Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms of CDH1 with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in a northern Chinese Han population

Background: Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is a common congenital malformation among live births, and depends on race and ethnic background. The CDH1 gene plays a vital role in orofacial development. Our research was conducted to examine the association between 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the CDH1 gene and NSCL/P. Methods: Three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs16260, rs9929218, and rs1801552) of the CDH1 gene were genotyped using the Snapshot mini-sequencing technique in 331 patients with NSCL/P and 271 controls from the northern Chinese Han population. Results: The investigation indicated that presence of the CDH1 rs1801552 TT genotype under the assumption of a recessive model is related to the decreased risk for NSCL/P (odds ratio 0.53, 95% confidence interval 0.34–0.81, P = 0.003). The results were still significant after the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. However, nonsignificant differences in rs16260 and rs9929218 were found between cases and controls. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the CDH1 polymorphisms were significantly associated with the risk of NSCL/P in the northern Chinese Han population. We provide further evidence regarding the role of CDH1 variations in the development of NSCL/P in a northern Chinese Han population.
Lessons for inductive germline determination

Formation of the germline in an embryo marks a fresh round of reproductive potential, yet the developmental stage and location within the embryo where the primordial germ cells (PGCs) form differs wildly among species. In most animals, the germline is formed either by an inherited mechanism, in which maternal provisions within the oocyte drive localized germ‐cell fate once acquired in the embryo, or an inductive mechanism that involves signaling between cells that directs germ‐cell fate. The inherited mechanism has been widely studied in model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, Xenopus laevis, and Danio rerio. Given the rapid generation time and the effective adaptation for laboratory research of these organisms, it is not coincidental that research on these organisms has led the field in elucidating mechanisms for germline specification. The inductive mechanism, however, is less well understood and is studied primarily in the mouse (Mus musculus). In this review, we compare and contrast these two fundamental mechanisms for germline determination, beginning with the key molecular determinants that play a role in the formation of germ cells across all animal taxa. We next explore the current understanding of the inductive mechanism of germ‐cell determination in mice, and evaluate the hypotheses for selective pressures on these contrasting mechanisms. We then discuss the hypothesis that the transition between these determination mechanisms, which has happened many times in phylogeny, is more of a continuum than a binary change. Finally, we propose an analogy between germline determination and sex determination in vertebrates—two of the milestones of reproduction and development—in which animals use contrasting strategies to activate similar pathways. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 80:590–609, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Treatment of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether Vapors in Biotrickling Filters . 1 . Reactor Startup , Steady-State Performance , and Culture Characteristics

An aerobic microbial consortium able to biodegrade methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) was enriched in two waste air biotrickling filters after continuous operation for 6 months. After this acclimation phase, the two laboratoryscale biotrickling filters were able to degrade up to 50 g of MTBE per cubic meter of reactor per hour, a value comparable to other gasoline constituents. Such high performance could be sustained for at least 4-6 weeks. After the acclimation phase, the MTBE degrading biotrickling filters were characterized by their almost full conversion (∼97%) of MTBE to carbon dioxide and the absence of any degradation byproducts in either the gas or the liquid phase. They also exhibited a very high specific degradation activity per amount of biomass (5-10 mg of MTBE per gram dry weight of cell per hour), and a low rate of biomass accumulation. An observed biomass yield of 0.1 g g-1 and a specific growth rate of 0.025 day-1 were determined for the biotrickling filter process culture. Further data on MTBE mass transfer and on the dynamic behavior of the biotrickling filter are presented in part 2 of this paper. Overall, the results demonstrate that MTBE can be effectively biodegraded under carefully controlled environmental conditions.
Protein Connectivity and Protein Complexity Promotes Human Gene Duplicability in a Mutually Exclusive Manner

It has previously been reported that protein complexity (i.e. number of subunits in a protein complex) is negatively correlated to gene duplicability in yeast as well as in humans. However, unlike in yeast, protein connectivity in a protein–protein interaction network has a positive correlation with gene duplicability in human genes. In the present study, we have analyzed 1732 human and 1269 yeast proteins that are present both in a protein–protein interaction network as well as in a protein complex network. In the human case, we observed that both protein connectivity and protein complexity complement each other in a mutually exclusive manner over gene duplicability in a positive direction. Analysis of human haploinsufficient proteins and large protein complexes (complex size >10) shows that when protein connectivity does not have any direct association with gene duplicability, there exists a positive correlation between gene duplicability and protein complexity. The same trend, however, is not found in case of yeast, where both protein connectivity and protein complexity independently guide gene duplicability in the negative direction. We conclude that the higher rate of duplication of human genes may be attributed to organismal complexity either by increasing connectivity in the protein–protein interaction network or by increasing protein complexity.
Visual Perception of a Motion Aftereffect in Domestic Chickens (Gallus gallus): A Behavioural Analytic Approach

