Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Snail species diversity impacts the infection patterns of Echinostoma spp.: Examples from field collected data

Rapid losses of biodiversity due to the changing landscape have spurred increased interest in the role of species diversity and disease risk. A leading hypothesis for the importance of biodiversity in disease reduction is the dilution effect, which suggests that increasing species diversity within a system decreases the risk of disease among the organisms inhabiting it. The role of species diversity in trematode infection was investigated using field studies from sites across the U.S. to examine the impact of snail diversity in the infection dynamics of both first and second intermediate larval stages of Echinostoma spp. parasites. The prevalence of Echinostoma spp. sporocysts/rediae infection was not affected by increases in snail diversity, but significant negative correlations in metacercariae prevalence and intensity with snail diversity were observed. Additionally, varying effectiveness of the diluting hosts was found, i.e., snail species that were incompatible first intermediate hosts for Echinostoma spp. were more successful at diluting the echinostome parasites in the focal species, while H. trivolvis, a snail species that can harbor the first intermediate larval stages, amplified infection. These findings have important implications not only on the role of species diversity in reducing disease risk, but the success of the parasites in completing their life cycles and maintaining their abundance within an aquatic system.
The representation of peripheral nerve inputs in the S-I hindpaw cortex of rats raised with incompletely innervated hindpaws

The hindpaws of 1-d-old rats were partially denervated by transection and ligation of the sciatic nerve. Following growth to adulthood, the topographical organization of the hindpaw representation in primary somatosensory (S-I) cortex was studied with neurophysiological mapping techniques and compared to the organization of previously studied normal adult rats and adult rats that had sciatic transection. The goals were (1) to determine how the topographical organization of the hindpaw representation is affected when development occurs with an incomplete set of peripheral inputs, and (2) to identify possible differences in the capacity of neonatal and adult CNSs to adjust to loss of inputs. The rat hindpaw is relatively immature on the day of birth. Neonatal transection and ligation of the sciatic nerve stunted gross development of the hindpaw and resulted in a permanent loss of low-threshold mechanoreceptor inputs from hindpaw zones normally innervated by the sciatic nerve. A comparison of the cortical representations of neonatally denervated and normal rats indicated that early loss of sciatic inputs caused several changes in the topographical organization of the hindpaw cortex, including (1) a loss of the representation of hindpaw skin areas innervated by the sciatic nerve, (2) a limited infringement of cutaneous inputs from the hindquarter into the cortical zone deprived of sciatic hindpaw inputs, (3) increased variability in the topographical relationships of the hindpaw and hindquarter representations, and (4) a decrease in the size of the cortical area responsive to cutaneous inputs. A comparison of the cortical representations of neonatal and adult denervates indicated that the general cortical reaction to sciatic injury at both ages was similar: Neurons in some parts of the deprived hindpaw cortex were activated by cutaneous inputs from uninjured nerves, whereas neurons in other parts of this cortex were unresponsive to cutaneous stimulation. The topographical organization and size of projection zones of uninjured peripheral inputs were different, however, after denervation in neonatal and adult rats. From these findings we suggest that (1) development of a normal, topographically organized hindpaw representation requires integration of hindpaw inputs in a spatially specific manner, (2) more than one pattern of cortical adjustment occurs after sciatic injury, and age is an important determinant of the pattern that is established. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Tau-Induced Defects in Synaptic Plasticity, Learning, and Memory Are Reversible in Transgenic Mice after Switching Off the Toxic Tau Mutant

This report describes the behavioral and electrophysiological analysis of regulatable transgenic mice expressing mutant repeat domains of human Tau (TauRD). Mice were generated to express TauRD in two forms, differing in their propensity for β-structure and thus in their tendency for aggregation (“pro-aggregant” or “anti-aggregant”) (Mocanu et al., 2008). Only pro-aggregant mice show pronounced changes typical for Tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease (aggregation, missorting, hyperphosphorylation, synaptic and neuronal loss), indicating that the β-propensity and hence the ability to aggregate is a key factor in the disease. We now tested the mice with regard to neuromotor parameters, behavior, learning and memory, and synaptic plasticity and correlated this with histological and biochemical parameters in different stages of switching TauRD on or off. The mice are normal in neuromotor tests. However, pro-aggregant TauRD mice are strongly impaired in memory and show pronounced loss of long-term potentiation (LTP), suggesting that Tau aggregation specifically perturbs these brain functions. Remarkably, when the expression of human pro-aggregant TauRD is switched on for ∼10 months and off for ∼4 months, memory and LTP recover, whereas aggregates decrease moderately and change their composition from mixed human plus mouse Tau to mouse Tau only. Neuronal loss persists, but synapses are partially rescued. This argues that continuous presence of amyloidogenic pro-aggregant TauRD constitutes the main toxic insult for memory and LTP, rather than the aggregates as such.
Linking actions to outcomes in the frontal lobe

