Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The interactive effects of protein quality and macronutrient imbalance on nutrient balancing in an insect herbivore

SUMMARY The present study evaluates the interactive effects of protein quality and the ratio of protein to digestible carbohydrate on herbivore performance, various aspects of nutritional homeostasis (feeding and post-ingestive regulation) and food choice. In the first experiment, final-instar caterpillars of generalist-feeding African cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were confined to one of 20 diets varying in protein:carbohydrate (P:C) ratio (35:7, 28:14, 21:21, 14:28 and 7:35) and in the quality of dietary protein (0%, 20%, 50% and 80% replacement of casein-based protein mix with the low-quality plant protein, zein). Results indicated that the negative impact of low-quality protein on survival, development and growth was amplified as the P:C ratio of the diet fell. Consumption differences were the main underlying cause of this response. The effect of low protein quality was to reduce the efficiency of nitrogen utilization and to increase the conversion rate of ingested nutrient to lipid growth, irrespective of P:C ratio. In the second experiment, caterpillars were allowed to self-compose their preferred diet, selecting between one of four high-protein diets (all 35:7, but containing 0%, 20%, 50% or 80% zein) and one of four equal-P:C-ratio diets (21:21, again containing 0%, 20%, 50% or 80% zein). Caterpillars showed a compensatory increase in their self-selected P:C intake in response to the moderate decline in protein quality of the 35:7 food. No such response was demonstrated for the insects presented with 35:7 food with the lowest protein quality. The significance of these findings is discussed within the context of herbivore food selection.
Underestimating the importance of the implementational level

The appropriate methodology for psychological research depends on whether one is studying mental algorithms or their implementation. Mental algorithms are abstract specifications of the steps taken by procedures that run in the mind. Implementational issues concern the speed and reliability of these procedures. The algorithmic level can be explored only by studying across-task variation. This contrasts with psychology's dominant methodology ofj6oking for within-task generalities, which is appropriate only for studying implementational issues. The implementation-algorithm distinction is related to a number of other "levels" considered in cognitive science. Its realization in Anderson's ACT* theory of cognition is discussed. Research at the algorithmic level is more promising because it is hard to make further fundamental scientific progress at the implementational level with the methodologies available. Protocol data, which are appropriate only for algorithm-level theories, provide a richer source than data at the implementational level. Research at the algorithmic level will also yield more insight into fundamental properties of human knowledge because it is the level at which significant learning transitions are defined. The best way to study the algorithmic level is to look for differential learning outcomes in pedagogical experiments that manipulate instructional experience. This provides control and prediction in realistically complex learning situations. The intelligent tutoring paradigm provides a particularly fruitful way to implement such experiments. The implications of this analysis for the issue of modularity of mind, the status of language, research on human/computer interaction, and connectionist models are also examined.
Enhanced Spectral Embedding with Semi-supervised Feature Selection

We present a spectral embedding technique for semi-supervised pattern classification. Importance scores of features are firstly evaluated with a semi-supervised feature selection algorithm by Zhao et al. Training data are then embedded into a low-dimensional space with a spectral mapping derived from the selected and weighted feature vectors with which test data are classified by the nearest neighbor rule. The performance of the proposed pattern classification algorithm is examined with synthetic and real datasets.
Evaluation of 1100 couples with recurrent pregnancy loss using conventional cytogenetic, PGD, and PGS: hype or hope

