Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Halo occupation numbers and galaxy bias

We propose a heuristic model that displays the main features of realistic theories for galaxy bias. We first show that the low-order clustering statistics of the dark-matter distribution depend almost entirely on the locations and density profiles of dark-matter haloes. The quasi-linear mass correlations are in fact reproduced well by a model of independent randomly-placed haloes. The distribution of galaxies within the halo density field depends on: (i) the efficiency of galaxy formation, as manifested by the halo occupation number– the number of galaxies brighter than some sample limit contained in a halo of a given mass; (ii) the location of these galaxies within their halo. The first factor is constrained by the empirical luminosity function of groups. For the second factor, we assume that one galaxy marks the halo centre, with any remaining galaxies acting as satellites that trace the halo mass. This second assumption is essential if small-scale galaxy correlations are to remain close to a single power law, rather than flattening in the same way as the correlations of the overall density field. These simple assumptions amount to a recipe for non-local bias, in which the probability of finding a galaxy is not a simple function of its local mass density. We have applied this prescription to some CDM models of current interest, and find that the predictions are close to the observed galaxy correlations for a flat Ω=0.3 model (ΛCDM), but not for an Ω=1 model with the same power spectrum (τCDM). This is an inevitable consequence of cluster normalization for the power spectra: cluster-scale haloes of given mass have smaller core radii for high Ω, and hence display enhanced small-scale clustering. Finally, the pairwise velocity dispersion of galaxies in the ΛCDM model is lower than that of the mass, allowing cluster-normalized models to yield a realistic Mach number for the peculiar velocity field. This is largely due to the strong variation of galaxy-formation efficiency with halo mass that is required in this model.
Perennial is more effective than preseasonal subcutaneous immunotherapy in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis

Background Two different regimens of subcutaneous immunotherapy (IT), perennial or preseasonal, may be used in the treatment of seasonal allergy. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of perennial IT (PIT) and preseasonal IT (PSIT) in patients suffering from seasonal rhinoconjunctivitis. Methods The study was planned as a randomized, double-blind, comparative study on the efficacy and safety of PIT and PSIT. The study group comprised 120 patients allergic to grass and rye pollen. After the observational season they were randomized to receive PIT or PSIT for 3 years. The effect of IT was assessed based on symptom severity and medication use recorded in diaries. Results Ninety-nine patients completed the study. No difference was seen between the groups regarding combined symptom medication score (SMS) in the first season of IT. During the second season, the difference between PIT and PSIT regarding combined SMS was 27.9% (p = 0.063) and reached 42.7% (p = 0.012) in favor of PIT in the third season. Both treatments had a similar safety profile. Conclusion PIT was more effective than PSIT in the treatment of rhinoconjunctivitis in patients allergic to grass and rye pollens. Clinicaltrials.gov registration number NCT01555736.
Determinants of consumers' acceptance of insects as food and feed: A cross-cultural study.

The production of sufficient poultry, fish and livestock represents a serious challenge for the future, based on a fast growing world population and increasingly demanding consumers. This rapidly rising industry is generating a variety of environmental problems such as land degradation, deforestation and water pollution. A scenario in which can negatively affect food security in a global scale. In this sense, insects for food and feed are a practical solution in terms of sustainability due to numerous reasons including high feed conversion ratios, low emission of greenhouse gas and ammonia. Likewise, insects are highly nutritious, being a good source of high value proteins, fiber, good fats, calcium, vitamins, and energy. Yet, consumers’ acceptance of insects as food and feed has not been established. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the determinants of consumers’ of insects as food and feed. To assess this information, a questionnaire was developed and was applied through a web-based survey in Norway (n=363) and Portugal (n=303) to attain different perspectives within Western societies. Cluster analysis was applied based on the degree of acceptance of the different forms of insects as food (direct and indirect) to identify different consumer segments. These segments were labeled as: Disgusted (C1), Rejecters (C2), Feed acceptors (C3) and Acceptors (C4). For the prediction of perceived acceptance of insects as food and as feed, application of binary logistic regression was executed for each of the countries. Results show that, for Portugal and Norway, disgust was confirmed to decrease the likelihood of acceptance of insects as food and feed. Contrarily, participants that accept sushi are more likely to accept insects as food and feed. Moreover, this study has also profiled consumers with high levels of acceptance of edible insect as food and feed. This profile is younger males, who are interested in the environmental impact of their food choices, showing low levels of neophobia and disgust, and high familiarity with edible insects. These results can create input for insect based product development, market positioning of edible insects and insect based products, and communication of strategies in Western societies.
Risk factors of periodontal disease in maintenance hemodialysis patients

