Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Threonine supplementation reduces dietary protein and improves lipid metabolism in Pekin ducks

ABSTRACT 1. This study was conducted to investigate the efficiency of threonine (Thr) supplementation on reducing dietary crude protein (CP) content and the effects of Thr on lipid metabolism in Pekin ducks. The effects of dietary CP concentration (160, 190 and 220 g/kg) and Thr supplemental concentration (0, 0.7, 1.4, 2.1 and 2.8 g/kg) on growth performance, carcass, liver lipid and plasma profiles were determined in Pekin ducks from 1–21 d of age. 2. A total of 720-d-old male Pekin ducks were randomly allotted to 1 of 15 dietary treatments with 6 replicate cages of 8 birds per cage for each treatment according to average body weight. 3. Dietary Thr supplementation improved growth performance and breast muscle percentage at all CP diets, and ducks fed Thr-supplemented diets had higher plasma concentrations of some plasma amino acids. Thr supplementation reduced the concentrations of total lipid, triglyceride, cholesterol in liver, and plasma low density lipoprotein cholesterin concentration at 160 and 190 g/kg CP, whereas it increased triglyceride concentration at 160 g/kg CP. 4. Thr requirements based on quadratic broken-line model estimation were 6.6 and 7.0 g/kg for optimal average daily gain (ADG), and 6.7 and 7.3 g/kg for breast muscle percentage of Pekin ducks from 1–21 d of age at 190 and 220 g/kg CP, respectively. The dietary Thr requirements and estimated ADG (55.18 vs. 55.86 g/d/bird) and breast muscle percentage (2.79% vs. 2.75%) of Pekin ducks did not differ between 190 and 220 g/kg CP according to the t-test results. 5. Dietary CP level could be reduced to 190 g/kg in Pekin ducks from 1–21 d of age with Thr supplementation to balance dietary amino acids, and Thr supplementation prevented excess liver lipid deposition in this instance.
Changes in putamen N-acetylaspartate and choline ratios in untreated and levodopa-treated Parkinson's disease: A proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

We have carried out single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy centered on the putamen both ipsilateral and contralateral to the worst affected side in nine subjects with drug naive idiopathic Parkinson's disease(IPD); seven chronically levodopa-treated dyskinetic IPD subjects; and 11 age-matched healthy controls. Measurements of N-acetylaspartate(NAA)/choline (Cho), NAA/(Creatine + Phosphocreatine) (Cr+PCr), and Cho/(Cr+PCr) were made. We found a significant reduction in NAA/Cho ratios from the putamen contralateral to the most affected side in the drug-naive group (p = 0.009), but not the levodopa-treated IPD groups compared with controls. There were no significant differences in NAA/(Cr+PCr) or Cho/(Cr+PCr) ratios. In untreated IPD, reduced putaminal NAA/Cho ratios may reflect loss of nigrostriatal dopamine terminals or alternatively indicate a functional abnormality of striatal putaminal neurons, such as membrane dysfunction due to striatal deafferentation. This study suggests that NAA/Cho ratios may be affected by L-dopa therapy and this may provide a reversible marker of neuronal dysfunction in the striatum.
A morphological study of glial cells in the hypoglossal nucleus of the cat during nerve regeneration

The cat hypoglossal nerve and nucleus have been used as a model for the study of the occurrence and time course of modifications in the size and composition of the perineuronal glial cell population as they relate to cytological changes in the nerve cell body and the initiation and progress of axon regeneration. Animals were killed at 2, 5, 10, 20, 35, 65, and 115 days after crush injury to the hypoglossal nerve. At 5 days after surgery, growth cones and regenerating unmyelinated axons were present at the lesion site, but no conspicuous changes were apparent in the nerve cell bodies. At 10 days after surgery, the granular endoplasmic reticulum was disaggregated and depleted. The elongation phase appeared to be completed at 20 days, as judged by the bilateral retrograde labeling of the hypoglossal nuclei with horseradish peroxidase. By 35 days, the cytoarchitecture of the nerve cell bodies and maturation of axons, as determined by a comparison of the relative frequency distribution of cross sectional areas proximal and distal to the lesion, were completely restored. Comparative quantitative light microscopic examination of the hypoglossal nuclei of intact and experimental animals failed to reveal any statistically significant differences in the total number of glial cells, number of glial cells/unit area of neuropil, or relative proportions of glial cell types at any of the postoperative time intervals. Moreover, electron microscopic quantitation of the microglial cell population did not reveal any significant alterations in the number, density, location, or morphology of these cells. These results demonstrate that perineuronal glial cell proliferation or changes in the composition of the glial cell population are not attendant on retrograde changes in the cat hypoglossal nucleus or a necessary concomitant to successful axon regeneration.
Sink or Swim: Newly Qualified Secondary School Teacher Experiences in Challenging Contexts in Zambia and Their Implications for Practice