Abstract Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is an important clinical problem, mostly resulting from chromosomal or genetic defects, while in 30–60% of cases, it is idiopathic. The aim of this study is to evaluate the frequency and types of chromosomal abnormalities, also pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) outcomes among Iranian couples with RPL. This retrospective study was conducted on 1100 Iranian couples (2200 individuals) with RPL referred to Royan Institute between 2008 and 2014. Karyotyping had been performed using standard cytogenetic techniques. PGD results of RPL patients with abnormal karyotypes and PGS results of RPL patients with normal karyotypes were also analyzed. The frequency of chromosomal abnormalities in these patients was 4.95%. Women demonstrated more abnormalities (6.82%) in comparison to men (3.09%). The successful rate of pregnancy after PGD and PGS was 52 and 18.64%, respectively. The observation of 4.95% chromosomal abnormalities among the patients with RPL could support this hypothesis that there is a direct relationship between chromosomal abnormalities and RPL. More than half of the patients who underwent PGD had successful pregnancy; therefore, this approach can improve the success rate of pregnancy in them. The results of PGS cycles showed that this technique could increase the live birth rate in RPL patients.
Pacific Journal of Mathematics

In the operation of analytic continuation is generalized by relaxing the condition that a direct continuation of a function must have the same values as the original on the intersection of their domains of definition. Thus the generalized continuations of a function can have some other property in common with the original function such as being preimages of a single function under a local integral operator. This generalization is accomplished by developing continuation of ^~ = {(f a , S a )\f a eΦ and S a a ball in with respect to a collection of maps, J^ of subsets of into J^7 J^ must satisfy some compatibility conditions. Many of the proofs in this development parallel those for analytic continuation and lead to the introduction of a manifold on which the generalized continuation is single valued. A generalized continuation of function elements (/ α , S a ) is achieved when all the / α 's are complex valued functions defined on S a and some examples are given.
Tiotropium Bromide in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Bronchial Asthma

Inhaled bronchodilators are the mainstay of pharmacological treatment for stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including β2-agonists and muscarinic antagonists. Tiotropium bromide, a long-acting antimuscarinic bronchodilator (LAMA), is a treatment choice for moderate-to-severe COPD; its efficacy and safety have been demonstrated in recent trials. Studies also point to a beneficial role of tiotropium in the treatment of difficult-to-control asthma and a potential function in the asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). Combination of different bronchodilator molecules and addition of inhaled corticosteroids are viable therapeutic alternatives. A condensation of the latest trials and the rationale behind these therapies will be presented in this article.
The Cognitive Effects of Alzheimer's Disease in Hispanic Older Adults

Author(s): Weissberger, Gali Helena | Abstract: Rationale : Differences in prevalence, age of onset, and mortality rates have been found between Hispanic and non- Hispanic older adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Examination of factors such as bilingualism and cultural differences in diagnostic measures is needed to improve understanding of how they may affect the diagnosis and progression of AD in Hispanic older adults. The proposed set of studies aims to elucidate the mechanisms underlying cognitive changes in Hispanics with AD. Design : In Study 1, young and older Spanish-English bilinguals were tested on language-switching and non-linguistic color-shape- switching paradigms to identify age-related changes in language control. Study 2 investigated which neuropsychological tests are predictive of progression to AD in Hispanics to better understand preclinical markers of AD in this cohort. Study 3 compared the neuropathological and neuropsychological profiles of Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients with autopsy-confirmed AD. A follow-up study (Study 4) examined four consecutive years of semantic fluency performance in a subset of decliners from Study 2 to investigate the consistency of semantic exemplar loss over time in both cultural groups. Results : Study 1 revealed subtle parallels between executive control and language control, but also some differences suggesting that language control remains relatively sheltered from aging-related decline in executive control. In Study 2, many assessment measures revealed significant disadvantages in Hispanic controls, but nevertheless predicted AD in Hispanic decliners. Conversely, some tests were not sensitive to AD in Hispanic decliners. Unexpectedly, semantic fluency revealed a cross-over interaction : Hispanic controls generated fewer correct responses than non-Hispanics, whereas Hispanic decliners outperformed non-Hispanics. In Study 3, this semantic fluency pattern emerged across many neuropsychological measures. Hispanics with AD were also found to have less AD pathology but greater neurovascular pathology than non-Hispanics. In Study 4, Hispanic decliners outperformed non-Hispanics across four years of category fluency, but groups did not differ in consistency of semantic exemplar loss. Conclusions : Findings highlight the importance of a comprehensive approach to understanding the cognitive effects of AD in Hispanics. Together, the studies provide preliminary evidence that factors such as bilingualism, vascular risk, and sociological issues may complicate interpretation of neuropsychological profiles and diagnosis of AD in Hispanics
Graded Associations of Blood Lead and Urinary Cadmium Concentrations with Oxidative-Stress–Related Markers in the U.S. Population: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Although oxidative stress has been proposed as a mechanism of lead and cadmium toxicity mostly based on in vitro experiments or animal studies, it is uncertain whether this mechanism is relevant in the pathogenesis of lead- or cadmium-related diseases in the general population with low environmental exposure to lead and cadmium. We examined associations of blood lead and urinary cadmium levels with oxidative stress markers of serum γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), vitamin C, carotenoids, and vitamin E among 10,098 adult participants in the third U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. After adjusting for race, sex, and age (plus serum total cholesterol in the case of serum carotenoids and vitamin E), blood lead and urinary cadmium levels both showed graded associations, positive with serum GGT and inverse with serum vitamin C, carotenoids, and vitamin E (p for trend < 0.01, respectively). These associations were consistently observed among most subgroups: non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, men, women, all age groups, non-drinkers, drinkers, nonsmokers, ex-smokers, current smokers, and body mass index (< 25, 25–29.9, and ≥30). The strong association of blood lead and urinary cadmium levels with oxidative stress markers in this population suggests that oxidative stress should be considered in the pathogenesis of lead- and cadmium-related diseases even among people with low environmental exposure to lead and cadmium.
Discovery of a 105 ms X-Ray Pulsar in Kesteven 79: On the Nature of Compact Central Objects in Supernova Remnants

