jimnoneill/paper-to-field-training huggingface dataset:
Politics and Democracy in Microstates

Field: Social Sciences (Social Sciences)

Why are small states statistically more likely to have a democratic political system? By addressing this question from a qualitative and comparative methodological angle, this book analyses the effects of a small population size on political competition and participation. By comparing the four microstates of San Marino (Europe), St. Kitts and Nevis (Caribbean), Seychelles (Africa), and Palau (Oceania), it provides fresh and stimulating insight, concluding that the political dynamics of microstates are not as democratic as commonly believed. Instead, it is found in all four cases that smallness results in personalistic politics, dominance of the political executive, patron-client relations between citizens and politicians, and the circumvention of formal political institutions. In addition, the book suggests that the study of formal institutions provides an incomplete image of microstate democracy and that informal characteristics of politics in microstates also need to be explored in order to better explain the influence of smallness on democracy. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of democracy, democratization, regional and decentralization studies and comparative politics.
Investigating the Role of Hypusine in Viral Translation and Infection

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)

Polyamines are small, positively charged, molecules found in eukaryotic cells with roles in cellular function and viral infection. in previous work we have shown RNa viruses, including bunyaviruses, to be sensitive to polyamine depletion, but exact mechanisms are unknown. Bunyaviruses are emerging pathogens that cause encephalitis, hemorrhagic fevers, and meningitis. Rift Valley Fever Virus is a bunyavirus that infects both humans and livestock with severe mortality and morbidity. in previous work done with Rift Valley Fever Virus polyamine depleted results in noninfectious interfering particles without affecting the shape or size of the particles. Here, I investigate a specific metabolic pathway reliant on polyamines called hypusination. Hypusine is a unique amino acid found in eukaryotic cells with roles in protein production, protein trafficking, and inflammation. Using Rift Valley Fever Virus (vaccine strain MP-12) we found depletion of hypusinated-eIF5a lowered viral titer and protein production during infection. Anti-hypusination drugs do not alter the cellular polyamine profile and have no direct activity on the virus. in sum, depletion of hypusine lowers viral protein production without altering cellular polyamine levels to lower viral titers.
BGC Atlas: a web resource for exploring the global chemical diversity encoded in bacterial genomes

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Abstract Secondary metabolites are compounds not essential for an organism’s development, but provide significant ecological and physiological benefits. These compounds have applications in medicine, biotechnology and agriculture. Their production is encoded in biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), groups of genes collectively directing their biosynthesis. The advent of metagenomics has allowed researchers to study BGCs directly from environmental samples, identifying numerous previously unknown BGCs encoding unprecedented chemistry. Here, we present the BGC Atlas (https://bgc-atlas.cs.uni-tuebingen.de), a web resource that facilitates the exploration and analysis of BGC diversity in metagenomes. The BGC Atlas identifies and clusters BGCs from publicly available datasets, offering a centralized database and a web interface for metadata-aware exploration of BGCs and gene cluster families (GCFs). We analyzed over 35 000 datasets from MGnify, identifying nearly 1.8 million BGCs, which were clustered into GCFs. The analysis showed that ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides are the most abundant compound class, with most GCFs exhibiting high environmental specificity. We believe that our tool will enable researchers to easily explore and analyze the BGC diversity in environmental samples, significantly enhancing our understanding of bacterial secondary metabolites, and promote the identification of ecological and evolutionary factors shaping the biosynthetic potential of microbial communities.
Do Crops Grown at Urban Dumpsites Contain Metals at Levels that Pose Unacceptable Health Risks to Consumers?

Field: Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)