Behaviour is guided by accumulated experience, valuation and comparison. While many aspects associated with these functions are mediated by the frontal lobes, the precise contribution from particular regions remains debated. This thesis will deal with how an organism comes to select an option and will specifically focus on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in two mechanisms in this process: learning of outcome specificities and selecting between multiple options based on their expected values. Despite evidence emphasizing anatomical and connective heterogeneity within this structure, the OFC is often regarded as a uniform region. This thesis aims to resolve some of this uncertainty by assuming that the medial and lateral regions of the OFC contribute differentially to learning and decision-making. Two distinct methodologies were used in these investigations. First, the contribution of the medial OFC to social and emotional processing was examined. The findings from this study disprove previously held beliefs that the medial regions of the OFC guide social and emotional behaviours, but indicted a role for this region in value-guided decision-making. The second study examined functional differences between the lateral and medial OFC by making circumscribed lesions to either region in macaque monkeys. The animals performed a number of 3-armed bandit tasks which were designed to investigate different aspects of value assignment and comparison. The results show that while lateral OFC was required for "credit assignment" – the correct assignment of values to visual cues – medial OFC was critical for comparison of the cues' values during decision-making. In unchanging probabilistic environments, mOFC lesions induced decision-making impairments when value comparison was difficult without affecting credit assignment and associative learning. By contrast, lateral OFC lesions caused the opposite pattern of impairment. The final study used human-neuroimaging techniques to investigate the differential representation of outcome-specific contingency learning and found not only that the expectation of a unique outcome facilitated learning and memory recall but that this was supported by a neural network which included the lateral regions of the OFC and the anterior cingulate cortex. Activity in the mOFC did not correlate with outcome-specific contingency learning but instead reflected both the value associated with the receipt and expectation of a reward. Taken together, the results from this thesis suggest that specific parts of the OFC make markedly different contributions to these very different cognitive functions.
Diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) in Southern Africa: Research trends, challenges and insights on sustainable management options

The diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella, is a global economic pest of brassicas whose pest status has been exacerbated by climate change and variability. Southern African small-scale farmers are battling to cope with increasing pressure from the pest due to limited exposure to sustainable control options. The current paper critically analysed literature with a climate change and sustainability lens. The results show that research in Southern Africa (SA) remains largely constrained despite the region’s long acquaintance with the insect pest. Dependency on broad-spectrum insecticides, the absence of insecticide resistance management strategies, climate change, little research attention, poor regional research collaboration and coordination, and lack of clear policy support frameworks, are the core limitations to effective DBM management. Advances in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technologies and climate-smart agriculture (CSA) techniques for sustainable pest management have not benefitted small-scale horticultural farmers despite the farmers’ high vulnerability to crop losses due to pest attack. IPM adoption was mainly limited by lack of locally-developed packages, lack of stakeholders’ concept appreciation, limited alternatives to chemical control, knowledge paucity on biocontrol, climate mismatch between biocontrol agents’ origin and release sites, and poor research expertise and funding. We discuss these challenges in light of climate change and variability impacts on small-scale farmers in SA and recommend climate-smart, holistic, and sustainable homegrown IPM options propelled through IPM-Farmer Field School approaches for widespread and sustainable adoption.
Development of a novel sports medicine rotation for emergency medicine residents

