Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Symbiotic Virus at the Evolutionary Intersection of Three Types of Large DNA Viruses; Iridoviruses, Ascoviruses, and Ichnoviruses

Background The ascovirus, DpAV4a (family Ascoviridae), is a symbiotic virus that markedly increases the fitness of its vector, the parasitic ichneumonid wasp, Diadromus puchellus, by increasing survival of wasp eggs and larvae in their lepidopteran host, Acrolepiopsis assectella. Previous phylogenetic studies have indicated that DpAV4a is related to the pathogenic ascoviruses, such as the Spodoptera frugiperda ascovirus 1a (SfAV1a) and the lepidopteran iridovirus (family Iridoviridae), Chilo iridescent virus (CIV), and is also likely related to the ancestral source of certain ichnoviruses (family Polydnaviridae). Methodology/Principal Findings To clarify the evolutionary relationships of these large double-stranded DNA viruses, we sequenced the genome of DpAV4a and undertook phylogenetic analyses of the above viruses and others, including iridoviruses pathogenic to vertebrates. The DpAV4a genome consisted of 119,343 bp and contained at least 119 open reading frames (ORFs), the analysis of which confirmed the relatedness of this virus to iridoviruses and other ascoviruses. Conclusions Analyses of core DpAV4a genes confirmed that ascoviruses and iridoviruses are evolutionary related. Nevertheless, our results suggested that the symbiotic DpAV4a had a separate origin in the iridoviruses from the pathogenic ascoviruses, and that these two types shared parallel evolutionary paths, which converged with respect to virion structure (icosahedral to bacilliform), genome configuration (linear to circular), and cytopathology (plasmalemma blebbing to virion-containing vesicles). Our analyses also revealed that DpAV4a shared more core genes with CIV than with other ascoviruses and iridoviruses, providing additional evidence that DpAV4a represents a separate lineage. Given the differences in the biology of the various iridoviruses and ascoviruses studied, these results provide an interesting model for how viruses of different families evolved from one another.
Aortic backward flow indices estimated from phase-contrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance data

Aging is a major cardiovascular risk factor and is associated with arterial stiffness. We hypothesized that quantitative parameters related to backward flow (BF) in the ascending aorta (AA) estimated from phase-contrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance (PC-CMR) data could be relevant markers of aging. We studied 100 healthy subjects (age: 40±15years). Aortic stiffness (aortic arch pulse wave velocity, AA distensibility) and geometry (AA diastolic diameter and arch length) indices and parameters of AA global flow, forward flow (FF) and BF (volumes and flow rate peaks) were semi-automatically estimated from 2D PC-CMR data. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and carotid augmentation index (AIx) were assessed using applanation tonometry. AA flow parameters were highly reproducible (interobserver variability<;1.6±8.4%). Aortic BF significantly increased in terms of volume and flow rate peak with age (r>;0.50, p<;0.0001), while global flow and FF parameters were stable (p>;0.06). Multivariate analysis showed that BF was strongly associated to aortic geometry and AIx independent of age, gender, body size, blood pressure and heart rate. Thus, aortic PC-CMR BF parameters could be early functional markers of subclinical impairment of circulatory efficiency and could help to further understand physiology of vascular aging.
Factors Influencing Spike Jump Height in Female College Volleyball Players

Abstract Ikeda, Y, Sasaki, Y, and Hamano, R. Factors influencing spike jump height in female college volleyball players. J Strength Cond Res 32(1): 267–273, 2018—The purpose of this study was to examine factors influencing spike jump (SPJ) performance by female competitive volleyball players through comparisons of the kinematic data of SPJ with those of the standing long jump (SLJ) and vertical jump (VJ). Seventeen female competitive volleyball players were asked to perform SPJ, SLJ, and VJ. Motion data of SPJ including the approach phase were recorded. Regarding SLJ and VJ, jumping motion and ground reaction force were recorded during each performance. The results obtained showed that SPJ height correlated with vertical velocity at take-off, horizontal velocity at third step contact, and the deceleration of horizontal velocity from third step contact to take-off. Regarding the relationship among SPJ, SLJ, and VJ, the relationship between SPJ and SLJ was stronger than that with VJ. The contributions of the hip, knee, and ankle muscles to the propulsive phase of SLJ were 39.7%, 21.1%, and 39.2%, respectively, whereas their contributions to VJ were 36.2%, 30.2%, and 33.6%, respectively. The vertical velocity of SPJ at take-off correlated with hip work and ankle peak power in SLJ and knee peak power in VJ. These results suggest the importance of enhancing horizontal and vertical jumping abilities separately to improve the height of SPJ because the primary generator for power production seems to depend on jump direction.
Δ12-Prostaglandin J2, a Plasma Metabolite of Prostaglandin D2, Causes Eosinophil Mobilization from the Bone Marrow and Primes Eosinophils for Chemotaxis1

