Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT ESCHERICHIA COLI IN FEACAL OF CAPTIVE BABOONS NOT NORMALLY EXPOSED TO ANTIBIOTIC

Escherichia coli are common inhabitant of intestinal tract of many animals and humans. These intestinal bacteria including antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be easily transferred between animals and humans especially when there is close contact. Most studies on commensal antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been limited to food animals and seldom in non human primates. To understand the possible risks to humans in close contact with captive baboons, we analyzed the phenotype and genetic characteristics of antimicrobial resistance in ninety seven Escherichia coli isolates recovered from 100 faecal samples of two groups of captive baboons at the Institute of Primate Research, Kenya. Susceptibility to 16 antibiotics was studied in these isolates, and the most common resistance observed in E.coli isolated from both group of baboons was to ampicillin (34.4-36.1%), sulphamethoxazole (33-36.1%), amoxyclav (26.2-30.6%), piperacillin (22.2-23%), tetracycline (19.7-22.2%), streptomycin (11.1-21.3%), and co-trimoxazole (9.8-25%). The percentage of resistance to chloramphenicol, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, amikacin and ofloxacin was below 8.2%, and no resistant isolates were detected for meropenem and ciprofloxacin. Multi-drug resistance was found in case of 7-8 antibiotics for all strains tested. The blaTEM, blaSHV and bla CTX-M genes were detected in 21, 19 and 5 of 37 ampicillin-resistant isolates respectively, the aadA1 or aadA2 genes in 5 of 20 streptomycinresistant isolates and cmlA in 5 of 8 chloramphenicol-resistant isolates. It may be concluded that captive baboons may be a potential reservoir for zonotic transmission of multidrug resistance gene to humans and therefore minimal contact with these animals should be maintained.
Development of S 1 inbred lines and estimation of inbreeding depression in two maize ( Zea mays L . ) populations

To know the effect of inbreeding depression, this study was conducted in the Agricultural Experimentation Block of the University of Swabi, during the two cropping seasons of 20132014. The S1 inbred lines were developed from two of the maize populations viz. popcorn (‘PC’) and sweet corn (‘SC’). Plant height (PH), ear height (EH), ear length (EL), leaf area (LA), number of leaves (NL) and number of tassel branches (TB) were investigated. Highly significant differences (P≥0.01) were observed for PH and LA in S1 lines however; this effect was nonsignificant within the parental population. While the rest of the traits did not show any significant variation in the first generation of inbreeding (S1). Of the developed 20 S1 inbred lines, mean data revealed that maximum reduction in PH (169.55 cm) was in the set of inbred lines obtained from ‘PC’ as compared to that of ‘SC’ (159.65 cm). Similarly, reduction of 44.92 cm was noticed in LA of ‘PC-S1-4’ as compared to the lines developed from ‘SC’. The results indicated that except PH and LA, other traits like EH, EL, NL and TB are closely linked and hence in first generation of selfing there was not a significant variation in the S1 developed from ‘PC’ and ‘SC’. However, the potential inbred lines need to be re-evaluated for diversity, GCA and SCA when homozygosity is complete in later generations.
NREM sleep EEG activity and procedural memory: A comparison between young neurotypical and autistic adults without sleep complaints

Delta EEG activity (0.75–3.75 Hz) during non‐Rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep reflects the thalamo‐cortical system contribution to memory consolidation. The functional integrity of this system is thought to be compromised in the Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This lead us to investigate the topography of NREM sleep Delta EEG activity in young adults with ASD and typically‐developed individuals (TYP). The relationship between Delta EEG activity and sensory‐motor procedural information was also examined using a rotary pursuit task. Two dependent variables were computed: a learning index (performance increase across trials) and a performance index (average performance for all trials). The ASD group showed less Delta EEG activity during NREM sleep over the parieto‐occipital recording sites compared to the TYP group. Delta EEG activity dropped more abruptly from frontal to posterior regions in the ASD group. Both groups of participants learned the task at a similar rate but the ASD group performed less well in terms of contact time with the target. Delta EEG activity during NREM sleep, especially during stage 2, correlated positively with the learning index for electrodes located all over the cortex in the TYP group, but only in the frontal region in the ASD group. Delta EEG activity, especially during stage 2, correlated positively with the performance index, but in the ASD group only. These results reveal an atypical thalamo‐cortical functioning over the parieto‐occipital region in ASD. They also point toward an atypical relationship between the frontal area and the encoding of sensory‐motor procedural memory in ASD. Autism Res 2018, 11: 613–623. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Age Progression of Neuropathological Markers in the Brain of the Chilean Rodent Octodon degus, a Natural Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of age‐related dementia worldwide. Several models for AD have been developed to provide information regarding the initial changes that lead to degeneration. Transgenic mouse models recapitulate many, but not all, of the features of AD, most likely because of the high complexity of the pathology. In this context, the validation of a wild‐type animal model of AD that mimics the neuropathological and behavioral abnormalities is necessary. In previous studies, we have reported that the Chilean rodent Octodon degus could represent a natural model for AD. In the present work, we further describe the age‐related neurodegeneration observed in the O. degus brain. We report some histopathological markers associated with the onset progression of AD, such as glial activation, increase in oxidative stress markers, neuronal apoptosis and the expression of the peroxisome proliferative‐activated receptor γ coactivator‐1α (PGC‐1α). With these results, we suggest that the O. degus could represent a new model for AD research and a powerful tool in the search for therapeutic strategies against AD.
Population genomics of parallel phenotypic evolution in stickleback across stream–lake ecological transitions

