Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A religious upbringing reduces the influence of genetic factors on disinhibition: Evidence for interaction between genotype and environment on personality

Abstract Information on personality, on anxiety and depression and on several aspects of religion was collected in 1974 Dutch families consisting of adolescent and young adult twins and their parents. Analyses of these data showed that differences between individuals in religious upbringing, in religious affiliation and in participation in church activities are not influenced by genetic factors. The familial resemblance for different aspects of religion is high, but can be explained entirely by environmental influences common to family members. Shared genes do not contribute to familial resemblances in religion. The absence of genetic influences on variation in several dimensions of religion is in contrast to findings of genetic influences on a large number of other traits that were studied in these twin families. Differences in religious background are associated with differences in personality, especially in Sensation Seeking. Subjects with a religious upbringing, who are currently religious and who engage in church activities score lower on the scales of the Sensation Seeking Questionnaire. The most pronounced effect is on the Disinhibition scale. The resemblances between twins for the Disinhibition scale differ according to their religious upbringing. Receiving a religious upbringing seems to reduce the influence of genetic factors on Disinhibition, especially in males.
Explanation for the Decline in Coronary Heart Disease Mortality Rates in Auckland, New Zealand, Between 1982 and 1993

BackgroundWe sought to determine how much of the recent, substantial fall in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates in New Zealand can be attributed to “evidence-based” medical and surgical treatments and how much can be attributed to cardiovascular risk factor reductions. Methods and ResultsA cell-based mortality model was developed and refined. This model combined (1) the published effectiveness of cardiological treatments and risk factor reductions with (2) data on all medical and surgical treatments administered to all CHD patients and (3) trends in population cardiovascular risk factors (principally smoking, cholesterol, and hypertension) from 1982 to 1993 in Auckland, New Zealand (population 996 000). Between 1982 and 1993, CHD mortality rates fell by 23.6%, with 671 fewer CHD deaths than expected from baseline mortality rates in 1982. Forty-six percent of this fall was attributed to treatments (acute myocardial infarction 12%, secondary prevention 12%, hypertension 7%, heart failure 6%, and angina 9%), and 54% was attributed to risk factor reductions (smoking 30%, cholesterol 12%, population blood pressure 8%, and other, unidentified factors 4%). These proportions remained relatively consistent after a robust sensitivity analysis. ConclusionsApproximately half the CHD mortality rate fall in Auckland, New Zealand, was attributed to medical therapies, and approximately half was attributed to reductions in major risk factors. These findings emphasize the importance of a comprehensive strategy that maximizes the population coverage of effective treatments and actively promotes a prevention program, particularly for smoking, diet, and blood pressure reduction.
Raman–Ramsey Interaction for Coherent Population Trapping Cs Clock

A gas cell atomic frequency standard based on coherent population trapping (CPT) with Ramsey interrogation pulses is developed. The clock resonance is detected in a Cs cell with buffer gas using two phase-locked diode lasers tuned to the Dl line. A preliminary short-term stability of 3.5 10-12t is reported. The CPT specificity allows a new interrogation-detection sequence, i.e., the continuous pulse train, which, with phase modulation, could lead to better short-term stability compared to usual continuous CPT clocks. The parameters optimizing the stability include a high Rabi frequency, a very short measurement time, and an interrogation time equal to the lifetime of the hyperfine coherence
Testing Distributional Assumptions: A GMM Approach

In this paper, we consider testing marginal distributional assumptions. Special cases that we consider are the Pearson's family like the Gaussian, Student, Gamma, Beta and uniform distributions. The test statistics we consider are based on the first moment conditions derived by Hansen and Scheinkman (1995) when one considers a continuous time model. These moment conditions are valid even if the observations are not a sample of a continuous time model. We treat in detail the parameter uncertainty problem when the considered process is not observed but depends on estimators of unknown parameters. We also consider the time series case and adopt a HAC approach for this purpose. This is a generalization of Bontemps and Meddahi (2002) who considered this approach for the Normal case
A New Gene Co-expression Networking Technique for In-silico Expression Data

Biological networks may be categorised [1] as metabolic pathways, signal transduction pathways, gene regulatory networks and protein-protein interaction (PPI). A Gene Regulatory Network (GRN) is a collection of genes in a cell which interact with each other and with other molecules in the cell such as proteins or metabolites, thereby governing the rates at which genes in the network are transcribed into mRNA. Unlike GRN, a gene co-expression network (CEN) is an undirected graph, where nodes correspond to genes or gene activities, and undirected edges between genes represent significant co-expression relationships [2,3]. In a co-expression network, two genes are connected by an undirected edge if their activities have significant association considering a series of gene expression measurements. Compared to regulatory networks, a gene co-expression network does not attempt to draw direct causal relationships among the participating genes in the form of directed edges. A co-expression network may contain co-regulated gene clusters that can encode proteins, which interact among themselves and take part in common biological processes. In our work, we capture pair-wise similarity purely based on pattern matching followed by construction of the co-expression network. Unlike available measures, we use a support based approach to compute similarity between two expression patterns to include the case where two genes show similar patterns only under some conditions or dimensions. We use signed edges between the genes to represent positive and negative regulations, an important component in gene regulatory network.
Lysozyme distribution in blood.