Abstract Excessive dietary metal intake from crops grown on contaminated urban dumpsites poses a global health risk to consumers. We evaluated the health risk to adult and child consumers from dietary exposure to metals and metalloids in crops cultivated at the Mbale (Uganda) dumpsite centre. Thirteen crop types grown on the dumpsite soil were sampled and analyzed for concentrations of 11 metals: Fe, Al, Zn, Mn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Hg, Co, Ni, Cd, and two metalloids: Se and As. Different proportions of the crops were combined into 12 meal classes to simulate the diets of residents and estimate noncancer and cancer risks. The findings indicated that most individual crop types and simulated diets lacked sufficient selenium for bodily functions. Furthermore, their metal accumulations exceeded the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limits (mg/kg) for Al (20), Fe (100), Ni (10), Cu (20), Mn (10), Pb (0.3), Se (0.05), and Zn (99.4). The four most abundant metals in the various crop types and diets were Al, Fe, Mn, and Zn. A positive correlation between the metals in the crops indicated a common origin, which could possibly be the dumpsite soil. The chronic dietary intake (CDI) of metals was higher in children, and thus children faced higher noncancer and cancer risks compared with adults. The overall CDI values for each metal ranged from 0.000718 to 2.171 in adults, and 0.00125 to 3.781662 in children, which is approximately 1.74 times higher in children than in adult consumers. The noncancer and cancer risks ranged from moderate to high with Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, and Zn being mostly responsible for the high noncancer risks, and Al being the predominant contributor to cancer risks. The total noncancer risk levels equally ranged from moderate (1.4–3.3) for adults, and moderate to high (2.4–5.7) for children; the cancer risks were moderate to high in adults, with Al contributing to between 68% and 92% of the total risks across the 12 meal classes. Overall, CDI values and noncancer and cancer risks were all higher in children than in adults. The vegetables Amaranthus hybridus, Vigna unguiculate, Amaranthus dubius, and Cucurbita maxima significantly contributed to the high noncancer risk to both adults and children, particularly when they constituted 40% or more of the meal. Four additional vegetables (Cocorhrous olitorous, Brassica oleracea, Amaranthus cruentus, and Gynandropsis gynandra) also posed a high risk to children when consumed in large quantities. Our results highlight the urgent need to develop regulatory frameworks and/or rigorously enforce existing land and food governance policies to protect consumers' health from unsafe metal concentrations in crops grown on dumpsites. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:2628–2644. © 2024 The Author(s). Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC. Abstract Contribution of crop types to cancer risk exposure.
Effects of Graded Dose of Honey Administered Orally on Gonadal and Extra-Gonadal Sperm Reserves of Rabbit

Field: Veterinary (Health Sciences)

Honey is a nutritive natural by-product of bees obtained from nectar collected from flowering plants. It contains moisture, sugars, enzymes, essential elements and vitamins. This study is designed to determine the effects of graded dose of honey administered orally on gonadal and extra-gonadal sperm reverses of rabbit. Twelve apparently healthy male rabbit (buck) aged two months weighing 4 ±1.2 kg were purchased and housed in a cages at the Large Animal Clinic, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Maiduguri. The rabbits were fed, grower mesh and supplemented with groundnut leaves, drinking water was provided ad libitum. The rabbits were acclimatized for 14 days. Thereafter, they were randomly divided into 4 groups A, B, C and D as treatment groups and control group, respectively, with 3 rabbits in each group. Groups A, B and C were administered orally graded dose of honey at the dose rate of (5, 10 and 15) ml respectively, between 9:00 – 10:00 am daily for 6 weeks. At the end of the experimental period the rabbits were aseptically prepared for surgical removal of their testes. The testes and epididymides were carefully sampled, weighed and processed. The results revealed that the right, left, and paired testicles weights were not significantly different among the treatment groups compared to the control (group D). However, the testicular sperm reserves were significantly (P <0.05) influenced by the treatments. Sperm reserves in both left and right testicles of rabbits treated with 5 ml of honey were not significantly different with the group that was administered with 10ml of water but, groups that were administered 10ml and 15ml of honey were significantly (P><0.05) higher than the group that was administered with 5 ml of honey compared to the group treated with 10 ml of water. The epididymal sperm reserves were significantly (P><0.05) higher than the groups treated with 10 ml and 15 ml of honey compared to the group treated with 5 ml of honey and the group treated with 10 ml of water. This study suggests that honey has the potential to influence gonadal and extragonadal sperm reserves of rabbits at dosage of 10- 15 ml per day for optimum quantity and quality of semen>
Regulation of Nitric Oxide Production in the Developmental Programming of Hypertension and Kidney Disease

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Development of the kidney can be altered in response to adverse environments leading to renal programming and increased vulnerability to the development of hypertension and kidney disease in adulthood. By contrast, reprogramming is a strategy shifting therapeutic intervention from adulthood to early life to reverse the programming processes. Nitric oxide (NO) is a key mediator of renal physiology and blood pressure regulation. NO deficiency is a common mechanism underlying renal programming, while early-life NO-targeting interventions may serve as reprogramming strategies to prevent the development of hypertension and kidney disease. This review will first summarize the regulation of NO in the kidney. We also address human and animal data supporting the link between NO system and developmental programming of hypertension and kidney disease. This will be followed by the links between NO deficiency and the common mechanisms of renal programming, including the oxidative stress, renin–angiotensin system, nutrient-sensing signals, and sex differences. Recent data from animal studies have suggested that interventions targeting the NO pathway could be reprogramming strategies to prevent the development of hypertension and kidney disease. Further clinical studies are required to bridge the gap between animal models and clinical trials in order to develop ideal NO-targeting reprogramming strategies and to be able to have a lifelong impact, with profound savings in the global burden of hypertension and kidney disease.
Empirical assessment of the impact of external reserves on economic growth in Nigeria

