Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The 1–1000 μm spectral energy distributions of far-infrared galaxies

Galaxies selected at 170 μm by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) Far-IR BACKground (FIRBACK) survey represent the brightest ∼10 per cent of the cosmic infrared background. Examining their nature in detail is therefore crucial for constraining models of galaxy evolution. Here, we combine Spitzer archival data with previous near-infrared (near-IR), far-IR, and submillimetre (submm) observations of a representative sample of 22 FIRBACK galaxies spanning three orders of magnitude in IR luminosity. We fit a flexible, multicomponent, empirical SED model of star-forming galaxies designed to model the entire ∼1-1000 μm wavelength range. The fits are performed with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach, allowing for meaningful uncertainties to be derived. This approach also highlights degeneracies such as between T d and β, which we discuss in detail. From these fits and standard relations we derive: L IR , L PAH , star formation rate (SFR), τ V , M. , M dust, T d , and β. We look at a variety of correlations between these and combinations thereof in order to examine the physical nature of these galaxies. Our conclusions are supplemented by morphological examination of the sources, and comparison with local samples. We find the bulk of our sample to be consistent with fairly standard size and mass disc galaxies with somewhat enhanced star formation relative to local spirals, but likely not bona fide starbursts. A few higher-z luminous infrared galaxies (LIGs) and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIGs) are also present, but contrary to expectation, they are weak mid-IR emitters and overall are consistent with star formation over an extended cold region rather than concentrated in the nuclear regions. We discuss the implications of this study for understanding populations detected at other wavelengths, such as the bright 850-μm Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) sources or the faint Spitzer 24-μm sources.
Reduced heart rate variability following repair of tetralogy of Fallot

OBJECTIVE To examine autonomic function as assessed by heart rate variability in patients 10 or more years after repair of tetralogy of Fallot, and to relate this to cardiac structure, function, and electrocardiographic indices. METHODS Heart rate variability was measured by standard time domain techniques on a 24 hour Holter ECG in 28 patients, aged 12 to 34 years (mean 19.5), who had undergone repair of tetralogy of Fallot at least 10 years previously. Echocardiography was performed to assess left ventricular size and function, right ventricular size and pressure, and any proximal pulmonary arterial stenosis. Right ventricular function was evaluated by radionuclide scan. QRS duration, QT interval, and QT dispersion were measured on a standard 12 lead ECG. Measurements of heart rate variability were compared with values from 28 age matched healthy controls (mean age 19.9 years). Interrelations between variables were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise regression analysis. RESULTS Heart rate variability was reduced, compared with values for age matched normal controls, in 12 of the 28 patients. Reduced heart rate variability was associated with increased age, increased right ventricular size and pressure, and widening of the QRS complex. CONCLUSIONS Reduced heart rate variability is a feature following repair of tetralogy of Fallot. It is associated with increasing age, impaired right ventricular haemodynamics, and widening of the QRS complex. Under these circumstances, reduced heart rate variability may be a marker for deteriorating right ventricular function. Increased QRS duration has been identified as a risk factor for sudden death following repair of tetralogy of Fallot, and impaired cardiac autonomic control may be one of the mechanisms involved.
Engineering Cold Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants

Plants respond with changes in their pattern of gene expression and protein products when exposed to low temperatures. Thus ability to adapt has an impact on the distribution and survival of the plant, and on crop yields. Many species of tropical or subtropical origin are injured or killed by non-freezing low temperatures, and exhibit various symptoms of chilling injury such as chlorosis, necrosis, or growth retardation. In contrast, chilling tolerant species are able to grow at such cold temperatures. Conventional breeding methods have met with limited success in improving the cold tolerance of important crop plants involving inter-specific or inter-generic hybridization. Recent studies involving full genome profiling/ sequencing, mutational and transgenic plant analyses, have provided a deep insight of the complex transcriptional mechanism that operates under cold stress. The alterations in expression of genes in response to cold temperatures are followed by increases in the levels of hundreds of metabolites, some of which are known to have protective effects against the damaging effects of cold stress. Various low temperature inducible genes have been isolated from plants. Most appear to be involved in tolerance to cold stress and the expression of some of them is regulated by C-repeat binding factor/ dehydration-responsive element binding (CBF/DREB1) transcription factors. Numerous physiological and molecular changes occur during cold acclimation which reveals that the cold resistance is more complex than perceived and involves more than one pathway. The findings summarized in this review have shown potential practical applications for breeding cold tolerance in crop and horticultural plants suitable to temperate geographical locations.
Apolipoprotein E Gene Variants and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Meta-Analysis

