Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Field heritabilities and lack of correlation of snail shell form and anti-predator function estimated using Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods

Problem: It is often assumed that the heritability of performance traits (function) can be estimated by the heritability of primary traits (e.g. form). It is also frequently assumed that performance traits should be less heritable than primary traits. These assumptions should be carefully evaluated rather than assumed. One common area of study in which these assumptions have been made is anti-predator traits and performance. Organisms: A freshwater aquatic snail species, the Mexican banded spring snail Mexipyrgus churinceanus, endemic to the isolated Cuatro Cienegas valley in Mexico. The crushing predator of this snail species, the fish Herichthys minckleyi, is also endemic to the valley. We studied the free-ranging snail population. Methods: We estimated narrow-sense heritability of shell thickness and shape (form), and crushing resistance (function) under field conditions. We used multi-locus genotyping to reconstruct a pedigree in a small wild population, and used animal models to estimate genetic and environmental variance components needed to estimate heritabilities. We estimated variance components using Bayesian inferences and also, for comparison, the traditional restricted maximum likelihood approach. We also estimated pairwise phenotypic correlations between traits. Results: The two methods produced similar results, although the maximum likelihood approach was more conservative. The trait closest to fitness (crushing resistance) exhibited the greatest heritability: the heritability of crushing resistance was at least twice as high as the heritability of thickness and shape. No phenotypic correlations were evident between traits.
An Allelic Series at the Paired Box Gene 6 (Pax6) Locus Reveals the Functional Specificity of Pax Genes*

Background: Pax6, Pax6(5a), and Pax2 are derived from a common Pax2-like ancestral gene. Results: Pax6(5a) and Pax2 can partially substitute for Pax6 in neural development. Conclusion: The specificities of Pax6(5a) and Pax2 paired domains correspond to the extent of the rescues in forebrain but not in eye development. Significance: The unique function of Pax6 in eye development requires the combined activities of paired domain and homeodomain. The advent of the ocular and nervous system in metazoan evolution coincides with the diversification of a single ancestral paired box (Pax) gene into Pax6, Pax6(5a), and Pax2. To investigate the role of these Pax genes in neural development, we have generated an allelic series of knock-in models at the Pax6 locus. We showed that although Pax6(5a) and Pax2 could not replace Pax6 for its autoregulation in lens induction or for neural differentiation in retina, Pax6(5a) was sufficient for corneal-lenticular detachment. In brain development, cell proliferation in the cerebral cortex and dorsoventral patterning of the telencephalon and neural tube were partially rescued in either knock-in mutant. Contrary to the previous belief, our genetic studies showed that the Pax6 isoform Pax6(5a) could potentially play a role in neuronal differentiation in brain development. Importantly, Pax2 showed greater rescue efficiency than Pax6(5a) in the telencephalon even though the latter was identical to Pax6 outside the paired domain. In studying Ngn2, a Pax6 direct target gene in telencephalon, we showed that the level of Ngn2 expression correlated with the in vitro binding of Pax2, Pax6, and Pax6(5a) paired domain on its enhancer. Our results show that Pax6 is uniquely required for eye development, but in brain development, Pax6 can be functionally substituted by related Pax family genes that share a similar paired domain binding specificity.
The Isotropic Fractionator as a Tool for Quantitative Analysis in Central Nervous System Diseases