Understanding the genetics of adaptation is a central focus in evolutionary biology. Here, we use a population genomics approach to examine striking parallel morphological divergences of parapatric stream–lake ecotypes of threespine stickleback fish in three watersheds on the Haida Gwaii archipelago, western Canada. Genome-wide variation at greater than 1000 single nucleotide polymorphism loci indicate separate origin of giant lake and small-bodied stream fish within each watershed (mean FST between watersheds = 0.244 and within = 0.114). Genome scans within watersheds identified a total of 21 genomic regions that are highly differentiated between ecotypes and are probably subject to directional selection. Most outliers were watershed-specific, but genomic regions undergoing parallel genetic changes in multiple watersheds were also identified. Interestingly, several of the stream–lake outlier regions match those previously identified in marine–freshwater and benthic–limnetic genome scans, indicating reuse of the same genetic loci in different adaptive scenarios. We also identified multiple new outlier loci, which may contribute to unique aspects of differentiation in stream–lake environments. Overall, our data emphasize the important role of ecological boundaries in driving both local and broadly occurring parallel genetic changes during adaptation.
Disruption of Hepatic Leptin Signaling Protects Mice From Age- and Diet-Related Glucose Intolerance

OBJECTIVE The liver plays a critical role in integrating and controlling glucose metabolism. Thus, it is important that the liver receive and react to signals from other tissues regarding the nutrient status of the body. Leptin, which is produced and secreted from adipose tissue, is a hormone that relays information regarding the status of adipose depots to other parts of the body. Leptin has a profound influence on glucose metabolism, so we sought to determine if leptin may exert this effect in part through the liver. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS To explore this possibility, we created mice that have disrupted hepatic leptin signaling using a Cre-lox approach and then investigated aspects of glucose metabolism in these animals. RESULTS The loss of hepatic leptin signaling did not alter body weight, body composition, or blood glucose levels in the mild fasting or random-fed state. However, mice with ablated hepatic leptin signaling had increased lipid accumulation in the liver. Further, as male mice aged or were fed a high-fat diet, the loss of hepatic leptin signaling protected the mice from glucose intolerance. Moreover, the mice displayed increased liver insulin sensitivity and a trend toward enhanced glucose-stimulated plasma insulin levels. Consistent with increased insulin sensitivity, mice with ablated hepatic leptin signaling had increased insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt in the liver. CONCLUSIONS These data reveal that unlike a complete deficiency of leptin action, which results in impaired glucose homeostasis, disruption of leptin action in the liver alone increases hepatic insulin sensitivity and protects against age- and diet-related glucose intolerance. Thus, leptin appears to act as a negative regulator of insulin action in the liver.
Aqueous Extract of Tournefortia sarmentosa Stem Inhibits ADP-induced Platelet Aggregation

Tournefortia sarmentosa is a Chinese herbal medicine used as an antioxidant, detoxicant, and anti-inflammatory agent. The present study evaluated the effect of T. sarmentosa on adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation. Our results showed that aqueous stem extract of T. sarmentosa inhibited adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation. In addition, we found components in T. sarmentosa, including caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid, play important roles in mediating adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation suppression. The stem extract of T. sarmentosa inhibited the adenosine diphosphate receptor P2Y12-mediated cyclic AMP production. Caffeic acid inhibited P2Y1-induced calcium influx. Furthermore, treatment of platelets with T. sarmentosa, or the components in stem extract of T. sarmentosa, suppressed adenosine diphosphate-induced release of thromboxane A2 and arachidonic acid and surface PAC-1 expression. These data demonstrate the aqueous stem extract of T. sarmentosa significantly suppressed platelet aggregation through P2Y1 and P2Y12 receptor signal pathways. The antiaggregation properties found in the stem extract of T. sarmentosa might help to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Effect of Osmo-priming on Germination and Enzyme Activity in Barley ( Hordeum vulgare L . ) Seeds under Drought Stress Conditions

