Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mapping PrBn and Other Quantitative Trait Loci Responsible for the Control of Homeologous Chromosome Pairing in Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.) Haploids

In allopolyploid species, fair meiosis could be challenged by homeologous chromosome pairing and is usually achieved by the action of homeologous pairing suppressor genes. Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) haploids (AC, n = 19) represent an attractive model for studying the mechanisms used by allopolyploids to ensure the diploid-like meiotic pairing pattern. In oilseed rape haploids, homeologous chromosome pairing at metaphase I was found to be genetically based and controlled by a major gene, PrBn, segregating in a background of polygenic variation. In this study, we have mapped PrBn within a 10-cM interval on the C genome linkage group DY15 and shown that PrBn displays incomplete penetrance or variable expressivity. We have identified three to six minor QTL/BTL that have slight additive effects on the amount of pairing at metaphase I but do not interact with PrBn. We have also detected a number of other loci that interact epistatically, notably with PrBn. Our results support the idea that, as in other polyploid species, metaphase I homeologous pairing in oilseed rape haploids is controlled by an integrated system of several genes, which function in a complex manner.
Value of keeping records of mortality.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate treatment and complications which is essential for good medical practice. DESIGN Prospective audit. SETTING City hospital, The Netherlands. SUBJECTS All the patients who died on the surgical ward between 1994 and 1998 and were classified according to four categories of mortality recording. INTERVENTIONS The causes of death, inaccuracies in treatment and the extent of agreement between premortem and postmortem findings were documented. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Morbidity and mortality. RESULTS Of the 11,195 patients admitted, 420 (4%) deceased during their hospital stay. Most patients died of the disease with which they presented at admission (n = 176, 42%) or of complications (n = 167, 40%). In 20% (n = 83) of the cases a shortcoming in the clinical course was found. 251 of the 420 patients who died (60%) had a necropsy. 53 of the 251 reports (21%) gave information that could have had an effect on the treatment or the clinical course. CONCLUSIONS Recording mortality is a way of testing the diagnostic and therapeutic accuracy in our quest for a high quality of care.
Mast cells promote fibroblast populated collagen lattice contraction through gap junction intercellular communication

The release of mast cell granules is commonly associated with inflammation and fibrosis. However, does direct communication between mast cells and fibroblasts through gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) occur? Fibroblast populated collagen lattice (FPCL) cast with mast cells show enhanced lattice contraction. Do released granules or GJIC between mast cells and fibroblasts promote enhanced lattice contraction? Mast cells preloaded with a fluorescent dye that readily passes through gap junctions were cast in FPCL. Dye passed from mast cells into fibroblasts within these cocultured mast cell‐FPCLs. Fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor blocks the breakdown of oleamide, which is a potent endogenous inhibitor of GJIC. GJIC was blocked for 3 days when mast cells were pulsed for 3 hours with fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor. Mast cells pretreated with fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor cast in cocultured mast cell‐FPCLs failed to enhance cocultured lattice contraction. Mast cell‐FPCLs made with mouse fibroblasts unable to generate GJIC failed to show enhanced lattice contraction. Degranulated mast cells were equal to intact mast cells at enhancing cocultured mast cell‐FPCL contraction. The supernatant from degranulated mast cells had no effect upon FPCL contraction. Therefore, enhanced mast cell‐FPCL contraction appears to be independent of mast cell granules, but dependent upon GJIC between fibroblasts and mast cells. We speculate that mast cell–fibroblast GJIC may play a role in fibrosis.
Cardiovascular predictors of death in patients with cirrhosis

Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is associated with poor outcomes in patients with cirrhosis. We investigated if subclinical cardiac morphologic and functional modifications can influence survival in patients with cirrhosis during follow‐up. A series of patients with cirrhosis without cardiovascular or pulmonary disease underwent standard and tissue Doppler echocardiography to assess left ventricular geometry, systolic/diastolic function, and the main haemodynamic parameters. After baseline evaluation 115 patients with cirrhosis were followed up for at least 6 years. During follow‐up 54 patients died (47%). On univariate analysis, age, body surface area (BSA), Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD), mean arterial pressure, heart rate, cardiac index, systemic vascular resistance index, and the ratio of transmitral Doppler early filling velocity to tissue Doppler early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E/è) were associated with increased risk of death. In a Cox hazard regression analysis including these factors and other hypothesized important factors (but not MELD), increased age (P = 0.04) and left atrial dimension (P = 0.005) and lower BSA (P = 0.03) were the strongest predictors of death. When MELD was included in the analysis, the main predictors were MELD, age, and BSA. When multivariate analysis was performed incorporating only cardiovascular parameters, increased E/è (P = 0.003) and heart rate (P = 0.03) and reduced mean blood pressure (P = 0.01) were significantly associated with poor prognosis. Conclusion: In a large cohort of patients with cirrhosis and after a long follow‐up, MELD, age, and BSA were the main predictors of death; among cardiovascular parameters, left atrium enlargement, increased heart rate and E/è, and reduced mean blood pressure were independent predictors of death. (Hepatology 2018).
HVAC electromagnetic field computation using SGFDTD method