ii Acknowledgements . iii List of Figures . vi List of Tables. vii General Introduction . 1 The Motion Aftereffect in the Human Visual System . 2 Psychophysical Methods Used to Study the Motion Aftereffect . 3 Visual Illusions in the Avian Species . 7 Motion Aftereffect in the Avian Species . 12 Experiment Introduction . 15 Thesis Research Question: Do Chickens Perceive the MAE? 15 Experiment . 20 Method . 20 Subjects . 20 Apparatus . 21 Visual Stimuli . 24 Training Procedure . 27 Experiment Procedure . 32 Results . 33 Training Results . 33
Mediterranean Diet, Retinopathy, Nephropathy, and Microvascular Diabetes Complications: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Trial

OBJECTIVE To date no clinical trials have evaluated the role of dietary patterns on the incidence of microvascular diabetes complications. We hypothesized that a nutritional intervention based on the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) would have greater protective effect on diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy than a low-fat control diet. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This was a post hoc analysis of a cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes participating in the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) study, a multicenter randomized nutritional intervention trial conducted in a population at high cardiovascular risk. Individuals with type 2 diabetes who were free of microvascular complications at enrollment (n = 3,614, aged 55–80 years) were randomly assigned to one of three dietary interventions: MedDiet supplemented with extravirgin olive oil (MedDiet+EVOO), MedDiet supplemented with mixed nuts (MedDiet+Nuts), or a low-fat control diet. Two independent outcomes were considered: new onset of diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using multivariable-adjusted Cox regression. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 6.0 years, we identified 74 new cases of retinopathy and 168 of nephropathy. Compared with the control diet, multivariable-adjusted HRs for diabetic retinopathy were 0.56 (95% CI 0.32–0.97) for the MedDiet+EVOO and 0.63 (0.35–1.11) for the MedDiet+Nuts. No between-group differences were found for nephropathy. When the yearly updated information on adherence to the MedDiet was considered, the HR for retinopathy in the highest versus the lowest quintile was 0.34 (0.13–0.89; P = 0.001 for trend). No significant associations were found for nephropathy. CONCLUSIONS A MedDiet enriched with EVOO may protect against diabetic retinopathy but not diabetic nephropathy.
MARKING ESTIMATION OF PETRI NETS WITH λ-FREE LABELING

We present a technique for estimating the marking of a Petri net based on the observation of transition labels. In particular, the main contribution of the paper consists in deriving a methodology that can handle the case of nondeterministic transitions, i.e., transitions that share the same label. Under some technical assumptions, the set of markings consistent with an observation can be represented by a linear system with a fixed structure that does not depend on the length of the observed word. The validity of the proposed methodology is illustrated in detail through a numerical example.
Motion of a rod-like particle between parallel walls with application to suspension rheology

We study the dynamics of elongated axisymmetric particles undergoing shear flow between two parallel planar walls, under creeping-flow conditions. Particles are modeled as linear chains of touching spheres and it is assumed that walls are separated by a distance comparable to particle length. The hydrodynamic interactions of the chains with the walls are evaluated using our Cartesian-representation algorithm [Bhattacharya et al., Physica A 356, 294–340 (2005b)]. We find that when particles are far from both walls in a weakly confined system, their trajectories are qualitatively similar to Jeffery orbits in unbounded space. In particular, the periods of the orbits and the evolution of the azimuthal angle in the flow-gradient plane are nearly independent of the initial orientation of the particle. For stronger confinements, however, (i.e., when the particle is close to one or both walls) a significant dependence of the angular evolution on the initial particle configuration is observed. The phases of partic.
THE SPECTRA ASSOCIATED TO PERMUTATIVE CATEGORIES

