Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Breastfeeding, introduction of other foods and effects on health: a systematic literature review for the 5th Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

The present systematic literature review is part of the 5th revision of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. The overall aim was to review recent scientific data valid in a Nordic setting on the short- and long-term health effects of breastfeeding (duration of both any and exclusive breastfeeding) and introduction of foods other than breast milk. The initial literature search resulted in 2,011 abstracts; 416 identified as potentially relevant. Full paper review resulted in 60 quality assessed papers (6A, 48B, and 6C). A complementary search found some additional papers. The grade of evidence was classified as convincing, probable, limited-suggestive, and limited-no conclusion. The evidence was convincing of a protective dose/duration effect of breastfeeding against overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence, overall infections, acute otitis media, and gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections. The evidence was probable that exclusive breastfeeding for longer than 4 months is associated with slower weight gain during the second half of the first year which could be part of the reason behind the reduced risk of later overweight or obesity. There was also probable evidence that breastfeeding is a protective factor against inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, and diabetes (type 1 and 2), provides beneficial effects on IQ and developmental scores of children as well as a small reductive effect on blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels in adulthood. Other associations explored were limited-suggestive or inconclusive. In conclusion, convincing and probable evidence was found for benefits of breastfeeding on several outcomes. The recommendation in NNR2004 about exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and continued partial breastfeeding thereafter can stand unchanged. The relatively low proportion of infants in the Nordic countries following this recommendation indicates that strategies that protect, support and promote breastfeeding should be enhanced, and should also recognize the benefits for long-term health.
WarCraft III: reign of chaos

This beautiful and evocative glimpse into the story of Warcraft is the best representation of the lands of Azeroth yet created. The Warcraft III Pre-Rendered Cinematics break new ground in computer graphics by bringing huge armies, cloak-enshrouded, long-haired characters, and photorealistic landscapes to the screen. Created on PC's running 3D Studio MAX. Compositing was handled using Adobe After Effects and Discreet Combustion. Copyright held by creator.
Varicocele repair: does it still have a role in infertility treatment?

Purpose of review To review the role of varicocele repair in the treatment of male infertility. Recent findings Varicocele is a common finding among men with infertility and its repair has been a mainstay of surgical therapy in these men. Although each year multiple discoveries are made concerning the mechanism of varicocele-induced infertility, the exact pathophysiologic mechanism remains unknown. This study will update significant findings in regard to the pathophysiology of varicocele-induced infertility, such as increased expression of the aquaporin receptor and new findings related to testicular blood flow and vas deferens motility. Recent information concerning the effects of apoptosis and oxidative stress are also reviewed. With regard to the efficacy of varicocele repair, previous meta-analysis of the available data has been misleading due to improper selection criteria. Available clinical data are critically evaluated, with a focus on new meta-analyses that contradict the findings of the Cochrane database review, a study that has been accepted by many as evidence against varicocele repair. Summary We conclude that varicocele repair not only is an effective treatment for appropriately selected patients but can also be the most cost effective option.
ESTIMATION OF POLLEN AND SEED PRODUCTION OF COMMON RAGWEED IN FRANCE

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is an invasive weed of fi eld crops and human-disturbed habitats in Europe. As well as in its natural range (North America), common ragweed is a threat to human health due to its abundant allergenic pollen release. Most studies have been focused on airborne pollen monitoring, but to date, no data have been available on precise individual plant pollen and seed production related to plant traits growing in natural environment and on their corresponding source of variation. The aim of this study was to evaluate pollen and seed production of common ragweed plants in several populations in France. Seasonal pollen production per plant ranged from 100 million to 3 billion and seed production from 346 to 6,114, depending on plant size and habitat. Common ragweed plants developing in fi eld crops produced more pollens and seeds than those growing in other habitats. Pollen and seed production was closely related to plant volume and biomass, thus providing a means of estimating potential pollen and seed production in given target areas. Such biological data could be integrated into population management strategies or into airborne pollen modelling. Address for correspondence: Dr Boris Fumanal, UMR 1210 Biologie et Gestion des Adventices, INRA, ENESAD, UB, 17 rue Sully – BP 86510, 21000 Dijon, France. E-mail: boris.fumanal@u-bourgogne.fr
A Point-Set-Based Footprint Model and Spatial Ranking Method for Geographic Information Retrieval

