.8% (n= 13; mean ±s.e.m.) of the control value (n= 11). This reduction was independent of activation of the CFTR channel. 3 Expression of ΔF508 CFTR resulted in two groups of CPAE cells. In the first group IBMX and forskolin could activate a Cl− current. In these cells ICl,swell was reduced to 52.7 ± 18.8% (n= 5) of the control value (n= 21). In the second group IBMX and forskolin could not activate a current. The amplitude of ICl,swell in these cells was not significantly different from the control value (112.4 ± 13.7%, n= 11; 21 control cells). 4 Using the same method we showed that expression of WT CFTR in COS cells reduced ICl,swell to 62.1 ± 11.9% (n= 14) of the control value (n= 12) without any changes in the kinetics of the current. Non‐stationary noise analysis suggested that there is no significant difference in the single channel conductance of VRAC between CFTR expressing and non‐expressing COS cells. 5 We conclude that expression of WT CFTR down‐regulates ICl,swell in CPAE and COS cells, suggesting an interaction between CFTR and VRAC independent of activation of CFTR.
Progressing from Patienthood to Personhood across the Multidimensional Outcomes in Schizophrenia and Related Disorders

The conceptualization of outcome in schizophrenia has been modified since Krapelin's dementia praecox and is now thought to be more heterogeneous and multidimensional. Qualitative research reveals a deeper and more complete understanding of the complex processes involved. This study investigates and describes the subjective experience of the multidimensional outcome of schizophrenia. The findings are based on bimonthly comprehensive assessments conducted over a 1-year period with 43 persons who were hospitalized for schizophrenia and related disorders. Results reveal ongoing person-environment interactions, which constitute the nonlinear progression from "patienthood" to "personhood" across the multidimensional outcome domains of work, treatment, and social relationship. To facilitate this difficult process, it is essential to simultaneously help consumers develop their strengths and increase society's awareness and commitment to meet their unique needs.
Determinants of patient satisfaction: a study among 39 hospitals in an in-patient setting in Germany.

OBJECTIVE To identify key determinants of patient satisfaction. DESIGN Data used were obtained through a self-administered, post-visit questionnaire by random sampling during the period of January 2009 to September 2009. SETTING Thirty-nine hospitals in Germany. PARTICIPANTS A total of 8,428 patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Global patient satisfaction was measured by a single item question. Attributes of medical aspects of care were measured using 12 items, performance of service using 3 items and different dimensions of patient expectations using 12 items. Medical aspects of care and performance of service items were entered into logistic regression analysis to identify determinants of patient satisfaction. RESULTS The results of the analysis showed that there are 10 determinants of global patient satisfaction. The outcome of treatment was overall, the most salient predictor followed by nursing kindness as the second most important component. Items reflecting information receiving about the undergoing treatment do not have a major influence on patient satisfaction. CONCLUSION The analysis identified key determinants that should be altered first in order to improve global patient satisfaction. The results also indicate that some aspects of the hospital stay are not seen as relevant by patients and therefore are unrelated to satisfaction ratings. The findings suggest that variables measuring patients' perceptions of care are more important determinants of global patient satisfaction in comparison to demographics and visit characteristics. Results of the present study have implications for health providers aiming at improving the service quality and quality of care.
CONTINUUM-SITES STEPPING-STONE MODELS, COALESCING EXCHANGEABLE PARTITIONS AND RANDOM TREES

Analogues of stepping-stone models are considered where the site-space is continuous, the migration process is a general Markov process, and the type-space is infinite. Such processes were defined in previous work of the second author by specifying a Feller transition semigroup in terms of expectations of suitable functionals for systems of coalescing Markov processes. An alternative representation is obtained here in terms of a limit of interacting particle systems. It is shown that, under a mild condition on the migration process, the continuum-sites stepping-stone process has continuous sample paths. The case when the migration process is Brownian motion on the circle is examined in detail using a duality relation between coalescing and annihilating Brownian motion. This duality relation is also used to show that a tree-like random compact metric space that is naturally associated to an infinite family of coalescing Brownian motions on the circle has Hausdorff and packing dimension both almost surely equal to 1/2 and, moreover, this space is capacity equivalent to the middle-1/2 Cantor set (and hence also to the Brownian zero set).
Availability in the Sprite distributed file system

In the Sprite environment, tolerating faults means recovering from them quickly. Our position is that performance and availability are the desired features of the typical locally-distributed office/engineering environment, and that very fast server recovery is the most cost-effective way of providing such availability. Mechanisms used for reliability are often inappropriate in systems with the primary goal of performance, and some availability-oriented methods using replicated hardware or processes cost too much for these systems. In contrast, availability via fast recovery need not slow down a system, and our experience in Sprite shows that in some cases the same techniques that provide high performance also provide fast recovery. In our first attempt to reduce server recovery times to less than a minute, we take advantage of the distributed state already present in our file system, and a high-performance log-structured file system currently under implementation.
Strategic Swaying: How Startups Grow Digital Platforms

Digital platforms can bring tremendous business benefits to their owner companies if they attract and sustain substantial users. Digital platform growth strategies for this purpose, as suggested by the extant literature, often require technological, market, and financial advantages, which startups usually lack. We still have a limited understanding of how startups grow their platforms in disadvantageous conditions. Responding to this research problem, our in-depth case study at a Chinese digital startup identifies “strategic swaying” as an effective strategic practice in which a platform owner moves between users on two sides of its platform to influence the users’ activities for growing its platform. The findings offer new insights into digital platform growth strategy and also the governance and the launch of digital platforms. We discuss a number of implications for both research and practice, and offer directions for further studies.
Current and future G protein-coupled receptor signaling targets for heart failure therapy

Although there have been significant advances in the therapy of heart failure in recent decades, such as the introduction of β-blockers and antagonists of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, this devastating disease still carries tremendous morbidity and mortality in the western world. G protein-coupled receptors, such as β-adrenergic and angiotensin II receptors, located in the membranes of all three major cardiac cell types, ie, myocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells, play crucial roles in regulation of cardiac function in health and disease. Their importance is reflected by the fact that, collectively, they represent the direct targets of over one-third of the currently approved cardiovascular drugs used in clinical practice. Over the past few decades, advances in elucidation of the signaling pathways they elicit, specifically in the heart, have led to identification of an increasing number of new molecular targets for heart failure therapy. Here, we review these possible targets for heart failure therapy that have emerged from studies of cardiac G protein-coupled receptor signaling in health and disease, with a particular focus on the main cardiac G protein-coupled receptor types, ie, the β-adrenergic and the angiotensin II type 1 receptors. We also highlight key issues that need to be addressed to improve the chances of success of novel therapies directed against these targets.