Seed priming was used in barley to increase seed germination and tolerance on stress exposure. Barley seeds were treated with PEG (Polyethylene 6000 mw). After 7 days our results showed that, seed priming treatments significantly (p≤ 0.01) affected germination percentage, normality seedling percentage, and germination index. Seed priming with PEG increased germination characteristics as the compared to the unprimed. Also, priming increased catalase as compared to the unprimed seeds. Therefore, the highest germination characteristics and catalase activity were attained from priming with PEG.
application testing : A systematic literature review

Context: The web has had a significant impact on all aspects of our society. As our society relies more and more on the web, the dependability of web applications has become increasingly important. To make these applications more dependable, for the past decade researchers have proposed various techniques for testing web-based software applications. Our literature search for related studies retrieved 193 papers in the area of web application testing, which have appeared between 2000 and 2013. Objective: As this research area matures and the number of related papers increases, it is important to systematically identify, analyze, and classify the publications and provide an overview of the trends and empirical evidence in this specialized field. Methods: We systematically review the body of knowledge related to functional testing of web application through a systematic literature review (SLR) study. This SLR is a follow-up and complimentary study to a recent systematic mapping (SM) study that we conducted in this area. As part of this study, we pose three sets of research questions, define selection and exclusion criteria, and synthesize the empirical evidence in this area. Results: Our pool of studies includes a set of 95 papers (from the 193 retrieved papers) published in the area of web application testing between 2000 and 2013. The data extracted during our SLR study is available through a publicly-accessible online repository. Among our results are the followings: (1) the list of test tools in this area and their capabilities, (2) the types of test models and fault models proposed in this domain, (3) the way the empirical studies in this area have been designed and reported, and (4) the state of empirical evidence and industrial relevance. Conclusion: We discuss the emerging trends in web application testing, and discuss the implications for researchers and practitioners in this area. The results of our SLR can help researchers to obtain an overview of existing web application testing approaches, fault models, tools, metrics and empirical evidence, and subsequently identify areas in the field that require more attention from the research community. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Application of multiblock modelling to identify key drivers for antimicrobial use in pig production in four European countries

Abstract Antimicrobial use in pig farming is influenced by a range of risk factors, including herd characteristics, biosecurity level, farm performance, occurrence of clinical signs and vaccination scheme, as well as farmers’ attitudes and habits towards antimicrobial use. So far, the effect of these risk factors has been explored separately. Using an innovative method called multiblock partial least-squares regression, this study aimed to investigate, in a sample of 207 farrow-to-finish farms from Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden, the relative importance of the six above mentioned categories or ‘blocks’ of risk factors for antimicrobial use in pig production. Four country separate models were developed; they showed that all six blocks provided useful contribution to explaining antimicrobial use in at least one country. The occurrence of clinical signs, especially of respiratory and nervous diseases in fatteners, was one of the largest contributing blocks in all four countries, whereas the effect of the other blocks differed between countries. In terms of risk management, it suggests that a holistic and country-specific mitigation strategy is likely to be more effective. However, further research is needed to validate our findings in larger and more representative samples, as well as in other countries.
Species divergence and trait convergence in experimental plant community assembly

Despite decades of research, it remains controversial whether ecological communities converge towards a common structure determined by environmental conditions irrespective of assembly history. Here, we show experimentally that the answer depends on the level of community organization considered. In a 9-year grassland experiment, we manipulated initial plant composition on abandoned arable land and subsequently allowed natural colonization. Initial compositional variation caused plant communities to remain divergent in species identities, even though these same communities converged strongly in species traits. This contrast between species divergence and trait convergence could not be explained by dispersal limitation or community neutrality alone. Our results show that the simultaneous operation of trait-based assembly rules and species-level priority effects drives community assembly, making it both deterministic and historically contingent, but at different levels of community organization.
Massive MIMO functionality splits based on hybrid analog-digital precoding in a C-RAN architecture