PGD2, a major mast cell mediator, is a potent eosinophil chemoattractant and is thought to be involved in eosinophil recruitment to sites of allergic inflammation. In plasma, PGD2 is rapidly transformed into its major metabolite Δ12-PGJ2, the effect of which on eosinophil migration has not yet been characterized. In this study we found that Δ12-PGJ2 was a highly effective chemoattractant and inducer of respiratory burst in human eosinophils, with the same efficacy as PGD2, PGJ2, or 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-PGJ2. Moreover, pretreatment of eosinophils with Δ12-PGJ2 markedly enhanced the chemotactic response to eotaxin, and in this respect Δ12-PGJ2 was more effective than PGD2. Δ12-PGJ2-induced facilitation of eosinophil migration toward eotaxin was not altered by specific inhibitors of intracellular signaling pathways relevant to the chemotactic response, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (LY-294002), mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (U-0126), or p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (SB-202190). Desensitization studies using calcium flux suggested that Δ12-PGJ2 signaled through the same receptor, CRTH2, as PGD2. Finally, Δ12-PGJ2 was able to mobilize mature eosinophils from the bone marrow of the guinea pig isolated perfused hind limb. Given that Δ12-PGJ2 is present in the systemic circulation at relevant levels, a role for this PGD2 metabolite in eosinophil release from the bone marrow and in driving eosinophil recruitment to sites of inflammation appears conceivable.
Are two heads better than one?

Abstract Contrary to received opinion among philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists, conscious duality as a principle of brain organization is neither incoherent nor demonstrably false. The present paper begins by reviewing the history of the theory and its anatomical basis and defending it against the claim that it rests upon an arbitrary decision as to what constitutes the biological substratum of mind or person. It then moves on to provide a dynamic model for double consciousness in vertebrate brain organization, giving an evolutionary account that explains why, although each of the two cerebral hemispheres benefits from sensory input from the other for representation of the ipsilateral half of corporeal and extracorporeal space, it was important that conscious experience be confined to each rather than spanning the two. This interhemispheric duplication effect for sensory representation has been known for years but hitherto considered mysterious, or ignored on grounds that integration must be achieved at a higher level of processing. The paper then attempts to resolve a puzzle about split-brain patients in testing situations, namely why it is that in spite of the speaking hemisphere's denial of any independent perception and agency in the mute hemisphere, which would explain its role in cross-cuing, the latter never seems to resent this, but instead continues to be cooperative and helpful. It is suggested that on the hypothesis of mental duality this is understandable, for the nonverbal hemisphere would have known prior to the surgery that it is not generating linguistic behavior. Finally, the essay examines two kinds of bitemporal defects, one due to callosal and the other to chiasmal disruptions. On the present theory a bitemporal defect should be demonstrable in the former case when both eyes are open, because in the absence of a corpus callosum and other forebrain commissures the interhemispheric duplication effect is abolished; in the latter case interhemispheric duplication is preserved, and so the defect should be demonstrable only by testing each eye independently. This is indeed what the evidence indicates, so it appears that, contrary to the prevalent view, the function of the corpus callosum is not to integrate and unify conscious experience between the hemispheres but to duplicate this, in accord with the model of mental duality.
Work – Family Balance: An Examination of Kuwaiti Teachers' Circumstances in The State of Kuwait

This thesis is focused on examining the extent to which contextual factors may influence the resource recovery process as a work-family conflict resolution strategy for female Kuwaiti teachers within the Kuwaiti context. Defining the main strategy that Kuwaiti female teachers use to reduce stress and to restore their resources, and illustrating the difficulties surrounding this strategy are the most important aims of this thesis. The institutional logics theory was used in the study as part of the social constructionist epistemology. As a theory, it has become a popular framework for examining the processes of maintaining social behaviour (Scott, 2008), because societies’ core institutions are the fundamental and major institutions, which can influence and shape individual and organizational processes (Friedland and Alford, 1991). In order to establish a theoretical framework which can answer the research questions, the role of meaning and logics concepts was considered. The framework was used as a research tool that examines the cultural elements within the resource recovery process in the Kuwaiti context. Because of the tenets of the social constructionist epistemology, qualitative methods (in the form of 33 semi-structured interviews) were used in order to determine the participants’ perspectives about the research topic, and to gain more understanding of how and why they reached the given perspectives (King, 2004). The analysis process revealed that the participants have specific cultural understanding about what is defined as resources and demands. Another conclusion is that some recovery activities may seem as universal but in this research and according to the study’s participants they still have cultural (religious) meanings that may be considered as motivation to such activities. Moreover, they tend to change the usual demand to be a recovery activity. Therefore, a vital implication of the study is that examining the recovery process requires more attention to the cultural factors and a deep examination of the study’s context.
Quality of care for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Netherlands and the United States: a comparison of two quality improvement programs.

