Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two distinct ways to form long-term object recognition memory during sleep and wakefulness

Significance Long-term memories are considered to be optimally formed during sleep, but they may also be formed during wakefulness. Using behavioral indicators dissociating object and context memory in a novel-object recognition (NOR) paradigm, in combination with pharmacological inhibition of hippocampal activity during postencoding consolidation, we show that, in contrast to sleep consolidation, wake consolidation does not comprise the spatial–contextual integration of the NOR memory and is impaired by ongoing hippocampal activity. Accordingly, remote NOR memory after wake consolidation was even superior to that after sleep consolidation when tested in a context different from encoding. Our study directly comparing sleep and wake-dependent consolidation demonstrates that memories consolidated during wake and sleep differ in quality, but not necessarily in strength.
Longitudinal Sex Steroid Data in Relation to Birth Weight in Preterm Boys

Abstract Context There is a lack of knowledge on longitudinal sex steroid patterns during infancy, especially for boys born preterm or with low birth weight (LBW). Objective To find out whether LBW boys have a disturbed sex steroid profile during infancy. Design and setting Population-based longitudinal study performed at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Participants Ninety-eight singleton boys (47 LBW) born at gestational age 32.0 to 36.9 weeks were included. Because of dropout, 83 of the boys were still in the study at 10 months’ corrected age. Main outcome measures Serum androgen and estrogen concentrations were analyzed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and IGF-I was determined with radioimmunoassay in umbilical cord and at 0, 2, 5, and 10 months’ corrected age. Results Serum levels of androstenedione, estrone, and estradiol declined gradually from birth to 10 months corrected age. In both LBW boys and their counterparts, a surge was seen at 2 months’ corrected age (3 months’ chronological age) for testosterone, median (range) 6.5 (2.0-18.9) nmol/L, and in dihydrotestosterone 1.2 (0.4-4.3) nmol/L. At birth, LBW boys had higher median testosterone (0.7 vs 0.4 nmol/L, P = 0.019), and at 0 months’ corrected age, both had higher testosterone (5.7 vs 3.5 nmol/L, P = 0.003) and dihydrotestosterone (1.2 vs 0.9 nmol/L, P = 0.006) than their counterparts. At 10 months’ corrected age, catch-up in weight SD score from birth correlated with testosterone (rho = 0.27, P = 0.044) and androstenedione (rho = 0.29, P = 0.027). Conclusions Moderately to late preterm LBW boys showed a disturbed sex hormone profile, with elevated concentrations of androgens in early infancy.
Cognitive performances across individuals at high genetic risk for schizophrenia, high genetic risk for bipolar disorder, and low genetic risks: a combined polygenic risk score approach

Abstract Background Individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) display cognitive impairments, but the impairments in those with SCZ are more prominent, supported by genetic overlap between SCZ and cognitive impairments. However, it remains unclear whether cognitive performances differ between individuals at high and low genetic risks for SCZ or BD. Methods Using the latest Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) data, we calculated PGC3 SCZ-, PGC3 BD-, and SCZ v. BD polygenic risk scores (PRSs) in 173 SCZ patients, 70 unaffected first-degree relatives (FRs) and 196 healthy controls (HCs). Based on combinations of three PRS deciles, individuals in the genetic SCZ, genetic BD and low genetic risk groups were extracted. Cognitive performance was assessed by the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Results SCZ-, BD-, SCZ v. BD-PRSs were associated with case–control status (R2 = 0.020–0.061), and SCZ-PRS was associated with relative–control status (R2 = 0.023). Furthermore, individuals in the highest decile for SCZ PRSs had elevated BD-PRSs [odds ratio (OR) = 6.33] and SCZ v. BD-PRSs (OR = 1.86) compared with those in the lowest decile. Of the three genetic risk groups, the low genetic risk group contained more HCs, whereas the genetic BD and SCZ groups contained more SCZ patients (p < 0.05). SCZ patients had widespread cognitive impairments, and FRs had cognitive impairments that were between those of SCZ patients and HCs (p < 0.05). Cognitive differences between HCs in the low genetic risk group and SCZ patients in the genetic BD or genetic SCZ groups were more prominent (Cohen's d > −0.20) than those between HCs and SCZ patients in the no genetic risk group. Furthermore, SCZ patients in the genetic SCZ group displayed lower scores in verbal fluency and attention than those in the genetic BD group (d > −0.20). Conclusions Our findings suggest that cognitive impairments in SCZ are partially mediated through genetic loadings for SCZ but not BD.
Dietary Total Antioxidant Capacity and Odds of Breast Cancer: A Case-Control Study

