Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 1p22 and 20q12 and nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate: new data in Han Chinese and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is a common congenital malformation associated with genetic and environmental risk factors. A recent genome-wide association study identified two novel susceptibility loci on chromosomes 1p22 and 20q12; however, conflicting results, especially for 1p22, have been reported in Han Chinese population. The aims of this study were to replicate this association with risk of NSCL/P in the southern Han Chinese population and to discern the effect of these loci by a meta-analysis. METHODS To this end, 305 patients with NSCL/P, 356 phenotypically normal controls, and an additional 176 case-parent trios were recruited. Four of the previously associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Furthermore, two published datasets were combined with the present results to determine the precise roles of the loci. RESULTS SNPs (rs6072081, rs13041247, and rs6102085) on 20q12 were found to be strongly associated with NSCL/P (Bonferroni-corrected and χ(2) test; p values < 0.05). Subsequent analysis of the case-parent trio provided similar results. However, neither the association study nor the trio analysis supported a causative role for SNP rs560426 on 1p22 in NSCL/P susceptibility. Stratified meta- analysis combining Chinese samples supported our findings. CONCLUSIONS This cross-validation study confirmed the previous findings that SNPs in 20q12 are associated with NSCL/P in Han Chinese population. We further conclude that rs560426 on 1p22 might not have a major influence on susceptibility to NSCL/P in southern Han Chinese, but future studies with other Han Chinese populations are needed.
Bulgarian golden root in vitro cultures for micropropagation and reintroduction

Rhodiola rosea is an endangered medicinal plant used for cancer, cardiovascular, and nervous system diseases therapy. Due to its limited distribution and sustainability alternative methods for production of its valuable substances are under investigation. Using in vitro techniques apical and rhizome buds, leaf nodes, stem and radix segments from wild plants and in vitro seedlings were plated on 24 modified Murashige and Skoog (1962) media. Decontamination of plant material was successful only in 21% of the schemes. The best shoot induction was obtained from seedling explants on media containing 2 mg/l zeatin or N6-benzylaminopurine, each. Their reduction stimulated shoot formation in the next passages (multiplication rate up to 5). Efficient rooting was induced on half-strength MS with 2 mg/l Indole-3-butyric acid and stimulated by adding 0.2 mg/l Indolyl-3-acetic acid. Regenerants rooted in perlite, peat, and soil (1:1:2), adapted in greenhouse, and transplanted in the mountains survived (70%) and developed like the wild plants. Salidroside content of these plants after one or two years was high (0.64 and 0.61% in rhizomes and 0.62 and 0.53% in roots, respectively). This is the first established efficient scheme for micropropagation of Bulgarian R. rosea allowing habitats restoration, germplasm conservation, and potential application of biotechnology for production of valuable substances.
Chondroitinase ABC Combined with Neurotrophin NT-3 Secretion and NR2D Expression Promotes Axonal Plasticity and Functional Recovery in Rats with Lateral Hemisection of the Spinal Cord

Elevating spinal levels of neurotrophin NT-3 (NT3) while increasing expression of the NR2D subunit of the NMDA receptor using a HSV viral construct promotes formation of novel multisynaptic projections from lateral white matter (LWM) axons to motoneurons in neonates. However, this treatment is ineffective after postnatal day 10. Because chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) treatment restores plasticity in the adult CNS, we have added ChABC to this treatment and applied the combination to adult rats receiving a left lateral hemisection (Hx) at T8. All hemisected animals initially dragged the ipsilateral hindpaw and displayed abnormal gait. Rats treated with ChABC or NT3/HSV-NR2D recovered partial hindlimb locomotor function, but animals receiving combined therapy displayed the most improved body stability and interlimb coordination [Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor scale and gait analysis]. Electrical stimulation of the left LWM at T6 did not evoke any synaptic response in ipsilateral L5 motoneurons of control hemisected animals, indicating interruption of the white matter. Only animals with the full combination treatment recovered consistent multisynaptic responses in these motoneurons indicating formation of a detour pathway around the Hx. These physiological findings were supported by the observation of increased branching of both cut and intact LWM axons into the gray matter near the injury. ChABC-treated animals displayed more sprouting than control animals and those receiving NT3/HSV-NR2D; animals receiving the combination of all three treatments showed the most sprouting. Our results indicate that therapies aimed at increasing plasticity, promoting axon growth and modulating synaptic function have synergistic effects and promote better functional recovery than if applied individually.
SIBLING POSITION AND ACHIEVEMENT

