Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical restenosis after coronary stent implantation is associated with the heme oxygenase-1 gene promoter polymorphism and the heme oxygenase-1 +99G/C variant.

BACKGROUND Vascular remodeling after percutaneous coronary stent implantation frequently leads to restenosis. Heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) is involved in the generation of the endogenous antioxidant bilirubin and carbon monoxide, both of which exert antiinflammatory and antiproliferative effects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of genetic risk factors combined with the conventional risk factors on the development of coronary restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent implantation. METHODS The HO-1 gene GT dinucleotide repeat promoter polymorphism and HO-1 +99G/C variant were evaluated in 199 patients with coronary artery disease after coronary stent implantation and control angiography at 6 months after the intervention. Coronary restenosis was confirmed by quantitative angiography. RESULTS Carriers of the long allele of the HO-1 gene promoter (>29 repeats) had a significantly higher risk of developing restenosis after PCI than noncarriers [odds ratio (OR)=1.9; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.0-3.4; P=0.04]. Interestingly, the allele longer than 29 repeats conferred a significantly higher risk of developing restenosis (OR=3.4; 95% CI, 1.2-9.1; P=0.017) in nonsmokers than in smokers (OR=2.0; 95% CI, 0.7-5.2; P=0.18). CONCLUSIONS The long allele of the HO-1 gene promoter (>29 repeats) polymorphism, which leads to low HO-1 inducibility, may represent an independent prognostic marker for restenosis after PCI and stent implantation. The effect of the >29 repeat allele is attenuated in smokers, who have chronic exogenous CO exposure.
Development of male proactive and reactive physical aggression during adolescence.

BACKGROUND Different developmental courses have been postulated for proactive and reactive aggression. OBJECTIVE Investigated the developmental course of proactive and reactive aggression in a large sample of adolescent boys from low socioeconomic areas. METHOD A dual group-based joint trajectory method was used to identify distinct trajectories as well as similarities and differences in intra-individual changes. RESULTS The trajectories for proactive and reactive aggression were similar: the majority of individuals followed infrequent and desisting trajectories. Contrary to expectations, very few adolescents followed trajectories of increasing proactive aggression. Reactive aggression was more common than proactive aggression. The overlap in trajectory group membership of individuals following trajectories of high peaking proactive and reactive aggression was nearly 100%. Across a period of 5 years, the boys on the high peaking trajectories were twice as likely to have affiliated with gangs. CONCLUSIONS The developmental courses of proactive and reactive aggression are similar during adolescence. Males who tend to frequently use one form of aggression throughout adolescence also tend to frequently use the other and are at an increased risk for contemporaneous delinquent lifestyles.
Combining EEG and eye tracking: identification, characterization, and correction of eye movement artifacts in electroencephalographic data

Eye movements introduce large artifacts to electroencephalographic recordings (EEG) and thus render data analysis difficult or even impossible. Trials contaminated by eye movement and blink artifacts have to be discarded, hence in standard EEG-paradigms subjects are required to fixate on the screen. To overcome this restriction, several correction methods including regression and blind source separation have been proposed. Yet, there is no automated standard procedure established. By simultaneously recording eye movements and 64-channel-EEG during a guided eye movement paradigm, we investigate and review the properties of eye movement artifacts, including corneo-retinal dipole changes, saccadic spike potentials and eyelid artifacts, and study their interrelations during different types of eye- and eyelid movements. In concordance with earlier studies our results confirm that these artifacts arise from different independent sources and that depending on electrode site, gaze direction, and choice of reference these sources contribute differently to the measured signal. We assess the respective implications for artifact correction methods and therefore compare the performance of two prominent approaches, namely linear regression and independent component analysis (ICA). We show and discuss that due to the independence of eye artifact sources, regression-based correction methods inevitably over- or under-correct individual artifact components, while ICA is in principle suited to address such mixtures of different types of artifacts. Finally, we propose an algorithm, which uses eye tracker information to objectively identify eye-artifact related ICA-components (ICs) in an automated manner. In the data presented here, the algorithm performed very similar to human experts when those were given both, the topographies of the ICs and their respective activations in a large amount of trials. Moreover it performed more reliable and almost twice as effective than human experts when those had to base their decision on IC topographies only. Furthermore, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated an optimal balance of false positive and false negative at an area under curve (AUC) of more than 0.99. Removing the automatically detected ICs from the data resulted in removal or substantial suppression of ocular artifacts including microsaccadic spike potentials, while the relevant neural signal remained unaffected. In conclusion the present work aims at a better understanding of individual eye movement artifacts, their interrelations and the respective implications for eye artifact correction. Additionally, the proposed ICA-procedure provides a tool for optimized detection and correction of eye movement-related artifact components.
NLTE analysis of Co i /Co ii lines in spectra of cool stars with new laboratory hyperfine splitting constants