One major aim in quantitative and translational neuroscience is to achieve a precise and fast neuronal counting method to work on high throughput scale to obtain reliable results. Here, we tested the isotropic fractionator (IF) method for evaluating neuronal and non-neuronal cell loss in different models of central nervous system (CNS) pathologies. Sprague-Dawley rats underwent: (i) ischemic brain damage; (ii) intraperitoneal injection with kainic acid (KA) to induce epileptic seizures; and (iii) monolateral striatal injection with quinolinic acid (QA) mimicking human Huntington’s disease. All specimens were processed for IF method and cell loss assessed. Hippocampus from KA-treated rats and striatum from QA-treated rats were carefully dissected using a dissection microscope and a rat brain matrix. Ischemic rat brains slices were first processed for TTC staining and then for IF. In the ischemic group the cell loss corresponded to the neuronal loss suggesting that hypoxia primarily affects neurons. Combining IF with TTC staining we could correlate the volume of lesion to the neuronal loss; by IF, we could assess that neuronal loss also occurs contralaterally to the ischemic side. In the epileptic group we observed a reduction of neuronal cells in treated rats, but also evaluated the changes in the number of non-neuronal cells in response to the hippocampal damage. In the QA model, there was a robust reduction of neuronal cells on ipsilateral striatum. This neuronal cell loss was not related to a drastic change in the total number of cells, being overcome by the increase in non-neuronal cells, thus suggesting that excitotoxic damage in the striatum strongly activates inflammation and glial proliferation. We concluded that the IF method could represent a simple and reliable quantitative technique to evaluate the effects of experimental lesions mimicking human diseases, and to consider the neuroprotective/anti-inflammatory effects of different treatments in the whole brain and also in discrete regions of interest, with the potential to investigate non-neuronal alterations. Moreover, IF could be used in addition or in substitution to classical stereological techniques or TTC staining used so far, since it is fast, precise and easily combined with complex molecular analysis.
Application of Fractional Calculus Operators to Related Areas

In this paper a new function called as K-function, which is an extension of the generalization of the Mittag-Leffler function[10,11 ] and its generalized form introduced by Prabhakar[20], is introduced and stud ied by the author in terms of some special functions and derived the relations t hat exists between the Kfunction and the operators of Riemann-Liouville fra ctional integrals and derivatives.
Neuropsychological functioning and brain structure in schizophrenia

Cognitive deficits are core features of schizophrenia that are already evident at early phases of the illness. The study of specific relationships between cognition and brain structure might provide valuable clues about neural basis of schizophrenia and its phenomenology. The aim of this article was to review the most consistent findings of the studies exploring the relationships between cognitive deficits and brain anomalies in schizophrenia. Besides several important methodological shortcomings to bear in mind before drawing any consistent conclusion from the revised literature, we have attempted to systematically summarize these findings. Thus, this review has revealed that whole brain volume tends to positively correlate with a range of cognitive domains in healthy volunteers and female patients. An association between prefrontal morphological characteristics and general inability to control behaviour seems to be present in schizophrenia patients. Parahippocampal volume is related to semantic cognitive functions. Thalamic anomalies have been associated with executive deficits specifically in patients. Available evidence on the relationship between cognitive functions and cerebellar structure is still contradictory. Nonetheless, a larger cerebellum appears to be associated with higher IQ in controls and in female patients. Enlarged ventricles, including lateral and third ventricles, are associated with deficits in attention, executive and premorbid cognitive functioning in patients. Several of these reported findings seem to be counterintuitive according to neural basis of cognitive functioning drawn from animal, lesion, and functional imaging investigations. Therefore, there is still a great need for more methodologically stringent investigations that would help in the advance of our understanding of the cognition/brain structure relationships in schizophrenia.
Huntingtin’s spherical solenoid structure enables polyglutamine tract-dependent modulation of its structure and function

The polyglutamine expansion in huntingtin protein causes Huntington’s disease. Here, we investigated structural and biochemical properties of huntingtin and the effect of the polyglutamine expansion using various biophysical experiments including circular dichroism, single-particle electron microscopy and cross-linking mass spectrometry. Huntingtin is likely composed of five distinct domains and adopts a spherical α-helical solenoid where the amino-terminal and carboxyl-terminal regions fold to contain a circumscribed central cavity. Interestingly, we showed that the polyglutamine expansion increases α-helical properties of huntingtin and affects the intramolecular interactions among the domains. Our work delineates the structural characteristics of full-length huntingtin, which are affected by the polyglutamine expansion, and provides an elegant solution to the apparent conundrum of how the extreme amino-terminal polyglutamine tract confers a novel property on huntingtin, causing the disease. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.11184. 001
Electrical parameter statistic analysis and parallel coordination of ZnO varistors in low-voltage protection devices