Cloud RAN is a promising enabler for distributed massive MIMO systems, yet is vulnerable to its fronthaul congestion. We propose an analog beamformer design in pursuit of maximizing multi-user sum average data rate. Each element of the analog beamformer is constructed based on a weighted sum of spatial channel covariance matrices. A regularized zero-forcing digital beamformer is based on the instantaneous effective channel information observed through the given analog beamformer. The effectiveness of the proposed hybrid precoding algorithm is validated by simulation.
Compositional, Contextual, and Collective Community Factors in Mental Health and Well-Being in Australian Rural Communities

There are disproportionately higher and inconsistently distributed rates of recorded suicides in rural areas. Patterns of rural suicide are well documented, but they remain poorly understood. Geographic variations in physical and mental health can be understood through the combination of compositional, contextual, and collective factors pertaining to particular places. The aim of this study was to explore the role of “place” contributing to suicide rates in rural communities. Seventeen mental health professionals participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Principles of grounded theory were used to guide the analysis. Compositional themes were demographics and perceived mental health issues; contextual themes were physical environment, employment, housing, and mental health services; and collective themes were town identity, community values, social cohesion, perceptions of safety, and attitudes to mental illness. It is proposed that connectedness may be the underlying mechanism by which compositional, contextual, and collective factors influence mental health and well-being in rural communities.
Epigenetic and genetic variation among three separate introductions of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) into Australia

Invasive populations are often associated with low levels of genetic diversity owing to population bottlenecks at the initial stages of invasion. Despite this, the ability of invasive species to adapt rapidly in response to novel environments is well documented. Epigenetic mechanisms have recently been proposed to facilitate the success of invasive species by compensating for reduced levels of genetic variation. Here, we use methylation sensitive-amplification fragment length polymorphism and microsatellite analyses to compare levels of epigenetic and genetic diversity and differentiation across 15 sites in the introduced Australian house sparrow population. We find patterns of epigenetic and genetic differentiation that are consistent with historical descriptions of three distinct, introductions events. However unlike genetic differentiation, epigenetic differentiation was higher among sample sites than among invasion clusters, suggesting that patterns of epigenetic variation are more strongly influenced by local environmental stimuli or sequential founder events than the initial diversity in the introduction population. Interestingly, we fail to detect correlations between pairwise site comparisons of epigenetic and genetic differentiation, suggesting that some of the observed epigenetic variation has arisen independently of genetic variation. We also fail to detect the potentially compensatory relationship between epigenetic and genetic diversity that has been detected in a more recent house sparrow invasion in Africa. We discuss the potential for this relationship to be obscured by recovered genetic diversity in more established populations, and highlight the importance of incorporating introduction history into population-wide epigenetic analyses.
Review of Emotion Recognition in Stroke Patients

Objective: Patients suffering from stroke have a diminished ability to recognize emotions. This paper presents a review of neuropsychological studies that investigated the basic emotion processing deficits involved in individuals with interhemispheric brain (right, left) damage and normal controls, including processing mode (perception) and communication channels (facial, prosodic-intonational, lexical-verbal). Methods: An electronic search was conducted using specific keywords for studies investigating emotion recognition in brain damage patients. The PubMed database was searched until March 2012 as well as citations and reference lists. 92 potential articles were identified. Results: The findings showed that deficits in emotion perception were more frequently observed in individuals with right brain damage than those with left brain damage when processing facial, prosodic and lexical emotional stimuli. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the right hemisphere has a unique contribution in emotional processing and provide support for the right hemisphere emotion hypothesis. Significance: This robust deficit in emotion recognition has clinical significance. The extent of emotion recognition deficit in brain damage patients appears to be correlated with a variety of interpersonal difficulties such as complaints of frustration in social relations, feelings of social discomfort, desire to connect with others, feelings of social disconnection and use of controlling behaviors.
Nutrient status of seagrasses cannot be inferred from system-scale distribution of phosphorus in Shark Bay, Western Australia

Differences in phosphorus (P) availability can influence the ecology and physiology of seagrass communities; and are usually inferred from changes in the relative P content in seagrass leaves. Shark Bay is a subtropical marine embayment, with decreasing P concentrations in the water column and sediments from north to south across the entire embayment. We examined the P and nitrogen (N) content of seagrass leaves and P content of sediments across the Faure Sill and Wooramel delta region of Shark Bay, to determine whether the leaf content of seagrasses in Shark Bay also decreased from north to south over smaller spatial scales. Nutrient content of Amphibolis antarctica and Halodule uninervis were highly variable and were not strongly correlated with sediment P concentrations. Mean N : P ratios of seagrasses ( 100 km) of sedimentary P distributions. We suggest that P availability to seagrasses is more likely a complex function of differing nutrient inputs, rates of delivery to the plants and cycling rates.