OBJECTIVE To assess differences in diabetes care and patient outcomes by comparing two multifaceted quality improvement programs in two different countries, and to increase knowledge of effective elements of such programs. STUDY SETTING Primary care in the ExtraMural Clinic (EMC) of the Department of General Practice of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the Group Health Cooperative (GHC), a group-model health maintenance organization (HMO) in western Washington State in the United States. Data were collected from 1992 to 1997. STUDY DESIGN In this observational study two diabetes cohorts in which a quality improvement program was implemented were compared. Both programs included a medical record system, clinical practice guidelines, physician educational meetings, audit, and feedback. Only the Dutch program (EMC) included guidelines on the structure of diabetes care and a recall system. Only the GHC program included educational outreach visits, formation of multidisciplinary teams, and patient self-management support. DATA COLLECTION Included were 379 EMC patients, and 2,119 GHC patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Main process outcomes were: annual number of diabetes visits, and number of HbA1c and blood lipid measurements. Main patient outcomes were HbA1c and blood lipid levels. Multilevel analysis was used to adjust for dependency between repeated observations within one patient and for clustering of patients within general practices. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In the EMC process outcomes and glycemic control improved more than at GHC, however, GHC had better baseline measures. There were no differences between programs on blood lipid control. During follow-up, intensification of pharmacotherapy was noted at both sites. Differences noted between programs were in line with differences in diabetes guidelines. CONCLUSIONS Following implementation of guidelines and organizational improvement efforts, change occurred primarily in the process outcomes, rather than in the patient outcomes. Although much effort was put into improving process and patient outcomes, both complex programs still showed only moderate effects.
Rosai-Dorfman Disease of the Central Nervous System

AbstractRosai-Dorfman disease (RDD), also known as sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (SHML), is an uncommon benign idiopathic lymphoproliferative disorder. The histologic hallmark of RDD is the finding of emperipolesis displayed by lesional histiocytes. While RDD most commonly affects lymph nodes, extranodal involvement of multiple organs has been reported, including the central nervous system (CNS). However, CNS involvement in RDD is rare and is not well characterized. As a result, therapeutic approaches to CNS involvement in RDD are not well established. Herein we report 6 cases of RDD with isolated CNS involvement and review the literature on RDD with CNS involvement. One of the presented cases exhibited intramedullary involvement of the spinal cord—a very rare form of RDD with CNS involvement.
Granular pressure and the thickness of a layer jamming on a rough incline

Granular media with a compaction between the random loose and random close packings have very specific features. Among them is the "disorder" pressure which strongly depends on the solid fraction and is pertinent for moving media only. The concept of a granular pressure depending on the solid fraction is not unanimously accepted because dense granular media are often in a frozen state which prevents them from exploring all their possible microstates, a necessary condition for defining a pressure and a compressibility unambiguously. While periodic tapping or cyclic fluidization have already been used for that exploration, we here suggest that a succession of flowing states with velocities slowly decreasing down to zero can also be used for that purpose. And we propose to deduce the pressure in dense and flowing granular media from experiments measuring the thickness of the granular layer that remains on a rough incline just after the flow has jammed.
Towards Generalized Optimal Cache Proxy Placement

A study on cache proxy placement for tree-based topology is presented in this paper. Web caching has been developed maturely to deal with burst increasing network traffic. Most existing works on web caching focus on contentbased issue. Some of the newly published papers discussed the placement of caches and presented algorithms to find out the optimal solution. However, they all assume constant hit ratio, which is for mirroring proxies. In this paper, we investigate the optimal placement of cache proxies, based on a dynamic hit ratio model. We propose a refined greedy algorithms to solve this problem. Intensive simulations have been conducted to evaluate performance of the proposed algorithms and compare it with constant hit ratio scenario.
Reproductive Disorders in Male Diabetic Rats