Abstract To explore the characteristics and relevant risk factors of periodontal disease (PD) among hemodialysis patients. Uremic patients on maintenance hemodialysis from November 2015 to March 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into a PD group and a non-PD group. Demographic and laboratory data were collected and analyzed. In all, 136 uremic patients (79 males and 57 females, aged 50.8 ± 15.3 years) on maintenance hemodialysis were included in this study. The incidence of PD increased with age. Hemodialysis patients most likely developed PD if they were male, smokers, or diabetic (P = .009, <.001, and <.001, respectively). Patients brushing their teeth twice daily had significantly less chance of developing PD as compared with those only brushing once daily (P < .001). Hemodialysis patients in the PD group had significantly higher levels of total cholesterol, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, fasting blood glucose, and peripheral white blood cell counts, compared with the non-PD group (all P < .001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that diabetes, total cholesterol, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and peripheral white blood cell count were independent risk factors for developing PD, whereas teeth brushing twice daily and serum calcium were favorable factors for maintenance hemodialysis patients against PD. Identification of risk factors provides a theoretical basis for prevention and improvement of PD among maintenance hemodialysis patients.
Oxidative Stress Produced by Xanthine Oxidase Induces Apoptosis in Human Extravillous Trophoblast Cells

Abstract Oxidative stress has been recognized as an important factor in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. It has been reported that the expression of xanthine oxidase (XO) in the cytotrophoblast and plasma hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) level are significantly higher in preeclamptics than in control women. The aim of this study was to clarify the biological influence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by XO on extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells. TCL1 cells, a human immortalized EVT cell line, were incubated with xanthine and XO (X/XO). We then measured the cell number, urate level of the culture media and the apoptotic cell ratio. Similar experiments were performed with additional administration of allopurinol, catalase, L-NAME or D-NAME, and with administration of H2O2 in substitution for X/XO. We assessed the effects of H2O2 on invasion ability, tube-like formation and protein expression of HIF1A and ITGAV of TCL1. Finally, the apoptotic cell ratio using primary cultured trophoblasts was measured following exposure to H2O2. X/XO decreased the relative cell number and increased the urate level and apoptotic cell ratio significantly. Elevation of the urate level and apoptotic cell ratio was attenuated by allopurinol and catalase, respectively. L-NAME and D-NAME had no influence on these effects. H2O2 also decreased the relative cell number. Pretreatment with H2O2 significantly inhibited the invasion ability, tube-like formation and HIF1A and ITGAV of TCL1. H2O2 also induced apoptosis in primary cultured trophoblasts. In conclusion, ROS produced by XO induced apoptosis and affected EVT function including invasion and differentiation.
Graph-Theoretic Characterization of The Feasibility of The Precoding-Based 3-Unicast Interference Alignment Scheme

A new precoding-based intersession network coding (NC) scheme has recently been proposed, which applies the interference alignment technique, originally devised for wireless interference channels, to the 3-unicast problem of directed acyclic networks. The main result of this work is a graph-theoretic characterization of the feasibility of the 3-unicast interference alignment scheme. To that end, we first investigate several key relationships between the point-to-point network channel gains and the underlying graph structure. Such relationships turn out to be critical when characterizing graph-theoretically the feasibility of precoding-based solutions.
Quantifying light-dependent circadian disruption in humans and animal models