Past studies linking schooling and career attainment to sibling position (family size, birth order, spacing) are vulnerable to suspicions about omitted variables: being based on cross-sections of individuals from different families, they may have attributed to sibling position an influence belonging to unobserved parental attributes. This study retests the link between sibling position and achievement, using a cross-section of intrafamily sibling differences. The alleged link is confirmed. Further, its pattern is very consistent with the view that sibling position matters because of its straightforward effects on family time and commodity inputs into children.
Antibody levels to Bordetella pertussis in 10‐yr‐old children with atopy and atopic asthma

Suboptimal immune responses to vaccination have been suggested among atopic infants. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of atopy and atopic asthma on the humoral response to Bordetella pertussis vaccination. Immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgA specific antibodies were measured by enzyme linked‐immunosorbent assay in 102, 10‐yr‐old atopic children (66 of them also being asthmatics) and compared with 76 non‐atopic and 53 non‐atopic non‐asthmatic controls of similar age. The levels of antibodies and the percentage of positives to B. pertussis were comparable in all groups. Children with a very high total serum immunoglobulin (Ig)E (Percentile (Pct) > 90th) showed higher (p = 0.01) IgG pertussis antibodies than children with very low serum IgE (Pct < 10th). In conclusion, we found normal pertussis antibody levels in atopic and in atopic asthmatic children in late childhood, thus overriding any possible suboptimal response during infancy.
Aerobic performance and body composition changes during military service

Abstract Objective. To examine the association between aerobic performance and body composition changes by body mass index (BMI). Design. 6–12 months’ follow-up during military service. Setting. Conscripts entering military service in 2005 in Sodankylä Jaeger Brigade (Finland). Subjects. 945 men (19 years, SD 1 years). Main outcome measures. Height, weight, waist circumference, BMI, and aerobic performance (Cooper test) were recorded. Body composition was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). The measured parameters were fat mass (FM), fat free mass (FFM), and visceral fat area (VFA). All the measurements were performed at the beginning and end of service. Results. On average, the military training period improved the running distance by 6.8% (169 m, p < 0.001) and the improvements were more pronounced in overweight (223.9 m/9.5%, p < 0.001) and obese (273.3 m/13.6 %, p < 0.001) conscripts. A strong inverse correlation between aerobic performance and body composition changes was observed, especially for weight (r = –0.305, p < 0.001) and VFA (r = –0.465, p < 0.001). A significant association between aerobic performance and changes in weight (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p < 0.001), FM (p < 0.001), and VFA (p < 0.001) by BMI was detected. The associated decrease in weight, waist circumference, FM, and VFA with improved aerobic performance was more substantial between overweight and obese compared with normal-weight subjects. Conclusions. Favourable changes in body composition are associated with improved aerobic performance during a physical training period such as military service. These findings are pronounced among overweight and obese men and can be applied at the population level in reducing obesity and co-morbidities.
Regular magnetic black holes and monopoles from nonlinear electrodynamics

It is shown that general relativity coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics (NED) with the Lagrangian $L(F)$, $F = F_mn F^mn$ having a correct weak field limit, leads to nontrivial static, spherically symmetric solutions with a globally regular metric if and only if the electric charge is zero and $L(F)$ tends to a finite limit as $F \to \infty$. Properties and examples of such solutions, which include magnetic black holes and soliton-like objects (monopoles), are discussed. Magnetic solutions are compared with their electric counterparts. A duality between solutions of different theories specified in two alternative formulations of NED (called $FP$ duality) is used as a tool for this comparison.
Obesity and Weight Gain in Adulthood and Telomere Length

Obesity and weight gain in adulthood are associated with an increased risk of several cancers. Telomeres play a critical role in maintaining genomic integrity and may be involved in carcinogenesis. Using data from 647 women ages 35 to 74 years in the United States and Puerto Rico (2003-2004), we examined the association between current and past anthropometric characteristics and telomere length in blood. In a multivariate linear regression model, higher current body mass index (BMI) and hip circumference were inversely associated with telomere length. Higher BMI in the 30s was associated with shorter telomere length among women ages ≥40 years (Ptrend < 0.01). Weight gain since the age 30s (Ptrend = 0.07) and weight cycling (Ptrend = 0.04) were also inversely associated with telomere length. When current BMI and BMI at ages 30 to 39 years were considered together, the most marked decrease in telomere length was found for women who had overweight or obese BMI at both time points (mean telomere repeat copy number to single-copy gene copy number ratio = 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.21-1.30) compared with women who had normal BMI at both times (mean telomere repeat copy number to single-copy gene copy number ratio = 1.33; 95% confidence interval, 1.30-1.36). These findings support the hypothesis that obesity may accelerate aging, and highlight the importance of maintaining a desirable weight in adulthood. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(3):816–20)
Parenting, head injury and aggression: Predictive pathways of offending in male young offenders