The analysis of stellar abundances for odd-Z Fe-peak elements requires accurate non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) modelling of spectral lines fully taking into account the hyperfine structure (HFS) splitting of lines. Here, we investigate the statistical equilibrium of Co in the atmospheres of cool stars and the influence of NLTE and HFS on the formation of Co lines and abundances. Significant departures from LTE level populations are found for Co I; number densities of excited states in Co II also differ from LTE at low metallicity. The NLTE level populations are used to determine the abundance of Co in solar photosphere, log = 4.95 ± 0.04 dex, which is in agreement with that in C I meteorites within the combined uncertainties. The spectral lines of Co I were calculated using the results of recent measurements of hyperfine interaction constants by UV Fourier transform spectrometry. For Co II, the first laboratory measurements of HFS A and B factors were performed. These highly accurate A factor measurements (errors of the order of 3-7 per cent) allow, for the first time, reliable modelling of Co II lines in the solar and stellar spectra and, thus, a test of the Co I/Co II ionization equilibrium in stellar atmospheres. A differential abundance analysis of Co is carried out for 18 stars in the metallicity range -3.12 < [Fe/H] < 0. The abundances are derived by the method of spectrum synthesis. At low [Fe/H], NLTE abundance corrections for Co I lines are as large as +0.6, . , + 0.8 dex. Thus, LTE abundances of Co in metal-poor stars are severely underestimated. The stellar NLTE abundances determined from the single UV line of Co II are lower by ∼0.5-0.6 dex. The discrepancy might be attributed to possible blends that have not been accounted for in the solar Co II line and its erroneous oscillator strength. The increasing [Co/Fe] trend in metal-poor stars, as calculated from the Co I lines under NLTE, can be explained if Co is overproduced relative to Fe in massive stars. The models of Galactic chemical evolution are wholly inadequate to describe this trend suggesting that the problem is in supernova yields.
Acoustic qualities of IDS and ADS in Thai

Infant Directed Speech (IDS) samples were collected longitudinally from six mothers speaking to their infants (three with female infants and three with male infants) when their infants were newborns, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months of age. Adult Directed Speech (ADS) samples of these mothers were also collected to be compared with these IDS samples. This maternal speech was then examined in terms of the phonetic characteristics, specially the prosodic aspects-pitch, tempo, and loudness. Twenty utterances from each of the six mothers speaking to their infants at each of the five ages and to an adult, totaling 720 utterances (20 utterances x 6 mothers x 6 age groups) were acoustically analyzed. They are fundamental frequencies, frequency ranges, utterance duration, syllable duration, numbers of syllable per utterance, and intensity values. Results of the comparison between IDS and ADS showed that IDS used higher fundamental frequencies (263.3 Hz vs 247.99 Hz), greater frequency range in semitones (15.16 st vs 13.5 st), shorter utterance duration (1106 ms vs 1506 ms), longer syllable duration (343 ms vs 220 ms), and less numbers of syllable per utterance (3.85 vs 7.63). Concerning the age-related changes of prosodic features, there seems to be three age intervals which show unique modification to the pattern of prosodic characteristics. The first age group is the newborns as opposed to other age groups, mothers use longer utterance duration, longer syllable duration, and more numbers of syllable per utterance. In the 3- and the 6-month-old periods, the mothers’ speech style changes to an increase of the mean F f and pitch modulation. By the time the infants reach 9 and 12 months of age, there is a successive decrease of F f of the speech directed to the 6MO to the 9MO and the 12MO. Most prosodic features of the IDS directed to the 12MO are almost similar to those of the ADS. The study of intensity values in IDS fails to reveal any significant variation due to a general phonetic problem in the instrumental study of the degree of loudness in speech. The variations of the phonetic characteristics among the 6 groups in all aspects were statistically analyzed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). It was found that every variation of the prosodic features investigated across age groups was statistically significant. It seems that these phonetic characteristics in the mothers’ speech are adjusted to accommodate the communicative functions between the mothers and their infants and these functions have developed according to other developments of the infants.
Resource Allocation for an OFDMA Cloud-RAN of Small Cells Underlaying a Macrocell

