Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of Visual-Acoustic Biofeedback Intervention for Residual Rhotic Errors: A Single-Subject Randomization Study.

Purpose This study documented the efficacy of visual-acoustic biofeedback intervention for residual rhotic errors, relative to a comparison condition involving traditional articulatory treatment. All participants received both treatments in a single-subject experimental design featuring alternating treatments with blocked randomization of sessions to treatment conditions. Method Seven child and adolescent participants received 20 half-hour sessions of individual treatment over 10 weeks. Within each week, sessions were randomly assigned to feature traditional or biofeedback intervention. Perceptual accuracy of rhotic production was assessed in a blinded, randomized fashion. Each participant's response to the combined treatment package was evaluated by using effect sizes and visual inspection. Differences in the magnitude of response to traditional versus biofeedback intervention were measured with individual randomization tests. Results Four of 7 participants demonstrated a clinically meaningful response to the combined treatment package. Three of 7 participants showed a statistically significant difference between treatment conditions. In all 3 cases, the magnitude of within-session gains associated with biofeedback exceeded the gains associated with traditional treatment. Conclusions These results suggest that the inclusion of visual-acoustic biofeedback can enhance the efficacy of intervention for some individuals with residual rhotic errors. Further research is needed to understand which participants represent better or poorer candidates for biofeedback treatment.
Latitudinal variation in clutch size-lay date regressions in Tachycineta swallows: effects of food supply or demography?

In a study of almost 16 000 nest records from seven swallow species across the entire Western Hemisphere, clutch sizes decline with relative laying date in each population, but the slope of this decline grows steeper with increasing distance from the equator. Late-laying birds at all latitudes lay clutches of similar sizes, suggesting that latitudinal differences may be driven primarily by earlier-laying birds. Focused comparisons of site-years in North America with qualitatively different food availability indicate that food supply significantly affects mean clutch size but not the clutch size–lay date regression. Other studies on the seasonality of swallow food also indicate that steeper clutch size–lay date declines in the North are not caused by steeper earlier food peaks there. The distribution of lay dates grows increasingly right-skewed with increasing latitude. This variation in lay-date distributions could be due to the predominance of higher quality, early-laying (and large-clutched) individuals among populations at higher latitudes, resulting from latitudinal variation in mortality rates and the intensity of sexual selection. Our results underscore the importance of studying clutch size and lay date in tandem and suggest new research into the causes of their joint geographic variation.
A Behavioral Characterization of Markov Chains and Discrete Time Dynamical Systems using Directed Graphs

Using a directed graph, a Markov chain can be treated as a dynamical system over a compact space of bi-infinite sequences, with a flow given by the left shift of a sequence. In this paper, we show that the Morse sets of the finest Morse decomposition on this space can be related to communicating classes of the directed graph by considering lifting the communicating classes to the shift space. Finally, we prove that the flow restricted to these Morse sets is chaotic.
Prevalence of Trichomonas, Salmonella, and Listeria in Wild Birds from Southeast Texas

SUMMARY Infectious diseases can be a major threat to wildlife populations, especially in human-modified habitats, but infection rates in populations of wild animals are often poorly studied. Trichomonas, Salmonella, and Listeria are all pathogens known to infect birds, but their infection rates in wild bird populations are not well documented. This study documents infection rates of the three pathogens in wild bird populations inhabiting a suburban to rural gradient in Southeast Texas. Various species of wild birds were sampled at five sites in Southeastern Texas representing rural (<1 house per ha), exurban (approximately 1 house per ha), and suburban (approximately 10 houses per ha) habitat types. Birds were captured in mist nets and samples were taken from the oral cavity, crop, and vent to detect the presence of pathogens. Samples were screened for Trichomonas by examining wet mounts under a light microscope, whereas samples were screened for Salmonella and Listeria by examining colonies grown on agar plates. Pathogens detected during the initial screening were further confirmed by PCR and DNA sequencing. Infection rates for Trichomonas, Salmonella, and Listeria were 9%, 17%, and 5%, respectively. The distributions of infection rates across habitats (i.e., rural, exurban, rural) did not differ significantly from the expected null distributions for any of the three pathogens; however, the data suggested some interesting patterns that should be confirmed with a larger dataset. Infection rates for Trichomonas and Salmonella were highest at the suburban sites, whereas the infection rate for Listeria was highest at the rural site. Feeder birds were more likely to be infected by all three pathogens than non-feeder birds. Small sample sizes prevent definitive conclusions regarding variation in infection rates along the suburban to rural gradient, but the results suggest that pathogens followed the predicted patterns. For many of the bird species sampled, this study presents the first report of infection rates by these three pathogens in wild populations.
Empirical Results for Application Landscape Complexity