In the recent big data era, massive spatial related data are continuously generated and scrambled from various sources. Acquiring accurate geographic information is also urgently demanded. How to accurately retrieve desired geographic information has become the prominent issue, needing to be resolved in high priority. The key technologies in geographic information retrieval are modeling document footprints and ranking documents based on their similarity evaluation. The traditional spatial similarity evaluation methods are mainly performed using a MBR (Minimum Bounding Rectangle) footprint model. However, due to its nature of simplification and roughness, the results of traditional methods tend to be isotropic and space-redundant. In this paper, a new model that constructs the footprints in the form of point-sets is presented. The point-set-based footprint coincides the nature of place names in web pages, so it is redundancy-free, consistent, accurate, and anisotropic to describe the spatial extents of documents, and can handle multi-scale geographic information. The corresponding spatial ranking method is also presented based on the point-set-based model. The new similarity evaluation algorithm of this method firstly measures multiple distances for the spatial proximity across different scales, and then combines the frequency of place names to improve the accuracy and precision. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the traditional methods with higher accuracies under different searching scenarios.
Multi-objective optimization for path searching in a flow network with maintenance tasks

The aim of this work is to propose a formal model for determining the dynamic optimal path for transfer operations on an oil flow network within real conditions of exploitation such as maintenance activities and alignments in-service. The study focuses on a multi-objective problem to search a safe and short path to the oil transfer operations. It is based on, firstly, dynamic reliability, that depends on time and conditions of use, of engaged valves in the path; and secondly, pipes lengths; and it is developed in a High Level Petri Nets (HLPN) framework. Real operational constraints and goals in the seaport are modelled with data extracted from OREDA Database. The results show how the proposed solution leads to a safer use of the network by avoiding riskiest valves and conflicts between oil transfer operations and between transfer operations and maintenance tasks. This contribution is applied in the oil transport, but it is potentially applicable in many other areas.
Cultural Ideals, Feminine Behavior and Family Control

In this paper I propose to apply the situational perspective in examiningthe interdependence between cultural values and actual conditions offamily behavior in Latin America, first by singling out significant inconsistenciesand contradictions between the cultural definition of the femalerole and social actuality and second, by identifying some of the situationalcircumstances that are responsible for this divergency.
Group II intron splicing factors in plant mitochondria

Group II introns are large catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) which are found in bacteria and organellar genomes of several lower eukaryotes, but are particularly prevalent within the mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) in plants, where they reside in numerous critical genes. Their excision is therefore essential for mitochondria biogenesis and respiratory functions, and is facilitated in vivo by various protein cofactors. Typical group II introns are classified as mobile genetic elements, consisting of the self-splicing ribozyme and its intron-encoded maturase protein. A hallmark of maturases is that they are intron specific, acting as cofactors which bind their own cognate containing pre-mRNAs to facilitate splicing. However, the plant organellar introns have diverged considerably from their bacterial ancestors, such as they lack many regions which are necessary for splicing and also lost their evolutionary related maturase ORFs. In fact, only a single maturase has been retained in the mtDNA of various angiosperms: the matR gene encoded in the fourth intron of the NADH-dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1 intron 4). Their degeneracy and the absence of cognate ORFs suggest that the splicing of plant mitochondria introns is assisted by trans-acting cofactors. Interestingly, in addition to MatR, the nuclear genomes of angiosperms also harbor four genes (nMat 1-4), which are closely related to maturases and contain N-terminal mitochondrial localization signals. Recently, we established the roles of two of these paralogs in Arabidopsis, nMAT1 and nMAT2, in the splicing of mitochondrial introns. In addition to the nMATs, genetic screens led to the identification of other genes encoding various factors, which are required for the splicing and processing of mitochondrial introns in plants. In this review we will summarize recent data on the splicing and processing of mitochondrial introns and their implication in plant development and physiology, with a focus on maturases and their accessory splicing cofactors.
Perceptions of a patient-staff-caregiver group among inpatients in a radiotherapy unit

Abstract Objective: Coping with cancer and its treatments has significant psychological implications for patients, and hospitalization can lead to emotional distress. Based on a community meeting (CM), a common therapeutic intervention in psychiatric wards, a unique patient–staff–caregiver group is held weekly on the radiotherapy unit of our hospital. The goals are to strengthen patient coping abilities and prompt open communications. The present study aimed at quantitatively estimating the effect of the community meeting by gauging the perceptions with respect to several therapeutic aspects. Method: A questionnaire was developed for patients who participated in CMs during their hospitalization based on four theoretical factors: illness perception, relations with the main caregiver, relations with other participants, and relations with unit staff. Results: Participants' general satisfaction with the meetings was found to be positive. The most significant aspect of the meetings, as perceived by participants, was relationships with the staff. Patients born in Israel perceived relationships with other participants more positively. Significance of results: Attentive interaction with medical staff and open communications are highly important for patients and contribute to their general satisfaction with the meetings.
Runtime Support for Heterogeneous Multi-core Systems