Abstract Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently diagnosed female cancer worldwide. It has been shown that oxidative stress can contribute to cancer development. Therefore, we investigated the association between dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and breast cancer risk in a case-control study. This study was conducted on 136 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and 272 hospitalized controls in Tehran, Iran. Participant habitual diet was obtained using a 168-item validated food frequency questionnaire. Dietary TAC scores were computed using two different methods: the dietary ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) method and oxygen radical scavenging capacity (ORAC). The association between dietary TAC and breast cancer risk was estimated by logistic regression. The score of DTAC calculated by ORAC method was associated with lower odds of BC, especially among premenopausal women. However, this association was not significant after controlling potential confounders (ORAC: OR Q4–Q1 = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.42–2.44, p-trend = 0.96). Estimation of DTAC by FRAP method was not associated with the risk of BC (FRAP: OR Q4–Q1 = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.53–2.05, p-trend = 0.8). There were no association detected based on menopausal status. In this study, dietary TAC was not significantly related to the odds of breast cancer.
An integrated structural health monitoring system for determining local/global responses of historic masonry buildings

In this study, an integrated structural health monitoring system was developed and applied to a masonry heritage building under rehabilitation, where diverse structural changes were made. The late 19th century building had over the years undergone significant deterioration, which brought about the appearance of serious pathological processes affecting the building's stability. In 2012, concerns over the severe cracking phenomena affecting the structure prompted the decision to monitor the structure and to undertake strengthening interventions. A global structural monitoring system was applied to the church to identify the occurrence of possible damage mechanisms and monitoring the intervention processes. The monitoring system was based on the integration of subsystems, which were implemented as and when necessary. Traditional sensors consisting of crackmeters, servo‐inclinometers, cable extension sensors, displacement transducers, wind vanes, and temperature sensors (thermo‐hygrometer and thermocouples) were installed on the building. Moreover, novel measuring approaches using stress sensors and pressure cells were used. Furthermore, manual monitoring elements were installed, which provided measurements for contrasting with those of the continuous sensors, as well as a greater number of monitoring points. Thus, the structural response was measured using 67 monitoring elements. The long‐term (5 years) monitoring results indicated that the interventions were carried out without the occurrence of any irregularity. A good relation was confirmed between the manual and continuous measurements. Moreover, the results have shown the capability of the proposed integrated system to evaluate the structural behaviour during all the phases of the interventions.
EFFECT OF FIRST TRIMESTER PREGNANCY ON TRIIODOTHYRONINE, THYROXINE AND THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE AT VARIOUS AGE INTERVALS IN WOMEN OF PORT HARCOURT METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

The effect of first trimester gestation on Triiodothyronine (T 3 ), Thyroxine (T 4 ) and Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were assessed in 90 female subjects between the ages of 18-45 years. The test subjects all in their first trimester pregnancy were 60 and the non-pregnant (control) subjects excluded by serum pregnancy test were 30. Age interval of 18-26, 27-35 and 36-45 years were considered for both the test and control subjects. Samples obtained from these subjects were analyzed using the enzyme immunoassay method and statistical analysis carried out using Graphpad prism 5.2. When control was compared to pregnant subject, T 4 and TSH showed significant increase and decrease respectively while T 3 indicated no significant difference. When age intervals were considered, pregnant women of 18 -26 years showed significant increases and decreases in T3, T4 and TSH respectively. In 27-35 years, significant increase and decrease were seen in T4 and TSH respectively while in 36-45 years, significant decrease was seen in TSH. These significant changes in the activities of the hormones in the early period of gestation indicate great demand fo r the hormones by the mother and for the sustenance of the growing child during pregnancy.
Does interaction between TQM practices and knowledge management processes enhance the innovation performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of applying total quality management (TQM) on enhancing knowledge management processes. It also examine the relationship between knowledge management and innovation performance in the Malaysian manufacturing sector. Design/methodology/approach This study used a survey method to test the formulated hypotheses. Therefore, the adopted questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect the needed data. The population of the study consisted of 800 big and medium manufacturing companies listed in Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (2012). Findings The results of this paper support a positive and significant impact of TQM practice on knowledge management processes. Furthermore, the relationship between knowledge management and innovation performance has been a proved. However, further analysis on dimension level indicates that knowledge acquisition failed to show significant relationship with innovation performance. Originality/value This study addresses one of the recent issues within the Malaysian context of becoming a developed nation, which is innovation performance, specifically for manufacturing companies. To do so, the overlapping relationships among TQM practices, knowledge management, and innovation performance have been tested.
Study of low dimensional SiGe island on Si for potential visible Metal-Semiconductor-Metal photodetector