The complexity of application landscapes (AL) has been identified as one of the major challenges in enterprise architecture (EA) management for quite some time. Since there is no agreed upon definition of the term complexity in general or in the context of EA management in particular, literature offers a broad variety of concepts and measurements. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to (1) provide an overview about metrics to quantify the complexity of ALs proposed in literature, (2) identify metrics currently used in practice to measure AL complexity, and (3) compare empirical results and assess the metrics' applicability with industry experts. By the assessment of four different ALs from the financial sector, we are able to derive various strengths and weaknesses for the different metrics as well as open issues for future research on quantitative EA models.
A comparison of fish assemblages from seagrass and unvegetated areas of a southern Australian estuary

Assemblages of small fish from eelgrass (mainly Zostera muelleri) and unvegetated patches in a shallow, marine-dominated estuary were compared over one year as a preliminary step towards finding the consequences of eelgrass loss to small fish. There were more species and more individuals at eelgrass sites than at unvegetated sites at every sampling period. Multivariate analysis (MDS ordination) of assemblages showed distinct grouping of eelgrass and unvegetated sites. The statistical significance of groupings was tested by using an analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) randomization routine. The cryptic syngnathid Stigmatopora nigra and juvenile whiting, Sillaginodes punctata, the species of greatest economic importance in the estuary, were predominantly over eelgrass, whereas the flounder Rhombosolea tapirina was usually caught at unvegetated sites. Atherinosoma microstoma, the most abundant species, was more common over eelgrass at two dates but had similar abundances over both habitats at other dates. The limitations of survey work caused by possible associations between the presence of vegetation and environmental factors have been partially offset by interspersion of sites and by measurement of water temperature and salinity. Secondarily to habitat differences, fish assemblages were weakly grouped according to distance of sites from open water.
Atrial Fibrillation and Congestive Heart Failure

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and congestive heart failure (CHF) are common conditions which predispose each other, share risk factors, and are associated with morbidity and mortality. They share common pathophysiology, including structural and electrical remodeling, intracellular calcium dysregulation, and neuroendocrine mechanisms, and also have genetic basis. Despite better survival in patients with sinus rhythm than those with AF, rhythm control has not been found to be superior to rate control. The role of non-antiarrhythimc therapy is also being explored. Catheter ablation and device-based therapy with pacemaker and cardiac resynchronization therapy may also benefit patients with AF and CHF.
Factors Associated With Timely Blood Glucose Testing and Insulin Administration in Patients Receiving Mealtime Insulin Coverage in Medical Surgical Units

Purpose The purpose of the study was to identify the rate and factors associated with timely mealtime capillary blood glucose (CBG) testing and insulin coverage in hospitalized patients with diabetes. Methods A descriptive-correlational design was used with a random sample of patients (n = 77) and nurses (n = 36) on a medicine and a neuroscience unit of a large Magnet hospital. After written consent was obtained, post-meal patient and nurse interviews were conducted to collect information about patient, nurse, and situational factors known to influence timely mealtime diabetes care. Results Timely CBG testing occurred on 85.7% of the patient participants, and 71.4% received timely insulin coverage. Timely CBG testing was associated (unadjusted) with telling the patient care associate to obtain a finger stick (FS) prior to meals and patient off the unit during mealtime. The odds of having insulin administered on time was significantly and independently associated with the nurse caring for fewer patients, patients waiting for insulin prior to eating, and patients knowing pre-meal FS was high. Conclusions One situational factor and 2 patient factors were independently associated with timely insulin coverage prior to meals. Interventions aimed at raising staff awareness of these factors and providing tailored education to patients may improve the odds of having insulin administered on time.
New mechanism Complementary roles of IRS-1 and IRS-2 in the hepatic regulation of metabolism

Insulin resistance and related disorders have proven to be a matter of concern for pediatricians in recent years. This is reflected in a decision by the Editors to devote a chapter to this issue. Numerous papers are dedicated to the subject in the literature this year. The papers focus on the basic knowledge on the mechanisms of insulin resistance, which is not fully understood yet and we have kept the most significant or innovative paper in this respect. Numerous clinical studies are related to risk factors for insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome in childhood. Papers which develop a specific aspect of pediatric care, and do not only replicate the studies performed in adults, have kept our attention as well as those with data directly transferable to clinical practice.
DNA BARCODING: CO1 DNA barcoding amphibians: take the chance, meet the challenge