We report the discovery of 105 ms X-ray pulsations from the compact central object (CCO) in the supernova remnant Kes 79 using data acquired with the Newton X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton). Two observations of the pulsar taken 6 days apart yield an upper limit on its spin-down rate of < 7 × 10-14 s s-1 and no evidence for binary orbital motion. The implied energy loss rate is < 2 × 1036 ergs s-1, the surface magnetic field strength is Bp < 3 × 1012 G, and the spin-down age is τ > 24 kyr. The latter exceeds the remnant's estimated age, suggesting that the pulsar was born spinning near its current period. The X-ray spectrum of PSR J1852+0040 is best characterized by a blackbody model of temperature kTBB = 0.44 ± 0.03 keV, radius RBB ≈ 0.9 km, and Lbol = 3.7 × 1033 ergs s-1 at d = 7.1 kpc. The sinusoidal light curve is modulated with a pulsed fraction of >45%, suggestive of a small hot spot on the surface of the rotating neutron star. The lack of a discernible pulsar wind nebula is consistent with an interpretation of PSR J1852+0040 as a rotation-powered pulsar whose spin-down luminosity falls below the empirical threshold for generating bright wind nebulae, c ≈ 4 × 1036 ergs s-1. The age discrepancy implies that its has always been below c, perhaps a distinguishing property of the CCOs. Alternatively, the X-ray spectrum of PSR J1852+0040 suggests a low-luminosity anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP), but the weak inferred Bp field is incompatible with a magnetar theory of its X-ray luminosity. We cannot exclude accretion from a fallback disk. The ordinary spin parameters discovered from PSR J1852+0040 highlight the difficulty that existing theories of isolated neutron stars have in explaining the high luminosities and temperatures of CCO thermal X-ray spectra.
WORK-LIFE BALANCE: A LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review on Work-life Balance has become a heft trepidation of those who intent to value the quality of working life and its relationship to an eminence personal life. Worldwide workers respond quite differently to work settings, which poses challenges for businesses operating in numerous countries that need adjustments to human resource practices to optimize performance levels of employees and reduce turnover expenses at the workplace. Currently the nature of work has changed intensely in response to economic shifts and an increasingly global economy. Balancing successfully between personal or family life with work can be perplexing and it impacts on a person’s satisfaction in their work and personal life’s in organizations. This has been a clearly observed through its growing situation in the wealth of the institutions and awareness of satisfying lives for its workers by supporting the development of each employee and the further development of the companies. Steadily, both fields rely on the approaches employed by both employees and employers. The literature identified its effect on numerous value on work-life conditions i.e., employee performance, employee satisfaction, job satisfaction, employee commitment, workplace factors, organization stress, practices among female employees and behavioral outcomes. This paper provided an overview of various aspects of Work-Life balance through the review of existing literature. The sources referred include various journals, books, articles, doctoral thesis, working papers, reports, magazines, internet sites, newspapers etc. which were reflected as references at the end. Keyword: Work-Life Balance, Employee Performance, Employee Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction, Employee Commitment, Workplace Factors, Organization Stress, Practices among Female Employees and Behavioral Outcomes. CITATION: Otuya, W. , & Andeyo, L. M. (2020). Work-life balance: A literature review. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management , 7(2), 249 – 258.
Efficacy, safety, and clinical outcomes of endoscopic mucosal resection: a study of 101 cases.