Using qualitative data from a mixed methods study, this paper analyses the experiences of newly qualified teachers in an environment devoid of new teacher support. The findings show that newly qualified teachers in Zambia are not offered support. Usually inadequately trained, they often work in unfriendly environments. While induction and orientation are provided, meaningful support is usually limited. This article has established that schools are failing to provide conducive environments for newly qualified teachers to flourish. Based on the findings of the study, the paper proposes the enhancement of support programmes such as mentorship. It is recommended that newly qualified teachers who have failed to meet expected standards should be provided with academic support to help them achieve competency even as they learn to teach. At the school level authorities should help the new teachers build a sense of commitment to a school and to the profession. Failure to do so has huge implications for the quality of education provided.
The Dominant Role of Psychosocial Risk Factors in the Development of Chronic Low Back Pain Disability

Study Design An inception cohort design was used in which 421 patients were evaluated systematically with a standard battery of psychosocial assessment tests (Structured Interview for DSM-III-R Diagnosis, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and Million Visual Pain Analog Scale) within 6 weeks of acute back pain onset. Objectives The present study evaluated the predictive power of a comprehensive assessment of psychosocial and personality factors in identifying acute low back pain patients who subsequently develop chronic pain disability problems (as measured by job-work status at 1-year follow-up evaluation). Summary of Background Data There has been a relative paucity of prospective research in the United States comprehensively evaluating potential psychoscial risk factors that are associated with those injured workers who subsequently fail to return to work and productivity after 1 year because of low back pain disability. Such research has been quite limited because of the time and cost involved in conducting prospective studies. Methods All study patients were symptomatic with lumbar pain syndrome for no more than 6 weeks, These acute patients were tracked every 3 months, culminating in a structured telephone interview being conducted 1 year after the initial evaluation to document return-to-work status. Results Logistic regression analyses, conducted to differentiate between patients who were back at work after 1 year versus patients who were not because of the original back injury, revealed the importance of three psychosocial measures: self-reported pain and disability, scores on Scale 3 of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and workers' compensation and personal injury insurance status. The model generated correctly classified 90.7% of the cases. Results revealed that major psychopathology, such as depression and substance abuse, did not precede or cause the development of chronic pain disability. Conclusions These results show the presence of a robust “psychosocial disability factor” that is associated with those injured workers who are likely to develop chronic low back pain disability problems. Based on these data, a statistical algorithm has been generated that can identify those acute patients who will require early intervention to prevent the development of chronic disability. The second major result is that preinjury or concomitant psychopathology does not appear to predispose patients to chronic pain disability, although high rates of psychopathology have been shown in chronic low back pain. Future research should be directed at emotional vulnerability and psychosocial events in the period after the injury that may lead to chronicity.
Survival after relapse in children and adolescents with rhabdomyosarcoma: A report from the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group.

BACKGROUND Despite advances in therapy, nearly 30% of children with rhabdomyosarcoma experience progressive or relapsed disease, which is often fatal. PATIENTS AND METHODS To facilitate the development of a retrieval therapy protocol, we studied potential risk factors that were predictive of survival after first relapse in 605 children who were enrolled onto three consecutive Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group protocols. RESULTS The median survival time from first recurrence was 0.8 years; the estimated percentage of patients who survived 5 years from first recurrence was 17% +/- 2% (mean +/- SD). Univariate analysis showed that tumor histology was an important predictor of 5-year survival (P <.001): the 5-year survival rate was 64% for patients with botryoid tumors (n = 19), 26% for patients with embryonal tumors (n = 313), and 5% for patients with alveolar or undifferentiated sarcoma (n = 273). Further analysis identified prognostic factors within histologic subtypes (P <.001). For patients with embryonal tumors, the estimated 5-year survival rate was 52% for patients who initially presented with stage 1 or group I disease, 20% for those with stage 2/3 or group II/III disease, and 12% for those with group IV disease. For patients with stage 1/group I disease, estimated 5-year survival rates were higher for patients with local (72%) or regional (50%) recurrence than for those with distant (30%) recurrence. Among patients with alveolar or undifferentiated sarcoma, only the disease group predicted outcome: the 5-year survival estimate was 40% for group I versus 3% for groups II through IV. We identified a "favorable risk" group (approximately 20% of patients) whose 5-year estimated survival rate was near 50%; for all other patients, the estimated survival was near 10%. CONCLUSION This analysis demonstrates that the probability of 5-year survival after relapse for rhabdomyosarcoma is dependent on several factors at the time of initial diagnosis, including histologic subtype, disease group, and stage. These findings will form the basis of a multi-institutional risk-adapted relapse protocol for childhood rhabdomyosarcoma.
Anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguides (ARROW) inscribed by the femtosecond direct-write technique