Although a mitochondrial DNA barcode has been shown to be of great utility for species identification and discovery in an increasing number of diverse taxa, caution has been urged with its application to one of the most taxonomically diverse vertebrate groups — the amphibians. Here, we test three of the perceived shortcomings of a CO1 DNA barcode's utility with a group of Holarctic amphibians: primer fit, sequence variability and overlapping intra‐ and interspecific variability. We found that although the CO1 DNA barcode priming regions were variable, we were able to reliably amplify a CO1 fragment from degenerate primers and primers with G‐C residues at the 3′ end. Any overlap between intra‐ and interspecific variation in our taxonomic sampling was due to introgressive hybridization (Bufo/Anaxyrus), complex genetics (Ambystoma) or incomplete taxonomy (Triturus). Rates of hybridization and species discovery are not expected to be greater for amphibians than for other vertebrate groups, and thus problems with the utility of using a single mitochondrial gene for species identification will not be specific to amphibians. Therefore, we conclude that there is greater potential for a CO1 barcode's use with amphibians than has been reported to date. A large‐scale effort to barcode the amphibians of the world, using the same primary barcode region of CO1, will yield important findings for science and conservation.
Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera fauna of Churchill (Manitoba, Canada): insights into biodiversity patterns from DNA barcoding

Abstract The insect orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) are particularly important for freshwater ecological and biomonitoring studies, but difficulties in their identification to species level impede research. DNA barcoding provides a solution to this problem by linking newly collected specimens to a reference library of authoritatively identified specimens. Here, we consider the ways in which patterns of intraspecific and interspecific genetic divergences in the barcode region can provide rapid insights into the taxonomic identity, morphological features, and geographical distributions of species. Our study led to a >5× increase in the EPT fauna, including 68 caddisfly, 37 mayfly, and 7 stonefly species, recorded from Churchill. DNA barcoding also aided detection of rare taxa, allowed identification of otherwise unidentifiable life stages, revealed several potentially new species of caddisflies and mayflies, and suggested the presence of cryptic species. The new insights into this fauna and the strong congruence between morphological and molecular characters affirm the utility of DNA barcoding for rapid characterization of the diversity of EPT faunas. We also explore the phenology and habitat preferences of Churchill's trichopterans and demonstrate that comprehensive sampling is important for documenting biodiversity through DNA barcoding.
Effects of interspecific competition on asexual proliferation and clonal genetic diversity in larval trematode infections of snails

SUMMARY Interactions among different parasite species within hosts can be important factors shaping the evolution of parasite and host populations. Within snail hosts, antagonistic interactions among trematode species, such as competition and predation, can influence parasite abundance and diversity. In the present study we examined the strength of antagonistic interactions between 2 marine trematodes (Maritrema novaezealandensis and Philophthalmus sp.) in naturally infected Zeacumantus subcarinatus snails. We found approximately the same number of snails harbouring both species as would be expected by chance given the prevalence of each. However, snails infected with only M. novaezealandensis and snails with M. novaezealandensis and Philophthalmus sp. co-occurring were smaller than snails harbouring only Philophthalmus sp. In addition, the number of Philophthalmus sp. rediae was not affected by the presence of M. novaezealandensis sporocysts and the within-host clonal diversity of M. novaezealandensis was not influenced by the presence of Philophthalmus sp. Our results suggest that antagonistic interactions may not be a major force influencing the evolution of these trematodes and that characteristics such as host size and parasite infection longevity are shaping their abundance and population dynamics.
Perceived racism and blood pressure: A review of the literature and conceptual and methodological critique

Racial disparities in health, including elevated rates of hypertension (HT) among Blacks, are widely recognized and a matter of serious concern. Researchers have hypothesized that social stress, and in particular exposure to racism, may account for some of the between-group differences in the prevalence of HT and a portion of the within-group variations in risk for HT However, there have been surprisingly few empirical studies of the relationship between perceived racism and blood pressure (BP) or cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), a possible marker of mechanisms culminating in cardiovascular disease. This article reviews published literature investigating the relationship of perceived racismto HT-relatedvariables, including self-reported history of HT, BP level, or CVR. Strengths andweaknesses of the existing research are discussed to permit the identification of research areas that may elucidate the biopsychosocial mechanisms potentially linking racism to HT We hope to encourage investigators to invest in research on the health effects of racism because a sound and detailed knowledge base in this area is necessary to address racial disparities in health.
Population Genetics of the Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) across Multiple Spatial Scales