The present study aimed to investigate the role of date pits powder (DP) in restoring reproductive functions in male diabetic rats. Chemical composition of DP was determined. Forty male rats weighing (150-170 g) were divided into five groups (n=8 rats) as follows: group 1(control) fed basal diet, group 2 (diabetic rats) fed basal diet, groups 3, 4 and 5 (DP-treated diabetic rats) fed basal diets supplemented with DP at three levels (5, 10 and 15 %). The diet formula in DP-treated diabetic groups was adjusted for their nutritive values. Results showed that date pits contain high percent of fiber (21.54%), while fat and protein amounted 8.17% and 5.47% (dry weight basis), respectively. Diabetic group showed significant reduction in body weight gain, remarkable change in sperm characteristics as evidenced by significant decline in sperm count, motility and viability accompanied by significant elevation of sperm abnormalities. Moreover, significant decrease in serum testosterone level and significant increase in serum glucose level have been recorded to diabetic group to that in control group. Diabetes also induced enhancement in oxidative stress in rats as indicated by significant elevation in thiobarbituric acid reactive substance formation (TBARS) level and the reduction in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in testicular tissues. Additionally, significant hyperlipidemia has been demonstrated in diabetic rats with respect to in control. Counterparts on the other side, supplementation of DP in the diet of diabetic rats induced significant increase in body weights, remarkable improvement in sperm characteristics and glycemic state, increase in serum testosterone level, decrease in TBARS and increase in SOD activity in testicular tissue and improvement in lipid profile, which they almost resettled near the control level. The alleviated effect of DP was concentration dependent. Examination of testis tissues in diabetic group revealed testicular degeneration with absence of spermatogonial cells, as well as necrosis of germ cells and interstitial oedema. Feeding DP overcomes the remarkable changes in the structural organization of testicular tissues; especially the high concentration (15 %) showed hyperactivation of germ cells with impaction of seminiferous lumen with sperm. Therefore, this study demonstrates that DP possesses hypoglycemic, antioxidant and hypolipidemic activities as well as it has promising effect against diabetic induced reproductive disorders.
Validation of Web-based self-reported socio-demographic and anthropometric data collected in the Food4Me Study

C. Celis-Morales, H. Forster, C. O’Donovan, C. Woolhead, C. Marsaux, R. Fallaize, A. L. Macready, S. Kolossa, S. Navas-Carretero, R. San-Cristobal, L. Tsirigoti, C. P. Lambrinou, M. Godlewska, A. Surwillo, E. Gibney, L. Brennan, M. Walsh, C. Drevon, Y. Manios, I. Traczyk, J. A. Martinez, J. A. Lovegrove, W. Saris, H. Daniel, M. Gibney and J. C. Matherson behalf of the Food4Me Study Human Nutrition Research Centre, Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle, NE4 5PL, UK, Institute of Food and Health, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, Department of Human Biology, NUTRIM, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands, Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition and Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, University of Reading, Reading, UK, ZIEL Research Center of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Biochemistry Unit, Technische Universität München, Germany, Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Physiology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University of Athens, Athens, Greece, National Food & Nutrition Institute (IZZ), Poland and Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Leadership Games and their Application in Super-Peer Networks

This paper considers a setting where a single "leadership agent" intervenes in a multi-agent system through actions that (perhaps subtly) change the dynamics of the system. We describe a number of forms this intervention can take and compare these situations to settings in previous work. We identify two important effects of leadership: faster system convergence, and convergence to a better equilibrium. Empirically, we first explore these properties in leadership of algorithms engaged in classical 2-player games. We then apply this general framework to the leadership of a super-peer file-sharing network. In these experiments the network contains some agents that make locally greedy decisions that hamper the network as a whole.We show that a leader acting based on a more global criteria can push the system to a better equilibrium point as well as speeding up convergence. We also show how a mathematical approximation of such super-peer networks can be used to aid a leader in determining a minimum-cost intervention strategy.
Correlation between the ibopamine provocative test and the diurnal tension curve in glaucoma patients.

PURPOSE To correlate the ibopamine provocative test with the diurnal tension curve (highest intraocular pressure-IOP and range) in glaucoma. METHODS This is a prospective case series including glaucoma patients from the Federal University of Goiás, Glaucoma Service. Two 2% ibopamine eyedrops were instilled into one or both eyes of each patient, 5 minutes apart. Intraocular pressure was checked before and 30 and 45 minutes after the second ibopamine instillation. Thereafter, the diurnal tension curve of each patient was assessed with five independent measurements (at every 2:30 hours), from 8:00 o'clock AM to 6:00 o'clock PM. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to test the linear relation between the intraocular pressure after the ibopamine instillation with the highest intraocular pressure value and the intraocular pressure range in the diurnal curve. RESULTS Thirty-one eyes from 22 patients were included. There was a significant correlation between the intraocular pressure 30 and 45 minutes after ibopamine instillation and the highest intraocular pressure assessed in the diurnal curve (r=0.356, p=0.04 and r=0.429, p=0.01, respectively). However, no correlation between IOP after the use of ibopamine and the diurnal intraocular pressure range at 30 (r=0.046, p=0.8) and 45 minutes (r=0.109, p=0.5) was observed. CONCLUSION The ibopamine provocative test shows a significant correlation with the highest intraocular pressure in the diurnal tension curve in glaucoma patients. However, no correlation was observed with the intraocular pressure range.