Analyzing the nonuniformity of electrical parameters of ZnO varistors is useful to select and coordinate the ZnO varistors in parallel operation and improve the protection capability of surge-protection device (SPD). The nonuniformity of 1-mA dc voltage and impulse residual voltage of commercial low-voltage ZnO varistors were estimated by statistic analysis in this paper. The Minimum Gobble Distribution was used to describe the distribution of 1-mA dc voltage and impulse residual voltage, ZnO varistors were verified conforming to the Minimum Gobble Distribution by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The relationship between the impulse residual voltage and 1-mA dc voltage has a chaos phenomenon, and they have a close relative degree by t-test, the impulse residual voltage can be estimated by voltage ratio and 1-mA dc voltage. The nonuniform phenomena of electrical parameters of ZnO varistors were simulated by Voronoi network. The current overload of ZnO varistor with reduced residual voltage is serious, in order to keep safe operation of SPDs, when we design a SPD with ZnO varistors in parallel, a safe margin coefficient of discharge withstand current should be considered according to the actual relative standard deviation of surge residual voltages of used ZnO varistors.
Biomechanical energy harvesting system with optimal cost-of-harvesting tracking algorithm

This paper presents an innovative biomechanical energy harvesting system based on the regenerative braking concept applied to the human natural motion. To determine optimal braking profile previous studies used an off-line procedure based on constant external load to determine the optimal braking profile. The new concept of this study continuously optimizes the maximum amount of energy that can be extracted during human motion while minimizing the subject's effort (metabolic rate). This is achieved by an energy harvesting system equipped with a programmable braking profile and a unique power extraction algorithm, which adaptively changes the braking profile to obtain the optimal ratio of energy to effort. These are facilitated by a BLDC generator that is connected to boost converter. A digital current programmed control of the boost converter enables an adaptive torque variation according to bio (measure of effort) and electrical feedbacks. This study focuses on the human knee joint as the energy source since the most of this joint work during level walking is negative (muscles are acting as brakes). Since this work is preliminary and more oriented to the novel concept of adaptive profile and optimal power extraction, the operation of the energy harvester is demonstrated on a full-scale laboratory prototype based on a walking emulator. The results exhibit ultimate power extraction capabilities as well as adaptation to the walking pattern.
A Simple Voltage Balancing Scheme for m-Level Diode-Clamped Multilevel Converters Based on a Generalized Current Flow Model

This paper presents a simple voltage balancing scheme for m-level diode-clamped multilevel converters (DCMC). This paper first introduces a novel and simple current flow model for general m -level DCMCs. The superiority of the proposed model is its independence from the modulation scheme and its simplicity. It also provides a new perspective for voltage sharing accessibility among the dc link capacitors. The proposed current flow model, a cost function, and a space vector modulation (SVM) switching strategy are then used to balance the capacitors' voltages of the DCMCs in a very simple and optimized manner. Such a voltage balancing scheme was not developed for converters of five levels or greater due to the complexity of the converter and its modeling approaches. To validate the feasibility of the proposed voltage balancing scheme, this paper presents analytical and simulation results obtained from a five-level DCMC. In particular, this paper introduces a stability region within which the voltage balancing strategy converges. The impact of the cost function on the stability margins and converter performance is examined and discussed by means of comparison with different cost functions, and it is shown that the proposed cost function will improve the stability margins. The performance of the strategy for unbalanced and polluted loads shows that, unexpectedly, in some specific cases output current harmonics will improve the stability margin.
Interspecific variations in the gastrointestinal microbiota in penguins