A photonic bandgap is a property of some 2D and 3D periodic dielectric structures, where light of certain frequencies is forbidden to propagate. In the form of an optical fibre, such bandgaps can be created by either surrounding a hollow core with a periodic array of air holes or alternatively in the case of a solid core by surrounding it with an array of high index inclusions. In the latter case the guiding properties can by described by the anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) mechanism with light either leaking out of the core if it is in resonance with the high index inclusions or reflecting back into the core in the case of anti-resonance. In this guiding regime the photonic bandgaps are defined by the index contrast and size of the inclusions rather than the lattice constant. Furthermore, these structures exhibit a strong wavelength dependent group velocity dispersion with one zero-dispersion wavelength in each transmission window. This circumstance has been exploited for observing nonlinear propagation effects such as supercontiuum generation and soliton propagation.
Is Centralization Needed for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer Patients With Low Operative Risk?: A Nationwide Study

Objective: To investigate the impact of center volume on postoperative mortality (POM) according to patient condition. Background: Centralization has been shown to improve POM in esophageal and, to a lesser extent, gastric cancer surgery; however, the benefit of centralization for patients with low operative risk is questionable. Methods: All consecutive patients who underwent esophageal or gastric cancer surgery between 2010 and 2012 in France were included (N = 11,196). The 30-day POM was compared in terms of the center volume (low: <20 cases per year, intermediate: 20–39, high: 40–59, and very high: ≥60) and stratified according to the Charlson score (0, 1–2, ≥3). The consistency across the esophageal (n = 3286) and gastric (n = 7910) subgroups, and variations between 30-day and 90-day POM were analyzed. Results: Low-volume centers treated 64.2% of patients. A linear decrease in 30-day and 90-day POM was observed with increasing center volume, with rates of 5.7% and 10.2%, 4.3% and 7.9%, 3.3% and 6.7%, and 1.7% and 3.6% in low, intermediate, high, and very high-volume centers, respectively (P < 0.001). Comparing low and very high-volume centers, 30-day POM was 4.0% versus 1.1% for Charlson 0 (P = 0.001), 7.5% versus 3.4% for Charlson 1 to 2 (P < 0.001), and 14.7% versus 3.7% for Charlson ≥3 (P = 0.003) patients. A similar linear decrease was observed in the esophageal and gastric cancer subgroups. Between the low and very high-volume centers, an almost 70% reduction in the relative risk of POM was systematically observed, independent of Charlson score or tumor location. Conclusions: To improve POM, esophageal and gastric cancer surgery should be centralized, irrespective of the patient's comorbidity or tumor location.
Substitution of Saturated Fat in Processed Meat Products: A Review

The food industry is increasingly directing its efforts to produce and commercialize functional foods where the reduction or even elimination of saturated fat is an important goal. This situation arises from the concern of many institutions and individuals worldwide on the growth of non-transmissible diseases, particularly cardiovascular ones. This article presents a revision of the most important research carried out on processed meat products production and looks at the topic from two principal points of view: the nutritional and technological function of fat and the way in which it is gradually being replaced in the above-mentioned products. Many ingredients have been used to substitute fat but while the results concerning the nutritional composition of the final products are generally acceptable, the sensory aspects are not completely solved. This review emphasizes the use of plastic fats because they allow the highest fat substitution levels during its process and consumption without affecting the product behavior.
Management of Depression After Stroke: A Systematic Review of Pharmacological Therapies

Background and Purpose— Although depression may affect recovery and outcome after stroke, it is often overlooked or inadequately managed, and there is uncertainty regarding the benefits of antidepressant therapy in this setting. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of antidepressants for the treatment and prevention of depression after stroke. Methods— We undertook a systematic review using Cochrane methods of randomized placebo-controlled trials of antidepressants for the treatment or prevention of depressive illness and “abnormal mood” after stroke. Treatment effects on physical and other outcomes were also examined. Results— Outcome data were available for 7 treatment trials including 615 patients and 9 prevention trials including 479 patients. Because of the considerable variation in research design, trial quality, and method of reporting across studies, we did not pool all the outcome data. In the treatment trials, antidepressants reduced mood symptoms but had no clear effect on producing a remission of diagnosable depressive illness. There was no definitive evidence that antidepressants prevent depression or improve recovery after stroke. Conclusions— There is insufficient randomized evidence to support the routine use of antidepressants for the prevention of depression or to improve recovery from stroke. Although antidepressants may improve mood in stroke patients with depression, it is unclear how clinically significant such modest effects are in patients other than those with major depression. There is a pressing need for further research to better define the role of antidepressants in stroke management.
Civil Resistance in Armed Conflict: Leveraging Nonviolent Action to Navigate War, Oppose Violence and Confront Oppression