BACKGROUND Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is an alternative to surgery for removal of superficial neoplastic lesions of the GI tract. The aim of this study was to assess the safety, efficacy, and clinical outcomes of EMR. METHODS Data from consecutive EMR procedures performed by using suction cap-assisted and/or saline solution-assisted snare resection techniques over a 45-month period were reviewed retrospectively. EUS was performed before EMR in the majority of cases. Immediate and delayed complications were recorded. Survival was assessed in patients with carcinoma or high-grade dysplasia on final histopathology in whom EMR achieved complete resection. RESULTS One hundred one lesions were removed by EMR in 92 patients. Indications were adenoma (67%), high-grade dysplasia (13%), intramucosal carcinoma (11%), and lesions of uncertain histopathology (10%). Locations were esophagus 19%, stomach 14%, duodenum 27%, rectum 12%, and colon 29%. Suction cap-assisted technique was used in 26% and saline solution-assisted polypectomy in 74% of cases. Complete resection was achieved in 89%. For complete resection, 17% required more than 1 session. Post-EMR histopathology was adenoma 47%, high-grade dysplasia 13%, carcinoma 16%, carcinoid 3%, benign 19%, and low-grade dysplasia 3%. EMR resulted in upgrading of histopathologic staging to carcinoma or high-grade dysplasia in 44%. Bleeding was the only complication (early 16, delayed 6). The median cancer-free survival in patients with adenocarcinoma who underwent complete resection by EMR was 27 months (interquartile range: 17-28 months). CONCLUSION EMR achieves complete resection in a majority of patients but is associated with a higher risk of bleeding compared with standard polypectomy. EMR changes pathologic stage in a significant number of patients. Survival data are encouraging, but long-term follow-up studies are needed.
Efficacy of timed embryo transfer with fresh and frozen in vitro produced embryos to increase pregnancy rates in heat-stressed dairy cattle.

