Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Familiarity and flexible mating strategies of a solitary rodent, Dipodomys ingens


Because mating is a product of individual reproductive strategies that may vary with changing conditions, we predicted variable mating behaviour in an arid-adapted, territorial rodent, the giant kangaroo rat, Dipodomys ingens. We also predicted that familiarity would facilitate nonaggressive courtship and mating in this solitary rodent. Through direct observations in the field, we found that mating varied from exclusive to multiple partners. Where densities were low, and on nights when multiple females were in oestrus, each animal mated with one member of the opposite sex. In conditions where the operational sex ratio was skewed towards multiple males, males footdrummed and competed for females. Males were able to mate with one or two females in adjacent territories, and they successfully competed for these same females throughout the breeding season. Females that mated exclusively with one male had more pups emerge from the burrow compared with females that experienced male competition. Females allowed nearest neighbour males to enter their burrows, and they engaged in more nonaggressive contact with close neighbours than with other males. Paired encounters in the field showed less aggression towards neighbours than strangers. In laboratory tests, females were less aggressive towards and allowed more contact with familiar than unfamiliar males. These results show that D. ingens can alter mating strategies as conditions change. Familiarity is an important factor in nonaggressive interactions between males and females and may be important to mate preferences in females during reproduction. The less aggressive behaviour to neighbours than to strangers (‘dear enemy’ phenomenon) is consistent with other solitary animals that defend multipurpose territories.
Diagnostic value of a novel real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for detection of ALK rearrangement in lung adenocarcinoma

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of real-time reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion in lung adenocarcinoma patients. We examined 96 lung adenocarcinoma by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and real-time RT-PCR. Among 96 cases tested, 8 (8.33%) and 10 (10.42%) cases were ALK positive by FISH and real time RT-PCR, respectively. All the FISH-positive cases were real time RT-PCR positive. Two RT-PCR-positive cases showed FISH negative, but their ALK rearrangement was confirmed by direct sequencing. The total accordance rate between ALK real time RT-PCR and FISH was 97.96%. These results suggest that real time RT-PCR is a reliable screening tool in routine pathologic laboratories for identification of patients with ALK rearrangement for targeted therapy in lung adenocarcinoma.
Seasonal variation in chemical composition of the Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from Karachi Coast

The chemical composition variations of the Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from Karachi coast were investigated seasonally over the period of one year (2004-2005). Moisture, crude protein, fat and ash contents varied from 70.11-74.41%, 16.02- 20.09%, 3.0-12%, and 0.89-1.35% respectively. The seasonal data indicated that the main fatty acids of the total lipid were C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1, C20:5 and C22:6. Total contents of saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) percentages varied from 31.6-46.85%, 20.5-27.9%, and 26.8-40.85% respectively. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20: 5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22: 6n-3) of omega 3 series which have specific importance in nutritional values concept, were the major fatty acids. The lowest EPA and DHA were found to be in July and highest in November to March.
ASYMPTOTIC NORMALITY OF THE QUASI MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATOR FOR MULTIDIMENSIONAL CAUSAL PROCESSES

Strong consistency and asymptotic normality of the Quasi-Maximum Likelihood Estimator (QMLE) are given for a general class of multidimensional causal processes. For particular cases already studied in the literature (for instance univariate or multivariate GARCH, ARCH, ARMA-GARCH processes) the assumptions required for establishing these results are often weaker than existing conditions. The QMLE asymptotic behavior is also given for numerous new examples of univariate or multivariate processes (for instance TARCH or NLARCH processes).
Effects of kinesiotaping on osteoarthritis of knee in geriatric population

Objective: To study the effect of kinesiotaping on osteoarthritis of knee in geriatric population. Design: Randomized control trial. Setting: Department of community Physiotherapy, Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni. Method: 30 participants with clinically diagnosed OA were divided into 2 groups (Experimental and Control group). Participants in Experimental group received kinesiotaping along with standard conventional physiotherapy. Participants in Control group received only standard conventional physiotherapy. Both the groups were treated for 3 week. NRS scale, TUG, WOMAC scale was used in participants with osteoarthritis. Result: On comparing between the groups, it was observed that there is statistically significant between the two groups of pain assessed on NRS. In WOMAC participants of both groups was highly significant and very significant it is used to assess pain, stiffness, and physical function. The physical mobility in the participants was screened using TUG. On comparing in both groups it was highly significant and not quite significant. Conclusion: The study concluded that the experimental group showed more improvement than control group so it can be started that conventional physiotherapy with kinesiotaping has beneficial effects in participants osteoarthritis of knee.
A comprehensive climatology of significant tornadoes in the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina county warning area (1881-2006)