Although circadian disruption is an accepted term, little has been done to develop methods to quantify the degree of disruption or entrainment individual organisms actually exhibit in the field. A variety of behavioral, physiological and hormonal responses vary in amplitude over a 24-h period and the degree to which these circadian rhythms are synchronized to the daily light–dark cycle can be quantified with a technique known as phasor analysis. Several studies have been carried out using phasor analysis in an attempt to measure circadian disruption exhibited by animals and by humans. To perform these studies, species-specific light measurement and light delivery technologies had to be developed based upon a fundamental understanding of circadian phototransduction mechanisms in the different species. When both nocturnal rodents and diurnal humans, experienced different species-specific light–dark shift schedules, they showed, based upon phasor analysis of the light–dark and activity–rest patterns, similar levels of light-dependent circadian disruption. Indeed, both rodents and humans show monotonically increasing and quantitatively similar levels of light-dependent circadian disruption with increasing shift-nights per week. Thus, phasor analysis provides a method for quantifying circadian disruption in the field and in the laboratory as well as a bridge between ecological measurements of circadian entrainment in humans and parametric studies of circadian disruption in animal models, including nocturnal rodents.
Fetoplacental Vascular Endothelial Dysfunction as an Early Phenomenon in the Programming of Human Adult Diseases in Subjects Born from Gestational Diabetes Mellitus or Obesity in Pregnancy

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and obesity in pregnancy (OP) are pathological conditions associated with placenta vascular dysfunction coursing with metabolic changes at the fetoplacental microvascular and macrovascular endothelium. These alterations are seen as abnormal expression and activity of the cationic amino acid transporters and endothelial nitric oxide synthase isoform, that is, the “endothelial L-arginine/nitric oxide signalling pathway. ” Several studies suggest that the endogenous nucleoside adenosine along with insulin, and potentially arginases, are factors involved in GDM-, but much less information regards their role in OP-associated placental vascular alterations. There is convincing evidence that GDM and OP prone placental endothelium to an “altered metabolic state” leading to fetal programming evidenced at birth, a phenomenon associated with future development of chronic diseases. In this paper it is suggested that this pathological state could be considered as a metabolic marker that could predict occurrence of diseases in adulthood, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes mellitus (including gestational diabetes), and metabolic syndrome.
Ciliopathy-associated mutations of IFT122 impair ciliary protein trafficking but not ciliogenesis

The intraflagellar transport (IFT) machinery containing the IFT-A and IFT-B complexes mediates ciliary protein trafficking. Mutations in the genes encoding the six subunits of the IFT-A complex (IFT43, IFT121, IFT122, IFT139, IFT140, and IFT144) are known to cause skeletal ciliopathies, including cranioectodermal dysplasia (CED). As the IFT122 subunit connects the core and peripheral subcomplexes of the IFT-A complex, it is expected to play a pivotal role in the complex. Indeed, we here showed that knockout (KO) of the IFT122 gene in hTERT-RPE1 cells using the CRISPR/Cas9 system led to a severe ciliogenesis defect, whereas KO of other IFT-A genes had minor effects on ciliogenesis but impaired ciliary protein trafficking. Exogenous expression of not only wild-type IFT122 but also its CED-associated missense mutants, which fail to interact with other IFT-A subunits, rescued the ciliogenesis defect of IFT122-KO cells. However, IFT122-KO cells expressing CED-type IFT122 mutants showed defects in ciliary protein trafficking, such as ciliary entry of Smoothened in response to Hedgehog signaling activation. The trafficking defects partially resembled those observed in IFT144-KO cells, which demonstrate failed assembly of the functional IFT-A complex at the base of cilia. These observations make it likely that, although IFT122 is essential for ciliogenesis, CED-type missense mutations underlie a skeletal ciliopathy phenotype by perturbing ciliary protein trafficking with minor effects on ciliogenesis per se.
BODY WEIGHTS AND EGG LOADS IN FIELD-COLLECTED PODISUS MACULIVENTRIS (HETEROPTERA: PENTATOMIDAE)