Conservation genetics is a powerful tool to assess the population structure of species and provides a framework for informing management of freshwater ecosystems. As lotic habitats become fragmented, the need to assess gene flow for species of conservation management becomes a priority. The eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) is a large, fully aquatic paedamorphic salamander. Many populations are experiencing declines throughout their geographic range, yet the genetic ramifications of these declines are currently unknown. To this end, we examined levels of genetic variation and genetic structure at both range-wide and drainage (hierarchical) scales. We collected 1,203 individuals from 77 rivers throughout nine states from June 2007 to August 2011. Levels of genetic diversity were relatively high among all sampling locations. We detected significant genetic structure across populations (Fst values ranged from 0.001 between rivers within a single watershed to 0.218 between states). We identified two genetically differentiated groups at the range-wide scale: 1) the Ohio River drainage and 2) the Tennessee River drainage. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) based on landscape-scale sampling of basins within the Tennessee River drainage revealed the majority of genetic variation (∼94–98%) occurs within rivers. Eastern hellbenders show a strong pattern of isolation by stream distance (IBSD) at the drainage level. Understanding levels of genetic variation and differentiation at multiple spatial and biological scales will enable natural resource managers to make more informed decisions and plan effective conservation strategies for cryptic, lotic species.
One-year outcomes of repeated adjunctive photodynamic therapy during periodontal maintenance: a proof-of-principle randomized-controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Single photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been effective in initial periodontal therapy, but only improved bleeding on probing (BoP) in maintenance patients after a single use. Repeated PDT has not been addressed. OBJECTIVES To study the possible added benefits of repeated adjunctive PDT to conventional treatment of residual pockets in patients enrolled in periodontal maintenance. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ten maintenance patients with 70 residual pockets [probing pocket depth (PPD)>or=5 mm] were randomly assigned for treatment five times in 2 weeks (Days 0, 1, 2, 7, 14) with PDT (test) or non-activated laser (control) following debridement. The primary outcome variable was PPD, and the secondary variables were clinical attachment level (CAL) and BoP. These were assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months following the interventions. RESULTS Greater PPD reductions were observed in the test (-0.67 +/- 0.34; p=0.01) compared with the control patients (-0.04 +/- 0.33; NS) after 6 months. Significant CAL gain (+0.52 +/- 0.31; p=0.01) was noted for the test, but not in the control (-0.27 +/- 0.52; NS) patients after 6 months. BoP percentages decreased significantly in test (97-64%, 67%, 77%), but not control patients after 3, 6 and 12 months. CONCLUSIONS Repeated (five times) PDT adjunctive to debridement yielded improved clinical outcomes in residual pockets in maintenance patients. The effects were best documented after 6 months.
Observation of squeezed light with 10-dB quantum-noise reduction.

Squeezing of light's quantum noise requires temporal rearranging of photons. This again corresponds to creation of quantum correlations between individual photons. Squeezed light is a nonclassical manifestation of light with great potential in high-precision quantum measurements, for example, in the detection of gravitational waves [C. M. Caves, Phys. Rev. D 23, 1693 (1981)10.1103/PhysRevD.23. 1693]. Equally promising applications have been proposed in quantum communication [H. P. Yuen and J. H. Shapiro, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 24, 657 (1978)10.1109/TIT.1978. 1055958]. However, after 20 years of intensive research doubts arose whether strong squeezing can ever be realized as required for eminent applications. Here we show experimentally that strong squeezing of light's quantum noise is possible. We reached a benchmark squeezing factor of 10 in power (10 dB). Thorough analysis reveals that even higher squeezing factors will be feasible in our setup.
The RelA/p65 subunit of NF‐κB specifically regulates cyclin D1 protein stability: Implications for cell cycle withdrawal and skeletal myogenesis

Studies support that NF‐κB functions in cellular growth through the transcriptional regulation of cyclin D1, but whether such regulation is attributed to a single NF‐κB subunit remains unclear. To address this issue we examined endogenous cyclin D1 levels during cell cycle re‐entry in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) lacking specific NF‐κB signaling subunits. Results showed that each of these subunits were dispensable for regulating cyclin D1 transcription. However, we found that resulting cyclin D1 protein was severely reduced in MEFs lacking only RelA/p65. Cyclohexamide treatment revealed that this regulation was due to an increase in protein turnover. Similar downregulation of cyclin D1 protein, but not RNA, was observed in vivo in multiple tissues lacking RelA/p65. Co‐immunoprecipitation analysis also showed that RelA/p65 and cyclin D1 were capable of interacting, thus providing a possible explanation for cyclin D1 protein stability. In addition, although the decrease in cyclin D1 in RelA/p65−/− MEFs was concomitant with lower CDK4 activity during cell cycle re‐entry, this was not sufficient to affect S phase progression. Nevertheless, similar decreases in cyclin D1 protein in primary RelA/p65−/− myoblasts was adequate to accelerate cell cycle exit and differentiation of these cells. Based on these findings we conclude that RelA/p65 functions as a specific regulator of cyclin D1 protein stability, necessary for proper cell cycle withdrawal during skeletal myogenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 106: 42–51, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.