Musculoskeletal complaints are the most common reason for patients to visit a physician, yet competency in musculoskeletal medicine is invariably reported as a deficiency in medical education in the USA. Sports medicine clinical rotations improve both medical students’ and residents’ musculoskeletal knowledge. Despite the importance of this knowledge, a standardized sports medicine curriculum in emergency medicine (EM) does not exist. Hence, we developed a novel sports medicine rotation for EM residents to improve their musculoskeletal educational experience and to improve their knowledge in musculoskeletal medicine by teaching the evaluation and management of many common musculoskeletal disorders and injuries that are encountered in the emergency department. The University of Arizona has two distinct EM residency programs, South Campus (SC) and University Campus (UC). The UC curriculum includes a traditional 4-week orthopedic rotation, which consistently rated poorly on evaluations by residents. Therefore, with the initiation of a new EM residency at SC, we replaced the standard orthopedic rotation with a novel sports medicine rotation for EM interns. This rotation includes attendance at sports medicine clinics with primary care and orthopedic sports medicine physicians, involvement in sport event coverage, assigned reading materials, didactic experiences, and an on-call schedule to assist with reductions in the emergency department. We analyzed postrotation surveys completed by residents, postrotation evaluations of the residents completed by primary care sports medicine faculty and orthopedic chief residents, as well as the total number of dislocation reductions performed by each graduating resident at both programs over the last 5 years. While all residents in both programs exceeded the ten dislocation reductions required for graduation, residents on the sports medicine rotation had a statistically significant higher rate of satisfaction of their educational experience when compared to the traditional orthopedics rotation. All SC residents successfully completed their sports medicine rotation, had completed postrotation evaluations by attending physicians, and had no duty hour violations while on sports medicine. In our experience, a sports medicine rotation is an effective alternative to the traditional orthopedics rotation for EM residents.
Análise e indexação da paisagem: o Arquivo Fotográfico Ilustrativo dos Trabalhos Geográficos de Campo do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística

The purpose of this research is to discuss the analysis and indexing of rural life landscapes using Arquivo Fotografico Ilustrativo dos Trabalhos Geograficos de Campo from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica as reference. The photographs were taken by agrarian geographers from the former Conselho Nacional de Geografia between the years 1940 and 1960. This is an exploratory research that addresses the geographic information within information science, aimed at the organization and representation of recorded knowledge in the process of information transference. From studies on landscape in the Geography literature associated with studies in the fields of Archival Science, Library Science, Information Science and History, we sought to identify concepts and categories that supported the proposal of a pattern for analysis and indexing of landscape photography. The photographic sets selected for the experiment are related to the Northeast and Southern Brazilian regions, according to the first official division of the regions proposed by the Conselho Nacional de Geografia in 1941.
THE REDSHIFT SEARCH RECEIVER OBSERVATIONS OF 12CO J = 1 → 0 IN 29 ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES

We present 12CO J = 1 → 0 observations of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) obtained using the Redshift Search Receiver (RSR) on the 14 m telescope of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory. The RSR is a novel, dual-beam, dual-polarization receiver equipped with an ultra-wideband spectrometer backend that is being built as a facility receiver for the Large Millimeter Telescope. Our sample consists of 29 ULIRGs in the redshift range of 0.04–0.11, including 10 objects with no prior 12CO measurements. We have detected 27 systems (a detection rate of 93%), including 9 ULIRGs that are detected in CO for the first time. Our study has increased the number of local ULIRGs with CO measurements by ∼15%. The CO line luminosity L′CO, correlates well with far-infrared luminosity LFIR, following the general trend of other local ULIRGs. However, compared to previous surveys we probe deeper into the low CO luminosity end of the ULIRG population as a single study by including a number of CO faint objects in the sample. As a result, we find (1) a smoother transition between the ULIRG population and local quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) in LFIR–L′CO (“star formation efficiency”) space, and (2) a broader range of LFIR/L′CO flux ratio (∼ 60–103 L☉/(K km s−1 pc2)) than previously reported. In our new survey, we also have found a small number of ULIRGs with extreme LFIR/L′CO, which had been known to be rare. The mid-IR color and radio-excess of 56 local ULIRGs as a function of FIR-to-CO flux ratio is examined and compared with those of spirals/starburst galaxies and low-z QSOs. In this paper, using a large sample of local ULIRGs we explore the origin of their current power source and potential evolution to QSOs.
Snapshot Image Mapping Spectrometer (IMS) with high sampling density for hyperspectral microscopy

A snapshot Image Mapping Spectrometer (IMS) with high sampling density is developed for hyperspectral microscopy, measuring a datacube of dimensions 285 × 285 × 60 (x, y, λ). The spatial resolution is ~0.45 µm with a FOV of 100 × 100 µm2. The measured spectrum is from 450 nm to 650 nm and is sampled by 60 spectral channels with average sampling interval ~3.3 nm. The channel’s spectral resolution is ~8nm. The spectral imaging results demonstrate the potential of the IMS for real-time cellular fluorescence imaging.
Adaptive Evolution of Relish, a Drosophila NF-k B/I k B Protein