YSOZYME IN BLOOD, especially in white cells, has beemi demonstrated by several investigators. In the rabbit amid cat, Barnes’ found very little activity in lymphocytes obtained by thoracic duct cannulatiomi amid a large amount of activity in polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells from peritoneal exudates. Sammons’ observed that lysozyme activity in exudates varied with the number of pus cells. rFhis observatiomi was sumpported by Hiatt et al.,2 who found lysozyme activity varied with gramiulocyte miumber. They also showed that. the activity resided in the gramiulocytes and was not acquired by the cells from plasma. The amount of lysozyme increased with lysis of the pus cells. Icerby3’ measured a lysozyme-like substance liberated into plasma as ami index of white cell injury. The purpose of this report is to present. data on the quantitative distribution of lysozyme in plasma and formed elements of blood to determine average cellular and plasma levels, amid to observe the effects of modifications in blood collection technics.
The rising incidence of acromioplasty.

To The Editor: As Vitale et al. suggest in the Discussion section of their article, “The Rising Incidence of Acromioplasty” (2010;92:1842-50), the reasons for an increased number of acromioplasties is likely multifactorial and may not represent a true rise in the “incidence” of this procedure. This article indeed shows that there has been a rising incidence of coding for acromioplasties over the last decade. However, a combination of factors, including …
Bystander Activation of CD8+ T Cells Contributes to the Rapid Production of IFN-γ in Response to Bacterial Pathogens1

The bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei causes a life-threatening disease called melioidosis. In vivo experiments in mice have identified that a rapid IFN-γ response is essential for host survival. To identify the cellular sources of IFN-γ, spleen cells from uninfected mice were stimulated with B. pseudomallei in vitro and assayed by ELISA and flow cytometry. Costaining for intracellular IFN-γ vs cell surface markers demonstrated that NK cells and, more surprisingly, CD8+ T cells were the dominant sources of IFN-γ. IFN-γ+ NK cells were detectable after 5 h and IFN-γ+ CD8+ T cells within 15 h after addition of bacteria. IFN-γ production by both cell populations was inhibited by coincubation with neutralizing mAb to IL-12 or IL-18, while a mAb to TNF had much less effect. Three-color flow cytometry showed that IFN-γ-producing CD8+ T cells were of the CD44high phenotype. The preferential activation of NK cells and CD8+ T cells, rather than CD4+ T cells, was also observed in response to Listeria monocytogenes or a combination of IL-12 and IL-18 both in vitro and in vivo. This rapid mechanism of CD8+ T cell activation may be an important component of innate immunity to intracellular pathogens.
Insulin Protects Apoptotic Cardiomyocytes from Hypoxia/Reoxygenation Injury through the Sphingosine Kinase/Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Axis

Objective Experimental and clinical studies have shown that administration of insulin during reperfusion is cardioprotective, but the mechanisms underlying this effect are still unknown. In this study, the ability of insulin to protect apoptotic cardiomyocytes from hypoxia/reoxygenation injury using the sphingosine kinase/sphingosine 1-phosphate axis was investigated. Methods and Results Rat cardiomyocytes were isolated and subjected to hypoxia and reoxygenation. [γ-32P] ATP was used to assess sphingosine kinase activity. Insulin was found to increase sphingosine kinase activity. Immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis showed changes in the subcellular location of sphingosine kinase 1 from cytosol to the membrane in cardiomyocytes. Insulin caused cardiomyocytes to accumulate of S1P in a dose-dependent manner. FRET efficiency showed that insulin also transactivates the S1P1 receptor. TUNEL staining showed that administration of insulin during reoxygenation could to reduce the rate of reoxygenation-induced apoptosis, which is a requirement for SphK 1 activity. It also reduced the rate of activation of the S1P receptor and inhibited hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced cell death in cardiomyocytes. Conclusion The sphingosine kinase 1/sphingosine 1-phosphate/S1P receptor axis is one pathway through which insulin protects rat cardiomyocytes from apoptosis induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation injury.
Rule weight specification in fuzzy rule-based classification systems

This paper shows how the rule weight of each fuzzy rule can be specified in fuzzy rule-based classification systems. First, we propose two heuristic methods for rule weight specification. Next, the proposed methods are compared with existing ones through computer simulations on artificial numerical examples and real-world pattern classification problems. Simulation results show that the proposed methods outperform the existing ones in the case of multiclass pattern classification problems with many classes.
Lying and Truthfulness: Children's Definitions, Standards, and Evaluative Reactions