Multi-core processing platforms are one of the major steps forward in offering high-performance computing platforms. The idea is to increase the performance by employing more processing elements to perform a job. However, this creates a challenge for both hardware developers who build such systems and software designers who program those platforms. On the hardware side, we can mention the problems on the interconnects management, memory hierarchies complexities and cache coherency problem. While on the software side, problems mainly arise in resource management, resource sharing and synchronization. One more fundamental problem on the software side is the inability to program such platforms with the conventional programming models. This is mainly because programming such platforms requires in-depth knowledge of hardware design. In this dissertation, we address the software side problems by proposing a comprehensive runtime system which is responsible to manage the system resources and resolve all the conflicting issues when accessing computing resources. Furthermore, the runtime system offers the application developers with APIs and system primitives that abstract away the platform dependent details, and provides a consistent programming model. These primitives decouple the process of software development from hardware design and results in the software to be independent of the underlying hardware platform. The proposed runtime system consists of a scheduler, a profiler, a transformer, a JIT compiler and a kernel library. A detailed description of each component is presented and the performance of the whole system as well as the imposed overhead of the component is discussed.
Resistance exercise training: its role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

The metabolic effects of reduced muscle mass, engendered by normal aging or decreased physical activity, lead to a high prevalence of obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension.1–4 These risk factors are associated with abnormalities in cardiovascular structure and function such as arterial stiffness and impaired endothelial function. Skeletal muscle is the primary metabolic “sink” for glucose and triglyceride disposal and is an important determinant of resting metabolic rate. Accordingly, it has been hypothesized that resistance exercise training (RT) and subsequent increases in muscle mass may reduce multiple cardiovascular (CV) disease risk factors.5–8 The inclusion of RT as part of an exercise program for promoting health and preventing disease has been endorsed by the American Heart Association,9 American College of Sports Medicine,10 and the American Diabetes Association11 as an integral part of an overall health and fitness program. Cross-sectional studies have shown that muscular strength is inversely associated with all-cause mortality12 and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome,13,14 independent of cardiorespiratory fitness levels. To date, however, the evidence that RT reduces CV risk factors remains equivocal. This review will critically evaluate whether RT modifies CV risk factors and improves characteristics of CV structure and function. The topics will be limited to the effects of RT on major and independent risk factors for CV disease including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and advancing age.4 The quantitative relation between these risk factors and CV events has been elucidated by the Framingham Heart Study4 and other studies. The topics will also include 2 predisposing risk factors—obesity and physical inactivity—that are designated as major risk factors by the American Heart Association.1,2,4 To the extent possible, this review will examine the separate and independent effects of RT in studies that did not include a concomitant …
Affective Images of Tourism Destinations

The destination image and positioning studies in tourism have been limited to those dealing with the image's perceptual or cognitive component. This study examined the applicability of Russel and his colleagues' proposed affective space structure to large-scale environments (i.e., tourism destination countries) as well as its potential as a positioning structure to study affective images of tourism destinations. The multidimensional scaling analysis of 11 Mediterranean countries along with proposed affective space structure indicated that Russel and his colleagues' proposed affective space can also be applied to places that are not perceived directly. It also showed potential for studying the affective image positioning of tourism destinations. The article concludes with some theoretical and practical implications and future research areas regarding tourism destination images.
Robust mixture models for anomaly detection

We propose robust density estimation in a low dimensional space for anomaly detection. The outline of the method is as follows: first a low dimensional representation of the original data is learnt. Then, a robust density mixture model is estimated in the learnt space. Finally, the likelihood of a data point given the model parameters is used to apply anomaly detection. An efficient way for adapting the model parameters when the data distribution is changing with time is proposed. We further show how to identify the actual parameters in the original feature space that accounts for the occurrence of the anomaly. We present experimental results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Opportunities and Challenges of Atomistic Modeling to Simulate Amorphous Carbon Properties for Computer Hard-Disk Applications

Amorphous carbon is used as coating material for computer hard-disks magnetic media and recording heads. There has been significant improvement in understanding amorphous carbon's properties based on experimental observations. High data storage density requirement in the coming years necessitates the use of an ultrathin carbon overcoat while maintaining or enhancing its tribological, thermal, optical, and corrosion properties for better recording performance and reliability. Along with experimental techniques, atomistic simulations can be a useful tool to provide fundamental understanding, especially in the cases where experiments are not adequate. This review gives an overview of how atomistic modeling can provide insights into amorphous carbon properties and discuss challenges for such modeling.
Kinematics and interaction analysis for tracked mobile manipulators