We present a joint resource allocation (RA) and admission control (AC) framework for an orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA)-based downlink cellular network composed of a macrocell underlaid by a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) of small cells. In this framework, the RA problems for both the macrocell and small cells are formulated as optimization problems. In particular, the macrocell, being aware of the existence of the small cells, maximizes the sum of the interference levels it can tolerate subject to the macrocell power budget and the quality-of-service (QoS) constraints of macrocell user equipments (MUEs). On the other hand, the small cells minimize the total downlink transmit power subject to their power budget, QoS requirements of small cell UEs (SUEs), interference thresholds for MUEs, and fronthaul constraints. Moreover, AC is considered in the resource allocation problem for the small cells to account for the case where it is not possible to support all SUEs. Besides, to allow for the existence of other network tiers, small cells have a constraint on the number of sub-channels that can be allocated. Both optimization problems are shown to be mixed integer nonlinear problems (MINLPs) for which, lower complexity algorithms are proposed that are based on the framework of successive convex approximation (SCA). Numerical results demonstrate the importance of the careful selection of the resource allocation policy at the macrocell and its impact on the performance of small cells. Moreover, we investigate the effect of the different parameters of the RA problem for the C-RAN of small cells on the overall performance of small cells.
Shoreline oiling effects and recovery of salt marsh macroinvertebrates from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Salt marshes in northern Barataria Bay, Louisiana, USA were oiled, sometimes heavily, in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Previous studies indicate that fiddler crabs (in the genus Uca) and the salt marsh periwinkle (Littoraria irrorata) were negatively impacted in the short term by the spill. Here, we detail longer-term effects and recovery from moderate and heavy oiling over a 3-year span, beginning 30 months after the spill. Although neither fiddler crab burrow density nor diameter differed between oiled and reference sites when combined across all sampling events, these traits differed among some individual sampling periods consistent with a pattern of lingering oiling impacts. Periwinkle density, however, increased in all oiling categories and shell-length groups during our sampling period, and periwinkle densities were consistently highest at moderately oiled sites where Spartina alterniflora aboveground biomass was highest. Periwinkle shell length linearly increased from a mean of 16.5 to 19.2 mm over the study period at reference sites. In contrast, shell lengths at moderately oiled and heavily oiled sites increased through month 48 after the spill, but then decreased. This decrease was associated with a decline in the relative abundance of large adults (shell length 21–26 mm) at oiled sites which was likely caused by chronic hydrocarbon toxicity or oil-induced effects on habitat quality or food resources. Overall, the recovery of S. alterniflora facilitated the recovery of fiddler crabs and periwinkles. However, our long-term record not only indicates that variation in periwinkle mean shell length and length-frequency distributions are sensitive indicators of the health and recovery of the marsh, but agrees with synoptic studies of vegetation and infaunal communities that full recovery of heavily oiled sites will take longer than 66 months.
Loss- and Gain-of-Function Mutations in the F1-HAMP Region of the Escherichia coli Aerotaxis Transducer Aer

ABSTRACT The Escherichia coli Aer protein contains an N-terminal PAS domain that binds flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), senses aerotactic stimuli, and communicates with the output signaling domain. To explore the roles of the intervening F1 and HAMP segments in Aer signaling, we isolated plasmid-borne aerotaxis-defective mutations in a host strain lacking all chemoreceptors of the methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein (MCP) family. Under these conditions, Aer alone established the cell's run/tumble swimming pattern and modulated that behavior in response to oxygen gradients. We found two classes of Aer mutants: null and clockwise (CW) biased. Most mutant proteins exhibited the null phenotype: failure to elicit CW flagellar rotation, no aerosensing behavior in MCP-containing hosts, and no apparent FAD-binding ability. However, null mutants had low Aer expression levels caused by rapid degradation of apparently nonnative subunits. Their functional defects probably reflect the absence of a protein product. In contrast, CW-biased mutant proteins exhibited normal expression levels, wild-type FAD binding, and robust aerosensing behavior in MCP-containing hosts. The CW lesions evidently shift unstimulated Aer output to the CW signaling state but do not block the Aer input-output pathway. The distribution and properties of null and CW-biased mutations suggest that the Aer PAS domain may engage in two different interactions with HAMP and the HAMP-proximal signaling domain: one needed for Aer maturation and another for promoting CW output from the Aer signaling domain. Most aerotaxis-defective null mutations in these regions seemed to affect maturation only, indicating that these two interactions involve structurally distinct determinants.
Effects of an invasive bivalve on the zooplankton community of the Hudson River