In this paper, an investigation of design and simulation of silicon germanium (SiGe) islands on silicon (Si) was presented for potential visible metal semiconductor metal (MSM) photodetector. The characterization of the performances in term of the structural, optical and electrical properties of the structures was analyzed from the simulation results. The project involves simulation using SILVACO Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) tools. The different structures of the silicon germanium (SiGe) island on silicon substrate were created, which were large SiGe, small SiGe, combination SiGe and bulk Ge. All the structures were tested for potential Metal Semiconductor Metal (MSM) photodetector. The extracted data such as current versus voltage characteristic, current gain and spectral response were obtained using ATLAS SILVACO tools. The performance of SiGe island structures and bulk Ge on Si substrate as (MSM) photodetector was evaluated by photo and dark current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. It was found that SiGe islands exhibited higher energy band gap compared to bulk Ge. The SiGe islands current-voltage characteristics showed improved current gain compared to bulk Ge. Specifically the enhancement of the islands gain was contributed by the enhanced photo currents and lower dark currents. The spectral responses of the SiGe islands showed peak response at 590 nm (yellow) which is at the visible wavelength. This shows the feasibility of the SiGe islands to be utilized for visible photodetections.
CONSERVATIVE ORAL THERAPY VERSUS RIFAXIMIN PLUS LACTOSE: WHICH IS A BETTER OPTION TO MANAGE RECURRENCE ONSET OF HE (HEPATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY)

: Objective: To have a comparison of the recurrence or frequency of HP (hepatic encephalopathy) with a liver cirrhosis patient having treatment with Rifaximin plus Lactulose as opposed to oral conventional treatment by Lactulose only. Materials & Methods: This research started from January and ended in August 2017 at the Department of Medicine, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. In this research, a total number of 200 HE patients were considered and divided into two groups: a group of getting treatment patients and a placebo group. The recurrence or frequency of HE was evaluated amid these two groups. Results: A comparison of 200 HE patients was carried out. The mean of the patient age was (44.78 ± 11.87) years in which the group under treatment was of mean ages (44.33 ± 10.45) years and the placebo group mean ages were (43.33 ± 10.13) years. After comparison, the cases of the group under treatment were 22 (22%) and cases of the placebo group were 47 (47%). There were significantly higher (P = 0.000) HE recurrence in the placebo group as opposed to the group under treatment. Conclusion: For decreasing the recurrence or frequency of HE the use of rifaximin plus lactulose is better than conventional treatment by lactulose only. Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE), Oral, Recurrence and Lactulose.
Web and Distributed Software Development Risks Management: WeDRisk Approach

— In spite of a variety of software risk management approaches, the software industry is still suffering from associated risks. Web and distributed software development is an example, where there are specific challenges and risk areas, which need to be addressed, considered and managed. In this paper we present a list of potential web and distributed risks, which we have identified based on their challenges and characteristics. We survey a number of software risk management approaches and identify their weaknesses and strengths for managing web and distributed development risks. Examples of weaknesses that we identify include the treatment of cultural issues, geographic location, and process and product perspectives. The identified strengths are quite general and only few of them are targeted to web and distributed developments. Following the review of strengths and weaknesses we present an approach called WeDRisk, which we propose in order to tackle the weaknesses of the existing approaches, and to accommodate the continuously evolving challenges to web and distributed software development. WeDRisk tries to cover some aspects and perspectives, which have not been covered up to now.
University of Birmingham SIP

A feature model speciﬁes the sets of features that deﬁne valid products in a software product line. Recent work has considered the problem of choosing optimal products from a feature model based on a set of user preferences, with this being represented as a many-objective optimisation problem. This problem has been found to be difﬁcult for a purely search-based approach, leading to classical many-objective optimisation algorithms being enhanced by either adding in a valid product as a seed or by introducing additional mutation and replacement operators that use a SAT solver. In this paper we instead enhance the search in two ways: by providing a novel representation and also by optimising ﬁrst on the number of constraints that hold and only then on the other objectives. In the evaluation we also used feature models with realistic attributes, in contrast to previous work that used randomly generated attribute values. The results of experiments were promising, with the proposed (SIP) method returning valid products with six published feature models and a randomly generated feature model with 10,000 features. For the model with 10,000 features the search took only a few minutes. The results indicate that the encoding does affect performance, with the novel encoding proving to be most effective.
Oral Exposure to Trypanosoma cruzi Elicits a Systemic CD8 (cid:1) T Cell Response and Protection against Heterotopic Challenge (cid:1)