A climatology of significant tornadoes (ST) has been developed for the GreenvilleSpartanburg, SC (GSP) County Warning Area (CWA). In addition to a time of day/time of year/location climatological analysis, a synoptic climatology has also been developed. This was done to assist operational forecasters in recognizing the “average” synoptic conditions that typically accompany ST occurrence in the GSP CWA. A sounding climatology and sounding parameter climatology was also developed to assist forecasters in assessing the “average” environmental conditions that exist during ST events. The results of this study indicate that ST typically occur in the late afternoon and early evening, and are most common from March through May. ST are most prevalent in the Piedmont region of Upstate South Carolina, northeast Georgia, and southwest North Carolina. Meanwhile, ST are extremely rare in the mountainous areas. The typical ST environment is one in which the GSP CWA is located well within the warm sector of a major mid-latitude cyclone. High pressure is located off the east coast, which may be an important detail, since development of cold air damming is unlikely in such a scenario. Finally, ST environments in the GSP CWA are usually characterized by similar values of wind shear, but much weaker instability in comparison with their Great Plains counterpart.
Benzo[a]pyrene degradation by soil filamentous fungi

The fungal ability to biotransform xenobiotics had received attention due to their dominance, ubiquity and different pathways that detoxificate aromatic hydrocarbons. The filamentous fungi Aspergillus flavus and Paecilomyces farinosus showed a significant degradation activity on benzo[a]pyrene with and without C16 as cosubstrate. 14CO2, 14C-volatile organic, 14C-extractable, 14C-nonextractable, 14C-biomass and 14C-aqueous fractions were determined with [7, 10]14C-BaP assays, with A. flavus, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Gliocladium viride, P. farinosus and Talaromyces rotundus. However, the activity of A. flavusand P. farinosus were higher. These non-ligninolytic fungi degraded BaP by cometabolism in C16 presence, were adapted to toxicants and dominant in polluted habitats, so they could play an important role in self- bioremediation processes. Key words: Benzo[a]pyrene biodegradation, cometabolism, mycoremediation,PAHs mixture, polluted sites, soil filamentous fungi.
Episodic retrieval processes take place automatically in auditory negative priming

Episodic retrieval processes involved in negative priming have been argued to be susceptible to the proportion of attended repetition trials. The more trials with the same prime and probe response, the more beneficial should it be to retrieve the prime episode, particularly its response. Retrieval of the prime episode, however, is task-inappropriate for ignored repetition trials, leading to negative priming. Correspondingly, visual negative priming increases with the proportion of attended repetition trials. We tested whether the same is true for the auditory modality. Three attended repetition proportion groups (0–25–50%) showed the same amount of negative priming. All groups committed more prime response errors in ignored repetition than in control trials, implying that prime response retrieval took place. Thus, retrieval processes in auditory negative priming appear to be automatic and cannot be influenced as easily as in the visual domain. In Experiment 2, the proportion of ignored repetition trials was manipulated (25–50–75%) to test whether auditory negative priming can be strategically manipulated at all. Similar to the visual modality negative priming was reduced with increasing proportion of ignored repetition trials. Differences between visual and auditory short-term memory are discussed to account for the results.
Social Disorganization, Social Capital, Collective Efficacy and the Spatial Distribution of Crime and Offenders An Empirical Test of Six Neighbourhood Models for a Dutch City

Six different social disorganization models of neighbourhood crime and offender rates were tested using data from multiple sources in the city of The Hague, in the Netherlands. The sources included a community survey among 3,575 residents in 86 neighbourhoods measuring the central concepts of the six models. The data were aggregated to ecologically reliable neighbourhood measures and combined with census data. Crime rates and offender rates were calculated on geo-coded police-recorded data on crimes and apprehended suspects. Spatial regression models were applied to test social disorganization theories in a Western-European city. The findings reveal that social disorganization models do not fit the data well, and indicate that crime rates and offender rates may be caused by distinct urban processes. © The Author 2013.
Potential biomarkers of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis discovered in serum by proteomic array analysis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a serious interstitial pneumonia leading to considerable morbidity and mortality. The unavailability of prompt biomarkers for IPF has hampered our ability to uncover preventive and therapeutic measures for this disease in a well-timed manner. The objective of this study was to identify valuable IPF associated blood biomarkers for stratifying patients and predicting outcome. By analyzing the expression of proteins in sera of 50 IPF patients and 10 healthy individuals using Biotin Label-based Antibody Array, we identified a signature of 46 differentially expressed proteins including 15 up-regulated and 31 down-regulated proteins as potential IPF biomarkers. The PPI network showed strong and complex interactions between identified biomarkers while functional enrichment analysis revealed their implications in 589 biological processes and 40 KEGG metabolic pathways. Western blotting and RT-PCR validation results corroborated with the microarray data. Our research unearthed candidate biomarkers with great potential for diagnosis of IPF and suggested that recombinant thrombopoietin and anti-CCL18 antibodies, as well as other identified biomarkers may represent a novel advance in the medical treatment of patients with IPF.
Detection of common chromosomal translocations and immunohistochemical analysis of soft tissue small round cell sarcomas