This work presents the interaction between high voltage AC transmission lines (HVAC) and underground pipeline computed using FDTD method. The whole spatial domain is modelled via FDTD whereas the pipeline beneath the ground is designed by means of subgridded FDTD (SGFDTD). The induced electromagnetic fields above the pipeline are determined by using quasi-static method.
Access policy on English language education at the primary school level in the ASEAN Plus Three member states: motivations, challenges and future directions

Abstract With English becoming increasingly important for achieving success in twenty-first-century global competition, policies to introduce the language to primary school children have proliferated in Asia, including the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three member states. Although there have been attempts to evaluate English language-in-education policies at the primary school level in Asia, no cross-national study has systematically examined the issue in the context of ASEAN Plus Three member states: Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Japan and South Korea. This article examines access policies on English language education at the primary school level in those member states. It outlines access policy from the language-in-education policy perspective and discusses the motivations underpinning it. It also analyses challenges to providing primary school children with access to English through scrutiny of literature. Finally, future directions in relation to policy and research are provided.
Expression of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase type 2 and 3 isoforms in normal skin and Darier's disease

Background Darier's disease (DD) is caused by mutations in ATP2A2, which encodes the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase type 2 (SERCA2), a member of a family of calcium pumps important in intracellular calcium signalling. SERCA2 has two isoforms. SERCA2a occurs mainly in cardiac and skeletal muscle, whereas SERCA2b occurs ubiquitously and is coexpressed with the related SERCA type 3 (SERCA3) in many tissues. It is not known why mutations in the widely expressed SERCA2 manifest as a focal skin disease.
Long-term efficacy and safety of pegvisomant in combination with long-acting somatostatin analogs in acromegaly.

BACKGROUND Treatment for acromegaly patients with long-acting somatotropin release-inhibiting factor (LA-SRIF) often does not result in complete normalization of IGF-1. Addition of pegvisomant (PEGV), a GH receptor antagonist, could improve this; however, the literature has not described long-term follow-up. OBJECTIVE To assess long-term efficacy and safety of this combined treatment in the largest current single-center cohort of patients, from 2004-2013. DESIGN Acromegaly patients were treated for at least 6 months with a high-dose LA-SRIF. To patients with persistently elevated IGF-1 levels (>1.2 × upper limit of normal) or poor quality of life, PEGV was added as one weekly injection. RESULTS The patients (n = 141) were treated with PEGV and LA-SRIFs for a median period of 4.9 years (range, 0.5-9.2). Efficacy, defined as the lowest measured IGF-1 level during treatment, was 97.0%. The median PEGV dose to achieve this efficacy was 80 mg weekly (interquartile range, 60-120 mg). Combination treatment-related adverse events were recorded in 26 subjects (18.4%). Pituitary tumor size increase was observed in one patient. Injection-site reactions were observed in four subjects. In 19 patients (13.5%), transiently elevated liver transaminases of more than three times the upper limit of normal were observed, of which 83% occurred within the first year of combination treatment. Eight patients died, at a mean age of 71 years; none of them were considered treatment-related. CONCLUSIONS The combination treatment with LA-SRIFs and PEGV was effective in 97% of the patients, it appears to be a safe medical treatment and it reduces the required dose of PEGV.
Too Big to Control?: The Politics of Mega-mergers and Why the EU Is Not Stopping Them

Some of the world’s most powerful global agro-chemical companies are gearing up to join forces, which will grant them even greater control over essential food markets. Although the European Commission is tasked with the role of ‘competition watchdog’, its track record for the enforcement of merger rules to date confirms a strong pro-concentration stance. There is no other EU policy area in which such wide-ranging executive, judicial and legislative compe- tences have been fused into an unelected entity: the European Commission. The result is that demo- cratically-elected decision makers have no formal role in the overall course of the enforcement of EU competition rules. Paradoxically, whereas cartels that reduce competition in specifically agreed areas are fiercely prosecut- ed, mergers and acquisitions that permanently eliminate all competition are stimulated. The Commission has legitimized its pro-concentration stance by referring to synergy effects, such as lower costs and thus lower prices for consumers, product innovation and the displacement of inefficient management structures. However, large transnational corporations have been the main beneficiaries to date, and smaller and less competitive companies have suffered. The Commission’s policy of consolidation of eco- nomic power into ever-fewer transnational corporations is thus neither in the interest of consumers nor society at large.
The association of early adolescent problem behavior with adult psychopathology.