Preschool (M= 4.9 years), second- (M= 7.8 years), and fifth- (M= 11.0 years) grade children's definitions of, moral standards for, and internal evaluative reactions to both lies and truthful statements were investigated. The influence of 4 factors on these judgments was also examined: the falsity of the statement, the content of the statement, whether or not the statement was believed, and whether or not the statement resulted in punishment. Results revealed that while the older children identified almost all statements correctly, preschoolers correctly identified about 70% of lies and truthful statements. Lies were rated as worse than truthful statements by all age groups; however, only the second and fifth graders ascribed feelings of pride to story characters after truthfulness. Implications of these findings for children's moral development are discussed.
Physical Function and Quality of Life in Older Adults: Sex Differences

Objectives: Age is associated with deterioration in physical function (PF) and health-related quality of life (HRQL). Methods: We examined sex differences in the association between PF and HRQL among older adults. One hundred eight adults (ages 60 to 98 years) completed the Continuous Scale-Physical Function Performance test (CS-PFP10), Functional Status Index (FSI), and SF-36. Effects of sex and fitness group on SF-36 scores were examined by using linear and nonparametric techniques. Regression techniques were used to model HRQL indexes with CS-PFP10 and FSI scores. Results: Males had better PF as indicated by higher CS-PFP10 scores and lower FSI scores. CS-PFP scores were positively associated with several SF-36 scores in both males and females, but the strength of the association appeared greatest in males. The residual scores for the females were directly related to self-reported pain. Conclusions: These data are consistent with reports indicating that females report symptoms more often than males and rely more on feelings of discomfort during physical activity in reporting HRQL as compared with males. Thus, researchers designing interventions to enhance health-related quality of life among older adults should be aware of these potential sex differences and aim to improve actual physical functioning in males and the discomforts associated with performance of physical activities in females.
Intracluster light properties in the CLASH-VLT cluster MACS J1206.2-0847

Aims. We aim constrain the assembly history of clusters by studying the intracluster light (ICL) properties, estimating its contribution to the fraction of baryons in stars, f∗, and understanding possible systematics or bias using different ICL detection techniques.Methods. We developed an automated method, GALtoICL, based on the software GALAPAGOS, to obtain a refined version of typical BCG+ICL maps. We applied this method to our test case MACS J1206.2-0847, a massive cluster located at z ~ 0.44, which is part of the CLASH sample. Using deep multiband Subaru images, we extracted the surface brightness (SB) profile of the BCG+ICL and studied the ICL morphology, color, and contribution to f∗ out to R500. We repeated the same analysis using a different definition of the ICL, SBlimit method, i.e., a SB cut-off level, to compare the results.Results. The most peculiar feature of the ICL in MACS1206 is its asymmetric radial distribution, with an excess in the SE direction and extending toward the second brightest cluster galaxy, which is a post starburst galaxy. This suggests an interaction between the BCG and this galaxy that dates back to τ ≤ 1.5 Gyr. The BCG+ICL stellar content is ~8% of M∗,500, and the (de-) projected baryon fraction in stars is f∗ = 0.0177(0.0116), in excellent agreement with recent results. The SBlimit method provides systematically higher ICL fractions and this effect is stronger at lower SB limits. This is due to the light from the outer envelopes of member galaxies that contaminate the ICL. Though more time consuming, the GALtoICL method provides safer ICL detections that are almost free of this contamination. This is one of the few ICL study at redshift z > 0.3. At completion, the CLASH/VLT program will allow us to extend this analysis to a statistically significant cluster sample spanning a wide redshift range: 0.2 ≲ z ≲ 0.6.
Efficacy and tolerability of pegylated‐interferon alpha‐2a in hemodialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C

Background and Aim: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is prevalent in hemodialysis (HD) patients. These patients experience more side‐effects with antiviral treatment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN) α‐2a in chronic hemodialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Direct and indirect influence of sulfur availability on phytoplankton evolutionary trajectories

The sulfate facilitation hypothesis suggests that changes in ocean sulfate concentration influenced the rise to dominance of phytoplankton species of the red lineage. The mechanistic reasons for this phenomenon are not yet understood. We started to address this question by investigating the differences in S utilization by algae of the green and red lineages and in cyanobacteria cultured in the presence of either 5 mmol · L−1 (approximately equivalent to Paleozoic ocean concentrations) or 30 mmol · L−1 (corresponding to post‐Mesozoic/extant concentrations) sulfate. The activities of the main enzymes involved in SO42− assimilation changed in response to changes in growth sulfate concentration. ATP sulfurylase showed different kinetics in the various taxa, with an especially odd behavior for the dinoflagellate. Sulfate availability had a modest effect on cell organic composition. Species‐specific differences in the use of some elements were instead obvious in algae grown in the presence of different sulfate concentrations, overall confirming that algae of the red lineage do better at high sulfate than algae of the green lineage. The increase in sulfate concentration may thus have had an impact on phytoplankton radiation both through changes in their enzymatic machinery and through indirect repercussion on elemental usage.
The nodes of Ranvier