NF-k B and I k B proteins have central roles in regulation of inﬂammation and innate immunity in mammals. Homologues of these proteins also play an important role in regulation of the Drosophila immune response. Here we present a molecular population genetic analysis of Relish, a Drosophila NF-k B/I k B protein, in Drosophila simulans and D. melanogaster. We ﬁnd strong evidence for adaptive protein evolution in D. simulans , but not in D. melanogaster. The adaptive evolution appears to be restricted to the I k B domain. A possible explanation for these results is that Relish is a site of evolutionary conﬂict between ﬂies and their microbial pathogens.
Modelling the Efficiency of Local Versus Central Provision of Intravenous Thrombolysis After Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose— Prehospital redirection of stroke patients to a regional center is used as a strategy to maximize the provision of intravenous thrombolysis. We developed a model to quantify the benefit of redirection away from local services that were already providing thrombolysis. Methods— A microsimulation using hospital and ambulance data from consecutive emergency admissions to 10 local acute stroke units estimated the effect of redirection to 2 regional neuroscience centers. Modeled outcomes reflected additional journey time and accuracy of stroke identification in the prehospital phase, and the relative efficiency of patient selection and door-needle time for each local site compared with the nearest regional neuroscience center. Results— Thrombolysis was received by 223/1884 emergency admissions. Based on observed site performance, 68 additional patients would have been treated after theoretical redirection of 1269 true positive cases and 363 stroke mimics to the neuroscience center. Over 5 years redirection of this cohort generated 12.6 quality-adjusted life years at a marginal cost of £6730 ($10 320, &OV0556;8347). The average additional cost of a quality-adjusted life year gain was £534 ($819, &OV0556;673). Conclusions— Under these specific circumstances, redirection would have improved outcomes from thrombolysis at little additional cost.
THE ROLE OF RESOURCE LOSS IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF SURVIVORS OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE

Title of Document: THE ROLE OF RESOURCE LOSS IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC WELLBEING OF SURVIVORS OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE Elizabeth Winick Sauber, Master of Science, 2015 Directed By: Karen O’Brien, Professor, Department of Psychology This study advanced knowledge regarding the mechanisms through which intimate partner violence leads to psychological and financial distress. Data were collected from 141 female domestic violence survivors who were abused by a male partner within the past six months. Four hierarchical regression analyses revealed that psychological, physical, and economic abuse were predictive of posttraumatic stress, depression, and economic self-sufficiency among survivors. Guided by the Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 1998), the loss of financial, work, and interpersonal resources also predicted these three outcomes, above and beyond abuse experiences. Specifically, psychological abuse, economically controlling behaviors, interpersonal resource loss and financial resource loss remained unique predictors after all of the other variables were entered into the models. Additionally, bootstrap mediation analyses showed that financial resource loss partially mediated the relationship between economic abuse and economic self-sufficiency. Together, these findings can be used to inform future interventions to promote the financial and psychological well-being of survivors. THE ROLE OF RESOURCE LOSS IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF SURVIVORS OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
Changing higher education practice in Malaysia: the conundrum of incentives

International university rankings are a widely used measure of higher education excellence. Since publication rates are an important element in most ranking systems, pushing faculty to increase their publication in top-tier international journals is viewed by many government and university officials as an important strategy for improving ratings and thus gaining international recognition. This study examined the manner in which public universities in Malaysia have created and aligned incentives in an effort to encourage faculty members to increase their publication rate in top-tier international journals. The study is grounded in principal–agent theory and utilized data from 47 interviews conducted with faculty members from across four public universities in Malaysia. Findings suggest that while university administrators’ aspirations for higher international rankings are high, administrators are limited in the incentives they can utilize in effecting the change they seek. Their levers of influence over faculty work are limited in the Malaysian context.
An investigation of teacher candidates metacognitive skills according to their year of study at Canakkale

The aim of the present study was to investigate the differences in teacher candidates’ metacognitive skills analyzed according to the year of study in their undergraduate program they were in. The research methodology in the study was survey. Among survey types, the cross-sectional design was used. The sample of the study included a total of 1072 students (322 male and 750 female) who studied in the Elementary Education, Science Education, and Preschool Teaching Divisions at the Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Education, Department of Primary School Education during the spring semester of 2012 to 2013. Data was collected using the “Metacognitive Skills Inventory for Adults”, which was developed by Schraw & Denisson (1994) and adapted into Turkish by Ozcan (2007). It was found that the metacognitive skill scores of teacher candidates who were studying in their third and fourth years were higher than those who attended first year and second year. Key words: Faculty of Education, metacognitive skills, thinking, year of study.