Soft tissue small round cell sarcomas (SRCSs) are difficult to diagnose accurately by light microscopy. In this study, we analyzed the clinicopathological and genetic features of soft tissue SRCSs to help clinicians and pathologists better understand this entity. We clinicopathologically analyzed soft tissue SRCSs obtained from seven alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS), seven primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), four poorly differentiated synovial sarcoma (PDSS), and two round cell myxoid liposarcoma (RCMLS) patients, and developed a multiplex (m) RT-PCR assay to diagnose these sarcoma types using a subset of type-specific genes. The examined tumor types predominantly occurred in male children or adolescents, largely within the limbs. Tumors ranged in size from 1-10.5 cm (median, 5.0 cm), were typically not encapsulated, and exhibited infiltration of surrounding muscle and adipose tissue. Histological analysis detected small, round, blue cells with generally less cytoplasm and obviously nuclear atypia; some cases presented mucous, hyalinization, or a Ewing-PNET structure. Long-term follow-up revealed recurrences or metastases, and the prognosis of all patients, except for RCMLS patients, was very poor. Indeed, immunohistochemical and mRT-PCR analyses using a panel of monoclonal antibodies and primers specific for these fusion genes, respectively, enabled successful diagnosis of all 20 individuals. Taken together, our mRT-PCR method can be used to examine the expression levels of multiple genes within a single reaction, as each fusion gene is specific to soft tissue SRCSs. The results of this study could be useful for rapid confirmation of SRCS diagnoses.
Designing and Performance Evaluation of Biochar Production in a Top-Lit Updraft Up-scaled Gasifier

The Original Belonio Rice Husk Gasifier (OBRHG), initially of height of 0.6 m, diameter of 0.15 m and thickness of 0.025 m was tested for biochar production through air gasification of rice husk (RH) and the design was upscaled to height of 1.65 m, diameter of 0.85 m and thickness of 0.16 m. A total of 27 experiments were conducted to monitor the gasifier performance and the system can operate with the centrifugal blower operating at a power input of 155 W and a maximum flow rate of 1450 m3/hr regulated according to the air requirement. Building the UBRHG is simple and inexpensive to fabricate and with the fairly satisfactory performance and ease of construction along with the convenience of operation, the UBRHG with RH as feed would find abundant avenues of applications in a rural setting for biochar production alongside thermal, mechanical and electrical energy delivery.
Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Astaxanthin, Lutein, and Fatty Acids from Haematococcus pluvialis Microalgae

Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae in the red phase can produce significant amounts of astaxanthin, lutein, and fatty acids (FAs), which are valuable antioxidants in nutraceutics and cosmetics. Extraction of astaxanthin, lutein, and FAs from disrupted biomass of the H. pluvialis red phase using carbon dioxide (CO2) in supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) conditions was investigated using a bench-scale reactor in a semi-batch configuration. In particular, the effect of extraction time (20, 40, 60, 80, and 120 min), CO2 flow rate (3.62 and 14.48 g/min) temperature (50, 65, and 80 °C), and pressure (100, 400, and 550 bar.) was explored. The results show the maximum recovery of astaxanthin and lutein achieved were 98.6% and 52.3%, respectively, at 50 °C and 550 bars, while the maximum recovery of FAs attained was 93.2% at 65 °C and 550 bars.
Is Anti-TNF Therapy Always Prohibited in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Previous Malignancy ?

INTRODUCTION The name tumor necrosis factor (TNF) implies, logically enough, an action to necrose tumor cells. Treatment to inhibit TNF (anti-TNF therapy with adalimumab, certolizumab pegol, or infliximab), therefore raises all sorts of alarm bells if a patient has a previous history of malignancy. It implies that it simply shouldn’t be given and, of course, such patients (with the exception of those with a curative resection of basal cell carcinoma) have been excluded from the clinical trials. Is this a no-brainer, or is there wiggle room? It is after all, a problem that we all occasionally face in clinical practice. By way of example, consider the following case we saw in Oxford recently. A 33-year-old medical colleague was successfully treated for a large cell anaplastic non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 16. He was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease (CD) in 2007 and had an ileocolic resection in 2008. He has now (2009) presented with recurrent colonic disease and is steroid-dependent. He clearly requires escalation of medical therapy, but is anti-TNF therapy safe in the context of his previous lymphoma? Some studies have highlighted the potential for an increased risk of malignancy in patients receiving antiTNF therapy (1–3), but no study has specifically asked whether TNF blockade increases the risk of recurrent cancer in patients with previous malignancy. Consequently it is unclear whether treatment with anti-TNF agents should be avoided in these patients. This review will ask how TNF blockade might promote tumor recurrence or progression, summarize associations between anti-TNF therapy and malignancy, and offer practical advice when considering these therapies in patients with previous malignancy.
Rhizospheric activity of phytoremediation species in soil contaminated with picloram1