Abstract Body weights and egg loads of field populations of the spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) were studied from grape vineyards in Florida from April to November, 2003. Two main generation peaks were found in June and September. Mean female body weight throughout the year was similar to those obtained in various crops in Indiana. In both studies, body weights were comparable to those found in laboratory experiments where females were fed 1 prey item every 3 to 9 days. Egg loads in Florida were similar to those found in field populations in Indiana. The increase in numbers of immature eggs later in the Florida season may be an indication of continued egg production in older females. We interpret this as possible evidence of synovigeny in the field. This result is consistent with previous laboratory data showing that immature eggs are continuously produced throughout female lifetime. Larger females predictably had higher mean egg loads. The similarity in biological characteristics found in field populations in Indiana and Florida suggest that the predator has similar impacts on pest species by low feeding rates.
Attentional demands for static postural control after stroke.

OBJECTIVE To assess the attentional demands associated with postural control among people who have had a stroke. DESIGN Nonrandomized matched case-control study. SETTING University research laboratory in Canada. PARTICIPANTS Six individuals who had suffered a left or right cerebral ischemic attack in the past year and a sample of 6 age- and gender-matched controls. Participants in the stroke group had a mean age of 64.17+/-13.14 years; control participants had a mean age of 64.00+/-13.91 years. Mean National Institute of Health Stroke Scale scores for these patients were 7.67+/-4.92 at the time of stroke and 1.66+/-1.36 at the time of testing. None of the patients were taking medications that would alter cognitive status or balance abilities. INTERVENTION Participants performed a verbal reaction-time test while engaged in 3 postural tasks (sitting, standing, standing with feet together). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Reaction time: latency between visual stimulus and verbal response. RESULTS Reaction times in the stroke group differed significantly in all conditions from the controls (410+/-72 ms vs 320+/-54 ms, P<.01). A significant interaction was found between group and postural task (P=.05), with reaction-time scores showing a progressive increase in postural task difficulty among participants who had suffered a stroke. Post hoc comparisons revealed that sitting reaction-time scores were significantly slower than reaction-time scores for feet together standing (P=.008) among participants in the stroke group. CONCLUSION Individuals who have suffered a stroke showed increased attentional demands for tasks of static postural control compared with healthy, age-matched participants.
Autonomy and Process Closure as the Basis for Functionality

Abstract: Most accounts of functionality are based in etiology, either design or selection. In this paper I give an account of function as serving autonomy, which is the closure of self‐maintaining processes, including those interacting with the environment. Autonomy is inherently dynamic, being based entirely on interacting processes, whose organization constitutes the integrity of the autonomous system. The etiological account focuses on external factors, either intentions in design or outcomes in selection. It ignores any but idiosyncratic organizational requirements within the biological entity and in its interactions with its environment, even though these may play a central role in the functionality of the trait in question. In particular, there is no simple relation between adaptation on the etiological account and adaptability, a higher order emergent trait that plays a central role in behavior and the evolutionary and developmental genesis of intelligence. I propose redefining adaptiveness in terms of autonomy. The definition naturally extends to adaptability and focuses on the organizational character of adaptiveness, forcing attention on this central biological characteristic, which is easily ignored in the etiological account. The result is a much richer account of both adaptation and selection.
Neuronal circuits of fear extinction