Despite the enormous amount of data available on the importance of the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota in vertebrate (especially mammals), information on the GI microbiota of seabirds remains incomplete. As with many seabirds, penguins have a unique digestive physiology that enables them to store large reserves of adipose tissue, protein, and lipids. This study used quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing to characterize the interspecific variations of the GI microbiota of four penguin species: the king, gentoo, macaroni, and little penguin. The qPCR results indicated that there were significant differences in the abundance of the major phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroides, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria. A total of 132,340, 18,336, 6324, and 4826 near full‐length 16S rRNA gene sequences were amplified from fecal samples collected from king, gentoo, macaroni, and little penguins, respectively. A total of 13 phyla were identified with Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteria dominating the composition; however, there were major differences in the relative abundance of the phyla. In addition, this study documented the presence of known human pathogens, such as Campylobacter, Helicobacter, Prevotella, Veillonella, Erysipelotrichaceae, Neisseria, and Mycoplasma. However, their role in disease in penguins remains unknown. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an in‐depth investigation of the GI microbiota of penguins.
Biological Sensor for Sucrose Availability: Relative Sensitivities of Various Reporter Genes

ABSTRACT A set of three sucrose-regulated transcriptional fusions was constructed. Fusions p61RYTIR, p61RYlac, and p61RYice contain thescrR sucrose repressor gene and the promoterlessgfp,lacZ, and inaZreporter genes, respectively, fused to the scrY promoter from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Cells ofErwinia herbicola containing these fusions are induced only in media amended with sucrose, fructose, or sorbose. While a large variation in sucrose-dependent reporter gene activity was observed in cells harboring all gene fusions, fusions to theinaZ reporter gene yielded a much wider range of activity and were responsive to lower levels of sucrose than eitherlacZ or gfp. The lacZreporter gene was found to be more efficient than gfp, requiring approximately 300-fold fewer cells for a detectable response over all concentrations of sucrose. Similarly, inaZ was found to be more efficient than lacZ, requiring 30-fold fewer cells at 1.45 μM sucrose and 6,100-fold fewer cells at 29 mM sucrose for a quantifiable response. The fluorescence of individual cells containing p61RYTIR was quantified following epifluorescence microscopy in order to relate the fluorescence exhibited by populations of cells in batch cultures with that of individual cells in such cultures. While the mean fluorescence intensity of a population of individual cells increased with increasing concentrations of sucrose, a wide range of fluorescence intensity was seen among individual cells. For most cultures the distribution of fluorescence intensity among individual cells was log-normally distributed, but cells grown in intermediate concentrations of sucrose exhibited two distinct populations of cells, one having relatively low fluorescence and another with much higher fluorescence. When cells were inoculated onto bean leaves, whole-cell ice nucleation andgfp-based biological sensors for sucrose each indicated that the average concentration of sucrose on moist leaf surfaces was about 20 μM. Importantly, the variation in green fluorescent protein fluorescence of biosensor cells on leaves suggested that large spatial variations in sugar availability occur on leaves.
Black Corporate Executives: The Making and Breaking of a Black Middle Class

Tables and Figures Preface Acknowledgments 1. The Controversy over Race and Class 2. A Politically Mediated Opportunity Structure 3. Racialized Services in the Workplace 4. Tan Territories, Urban Upheaval, and the New Black Professionals 5. Race Tracks and Mainstream Careers 6. Peacekeepers, Crisis Managers, and Conciliators 7. Blacks on the Bubble 8. A Rash of Pessimism 9. Bursting the Bubble: The Failure of Black Progress Notes References Index
Behavioral and Brain Functions