Objectives. Apo E genes involved in lipoprotein synthesis and metabolism are considered one of the candidates to CHD. However, the results remain conflicting. Methods. We performed this meta-analysis based on 30 published studies including 11,804 CHD patients and 17,713 controls. Results. Compared with the wild genotype E3/3, the variant genotypes ApoEE3/4 and E4/4 were associated with 22% and 45% increased risk of CHD, respectively (E3/4 versus E3/3: OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.15–1.29; E4/4 versus E3/3: OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.23–1.71). Besides, compared with ε3 allele, carriers with the ε4 allele had a 46% increased risk of CHD (OR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.28–1.66), while the ε2 had no significantly decreased risk of CHD. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, ε4 had a 25% increased risk of CHD in Caucasians (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.11–1.41), and the effects were more evident in Mongolians (OR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.89–2.77). The ε2 allele had a decreased risk of CHD in Caucasians (OR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.74–0.96), but not in Mongolians. Conclusions. The analysis suggested that ApoEε4 mutation was associated with the increased risk of CHD, while ApoEε2 allele had a decreased risk of CHD just in Caucasians.
Enhancing Calf Immunity through Nutrition

Dairy calves are extremely susceptible to gastro-intestinal disease during the preweaned period. The risk for disease decreases as the calf ages; therefore, I think it is important to break the pre-weaned period up into at least 2 distinct phases that likely need to be managed differently, early life (1 and maybe the 2 week of life) and the remaining time the calf is fed fluid (milk or milk replacer). When a calf is born they have never been exposed to any microorganisms and some aspects of their immune system are not fully developed. Since the calf in utero received its nutrients from the cow through placental transfer, the calf has never had any nutrition orally. After birth, the calf is now in a microbial world and expected to receive all its nutrients orally from its mother’s milk. The gastro-intestinal tract of the calf is naïve and develops rapidly during the first few days to weeks. The cells that make up the gastro-intestinal tract are the first line of defense of the immune system; therefore, until the cells are more adult-like the calf is at an increased risk for developing gastro-intestinal diseases. Future research needs to focus on how much, the frequency of feeding, and composition of fluid fed to a calf during this period. Currently, the primary strategies to improve the resistance to gastro-intestinal diseases during this period is focused on decreasing the interaction of potential pathogens with the cells of the calf’s gastro-intestinal tract. The uses of prebiotics, probiotics, and hyper-immunized egg protein have all been shown to decrease the incidence of gastro-intestinal diseases and improve the growth of preweaned calves. It is important to note that not all research has shown improvements, but no studies have reported adverse effects with their inclusion in the diet. Calves where the bacteria get into the bloodstream are at an increased risk of becoming septicemic and consequently have a greatly increased risk of death. The high risk of death is associated with an aggressive inflammatory response. Data, in other animal models as well as calves, indicate that supplementing omega-3 fatty acids decreases the inflammatory response and improves survival of septicemic animals. Therefore, supplementing the fluid of calves may improve the survival of septicemic calves. Lastly, the plane of nutrition that calves are fed during the pre-weaned period was reported to improve future lactational performance and emerging data suggests that it may improve the resistance to gastro-intestinal diseases. Further the effect appears to persist past the pre-weaned period. Nutrition can influence disease resistance of calves in many ways, both directly by supplying specific nutrients and indirectly by influencing the exposure to microorganisms. 1 Contact at: Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texasd Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409; Phone: 806-742-2805 ext. 251; Email: Michael.ballou@ttu.edu
Intended to Fail? Jatropha Development Project in Indonesia

Article offers an analytical description of the legal framework of the Indonesian biofuel energy policy : commercialization of Jatropha. Its purpose is to explain why the legal framework failed. Methodology used to collect data is library research, including shifting through related legal documents. Additional information was collected through interviews with key informants. The purpose is to be able to place the relevant legal framework within a broader economic-political context. The main findings were that government intervention in the economic sector (commercialization of Jatropha), were made more in the spirit of poverty eradication programs and lessening government financial burden in providing cheap fossil fuel. Cautious approach based on economic calculations and other considerations (Jatropha not being sufficiently tested and developed as biofuel crop) as advised by researchers (2006) working under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture were simply ignored.
Cadmium Increases Human Fetal Germ Cell Apoptosis

Background Cadmium (Cd) is a common environmental pollutant and a major constituent of tobacco smoke. Adverse effects of this heavy metal on reproductive function have been identified in adults; however, no studies have examined its effects on human reproductive organs during development. Objectives Using our previously developed organ culture system, we investigated the effects of cadmium chloride on human gonads at the beginning of fetal life, a critical stage in the development of reproductive function. Methods Human fetal gonads were recovered during the first trimester (7–11 weeks postconception) and cultured with or without Cd. We used different concentrations of Cd and compared results with those obtained with mouse fetal gonads at similar stages. Results Cd, at concentrations as low as 1 μM, significantly decreased the germ cell density in human fetal ovaries. This correlated with an increase in germ cell apoptosis, but there was no effect on proliferation. Similarly, in the human fetal testis, Cd (1 μM) reduced germ cell number without affecting testosterone secretion. In mouse fetal gonads, Cd increased only female germ cell apoptosis. Conclusions This is the first experimental demonstration that Cd, at low concentrations, alters the survival of male and female germ cells in humans. Considering data demonstrating extensive human exposure, we believe that current environmental levels of Cd could be deleterious to early gametogenesis.
Repeatability and Diagnostic Value of Nasal Potential Difference in a Genetically Admixed Population