IN [l], FIED~ROWICZ axiomatized the passage from rings to spectra. In [5], Thomason and I axiomatized the passage from %-spaces to spectra for a suitable category of operators 3. In this sequel to [5], I shall axiomatize the passage from permutative categories to spectra. The idea of such an axiomatization is due to Fiedorowicz, who contemplated a proof parallel to his argument in [I]. All unexplained concepts and notation are taken from [5], and the definition of a permutative category will be recalled below. Given the techniques of [5], the only really subtle point is the explanation of just why this further consistency statement is of interest. By [5], we know that the infinite loop space machines of Segal[6] and myself [3] turn out equivalent spectra when fed the same data. Here the “same data” means the same %-space for some category of operators 3. Many of the most interesting examples come from permutative categories, via functorial associations of (e-spaces to such categories. The point is that there are two essentially different functors known. As we shall explain shortly, ideas of Segal[6] lead to a functor which associates an p-space Bd to a permutative category d. Here 9 is the category of finite based sets, Ba is a functor from 9 to the category T of based spaces, and the nth space of Bd is equivalent but not equal to the n-fold Cartesian product of its first space, which is the classifying space Bd. On the other hand, I showed in [3, 041 that Bd is a g-space for a suitable E, operad 9. As explained in [5, 041, 9 determines a category of operators 6 and B& determines a g-space whose nth space is precisely @a)“. A direct comparison between these functors seems to be surprisingly difficult, and each of them has distinct advantages over the other. For example, Friedlander[2] has shown how the machinery of Ctale homotopy leads to -9-spaces, and his proof of the stable Adams conjecture requires naturality arguments based on the use of Segal’s functor. Here the freedom to use products up to equivalence is vital. On the other hand, in multiplicative infinite loop space theory as developed in [4], the use of g-spaces and precise products is certainly convenient and probably essential for at least some of the arguments. Our present result shows that these functors become equivalent after passage to spectra. Precisely, we have the following definitions and theorem. Let 0. & and Ad denote the object and morphism spaces of a small topological category &; we require the identity function I? & -*A& to be a cofibration.
Impact of systematic evaluation of pain and agitation in an intensive care unit*

Objective:To measure the impact of implementation of the systematic evaluation of pain and agitation by nurses using the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS), the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) for pain, and the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) associated with medical staff education in analgesia and sedation management in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Design:Two-phase, prospective, controlled study. Setting:Twelve-bed medical-surgical ICU in a university hospital. Patients:Consecutive patients staying >24 hrs in ICU. Interventions:BPS, NRS, and RASS were measured twice daily, at rest, by independent observers during 21 wks (control group) and after 4 wks of training, by nurses during 29 wks (intervention group). In the intervention group, the treating physician was alerted in case of pain defined by BPS >5 or NRS >3 or in case of agitation defined by RASS >1. Measurements and Main Results:A total of 230 patients were included (control group, n = 100; intervention group, n = 130). Baseline characteristics were not significantly different. The incidence of pain and agitation decreased significantly in the intervention group: 63% vs. 42% (p = .002) and 29% vs. 12% (p = .002), respectively. Rate of severe pain and agitation events defined by NRS >6 and RASS >2, respectively, also decreased significantly. There were significantly more therapeutic changes in the intervention group in the way of an escalation but also in the way of a de-escalation for analgesic and psychoactive drugs. Compared with the control group, there was a marked decrease in the duration of mechanical ventilation (120 [interquartile range 48–312] vs. 65 (24–192) hrs, p = . 01) and nosocomial infections rate (17% vs. 8%, p < .05) in the intervention group. There was no significant difference in median length of stay (9 [4, 15] vs. 7 [4, 13] days) and mortality in ICU (12 vs. 15%). Conclusions:Systematic evaluation of pain and agitation, and analgesics and sedatives need was associated with a decrease in incidence of pain and agitation, duration of mechanical ventilation and nosocomial infections.
Measuring Cytotoxicity by Bioluminescence Imaging Outperforms the Standard Chromium-51 Release Assay

The chromium-release assay developed in 1968 is still the most commonly used method to measure cytotoxicity by T cells and by natural killer cells. Target cells are loaded in vitro with radioactive chromium and lysis is determined by measuring chromium in the supernatant released by dying cells. Since then, alternative methods have been developed using different markers of target cell viability that do not involve radioactivity. Here, we compared and contrasted a bioluminescence (BLI)-based cytotoxicity assay to the standard radioactive chromium-release assay using an identical set of effector cells and tumor target cells. For this, we stably transduced several human and murine tumor cell lines to express luciferase. When co-cultured with cytotoxic effector cells, highly reproducible decreases in BLI were seen in an effector to target cell dose-dependent manner. When compared to results obtained from the chromium release assay, the performance of the BLI-based assay was superior, because of its robustness, increased signal-to-noise ratio, and faster kinetics. The reduced/delayed detection of cytotoxicity by the chromium release method was attributable to the association of chromium with structural components of the cell, which are released quickly by detergent solubilization but not by hypotonic lysis. We conclude that the (BLI)-based measurement of cytotoxicity offers a superior non-radioactive alternative to the chromium-release assay that is more robust and quicker to perform.
The Impact of Leadership Style on Job Satisfaction: A Study of Iranian Hotels