Adolescence is a risk period for offending and head injury (HI), with rates of HI in young offender populations frequently exceeding those in the community. Poor parenting practices have been associated with increased risk of offending and development of reactive and proactive aggression. Preliminary research suggests HI may discriminate offender profiles within young offenders, but the influence of HI on offending alongside parenting and aggression is less well known. This study explored the relationships between parenting practices, reactive and proactive aggression, HI and offending in a sample of male young offenders from a Young Offender Institute (n=98) using self report data. A history of at least one HI was reported by 73.5%, with 61.1% reporting a knock out from their worst HI. Poor supervision emerged as a key predictor: predicting knock out history, indicators of offending and reactive and proactive aggression. Repeated HI was predictive of reactive aggression and a knock out history predicted earlier age of first offence. The impact of HI on outcomes via neuropsychological sequelea or as a “marker” for contextual risk factors such as poor supervision and reactive aggression are examined. Clinical implications for young offenders are discussed.
Learning Noun Phrase Query Segmentation

Query segmentation is the process of taking a user’s search-engine query and dividing the tokens into individual phrases or semantic units. Identication of these query segments can potentially improve both document-retrieval precision, by rst returning pages which contain the exact query segments, and document-retrieval recall, by allowing query expansion or substitution via the segmented units. We train and evaluate a machine-learned query segmentation system that achieves 86% segmentationdecision accuracy on a gold standard set of segmented noun phrase queries, well above recently published approaches. Key enablers of this high performance are features derived from previous natural language processing work in noun compound bracketing. For example, token association features beyond simple N-gram counts provide powerful indicators of segmentation.
Comparison of pharmacokinetic variables for two low-molecular-weight heparins after subcutaneous administration of a single dose to horses.

OBJECTIVE To determine pharmacokinetic variables and to evaluate the influence on clotting times after SC administration of single doses of dalteparin and enoxaparin to horses. ANIMALS 5 healthy adult horses. PROCEDURES The study was designed as a 4-period crossover study. Each horse received a single SC injection of dalteparin (50 and 100 anti-Xa U/kg) and enoxaparin (40 and 80 anti-Xa U/kg). Plasma anti-Xa activities and clotting times were measured, and pharmacokinetic variables were determined. Absolute and relative maximal prolongation of clotting times was calculated, and correlation between plasma anti-Xa activities and clotting times was determined. RESULTS The SC administration of each of the doses of the 2 preparations was well tolerated. Time course of the anti-Xa activities could be described in a 1-compartment model. Comparison of low- and high-dose treatments revealed a disproportionate increase of the area under the plasma activity-time curve and prolongation of the terminal half-life, but the increase in maximum plasma activity was proportionate, and peak plasma concentrations corresponded with concentrations recommended in human medicine. There were only mild changes in activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), whereas the influence on thrombin time (TT) was greater, dose-dependent, and more variable. A weak-to-moderate correlation between aPTT and plasma anti-Xa activities and a moderate-to-strong correlation between TT and plasma anti-Xa activities were found. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Pharmacokinetic and anticoagulatory properties of low-molecular-weight heparins in horses are similar to those found in humans. Once-daily SC administration of dalteparin or enoxaparin may be useful as an anticoagulatory treatment in horses.
Modelling Of The Underwater Targets Tracking With The Aid Of Pseudomeasurements Kalman Filter

Target motion analysis of the underwater target tracking by the UUV (Unmanned underwater vehicle) usually based on the bearing-only observations including azimuth and elevation angles. However, low angular resolution of hydro acoustic sonars is not enough for the good quality of tracking. Moreover, angular observations lead to nonlinear filtering such as Extended Kalman Filtering (EKF) which usually produces estimations with unknown bias and quadratic errors. As it was mentioned long ago in a case of bearing-only observations target unobservability may take place, therefore, some special observer’s motion become necessary. Other filters like the particle or unscented ones need the additional computer resources and also may produce the tracking loss. At the same time the pseudomeasurements Kalman filtering (PKF) method which transforms the estimation problem to the linear one and gives the current coordinates estimation with almost same accuracy could be modified to evaluate the moving target coordinates and velocities without bias. Since PKF gives unbiased estimate for the motion and the quadratic error it provides the good means for integration of various measurements methods such as passive (bearing-only) and active (range) metering. Using this filtering approach the good quality of target motion analysis (TMA) for randomly moving target may be achieved.
Mammography use from 2000 to 2006: state-level trends with corresponding breast cancer incidence rates.