Background The genetic diversity of the Brazilian population results from three ethnic groups admixture: Europeans, Africans and Amerindians, thus increasing the difficulty of performing cystic fibrosis (CF) diagnosis. The nasal potential difference (NPD) evaluates the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) activity. Despite being a useful CF diagnostic test and a biomarker of CFTR-modulator drugs, it is also highly operator dependent. Therefore, it may be difficult to get accurate results and to interpret them. Wilschanski and Sermet scores were proposed to address these issues. This study aimed to evaluate repeatability and diagnostic value of NPD parameters and Wilschanski and Sermet scores in a CF center in Rio de Janeiro. Methods NPD was performed in 78 subjects. Maximal PD, amiloride response, total chloride response, and Wilschanski and Sermet scores were explored as means (confidence interval, CI). One-way ANOVA was used to compare mean differences and Scheffe test was used to pair-wise comparisons. Repeatability was evaluated by scatter and Bland-Altman plots. The Ethics Committee of the CF Center has approved the study protocol. Parents and adult participants signed an informed consent form. Results Forty-eight healthy-volunteers, 19 non-CF and 11 CF patients were enrolled in this study. Significant differences were found when comparing CF patients’ NPD parameters to the other two groups (P = 0.000). Moreover, no significant differences were found when parameters from non-CF patients were compared with those from healthy volunteers (P > 0.05). The means of NPD parameters and diagnostic scores of each group were in concordance with disease/non-disease conditions. The repeatability data - Wilschanski and Sermet and NPD - allow NPD to be performed in this Brazilian CF Center. Conclusions The present study gathered consistent data for Bland-Altman plots. The results of Wilschanski and Sermet diagnostic scores suggest that they were concordant with CF/non-CF conditions. More NPD tests should be performed in the Rio de Janeiro CF dynamic cohort to contribute to international NPD validation studies and to provide NPD as a biomarker in Brazil.
Proactive interference and practice effects in visuospatial working memory span task performance

In the current study the influence of proactive interference (PI) and practice on recall from a visuospatial working memory (WM) task was examined. Participants completed a visuospatial WM span task under either high-PI conditions (a traditional span task) or low-PI conditions (a span task with breaks between trials). Trials of each length (i.e., two to five to-be-remembered items) were equally distributed across three blocks in order to examine practice effects. Recall increased across blocks to a greater extent in the low-PI condition than in the high-PI condition, indicating that reducing PI increased recall from WM. Additionally, in the final block the correlation between fluid intelligence and WM recall was stronger for the high-PI condition than the low-PI condition, indicating that practice reduced the strength of the correlation between span task recall and fluid intelligence, but only in the low-PI condition. These results support current theories that propose that one source of variability in recall from WM span task is the build-up of PI, and that PI build-up is an important contributing factor to the relation between visuospatial WM span task recall and higher-level cognition.
Neuropsychological function in children with primary complex motor stereotypies

Complex motor stereotypies (CMS) are patterned, repetitive, rhythmic, and involuntary movements that persist over time. They are divided into two subgroups dependent on the presence of other developmental problems: ‘primary’ (development is otherwise typical) or ‘secondary’ (associated with autism, intellectual disability, or sensory deficits). There are no currently published studies that examine neuropsychological function in children with primary CMS. This case–control study examines whether children with primary CMS manifest neurobehavioral deficits.
Properties of galaxy clusters: mass and correlation functions

We analyse parallel N-body simulations of three Cold Dark Matter (CDM) universes to study the abundance and clustering of galaxy clusters. The simulation boxes are 500h 1 Mpc on a side and cover a volume comparable to that of the forthcoming Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The use of a treecode algorithm and 47 million particles allows us at the same time to achieve high mass and force resolution. We are thus able to make robust measurements of cluster properties with good number statistics up to a redshift larger than unity. We extract halos using two independent, public domain group finders designed to identify virialised objects – ‘Friends-of-Friends’ (Davis et al. 1985) and ‘HOP’ (Eisenstein & Hut 1998) – and find consistent results. The correlation function of clusters as a function of mass in the simulations is in very good agreement with a simple analytic prescription based upon a Lagrangian biasing scheme developed by Mo & White (1996) and the Press-Schechter (PS) formalism for the mass function. The correlation length of clusters as a function of their number density, the R0–Dc relation, is in good agreement with the APM Cluster Survey in our open CDM model. The critical density CDM model (SCDM) shows much smaller correlation lengths than are observed. We also find that the correlation length does not grow as rapidly with cluster separation in any of the simulations as suggested by the analysis of very rich Abell clusters. Our SCDM simulation shows a robust deviation in the shape and evolution of the mass function when compared with that predicted by the PS formalism. Critical models with a low �8 normalization or small shape parameter have an excess of massive clusters compared with the PS prediction. When cluster normalized, the SCDM universe at z = 1 contains 10 times more clusters with temperatures greater than 7keV, compared with the Press & Schechter prediction. The agreement between the analytic and N-body mass functions can be improved, for clusters hotter than 3
Elevated Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody Increases Risk of Post-partum Depression by Decreasing Prefrontal Cortex BDNF and 5-HT Levels in Mice