Fear extinction is a form of inhibitory learning that allows for the adaptive control of conditioned fear responses. Although fear extinction is an active learning process that eventually leads to the formation of a consolidated extinction memory, it is a fragile behavioural state. Fear responses can recover spontaneously or subsequent to environmental influences, such as context changes or stress. Understanding the neuronal substrates of fear extinction is of tremendous clinical relevance, as extinction is the cornerstone of psychological therapy of several anxiety disorders and because the relapse of maladaptative fear and anxiety is a major clinical problem. Recent research has begun to shed light on the molecular and cellular processes underlying fear extinction. In particular, the acquisition, consolidation and expression of extinction memories are thought to be mediated by highly specific neuronal circuits embedded in a large‐scale brain network including the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and brain stem. Moreover, recent findings indicate that the neuronal circuitry of extinction is developmentally regulated. Here, we review emerging concepts of the neuronal circuitry of fear extinction, and highlight novel findings suggesting that the fragile phenomenon of extinction can be converted into a permanent erasure of fear memories. Finally, we discuss how research on genetic animal models of impaired extinction can further our understanding of the molecular and genetic bases of human anxiety disorders.
Communicating emotion through a haptic link : a study of the influence of metaphor, personal space and relationship

The world is more and more connected and yet we are often physically distant from people we care about. Technology increasingly supports remote interpersonal communication but has yet to integrate our sense of touch into this interaction. Researchers in the field of haptics (touch and technology) have started exploring computer-mediated touch interaction. The question is how should a computer-mediated person-to-person touch interaction be designed. In this thesis, we concentrate on how the design of a haptic interaction model influences performance and subjective experience of a dyad. Specifically, we examine the effect of using different metaphors to develop and explain the haptic interaction model, creating interaction models with and without a haptic display of personal space, and the type of relationship shared by the dyad using the device on ability to communicate emotion haptically. We also explore how dyads use these interactions to communicate emotion. We ran a structured study, in which participants communicated emotion with a haptic device and found that participants were able to communicate some emotional content through the haptic interactions. A significant effect of the interaction metaphor on performance was found. Participants preferred interactions with a haptic indicator of personal space, and participants’ reported metaphor preferences depended on their relationship. Finally, we found that common actions were used to express each emotion, even though this is a new media unfamiliar to participants. Jocelyn Smith jocelyn.smith@alumni.cs. ubc.ca
Differential regulation of the renal sodium-phosphate cotransporters NaPi-IIa, NaPi-IIc, and PiT-2 in dietary potassium deficiency

Dietary potassium (K) deficiency is accompanied by phosphaturia and decreased renal brush border membrane (BBM) vesicle sodium (Na)-dependent phosphate (Pi) transport activity. Our laboratory previously showed that K deficiency in rats leads to increased abundance in the proximal tubule BBM of the apical Na-Pi cotransporter NaPi-IIa, but that the activity, diffusion, and clustering of NaPi-IIa could be modulated by the altered lipid composition of the K-deficient BBM (Zajicek HK, Wang H, Puttaparthi K, Halaihel N, Markovich D, Shayman J, Beliveau R, Wilson P, Rogers T, Levi M. Kidney Int 60: 694–704, 2001; Inoue M, Digman MA, Cheng M, Breusegem SY, Halaihel N, Sorribas V, Mantulin WW, Gratton E, Barry NP, Levi M. J Biol Chem 279: 49160–49171, 2004). Here we investigated the role of the renal Na-Pi cotransporters NaPi-IIc and PiT-2 in K deficiency. Using Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and quantitative real-time PCR, we found that, in rats and in mice, K deficiency is associated with a dramatic decrease in the NaPi-IIc protein abundance in proximal tubular BBM and in NaPi-IIc mRNA. In addition, we documented the presence of a third Na-coupled Pi transporter in the renal BBM, PiT-2, whose abundance is also decreased by dietary K deficiency in rats and in mice. Finally, electron microscopy showed subcellular redistribution of NaPi-IIc in K deficiency: in control rats, NaPi-IIc immunolabel was primarily in BBM microvilli, whereas, in K-deficient rats, NaPi-IIc BBM label was reduced, and immunolabel was prevalent in cytoplasmic vesicles. In summary, our results demonstrate that decreases in BBM abundance of the phosphate transporter NaPi-IIc and also PiT-2 might contribute to the phosphaturia of dietary K deficiency, and that the three renal BBM phosphate transporters characterized so far can be differentially regulated by dietary perturbations.