ABSTRACT Some plant species have the ability to stimulate the microbiota activity in the rhizosphere and thereby increase the herbicide degradation in the soil. This study aimed at evaluating the microbial activity of soils contaminated with picloram and pre-cultivated with phytoremediation species. The experimental design was completely randomized, with three replicates. The treatments were organized in a 5 x 2 factorial scheme, with the first factor being the types of cultivation (autoclaved and non-autoclaved soil without cultivation and soil from the rhizosphere of Urochloa brizantha, Panicum maximum and Zea mays) and the second factor referring to the absence or presence (240 g ha-1) of picloram. The evolved C-CO2, microbial biomass carbon and metabolic quotient were estimated. The herbicide altered the evolved C-CO2, however, it did not affect the microbial biomass carbon and the metabolic quotient in the rhizospheric soils of the species. The cultivation of Zea mays increased the rhizosphere activity. The three plant species affect the soil microbial activity, however, the cultivation of Panicum maximum and Urochloa brizantha cause a lower disturbance on the microbial population, if compared to Zea mays. The picloran application does not affect the biological quality of the soils studied.
DESIGNING EFFICIENT MULTIMODAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS BASED ON FEATURES AND SVM KERNELS SELECTION

An efficient classification system uses only the most representative features extracted from images in order to reach a decision. A multimodal system may consider multiple sources of such information. Selecting those features is not a simple task due to the fact that multiple features selection (FS) methods exists, with multiple setup possibilities and multiple possible feature vectors to be applied on. Moreover, by applying the FS, the new vector may comprise too few features and the recognition accuracy to significantly drop. This paper proposes solutions to compensate that accuracy loss by the SVM kernel selection.
Ribotyping as a Molecular Biological Technique for Studying Diversity in Shigella Isolates - A Review

Diarrhoea in developing countries is caused by an increasingly long list of bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens with rotavirus, Enterotoxigenic Escherichiacoli, Campylobacter, Shigella, and Salmonella heading the list. Using methods to detect most of the known enteropathogens, one or more enteropathogen(s) is isolated in two-thirds of diarrhoeal illnesses in the developing world. Deoxyribonucleic acid probes have proved very useful in detecting pathogens such as enterotoxigenic (ETEC), enteroinvasive (EIEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), and Shigella but have not yet proved to be particularly rapid or less expensive. Molecular biology has proved useful in epidemiological studies as a means of strain identification and detection of genome diversity. Since the introduction of ribonucleic acid gene restriction patterns as taxonomic tools in 1986, ribotyping has become an established method for systematics, epidemiological, ecological population and genome diversity studies of microorganisms including Shigella. The technological development culminated in the automation of ribotyping which allowed for high-throughput applications. PCR ribotyping has proved being a highly discriminatory, flexible, robust and cost-efficient routine technique which makes inter-laboratory comparison and build of ribotype databases possible, too. The aim of the present review is to determine the present status of ribotyping technique in detecting the diversity in Shigella isolates.
Comparison of antioxidant activities of fractionated extracts from seedlings and herb of Chelidonium majus L. using DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods

Summary Introduction: Our study is a part of a trend of studies on the antioxidative properties of Chelidonium majus extracts or their fractions suggesting that antioxidant activities may depend on total flavonoid and/or alkaloid contents. Objective: This study focused on the examination of antioxidative activities of full water extract, non-protein fraction and protein fraction of the extract from aerial parts of mature plants and young seedlings. Methods: Total flavonoid and alkaloid contents were evaluated by spectrometric methods. Quantitative determination of chelidonine, coptisine, sanquinarine, berberine was made by HPLC-UV. The antioxidative activities were evaluated using (1) 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), (2) 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging and (3) ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. Results: All concentrations of herb extracts exhibited higher antioxidant capacities than extract from seedlings. Two antioxidant tests (DPPH, FRAP) showed that full water extract from herb had the highest antioxidant activity, while its non-protein fraction and protein fraction showed lower antioxidant activity. It was found that the full water extract from herb contained the highest concentrations of flavonoids and alkaloids when compared with other samples. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that chelidonine and coptisine especially could be responsible for the observed changes in the extract antioxidant activity, because these alkaloids were determined in the highest concentration in full water extract from herb. It cannot be also excluded that the observed variables values between extracts and their fractions from herb or from seedlings may also be the result of interactions between flavonoids and other chemical compounds.