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance (Social Sciences)

In the last few decades, the continuous depreciation in the value of the naira occasioned by the dwindling external reserves affected the exchange rate resulting in several macroeconomic fundamentals in Nigeria. The objective of the study is to examine the impact of external reserves on economic growth in Nigeria. The study utilizes the descriptive approach for the trend analysis, while the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model was relied upon in scrutinizing the contemporaneous dynamics for the unrestricted ECM. The data that were culled from several issues of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s annual report and statement of account covered the period 1986–2020. Descriptively, the study finds that economic growth rate and external reserves witnessed fluctuations with the latter being relatively more pronounced. Accordingly, the study finds that in the long run, all the explanatory variables were key determinants of economic growth in Nigeria. Specifically, economic growth is significantly and positively responsive to changes in external reserves by 0.22%, inflation rate by 0.08%, and a one period lag of GDP of 0.21% contrary to its negative response to changes in exchange rate of 0.10% in the short run. The paper recommended that the government may consider providing conducive environment for increased productivity, thereby increasing foreign reserves. Likewise, the situation that may encourage exchange rate misalignment should be avoided. Finally, inflation rate must be controlled within a single digit. AcknowledgmentThe support from Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria, to publish this article is appreciated.
Travelling into the other's world: South African pre-service teacher education students' construction of difference, belonging and identity

Field: Social Sciences (Social Sciences)

Against the backdrop of continuing racism ‒ both overt and subtle – in South Africa’s classrooms, this article describes one lecturer’s attempt at facilitating conversations around race relations in South Africa with nine pre-service student educators. Using Bamberg’s (2012) positioning analysis to analyse how students constructed stories of difference, belonging and identity it transpired that students tended to position themselves first and foremost along racial lines, revealing their experiences of continuing academic and social segregation. Although students expressed a desire to overcome these divides, they struggled to visualise a world where black and white students could engage beyond their comfort zones, moving beyond the narratives with which they grow up. Lugones’ (1987) concept of world-travelling and her suggestion that world travelling might be more difficult for those who are at most ease in their lives, was useful to unpack and understand the different roles students performed. Students’ stories also showed the importance of destabilising dominant understandings of subjectivity, by allowing the emergence of fragmented narratives in difficult conversations. Recommendations of how to use narratives to facilitate students’ world travelling include the emphasis on intersectionality, fluidity and complexity in students’ stories but also discuss the challenges when facilitating such a process and the importance of self-reflexivity on the part of the facilitator.
Indikaciona podrucja neoperativnog i operativnog lecenja intraartikularnih preloma kalkaneusa

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Historically, intra-articular calcaneal fractures have been managed, as a rule, nonsurgically, although surgical treatment has more advocates in the past 20 years. Even today many high specialized orthopedic surgeons have a lot of controversies relating the indications fields of nonsurgical and operative treatment of these fractures. For getting correct decision adequate preoperative evaluation of fracture type, overall patients health and his functional needs is necessary. Generally, elderly patients with sedentary habits, without or with minimal fracture displacement, might be treated successfully with nonsurgical management. Good result after surgical treatment might be predicted in patients younger than 40 years, with a simple fracture pattern and high probability of achieving anatomic reduction. Highly precise and good surgical technique is necessary for getting a good final result with a long learning curve of the surgeon. Smoking, diabetes, chronic medical illness, peripheral vascular disease as well workers compensation claim (!) markedly increase the risk of surgical complications.
Establishment of an in vitro erythroid differentiation system from canine peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Field: Veterinary (Health Sciences)