The scholarly literature on civil resistance has grown noticeably over the past few years. Influential books, such as Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict by Chenoweth and Stephan (2011), have stimulated a whole new body of research on the topic. Scholars are increasingly studying civil resistance campaigns from a more empirical, theory-informed and analytical perspective. With this turn, a subject that was previously seen as largely descriptive and sometimes normative began to gain the attention of major journals in political science and related areas (see, for example, the 2013 Journal of Peace Research special issue ‘Understanding Nonviolent Resistance’ edited by Chenoweth and Cunningham). Today academics count not only on a diverse array of high-quality historical case studies (e.g. Ackerman & DuVall 2000; Bartkowski 2013), but also on cross-national datasets (e.g. Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes [NAVCO]) that allow for a more systematic study of the phenomenon. Just to provide an indication of how much traction civil resistance has gained within mainstream academic circles, there were not only individual papers but also over 40 papers and more than 10 panels devoted to discussion of various dimensions of the topic at the 2017 International Studies Association annual convention held in Baltimore.
Role of transcription factors Ad4bp/SF‐1 and DAX‐1 in steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis in human testicular development and idiopathic azoospermia

Background: Ad4bp/SF‐1 and DAX‐1 are orphan members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of transcription factors. In order to obtain better understandings of human testicular steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis, we examined the expression levels of both factors in human normal and idiopathic azoospermic testes and investigated their physical meaning.
Detection of Verotoxin‐Producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 by Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction

We constructed primers for multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect verotoxin‐producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) O157:H7. The multiplex PCR primers were designed from the sequence of the flagellin structural gene of Escherichia coli flagellar type H7 (GenBank under accession number L07388), and from the sequence of the rfbE gene of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (GenBank under accession number S83460). In addition to these primers, we used a primer pair reported by Karch and Meyer (J. Clin, Microbiol. 27: 2751‐2757, 1989) to amplify various VT genes from VTEC. All of the examined specimens (18 isolates) of VT‐producing E. coli O157:H7 showed a positive result by the multiplex PCR test with the three sets of primers. The sensitivity of detection for VT‐producing E. coli O157:H7 was shown to be at least 3,000 cells per PCR tube.
Expected Drawdown Management: An Ex-Ante, Long-Term Approach to Portfolio Construction

This article describes a different approach to constructing portfolios; one based on the investor’s forward-looking, long-term expectation of peak-to-trough loss from investments (expected drawdown). The argument is made that expectation of the future peak-to-trough loss from an investment should be used as a true measure of risk capital that the investor is committing to the investment. This article further introduces a new metric that quantifi es the investor’s ex-ante view that two investments will experience their expected drawdowns at the same time (the expected co-drawdown). These two metrics combine into a new portfolio construction methodology (expected drawdown management) allowing investors to optimally construct portfolios based on controlling for the investor’s expectation of future peak-to-trough loss at the portfolio level.
Estimating young novice drivers' compliance with graduated driver licensing restrictions: A novel approach

ABSTRACT Objectives: Current methods of estimating compliance with graduated driver licensing (GDL) restrictions among young drivers with intermediate driver's licenses—which include surveys, direct observations, and naturalistic studies—cannot sufficiently answer many critical foundational questions: What is the extent of noncompliance among the population of young intermediate drivers? How does compliance change over the course of licensure? How does compliance differ by driver subgroup and in certain driving environments? This article proposes an alternative and complementary approach to estimating population-level compliance with GDL nighttime and passenger restrictions via application of the quasi-induced exposure (QIE) method. Methods: The article summarizes the main limitations of previous methods employed to estimate compliance. It then introduces the proposed method of borrowing the fundamental assumption of the QIE method—that young intermediate drivers who are nonresponsible in clean (i.e., one and only one responsible driver) multivehicle crashes are reasonably representative of young intermediate drivers on the road—to estimate population-based compliance. I describe formative work that has been done to ensure this method can be validly applied among young intermediate drivers and provide a practical application of this method: an estimate of compliance with New Jersey's passenger restrictions among 8,006 nonresponsible 17- to 20-year-old intermediate drivers involved in clean 2-vehicle crashes from July 2010 through June 2012. Results: Over the study period, an estimated 8.4% (95% confidence interval, 7.8%, 9.0%) of intermediate drivers' trips were not in compliance with New Jersey's GDL passenger restriction. These findings were remarkably similar to previous estimates from more resource-intensive naturalistic studies (Goodwin et al. 2006; Klauer et al. 2011). Conclusion: Studies can practically apply proposed methods to estimate population-level compliance with GDL passenger and night restrictions; examine how compliance varies by relevant driver, vehicle, and environmental factors; and evaluate the implementation of a GDL provision or other intervention aimed at increasing compliance with these restrictions. Important considerations and potential limitations and challenges are discussed.