Trypanosoma cruzi infects millions of people in Latin America and often leads to the development of Chagas disease. T. cruzi infection can be acquired at or near the bite site of the triatomine vector, but per os infection is also a well-documented mode of transmission, as evidenced by recent microepidemics of acute Chagas disease attributed to the consumption of parasite-contaminated foods and liquids. It would also be convenient to deliver vaccines for T. cruzi by the oral route, particularly live parasite vaccines intended for the immunization of reservoir hosts. For these reasons, we were interested in better understanding immunity to T. cruzi following oral infection or oral vaccination, knowing that the route of infection and site of antigen encounter can have substantial effects on the ensuing immune response. Here, we show that the route of infection does not alter the ability of T. cruzi to establish infection in muscle tissue nor does it impair the generation of a robust CD8 (cid:1) T cell response. Importantly, oral vaccination with attenuated parasites provides protection against wild-type (WT) T. cruzi challenge. These results strongly support the development of whole-organism-based vaccines targeting reservoir species as a means to alleviate the burden of Chagas disease in affected regions.
Development of Mannitol-Corn Starch Co-processed Direct Compression Excipient Using Lactitol as Binder

Development of Mannitol-Corn Starch Co-processed Direct Compression Excipient Using Lactitol as Binder Direct compression is the simplest and most economic method to produce tablets that ingredients are thoroughly mixed and then compressed into tablets. The important role of this process is the good and effective direct compression excipient. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a new co-processed direct compression excipient from mannitol and corn starch using wet granulation method. Methods: The direct compression excipients were prepared by co-processing mannitol with corn starch in a ratio of 2: 1 using lactitol ( 0 - 15% on dry basis) as a binder. The resulted granules were evaluated for physical properties. These excipients were used to prepared placebo tablets to characterize tabletability, disintegration time and lubricant sensitivity ratio. All excipients were used to formulate hydrochlorothiazide ( HCTZ) tablets. Dissolution profiles of the HCTZ tablets were compared to the original product using similarity factor ( f 2 ). Results: The 2:1 mannitol-corn starch co-processed granules containing lactitol as binder (0%, 10% and 15% named as MCL00, MCL10 and MCL15, respectively) performed good to excellent flowability with relatively low %moisture contents (1.60 ± 0.17-1.63 ± 0.06). The median diameter (d 0.5 ) of MCL00, MCL10 and MCL15 were 445, 610 and 595  m, respectively. Tensile strength of placebo tablets from MCL excipients increased with the increase amount of lactitol ( ANOVA, Tukey post- hoc, p <0. 01) . Lubricant sensitivity ratios were between 0. 29- 0. 53. Placebo tablets from MCL10 and MCL15 met the acceptance criteria according to pharmaceutical compendia. HCTZ tablets (50 mg/tab) produced from MCL10 without or with superdisintegrant at 2-4% offered good physical characteristics and complied with the dissolution test. The similarity factors calculated from dissolution profiles and compared to that of the original product were 51-60. Conclusion: Lactitol was an effective binder for co-processed mannitol-corn starch granules. Both MCL10 and MCL15 exhibited good flowability and high tabletability and suited for direct compression excipient. In the present study, MCL10 was the most suitable excipient to deal with such a very slightly soluble drug like HCTZ. The adding of superdisintegrant might need to attain the desired disintegration time and drug release.
AOSSM Early Sport Specialization Consensus Statement page)

Background: Early sport specialization is not a requirement for success at the highest levels of competition and is believed to be unhealthy physically and mentally for young athletes. It also discourages unstructured free play, which has many benefits. Purpose: To review the available evidence on early sports specialization and identify areas where scientific data are lacking. Study Design: Think tank, roundtable discussion. Results: The primary outcome of this think tank was that there is no evidence that young children will benefit from early sport specialization in the majority of sports. They are subject to overuse injury and burnout from concentrated activity. Early multisport participation will not deter young athletes from long-term competitive athletic success. Conclusion: Youth advocates, parents, clinicians, and coaches need to work together with the sport governing bodies to ensure healthy environments for play and competition that do not create long-term health issues yet support athletic competition at the highest level desired.
CESifo Working Paper Series WORK-SHARING: AN EFFICIENCY-WAGE ANALYSIS

This paper evaluates two approaches to work-sharing by examining both within the same macro model. The standard approach involves imposing a quantity constraint on labour market participants (a maximum number of standard hours for each worker). This approach is compared to a revenue-neutral employment subsidy financed by a tax on overtime hours – an initiative intended to harness market incentives. The paper shows that the second approach brings much preferred results – it involves lower unemployment, higher investment, and no reduction in the wage earnings of those already employed. The analysis suggests that policymakers should not reject work-sharing just because they are (justifiably) skeptical of mandated reductions in hours. The model involves the following features: (i) it is optimization-based (so there is a well-defined reason for labour market failure); (ii) it facilitates the investigation of trade-offs (so it can be determined whether improvements in unemployment must be accompanied by reductions in productivity, investment, average hours or wage rates); (iii) it involves a small open economy (so concerns about the limits to independent policy in this setting are respected); and (iv) it can be readily calibrated (so empirically relevant quantitative results are derived).