Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feeding preferences in 2 disjunct populations of tiger snakes, Notechis scutatus (Elapidae)

Variations at both the genetic and phenotypic levels play an important role in responses to food and food-related stimuli. Knowledge of such variations is crucial to understanding how populations adapt to changing environments. We investigated the dietary preferences of 2 tiger snake populations and compared the responses of diet-naive animals (laboratory-born neonates), diet-controlled animals (laboratory-reared juveniles), and natural diet--experienced animals (wild-caught adults) to visual and chemical cues from 6 prey types (mouse, skink, silver gull, chicken, shearwater, and frog). The mainland population inhabits a swamp, feeds mostly on frogs, and suffers heavy predation. The second population inhabits a small nearby offshore island with no standing water (no frogs); feeds mostly on skinks, mice, and, as adults, silver gull chicks; and suffers no known predation. Although different prey are eaten in the 2 populations, adult wild-caught snakes from both populations showed a significant preference for 3 types of prey (frog, mouse, and chick), irrespective of their natural diet. Neonates responded to all prey cues more than they did to control stimuli in both populations. However, the island neonates showed significantly higher interest in silver gull chick stimuli (the main prey of the island adult snakes) than did their mainland conspecifics. Laboratory-bred juveniles displayed behavioral plasticity by significantly increasing their response to mice after being fed baby mice for 7 months. We conclude that genetic-based differences in food-related cues are important in tiger snakes but that they are also capable of behavioral plasticity. Island adult and neonate snakes exhibited responses to prey types no longer consumed naturally (frog), suggesting that behavioral characters may have been retained for long periods under relaxed selection. Island neonates showed a strong interest in a novel prey item (silver gull). This result complements previous work describing how island snakes have developed the ability to swallow larger prey than usual, as well as seemingly developing a taste for them. Copyright 2006.
Competition and Management Issues of SME Entrepreneurs in Laos: Evidence from Empirical Studies in Vientiane Municipality, Savannakhet and Luang Prabang

This study analyses competition and management issues of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs in three provinces of Laos: Vientiane Municipality (the capital city), Savannakhet (an important economic development zone) and Luang Prabang province (a famous historical site and tourist destination). Competition and management have changed dramatically aft er the introduction of the New Ec onomic Mechanism in 1986, which moved the economy from central planning to market-based economic management. Qualitative research was used, with 52 in-depth personal interviews conducted and combined with behavioural observation and content analysis of secondary sources of data. Results indicate the importance of SMEs in the Lao economy, with some 74% of total enterprises being family-owned SMEs. These concentr ate on f ood processing, garment production, construction materials, wooden furn iture, tourism, education, tr ading, transportation, internet services and others. Increases in the SME sector have contributed to job growth and overall GDP gro wth. Findin gs also showed inc reased com petition in the sector as s ubstitute prod ucts are introduced, with significant bargaining power for buyers and a high rate of new entrants into a limited range of product/service markets, witho ut much competition in terms of price and quality of goods and services. Entrepreneurs find it difficult to access modern technology and finance, have limited resources in terms of capital and skill and must also negotiate unfair treatment by officials. Management styles usually focused on short-term day-to-day objectives and few were able to consider longer-term considerations or busi ness sustainability. Skills management and capacity building in these SMEs were narrowly conceived and required to be profit-based. Training and development of human resources was seen as a cost rather than an investment. Recommendations are made for enhancement of SME productivity and capacity.
Pathological changes in virus infections of the lower respiratory tract in children

The pathological changes are described in 22 children with proven or suspected virus infection of the lower respiratory tract. Two main patterns of disease were found: acute bronchiolitis and interstitial pneumonia. Particular viruses were not specifically associated with particular histological changes. The prime importance of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as a cause of disease and death in young infants is again shown. Structural lesions and clinical dysfunction correlate fairly well; in acute bronchiolitis the main lesion is epithelial necrosis when a dense plug is formed in the bronchiolar lumen leading to trapping air and other mechanical interference with ventilation: in interstitial pneumonia there is widespread inflammation and necrosis of lung parenchyma, and severe lesions of the bronchial and bronchiolar mucosa as well. The implications of these structural changes for clinical management are discussed. The possibility of a hypersensitivity reaction in the cot death syndrome is raised, mediated by a serum antibody-antigen-complement reaction.
A Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis gene encoding a 125-kilodalton larvicidal polypeptide is associated with inverted repeat sequences