1. Previous studies documented that zebra mussels became abundant in the Hudson River during 1992 causing an 80–90% reduction in phytoplankton biomass. This study used intervention time series analysis of abundance, biomass and reproduction over the period 1987–95 to assess changes in zooplankton in response to the invasion. 2. Zebra mussels caused a size-dependent decline in zooplankton. Microzooplankton, including tintinnid ciliates, rotifers and copepod nauplii all declined in 1992 and were scarce thereafter. Mean abundances of post-naupliar copepods and of cladocerans were also lower following the invasion but these changes were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Egg ratios and clutch sizes for the dominant cladoceran, Bosmina freyi, were not significantly related to zebra mussels, even though relatively low egg ratios were observed after the invasion. 3. The strong declines in microzooplankton were probably caused by direct zebra mussel predation. Estimated consumption rates by mussels were roughly equivalent to maximum microzooplankton growth rates. 4. The total biomass of zooplankton in the Hudson River declined by more than 70% following the invasion. Annual average zooplankton biomass was correlated with chlorophyll, but biomass per unit chlorophyll in the Hudson River was much lower than in lakes. The present study hypothesizes that this lower biomass reflects limitations by riverine flow and by predation during summer.
Lack of RsmA-Mediated Control Results in Constant Hypervirulence, Cell Elongation, and Hyperflagellation in Pectobacterium wasabiae

The posttranscriptional regulator RsmA controls the production of plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDE) and cell motility in the Pectobacterium genus of plant pathogens. In this study the physiological role of gene regulation by RsmA is under investigation. Disruption of rsmA gene of the Pectobacterium wasabiae strain, SCC3193 resulted in 3-fold decrease in growth rate and increased virulence. The comparison of mRNA levels of the rsmA− mutant and wild-type using a genome-wide microarray showed, that genes responsible for successful infection, i.e. virulence factors, motility, butanediol fermentation, various secretion systems etc. were up-regulated in the rsmA− strain. The rsmA− strain exhibited a higher propensity to swarm and produce PCWDE compared to the wild-type strain. Virulence experiments in potato tubers demonstrated that in spite of its more efficient tissue maceration, the rsmA− strain's ability to survive within the host is reduced and the infection site is taken over by resident bacteria. Taken together, in the absence of RsmA, cells revert to a constitutively infective phenotype characterized by expression of virulence factors and swarming. We hypothesize that lack of control over these costly energetic processes results in decreased growth rate and fitness. In addition, our findings suggest a relationship between swarming and virulence in plant pathogens.
Butterfly Species Richness and Diversity in the Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary in South Asia

Abstract Several wildlife sanctuaries in the world are home to the surviving populations of many endemic species. Trishna wildlife sanctuary in northeast India is protected by law, and is home to the last surviving populations of Asian bison (Bos gorus Smith), spectacle monkey (Trachypithecus phayrie Blyth), capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus Blyth), slow loris (Nycticebus coucang Boddaert), wild cat (Felis chaus Schreber), and wild boars (Sus scrofa L.), among many other animals and plants. The sanctuary was explored for species richness and diversity of butterflies. A six-month-long study revealed the occurrence of 59 butterfly species that included 21 unique species and 9 species listed in the threatened category. The mixed moist deciduous mature forest of the sanctuary harbored greater species richness and species diversity (39 species under 31 genera) than other parts of the sanctuary, which is comprised of regenerated secondary mixed deciduous forest (37 species under 32 genera), degraded forests (32 species under 28 genera), and open grassland with patches of plantations and artificial lakes (24 species under 17 genera). The majority of these species showed a distribution range throughout the Indo-Malayan region and Australasia tropics, and eight species were distributed in the eastern parts of South Asia, including one species, Labadea martha (F.), which is distributed in the eastern Himalayas alone. Estimator Chao 2 provided the best-predicted value of species richness. The steep slope of the species accumulation curve suggested the occurrence of a large number of rare species, and a prolonged gentle slope suggested a higher species richness at a higher sample abundance. The species composition of vegetation-rich habitats showed high similarity in comparison to vegetation-poor habitats.
The autonomic control of accommodation and implications for human myopia development: a review

Prolonged nearwork has long been associated with myopia development, however, there is no well described linking mechanism. One theory suggests that if accommodation accuracy during nearwork is not maintained, the defocused retinal image leads to myopia development. Here we review the findings of research aimed at determining whether the autonomic inputs to the ciliary smooth muscle are involved in this type of environmental myopia. We examine whether an autonomic imbalance could be a precursor to axial elongation and the resulting myopia. Accommodation responses, such as tonic accommodation and nearwork‐induced accommodative adaptation, as a function of refractive error, are described in relation to an autonomic imbalance model. The collective results of this research point to anomalous accommodation responses, possibly as a result of underlying anomalous autonomic input to the ciliary muscle, being involved in myopia development and progression.