This paper presents a systematic method to establish the kinematics model for a tracked mobile manipulator on firm grounds, with consideration of the interactive motions between the tracks and the terrain as well as those between the tracked vehicle and the onboard manipulator. Kinematics modeling for a tracked mobile manipulator is an intractable problem, because there are infinite number of contact points between the tracks and the terrain which makes slippage unavoidable. The track-terrain and vehicle-manipulator interactions make the problem even more complex and difficult to solve since the motion of the onboard manipulator and the centrifugal forces during moderate or high speed motion will give rise to transfer of the load distribution, which may affect the longitudinal and lateral tractive forces and the resistance. This work aims at developing a general kinematics modeling approach, which lays a solid foundation for automatic control of tracked mobile manipulators.
Mesothelioma among shipyard workers in Monfalcone, Italy

Background: The high mesothelioma incidence in Monfalcone, Italy, is mainly attributable to shipbuilding activity. Mesothelioma risk among shipyard workers in Monfalcone is poorly defined. Materials and Methods: Workers hired at the Monfalcone shipyards in the period 1950-1959 were identified by surveying shipyard roll. The list of the workers was coupled with the archive data of Monfalcone and Trieste Hospitals. Mesotheliomas diagnosed in the above people were reexamined. Results: Of 1,403 workers hired in 1950-1959, 35 were diagnosed with mesothelioma (34 pleural, one peritoneal) between 1978 and 2012. Latency periods exceeded 40 years in 31 cases. The highest percentage of mesotheliomas was observed among people aged 14-19 years at hiring time (3.4%). Four mesothelioma patients had a blood relative with the same tumor. Conclusions: The present findings show high mesothelioma percentage among shipyard workers hired at young ages. The effects of asbestos exposure begun in 1950-1959 cannot be considered as exhausted.
Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome: Lessons from the First 20 Years

Superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome was first reported by Lloyd Minor and colleagues in 1998. Patients with a dehiscence in the bone overlying the superior semicircular canal experience symptoms of pressure or sound-induced vertigo, bone conduction hyperacusis, and pulsatile tinnitus. The initial series of patients were diagnosed based on common symptoms, a physical examination finding of eye movements in the plane of the superior semicircular canal when ear canal pressure or loud tones were applied to the ear, and high-resolution computed tomography imaging demonstrating a dehiscence in the bone over the superior semicircular canal. Research productivity directed at understanding better methods for diagnosing and treating this condition has substantially increased over the last two decades. We now have a sound understanding of the pathophysiology of third mobile window syndromes, higher resolution imaging protocols, and several sensitive and specific diagnostic tests. Furthermore, we have a treatment (surgical occlusion of the superior semicircular canal) that has demonstrated efficacy. This review will highlight some of the fundamental insights gained in SCDS, propose diagnostic criteria, and discuss future research directions.
A possible role to nitric oxide in the anti-inflammatory effects of amitriptyline

Antidepressants are reported to display anti-inflammatory effects. Nitric oxide (NO), in turn, has a key role in inflammation. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of amitriptyline co-administered with L-NAME (a NO synthase inhibitor) on certain parameters of acute inflammatory response in rats, as a form to investigate a possible participation of NO in the anti-inflammatory effects of amitriptyline. For this, two animal models were used: carrageenan-induced paw edema and acute peritonitis. In the last one, peritoneal exudate, adhesion molecules expression by peripheral blood leukocytes and serum cytokines levels were evaluated. In a noninflammatory condition, serum levels of nitrates were determined. L-NAME induced a potentiation of the anti-inflammatory effects of amitriptyline (p < 0.05) in the paw edema model; however, these effects were not abrogated when L-NAME was substituted by L-arginine administration. A decrease in both leukocyte concentration and total number of cells in the peritoneal exudate and a reduction in the total serum levels of nitrates were observed with co-administration of L-NAME and amitriptyline (p < 0.05). No significant differences among groups were found concerning the expression of adhesion molecules by peripheral blood leukocytes (p > 0.05). There was a significant decrease on IL-1β and TNF-α serum levels in the experimental groups when compared to the control animals. Together the present results and the literature suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of amitriptyline may be due to a decrease in NO production. A decrease in IL-1β/TNF-α serum levels may also be implicated in the results observed.