Blood transfusion is a critical, lifesaving medical procedure for dogs. However, the limited availability of blood donors and ethical concerns highlight the need for alternative solutions, such as in vitro-produced red blood cells (RBCs), which remain unexplored in canines. This study aimed to produce canine erythrocytes in vitro from peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells (MNCs), optimize culture conditions using either human or canine reagents, and identify relevant cell markers. Results indicated that canine erythropoiesis can be induced by human or canine cytokines, producing RBCs within approximately 20 days. Although cell numbers decreased during the first seven days, immature erythroid cells proliferated, reaching peak expansion and RBC production by day 17. Despite the smaller cell size of the cultured RBCs than that of humans, the morphology at each stage of erythroid maturation was analogous to that of human erythropoiesis. Furthermore, the expression patterns of canine alpha hemoglobin stabilizing protein and erythropoietin receptor mirrored those observed in human erythropoiesis. Oxygen-hemoglobin (oxygen-Hb) association and dissociation curves of cultured RBCs closely resembled those of native canine RBCs, indicating an appropriate oxygen-carrying capacity. This study presents the first evidence of successful in vitro production of canine RBCs, offering a promising tool for research and potential therapeutic applications.
Interactive programming of rural development funds – lessons from the field

Field: Decision Sciences (Social Sciences)

Within this paper, we present an interactive modelling approach to support budgeting decisions at the program level and discuss its potential and limitations to contribute to more objective-oriented policy-making. The central feature of the approach is a linear optimisation model which is interactively defined and used together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. We show how the current EAFRD framework can be translated into a model, and how this provides positive learning effects and increases in-house communication and transparency. From a conceptual point of view, the case study underlines the necessity to provide a simple and applicable methodology causing certain compromises with regard to theoretical soundness.
Interaction of the Colorado River Project, Texas, with Longshore Sediment Transport

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences (Physical Sciences)

In 1985, a weir jetty system was constructed at the mouth of the, Colorado River, Texas, and river discharge was diverted from this mouth in 1992. An evaluation of project impacts on longshore sediment transport was performed to determine the effectiveness of the project at preserving an open, navigable channel while preventing excessive erosion along adjacent beaches. This evaluation included both physical and numerical analysis of pre- and post-project conditions at the Colorado River mouth. Analysis of site data revealed that under the dredging and mechanical bypassing schedule followed during the first 8 years after jetty construction, the project resulted in significant trapping and sorting of sediment transported alongshore. Numerical modeling of the design maintenance dredging plan confirmed the plan to be sufficient for achieving project objectives. However, the entrance channel has continued to shoal considerably more rapidly than was anticipated during the project design.
The Urgent Need to Recognize and Reduce Risk of Suicide for Children in the Welfare System

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

* Abbreviations: CWS — : child welfare system ED — : emergency department Youth suicide is a global public health crisis. The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the National Institute of Mental Health aim to reduce the suicide rate 20% by 2025.1 To reach this goal, it will be important to implement universal policies and programs and tailor suicide prevention strategies to ensure mental health professionals are meeting the needs of groups at highest risk. In this issue of Pediatrics , Ruch et al2 present data on an understudied, high-risk population of abused and neglected youth. This is the first study in which authors characterize youth in the child welfare system (CWS) who die by suicide and compare them with living CWS controls. These results have potential to inform proactive and integrated approaches to suicide prevention in the CWS, a boundaried setting that serves youth at 3.5-fold higher risk for suicide than the general youth population.3 There is minimal suicide research on youth served in the CWS, a “protected” population, hindering our ability to identify the unique needs and opportunities for suicide prevention in this population. The Ruch et al2 study was a retrospective matched case-control design that included 120 suicide … Address correspondence to Lisa M. Horowitz, PhD, MPH, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 10 CRC, Room 6-5362, 10 Center Dr, Bethesda, MD 20892-1276. E-mail: horowitzl{at}mail.nih.gov
Pass Evaluation in Women's Olympic Ice Hockey

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Much of modern sports analytics is based on player and ball tracking data. Such data are mostly collected using wearable devices or an array of carefully located cameras and detectors. Many teams do not have such a luxury, especially in undervalued sports such a women's ice hockey; of those that do, the data are not typically publicly available. Recent developments in computer vision have allowed for the collection of tracking data directly from widely available broadcast video. Using event and tracking data collected directly from broadcast video during the elimination round games of the 2022 Winter Olympics, we create a framework for evaluating passing in women's ice hockey. We begin with physics-based motion models for both players and the puck, which we use to develop a model for probabilistic passing. Next, we model the rink control for each team and the scoring probability of the offensive team. These models are then combined into novel metrics for quantifying the various aspects of any single pass. By looking at the entire corpus of plays, we create several summary metrics describing players' risk-reward tendencies, and overall passing ability. All of our metrics can be presented graphically, allowing for easy adaptation by coaches, players, scouts, and other front-office personnel.