OBJECTIVE Although breast cancer incidence and mortality rates have declined, a significant number of women are affected by this disease each year. Mammography is currently the most effective way to detect breast cancer at an early stage when it is most treatable, but there have been reports of decreasing or stagnant mammography use in the United States. For this study, we investigated the trend in mammography use for each state in comparison with the corresponding breast cancer incidence trend. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 to assess the percentage of women >or= 40 years old who reported undergoing mammography within the past 2 years and data from the National Program of Cancer Registries and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program to assess breast cancer incidence rates from 2000 through 2004, the latest year for which data were available at the time of the study. RESULTS The majority of states had a decreasing tendency in mammography use from 2000 to 2006. Only one state had a statistically significant increase in reported mammography use, whereas two states had significant decreases. There was a correlation between breast cancer incidence rates and mammography use by states (r = 0.6), but no correlation between the time trends in breast cancer incidence rates and mammography use was observed. CONCLUSION There was little statistically significant change in self-reported mammography use from 2000 to 2006. Continued monitoring of breast cancer screening practices and breast cancer incidence trends is important for targeting at-risk populations with effective interventions to improve breast cancer prevention and early detection.
Galactose-extended glycans of antibodies produced by transgenic plants

Plant-specific N-glycosylation can represent an important limitation for the use of recombinant glycoproteins of mammalian origin produced by transgenic plants. Comparison of plant and mammalian N-glycan biosynthesis indicates that β1,4-galactosyltransferase is the most important enzyme that is missing for conversion of typical plant N-glycans into mammalian-like N-glycans. Here, the stable expression of human β1,4-galactosyltransferase in tobacco plants is described. Proteins isolated from transgenic tobacco plants expressing the mammalian enzyme bear N-glycans, of which about 15% exhibit terminal β1,4-galactose residues in addition to the specific plant N-glycan epitopes. The results indicate that the human enzyme is fully functional and localizes correctly in the Golgi apparatus. Despite the fact that through the modified glycosylation machinery numerous proteins have acquired unusual N-glycans with terminal β1,4-galactose residues, no obvious changes in the physiology of the transgenic plants are observed, and the feature is inheritable. The crossing of a tobacco plant expressing human β1,4-galactosyltransferase with a plant expressing the heavy and light chains of a mouse antibody results in the expression of a plantibody that exhibits partially galactosylated N-glycans (30%), which is approximately as abundant as when the same antibody is produced by hybridoma cells. These results are a major step in the in planta engineering of the N-glycosylation of recombinant antibodies.
The Political Economy of Distributional Equity in Comparative Perspective

Growing income inequality within a country is caused by socioeconomic factors and inadequate government policies and ultimately leads to social and political instabilities. The ideology of supply-side economics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1980s, for instance, induced policies of inequality which were then perceived as a way to stimulate economic growth. The demise of East European socialism since the late 1980s also led many developing countries to pursue market reforms as a way to resuscitate their moribund economies. There is evidence, however, to indicate that the distribution of income in these countries is becoming more unequal with attendant and frequently grave social and political consequences.
Using eye tracking to investigate graph layout effects

Graphs are typically visualized as node-link diagrams. Although there is a fair amount of research focusing on crossing minimization to improve readability, little attention has been paid on how to handle crossings when they are an essential part of the final visualizations. This requires us to understand how people read graphs and how crossings affect reading performance. As an initial step to this end, a preliminary eye tracking experiment was conducted. The specific purpose of this experiment was to test the effects of crossing angles and geometric-path tendency on eye movements and performance. Sixteen subjects performed both path search and node locating tasks with six drawings. The results showed that small angles can slow down and trigger extra eye movements, causing delays for path search tasks, whereas crossings have little impact on node locating tasks. Geometric-path tendency indicates that a path between two nodes can become harder to follow when many branches of the path go toward the target node. The insights obtained are discussed with a view to further confirmation in future work.
An Analysis of Haitian Parents' Perceptions of their Children with Disabilities

This exploratory qualitative study examines the perceptions of ten Haitian parents regarding their child with a disability, the education the child was receiving, their interaction with the school system, and how the disability has affected their relationship with their child and their involvement with the school. Data were obtained from interviews and analyzed using constant comparative techniques. Findings revealed that parents seldom disagreed with school personnel and did not fully grasp the different methods available to address their concerns, nor the role they were expected to play in the process. Overall, parents' perceptions were guided by two core concepts: coping mechanisms and locus of control. Implications of these perceptions and recommendations for future research are discussed.
The fun of using TCP for an MMORPG

Massive multi-player online games have become a popular, fast growing, multi-million industry with a very high user mass supporting hundreds or thousands of concurrent players. In many cases, these games are centralized and every player communicates with the central server through a time-critical unicast event stream. Funcom's Anarchy Online is one of these; it is based on TCP. We find that its kind of traffic has some interesting properties that inspire changes to protocol or architecture. In these game streams, TCP does not back off, using TCP does not have to be slower than using UDP, and almost only repeated timeouts ruin the game experience. Improving the latter in the sender implementation does not impose any remarkable penalty on the network. Alternatively, a proxy architecture for multiplexing could save about 40% resources at the server, allow congestion control to work and also reduce the lag of the game.