OBJECTIVE The authors investigated whether the association between adolescent problem behavior and adult substance use and mental health disorders was general, such that adolescent problem behavior elevates the risk for a variety of adult disorders, or outcome-specific, such that each problem behavior is associated specifically with an increased risk for disorders clinically linked to that behavior (e.g., early alcohol use with adult alcohol abuse). METHOD A population-based group of 578 male and 674 female twins reported whether they had ever engaged in, and the age of initiation of, five adolescent problem behaviors: smoking, alcohol use, illicit drug use, police trouble, and sexual intercourse. Participants also completed a structured clinical interview at both ages 17 and 20 covering substance use disorders, major depressive disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. Data were analyzed with simple bivariate methods, survival analysis, and structural equation analysis. RESULTS Each problem behavior was significantly related with each clinical diagnosis. The association was especially marked for those who had engaged in multiple problem behaviors before age 15. Among those with four or more problem behaviors before age 15, the lifetime rates of substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorder, and major depressive disorder exceeded 90%, 90%, and 30% in males and 60%, 35%, and 55% in females, respectively. The association between the clinical diagnoses and adolescent problem behavior was largely accounted for by two highly correlated factors. CONCLUSIONS Early adolescent problem behavior identifies a subset of youth who are at an especially high and generalized risk for developing adult psychopathology.
Reference Intervals of Common Clinical Chemistry Analytes for Adults in Hong Kong

Background Defining reference intervals is a major challenge because of the difficulty in recruiting volunteers to participate and testing samples from a significant number of healthy reference individuals. Historical literature citation intervals are often suboptimal because they’re be based on obsolete methods and/or only a small number of poorly defined reference samples. Methods Blood donors in Hong Kong gave permission for additional blood to be collected for reference interval testing. The samples were tested for twenty-five routine analytes on the Abbott ARCHITECT clinical chemistry system. Results were analyzed using the Rhoads EP evaluator software program, which is based on the CLSI/IFCC C28-A guideline, and defines the reference interval as the 95% central range. Results Method specific reference intervals were established for twenty-five common clinical chemistry analytes for a Chinese ethnic population. The intervals were defined for each gender separately and for genders combined. Gender specific or combined gender intervals were adapted as appropriate for each analyte. Conclusion A large number of healthy, apparently normal blood donors from a local ethnic population were tested to provide current reference intervals for a new clinical chemistry system. Intervals were determined following an accepted international guideline. Laboratories using the same or similar methodologies may adapt these intervals if deemed validated and deemed suitable for their patient population. Laboratories using different methodologies may be able to successfully adapt the intervals for their facilities using the reference interval transference technique based on a method comparison study.
Incidence of Tardive Dyskinesia in Older Adult Patients Treated With Olanzapine or Conventional Antipsychotics

Background: The risk of persistent tardive dyskinesia (TD) was compared in patients with acute psychosis or agitation aged 55 years or older who were treated with olanzapine (OLZ) or conventional antipsychotic (CNV) drug therapy. Methods: Patients without TD were randomized to treatment with OLZ (2.5-20 mg/d; n = 150) or CNV (dosed per label; n = 143). Following a 6-week drug tapering/initiation period, patients without TD were treated with OLZ or CNV for up to 1 year. The a priori defined primary outcome end point was persistent TD defined as Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) scores = 2 on at least 2 items or ≥3 on at least 1 item (items 1-7) lasting at least for 1 month (Criterion A). Post hoc analyses assessed persistent TD meeting the criterion of moderate severity defined as AIMS score ≥3 on at least 1 item persisting for 1 month (Criterion B) and probable TD defined as elevated AIMS scores (Criterion A or B) not persisting for 1 month. Treatment groups were compared using Kaplan-Meier curve with log-rank exact test. Results: On average, patients were 78 years of age; the predominant diagnosis was dementia (76.7% in the OLZ group and 82.5% in the CNV group). Approximately, 40.6% of patients in the CNV group received haloperidol. No significant difference in time to developing persistent TD was observed during treatment with OLZ or CNV (cumulative incidence: OLZ, 2.5% [95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.5-7.0]; CNV, 5.5% [95% CI: 2.1-11.6], P = .193). The exposure-adjusted event rates per 100 person-years were not significantly different between treatment groups: OLZ (2.7) and CNV (6.3; ratio: 0.420; 95% CI: 0.068-1.969). Post hoc analyses revealed a significantly lower risk of at least moderately severe persistent TD persisting for 1 month (P = .012) and probable TD not persisting for 1 month (Criterion A, P = .030; Criterion B, P = .048) in OLZ-treated patients. For those patients without significant extrapyramidal symptoms at baseline, significantly more patients in the CNV treatment group developed treatment-emergent parkinsonism than for patients in the OLZ treatment group (CNV: 70%, 35 of 50 patients; OLZ 44%, 25 of 57 patients; P = .011). No significant difference between the groups was observed for treatment-emergent akathisia (CNV: 6%, 7 of 117 patients; OLZ: 10%, 13 of 130 patients; P = .351). Conclusion: The cumulative incidence of persistent TD was low and the risk of persistent TD did not differ significantly among predominantly older adult patients having dementia with acute psychosis or agitation treated with OLZ or CNV.
Term Limits of Public Officials, Environmental Regulations, and Sustainable Development: An Analysis Based on Empirical Spatial Econometrics