Our objective was to determine whether pregnancy rates in heat-stressed dairy cattle could be enhanced by timed embryo transfer of fresh (nonfrozen) or frozen-thawed in vitro-derived embryos compared to timed insemination. Ovulation in Holstein cows was synchronized by a GnRH injection followed 7 d later by PGF2 alpha and a second treatment with GnRH 48 h later. Control cows (n = 129) were inseminated 16 h (d 0) after the second GnRH injection. On d 7, a fresh (n = 133) or frozen-thawed (n = 142) in vitro-derived embryo was transferred to cows assigned for timed embryo transfer after categorizing the corpus luteum by palpation per rectum as 3 (excellent), 2 (good or fair), 1 (poor), and 0 (nonpalpable). Response to the synchronization treatment, determined by plasma progesterone concentration (ng/ml) < or = 1.5 on d 0 and > or = 2.0 on d 7, was 76.2%. Mean plasma progesterone concentration on d 7 increased as the quality of corpus luteum improved from category 0 to 3. Concentrations of progesterone in plasma were elevated (> or = 2.0 ng/ml) at 21 d in 64.7 (fresh embryo), 40.3 (frozen embryo), and 41.4 +/- 0.1% (timed insemination) of cows, respectively. Cows that received a fresh embryo had a greater pregnancy rate at 45 to 52 d than did cows that received a frozen-thawed embryo or timed insemination (14.3 > 4.8, 4.9 +/- 2.3%). Body condition (d 0) of cows influenced the pregnancy rate and plasma progesterone concentrations. In summary, timed embryo transfer with fresh in vitro-produced embryos in heat-stressed dairy cattle improved pregnancy rate relative to timed insemination.
A kernel-based sampling to train SVM with imbalanced data set

Out-class sampling working together with in-class sampling is a popular strategy to train Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier with imbalanced data sets. However, it may lead to some inconsistency because the sampling strategy and SVM work in different space. This paper presents a kernel-based over-sampling approach to overcome the drawback. The method first preprocesses the data using both in-class and out-class sampling to generate minority instances in the feature space, then the pre-images of the synthetic samples are found based on a distance relation between input space and feature space. Finally, these pre-images are appended to the original minority class data set to train a SVM. Experiments on real data sets indicate that compared with existing over-sampling technique, the samples generated by the proposed strategy have the higher quality. As a result, the effectiveness of classification by SVM with imbalanced data sets is improved.
Fast, secure handovers in 802.11: back to the basis

This article presents a fast, secure handover protocol for 802.11 networks. The protocol keeps the security functionalities of 802.1X but uses a new reauthentication protocol that promotes fast handovers during reassociations. The reauthentication protocol recovers the original 802.11 paradigm: authenticate first, reassociate next. Following this paradigm, we conceived two new 802.11 authentication and reassociation protocols, which allow a mobile station to perform 802.1X reauthentications before reassociations with the same functionality of a complete 802.1X authentication. Furthermore, reassociation protocols are authenticated, preventing denial-or-service scenarios that are not handled by 802.11i. Our new approach requires little from the environment, namely a new, central Reauthentication Service, for storing data used in the reauthentication of stations. The time of security-related tasks that contribute to handover delays was dramatically reduced to 1.5 ms, while an 802.1X fast resume takes more than 150 ms. Finally, our protocol addresses most design goals and problems stated by standards' working groups for fast, secure roaming in 802.11.
NO Reduction by Nitric-oxide Reductase from Denitrifying Bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Nitric-oxide reductase (NOR) of a denitrifying bacterium catalyzes NO reduction to N2O at the binuclear catalytic center consisting of high spin heme b3 and non-heme FeB. The structures of the reaction intermediates in the single turnover of the NO reduction by NOR from Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated using optical absorption and EPR spectroscopies combined with an originally designed freeze-quench device. In the EPR spectrum of the sample, in which the fully reduced NOR was mixed with an NO solution and quenched at 0.5 ms after the mixing, two characteristic signals for the ferrous FeB–NO and the penta-coordinated ferrous heme b3–NO species were observed. The CO inhibition of its formation indicated that two NO molecules were simultaneously distributed into the two irons of the same binuclear center of the enzyme in this state. The time- and temperature-dependent EPR spectral changes indicated that the species that appeared at 0.5 ms is a transient reaction intermediate prior to the N2O formation, in good agreement with the so-called “trans” mechanism. It was also found that the final state of the enzyme in the single turnover cycle is the fully oxidized state, in which the μ-oxo-bridged ligand is absent between the two irons of its binuclear center, unlike the resting form of NOR as isolated. On the basis of these present findings, we propose a newly developed mechanism for the NO reduction reaction conducted by NOR.