Iran similar to most of the other countries attempts to improve its performance in field of hospitality. From human resource management perspective, in order to increase performance in hotels, there should be improvement of employee job satisfaction. For measuring the employees’ job satisfaction, priors researches emphasized on intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. Leadership style is one of the important factors that have the potential to improve the organizational performance. In addition, the relationship between leadership and job satisfaction has been concentrated in past investigation. In this study two types of leadership style are considered including transformational leadership and transactional leadership. In order to study the role of leadership style, this study used quantitative approach for measuring the impact of components of transformational leadership and transactional leadership on job satisfaction. Overall, 121 data have been collected from hotels of Iran. The collected data have been analyzed through Multiple Regression analysis. Among components of transformational leadership, intellectual stimulation, vision and supportive leadership had the significant impact and on the other side inspirational communication and personal recognition did not have any significant impact. Moreover, supportive leadership had the most significant impact. Both two dimensions of transactional leadership had significant and positive impact on job satisfaction. The impact of contingent reward was more than management expectation.
Climate Change and Economic Growth in Africa: An Econometric Analysis

The economic landscape of most African countries depends essentially on the dynamics of climate change. Key sectors driving their economic performance and livelihoods such as agriculture, forestry, energy, tourism, coastal and water resources are highly vulnerable to climate change. This article examines the empirical linkage between economic growth and climate change in Africa. Using annual data for 34 countries from 1961 to 2009, we find a negative impact of climate change on economic growth. Our results show that a 1°C increase in temperature reduces gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 0.67 percentage point. Evidence from sensitivity analysis shows the two largest economies in the Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria and South Africa) play a significant role in ameliorating the negative economic impact of climate change in the region. In addition to impact on Africa, this article provides estimates of the impact of climate change on GDP growth of these 34 countries, which can be valuable in appraising national adaptation plans. We do not find evidence that average long-run temperature changes affect long-run economic growth as measured by 5 year averages.
Business Cycle Effects of Credit and Technology Shocks in a DSGE Model with Firm Defaults

This paper proposes a theoretical framework to analyze the impacts of credit and technology shocks on business cycle dynamics, where firms rely on banks and households for capital financing. Firms are identical ex ante but differ ex post due to different realizations of firm specific technology shocks, possible leading to default by some firms. The paper advances a new modelling approach for the analysis of financial intermediation and firm defaults that takes account of the financial implications of such defaults for both households and banks. Results from a calibrated version of the model highlight the role of financial institutions in the transmission of credit and technology shocks to the real economy. A positive credit shock, defined as a rise in the loan to deposit ratio, increases output, consumption, hours and productivity, and reduces the spread between loan and deposit rates. The effects of the credit shock tend to be highly persistent even without price rigidities and habit persistence in consumption behaviour.
X-RAY AND RADIO VARIABILITY OF M31*, THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY NUCLEAR SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE

We confirm our earlier tentative detection of M31* in X-rays and measure its light curve and spectrum. Observations in 2004–2005 find M31* rather quiescent in the X-ray and radio. However, X-ray observations in 2006–2007 show M31* to be highly variable at times. A separate variable X-ray source is found near P1, the brighter of the two optical nuclei. The apparent angular Bondi radius of M31* is the largest of any black hole and large enough to be well resolved with Chandra. The diffuse emission within this Bondi radius is found to have an X-ray temperature ∼0.3 keV and density 0.1 cm−3, indistinguishable from the hot gas in the surrounding regions of the bulge given the statistics allowed by the current observations. The X-ray source at the location of M31* is consistent with a point source and a power-law spectrum with energy slope 0.9 ± 0.2. Our identification of this X-ray source with M31* is based solely on positional coincidence.
Beyond the Chilly Climate

The prevailing metaphor for understanding the persistence of gender inequalities in universities is the “chilly climate. ” Women faculty sometimes resist descriptions of their workplaces as “chilly” and deny that gender matters even in the face of considerable evidence to the contrary. I draw on interviews with women academics (N=102) to explore this apparent paradox, and I offer a theoretical synthesis that may help explain it. I build on insights from Ridgeway and Acker to demonstrate that women do experience gender at work, but the contexts in which they experience it have implications for how they understand gender’s importance and whether to respond. Specifically, I find that women are likely to minimize or deny gender’s importance in interactions. When it becomes salient in structures and cultures, women understand it differently. Placing gender in organizational contexts can better inform our understanding of gender inequality at work and can help in crafting more effective efforts to foster gender equity.