Background: The Somatic Marker Hypothesis suggests that normal subjects are "foreseeable" and ventromedial prefrontal patients are "myopic" in making decisions, as the behavior shown in the Iowa Gambling Task. The present study questions previous findings because of the existing confounding between long-term outcome (expected value, EV) and gain-loss frequency variables in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). A newly and symmetrically designed gamble, namely the Soochow Gambling Task (SGT), with a high-contrast EV between bad (A, B) and good (C, D) decks, is conducted to clarify the issue about IGT confounding. Based on the prediction of EV (a basic assumption of IGT), participants should prefer to choose good decks C and D rather than bad decks A and B in SGT. In contrast, according to the prediction of gain-loss frequency, subjects should prefer the decks A and B because they possessed relatively the high-frequency gain. Methods: The present experiment was performed by 48 participants (24 males and 24 females). Most subjects are college students recruited from different schools. Each subject played the computer version SGT first and completed a questionnaire for identifying their final preference. The IGT experimental procedure was mostly followed to assure a similar condition of decision uncertainty. Results: The SGT experiment demonstrated that the prediction of gain-loss frequency is confirmed. Most subjects preferred to choose the bad decks A and B than good decks C and D. The learning curve and questionnaire data indicate that subjects can not "hunch" the EV throughout the game. Further analysis of the effect of previous choice demonstrated that immediate gain increases the probability to stay at the same deck. Conclusion: SGT provides a balanced structure to clarify the confounding inside IGT and demonstrates that gain-loss frequency rather than EV guides decision makers in these high-ambiguity gambles. Additionally, the choice behavior is mostly following the "gain-stay, lose-randomize" strategy to cope with the uncertain situation. As demonstrated in SGT, immediate gain can bring about a long-term loss under uncertainty. This empirical result may explain some shortsighted behaviors in real life. Published: 19 March 2008 Behavioral and Brain Functions 2008, 4:13 doi:10.1186/1744-9081-4-13 Received: 4 November 2007 Accepted: 19 March 2008 This article is available from: http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions. com/content/4/1/13 © 2008 Chiu et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Traumatic Brain Injury and Delayed Sequelae: A Review - Traumatic Brain Injury and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (Concussion) are Precursors to Later-Onset Brain Disorders, Including Early-Onset Dementia

Brain injuries are too common. Most people are unaware of the incidence of and horrendous consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). Research and the advent of sophisticated imaging have led to progression in the understanding of brain pathophysiology following TBI. Seminal evidence from animal and human experiments demonstrate links between TBI and the subsequent onset of premature, psychiatric syndromes and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Objectives of this summary are, therefore, to instill appreciation regarding the importance of brain injury prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, and to increase awareness regarding the long-term delayed consequences following TBI.
5-aza-2′,2′-Difluroro Deoxycytidine (NUC013): A Novel Nucleoside DNA Methyl Transferase Inhibitor and Ribonucleotide Reductase Inhibitor for the Treatment of Cancer

Tumor suppressor genes can be silenced genetically as well as epigenetically. One approach to reversing epigenetic suppression of tumor suppressor genes is to inhibit DNA methyl transferase. 5-aza-2′,2′-diflurorodeoxycytidine (NUC013) is a novel DNA methyl transferase and ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor that is a more potent inhibitor of growth than decitabine in the NCI 60 cancer cell line panel. NUC013 is more active than decitabine against p53-null/mutant cancer cell lines (p = 0.027) but is even more so against p53 wild-type (WT) cell lines (p = 0.0025). The maximum tolerated dose in mice of NUC013 is greater than 120 mg/kg administered intravenously for three consecutive days a week for three weeks. With this regimen and a dose of 20 mg/kg in a human leukemia HL-60 (p53-null) NCr-nu/nu mouse xenograft model (n = 10/group), NUC013 demonstrated a survival benefit (saline median survival (MS) = 26.5 days, NUC013 MS = 32 days and hazard ratio (HR) = 0.26 (p = 0.032)). In a colon cancer LoVo (TP53 WT) xenograft, mice treated with decitabine at 5 mg/kg had worse survival than saline controls (decitabine MS = 31 days, saline MS > 60 days and HR = 26.89 (p < 0.0001)). At a dose of 20 mg/kg NUC013, mean tumor volume in the LoVo xenografts was lower than controls by 50.9% and at 40 mg/kg by 53.7% (both p < 0.0001).