Post-partum depression (PPD) is a common mental disease in the perinatal period that profoundly affects mothers and their offspring. Some clinical studies have found that PPD is related to thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAbs); however, the mechanism underlying this relationship is unclear. Female C57BL/6 mice immunized with adenovirus encoding the cDNA of the full-length mTPO (mTPO-Ad) were used to establish the isolated TPOAb-positive mouse model in the present study. Maternal depressive-like behaviors were assessed using the forced swimming test (FST), sucrose preference test (SPT), and tail suspension test (TST) post-partum. The serum TPOAb titer was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) before pregnancy and post-partum. Furthermore, in the prefrontal cortex, the mRNA and protein expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were measured, serotonin (5-HT) levels were measured by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass-spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS), and total thyroxine (TT4) levels were determined by ELISA. Compared with the controls, the mice immunized with mTPO-Ad displayed depressive behaviors, with a significantly lower sucrose preference (SP) at the 12-h time point and a longer immobility time in the FST and TST, which were accompanied by a lower expression of BDNF and 5-HT but no change in the TT4 concentration in the prefrontal cortex. Together, these findings suggest that elevated TPOAb may increase the risk of subsequent PPD and decrease the concentration of BDNF and 5-HT in the prefrontal cortex.
Silencing SOX2 Induced Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition and Its Expression Predicts Liver and Lymph Node Metastasis of CRC Patients

SOX2 is an important stem cell marker and plays important roles in development and carcinogenesis. However, the role of SOX2 in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition has not been investigated. We demonstrated, for the first time, that SOX2 is involved in the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) process as knock downof SOX2 in colorectal cancer (CRC) SW620 cells induced a Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition (MET) process with recognized changes in the expression of key genes involved in the EMT process including E-cadherin and vimentin. In addition, we provided a link between SOX2 activity and the WNT pathway by showing that knock down of SOX2 reduced the WNT pathway activity in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. We further demonstrated that SOX2 is involved in cell migration and invasion in vitro and in metastasis in vivo for CRC cells, and that the process might be mediated through the MMP2 activity. Finally, an IHC analysis of 44 cases of colorectal cancer patients suggested that SOX2 is a prognosis marker for metastasis of colorectal cancers.
Afrocentricity and social work education

ABSTRACT Twenty-two African American, biracial, Caucasian, and Latino students enrolled in an advanced graduate social work course aimed at approaching interpersonal practice from an Afrocentric perspective. Curricular content included historical contributions of African-descent people, components of Afrocentricity and African-centered social work, and principles and methods associated with NTU psychotherapy. Students demonstrated a slight but statistically nonsignificant overall increase in Afrocentricity. However, significant increases on two of the 14 items used to measure Afrocentricity were noted. Ninety-five percent of students were able to demonstrate how Afrocentric perspectives could be applied to an assigned case. Integration of Afrocentric conceptual principles as they related to the case study was lower. Observations from instructor field notes are provided. Challenges and recommendations are discussed.
Dynamical Phenotyping: Using Temporal Analysis of Clinically Collected Physiologic Data to Stratify Populations

Using glucose time series data from a well measured population drawn from an electronic health record (EHR) repository, the variation in predictability of glucose values quantified by the time-delayed mutual information (TDMI) was explained using a mechanistic endocrine model and manual and automated review of written patient records. The results suggest that predictability of glucose varies with health state where the relationship (e.g., linear or inverse) depends on the source of the acuity. It was found that on a fine scale in parameter variation, the less insulin required to process glucose, a condition that correlates with good health, the more predictable glucose values were. Nevertheless, the most powerful effect on predictability in the EHR subpopulation was the presence or absence of variation in health state, specifically, in- and out-of-control glucose versus in-control glucose. Both of these results are clinically and scientifically relevant because the magnitude of glucose is the most commonly used indicator of health as opposed to glucose dynamics, thus providing for a connection between a mechanistic endocrine model and direct insight to human health via clinically collected data.