At a node of Ranvier the axon is reduced in diameter; on the largest mammalian fibres the reduction is to less than half of the internodal diameter. The axoplasm at the node has optical properties different from the internodal axoplasm, but there is no visible transverse boundary across it. The length of the portion of axon left uncovered at the node is less than 0·5μ in the largest mammalian fibres; it is somewhat greater on the smaller fibres. The area of the cylinder of axon membrane exposed at the node increases only slightly with increasing fibre diameter. This area is 4μ2, and the area of the surface of the narrow portion of the axon is about 90μ2, in the largest mammalian fibres. The exposed portion of the axon is probably not covered by Schwann cell protoplasm, but is surrounded by a 'cementing disk’ composed of scleroprotein material, continuous with the neurilemma (inner endoneurium). This disk has a radial thickness of 5μ in the largest mammalian fibres. Outside this disk is a perinodal space with no stainable contents, bounded externally by the collagenous outer endoneurium (sheath of Key & Retzius). Methylene blue and silver nitrate entering the fibres at the node stain the whole narrow region, suggesting that this, rather than the myelin-free area, may constitute the effective nodal membrane. Periodic interruptions of the myelin occur along fibres of the spinal cord of rabbits, probably on all fibres. On central fibres of 3 to 15μ in diameter the internodal lengths vary from 300 to 1700μ. As in peripheral nerves internodal length increases with growth; in smaller rabbits this length is less for any given fibre diameter than in larger animals. In new -born rabbits the smallest fibres have internodes as short as 200μ.
Culture and social policy: a developing field of study

This article takes the increased interest in the relation between culture and social policy as a starting point, and discusses how this increasing attention can be understood as the result of contextual factors such as economic, social and academic trends. It discusses these matters and at the same time reviews briefly some of the main findings of studies that contain a cultural perspective in analysing social policy. A second issue concerns the specific character of cultural perspectives in such analyses. Thus far, most studies in the field have been guided by a notion of culture as consisting of the values, norms and beliefs of welfare state actors. Recently, this notion has been questioned by advocates of the so-called ‘cultural turn’, who suggest that a radical change in the cultural analysis of social policy is required. The article concludes with a discussion of their claims.
Post-issue operating performance of firms listing on the JSE

These findings are not peculiar to the US. Long run IPO underperformance is documented in the United Kingdom (UK) (Levis, 1993), and Brazil (Aggarwal, Leal and Hernandez, 1993). In South Africa research on IPO performance on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) has produced mixed results (Lawson, 1996 and M’kombe and Ward, 2002). These contradictory findings indicate that the long run performance of IPOs varies over time and long-run returns are sensitive to the sample period and methodology used (Ritter and Welch, 2002 and Brav, 2000).
Ten Points about Mixed Methods Research to be Considered by the Novice Researcher

Our goal in writing this article is to present ten points that a novice researcher should be cognizant of when formulating, planning, and implementing a mixed methods study. We provide rationales for why these points are important and a brief description of selective typologies that novice researchers might access to address these points when conducting mixed methods research.
Current Methods for Automated Filtering of Multiple Sequence Alignments Frequently Worsen Single-Gene Phylogenetic Inference

Phylogenetic inference is generally performed on the basis of multiple sequence alignments (MSA). Because errors in an alignment can lead to errors in tree estimation, there is a strong interest in identifying and removing unreliable parts of the alignment. In recent years several automated filtering approaches have been proposed, but despite their popularity, a systematic and comprehensive comparison of different alignment filtering methods on real data has been lacking. Here, we extend and apply recently introduced phylogenetic tests of alignment accuracy on a large number of gene families and contrast the performance of unfiltered versus filtered alignments in the context of single-gene phylogeny reconstruction. Based on multiple genome-wide empirical and simulated data sets, we show that the trees obtained from filtered MSAs are on average worse than those obtained from unfiltered MSAs. Furthermore, alignment filtering often leads to an increase in the proportion of well-supported branches that are actually wrong. We confirm that our findings hold for a wide range of parameters and methods. Although our results suggest that light filtering (up to 20% of alignment positions) has little impact on tree accuracy and may save some computation time, contrary to widespread practice, we do not generally recommend the use of current alignment filtering methods for phylogenetic inference. By providing a way to rigorously and systematically measure the impact of filtering on alignments, the methodology set forth here will guide the development of better filtering algorithms.