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of public officials’ term limits and environmental regulations on sustainable development using provincial panel data in China for the period 1986–2013. Applying empirical spatial econometrics, the spatial dependence of green productivity growth, calculated by the global Malmquist–Luenberger (ML) index, across provinces has been supported. There appears to be a U relationship between the term limits of provincial governors and the green productivity growth. The Porter hypothesis does not exist in this sample. Finally, the study provides some policy implications.
Computations of SAR distributions for two anatomically-based models of the human head using CAD files of commercial telephones and the parallelized FDTD code

The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is well suited for the computation of bio-electromagnetic effects and has become the method of choice for most researchers in this area. There does however remain some limitations on its use. Firstly the FDTD method requires large amounts of memory and computational power. The size of the model is dependent upon both the physical size of the model and its resolution. Higher frequencies of operation require higher resolutions. This can place the solution of some problems outside the capabilities of the technique. Secondly the representation of the problem (i.e. the head and the telephone) can cause some difficulties. Often the telephone has to be represented by a series of boxes which approximate the shape of the actual device. The paper addresses these two problems. The problem size is accommodated by the use of a parallelized version of the FDTD method, which is run on large parallel processing machines such as the IBM SP-2. Additionally a method of inputting data from the computer aided design (CAD) files of the telephone has been developed. These two techniques are used in combination with two head models which have been developed from MRI images of two human subjects. The usefulness of the techniques developed and comparisons of the specific absorption rates (SARs) in the two models is discussed.
Relationships between Tourism Experiences and Place Attachment in the Context of Casino Resorts

ABSTRACT Previous research studies revealed that tourism experiences and place attachment were related. However, research in this area is still scarce especially in the context of casino resorts. This study comprehensively examines the relationships between the integrated tourism experiences and the multidimensional place attachment in the context of casino resorts. A survey of 500 casino-resort visitors was conducted for this study. The results revealed how the integrated tourism experiences of five dimensions influenced the four dimensions of place attachment (place dependence, place affect, social bonding, and satisfaction). The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.
Public service motivation and performance: The role of organizational identification

ABSTRACT Although the association between public service motivation (PSM) and job performance has received increased attention, there is limited knowledge of the mechanisms underlying its effects. Utilizing data from Chinese civil servants and their supervisors, the authors found that PSM results in higher levels of organizational identification and leads to higher levels of job performance because civil servants perceive the organization’s fate and results as their own. IMPACT Our study demonstrates that organizational identification is a key mechanism that explains how public service motivation (PSM) leads to higher levels of performance. To improve performance, public agencies should create an environment that helps employees identify with the organization, for example by highlighting the distinct services that the organization provides for the public and by establishing socialization practices for newcomers.
Superfocusing effect of V-groove metallic structure for terahertz wave

Focusing THz waves into a sub-wavelength area is a crucial issue for THz spectroscopy of minute samples and also for high-spatial resolution THz-imaging. Recently, super-focusing phenomena of THz waves, or more generally, those of electromagnetic waves are under intense investigation with theoretical and experimental studies using tapered metallic waveguiding structures. In this report we present our experimental study on a super-focusing effect of a V-groove metallic structure for THz pulsed waves with an opening angle about 10 degrees. Without coupling substrate lens, a 17% amplitude transmission of THz broadband waves (0∼2.5 THz) through a 2-μm bottom-width was observed without significant waveform distortion and phase delay.