A gene encoding a 125-kilodalton (kDa) mosquitocidal delta-endotoxin was cloned from the 72-MDa resident plasmid of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis. This gene is similar in its 3' region to the gene encoding the 135-kDa protein previously cloned (C. Bourgouin, A. Klier, and G. Rapoport, Mol. Gen. Genet. 205:390-397, 1986). Escherichia coli recombinant clones harboring the 125-kDa gene were toxic to larvae of the three mosquito species Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi, and Culex pipiens. In addition, the B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis DNA fragment carrying the 125-kDa protein gene contains two sets of inverted repeat sequences, identified either by the S1 nuclease method or by electron microscopic observation. The structural organization of inverted repeat sequences and of the 125-kDa gene was analyzed and suggests that this B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis delta-endotoxin gene is located within a transposable element.
“It’s One of the Better Drugs to Use”: Perceptions of Cocaine Use Among Gay and Bisexual Asian American Men

Research on drug use among gay and bisexual men has primarily focused on examining the link between drug use— most notably, methamphetamine—sexual practices, and risk of HIV transmission. Drawing on in-depth qualitative data from 40 interviews with gay and bisexual Asian American men, we examine perceptions and meanings associated with cocaine use in the San Francisco Bay Area gay community. We found that the participants, in contrast to their negative perceptions of methamphetamine use, believed that cocaine enhanced sociability and was acceptable for use in most social situations. Furthermore, participants perceived little connection between cocaine use and risky sexual practices, emphasizing the drug’s safety relative to other illicit substances. Based on these findings, we suggest that an increase in the favorability of cocaine use might be an unintended consequence of methamphetamine prevention campaigns targeting the gay community, with their emphasis on the harmful effects of drug use, unsafe sex, and HIV risk.
Onset of autoimmune glomerulonephritis derived from the telomeric region of MRL-chromosome 1 is associated with the male sex hormone in mice

Female B6.MRLc1(82–100) congenic mice develop more severe autoimmune glomerulonephritis (AGN) than males. We assessed the effects of gonadectomy on the pathogenesis of AGN in these mice. One-month-old male and female mice were divided into sham-operated group (SG) and gonadectomized group (GG), and the pathological changes were investigated at 8 months. SG females showed higher spleen and thymus weights, serum total IgG and autoantibody levels, glomerular damage scores and percent IgG- and CD3-positive glomeruli as compared with SG males. Gonadectomy showed more remarkable effects in males than in females. Spleen and thymus weights, urinary albumin excretion, glomerular damage scores, percent IgG- and CD3-positive glomeruli, and CD3-positive areas in the spleen were significantly higher in GG males than in SG males. CD3-positive cells were observed in both the thymic cortex and medulla in all animals except SG males. The expression ratio of active Fc gamma receptor (Fcgr) 3 to inhibitory Fcgr2b in the kidneys, which we have previously demonstrated to have a great impact on pathogenesis in B6.MRLc1(82–100), was significantly higher in GG males than in SG males. These results suggested that the differences in the pathogenesis of AGN are primarily because of the inhibitory roles of the male sex hormones.
On faithful representations of Lie groups

where tE:R and I is the unit matrix of degree d. Let GL(K, d) denote the group of all nonsingular matrices of degree d with coefficients in K. Any subgroup of GL(K, d) will be called a linear group of degree d. Let 0 be the identity representation of a linear Lie group G with the Lie algebra 8 so that 9(x) =x (*EG). Then dd is a faithful representation of g and exp dd(X) =0(exp X) =exp X for any x£. q. Hence we may identify 8 with dß{%) under dd. 8 can therefore be regarded as a linear Lie algebra. In particular the Lie algebra of GL(R~, d) then
Procedure for evaluating the crystallinity from X-ray diffraction scans of high and low density polyethylene/SiO2 composites

The separation of amorphous and crystalline contributions in diffraction data is a necessary step in the study of the structure of the less-ordered regions and in the calculation of the crystallinity of a HDPE and LDPE/SiO2 nanocomposites. The nanocomposites have been prepared by melt compounding using a twin screw extruder. We suggest here that the diffraction pattern of a nanocomposite with a high degree of crystalline order may be fitted with easily resolvable crystalline peaks, and that the intensity not attributable to the crystalline peaks may be regarded as the amorphous scattering. This amorphous halo can be used as a template in analysing the diffraction patterns of crystalline samples.
A case report of superficially spreading gastric cancer with distinct molecular features : a novel approach for evaluating gastric molecular carcinogenesis

A 62-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of epigastralgia. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a superficial spreading type of gastric tumor (superficially spreading gastric cancer, SSGC) with a central depression in the lesser curvature of the pyloric antrum. Histologically, the tumor was diagnosed as a differentiated-type adenocarcinoma. The bottom of the depression was in muscularis propria, whereas the surrounding lesion was within mucosa. Neither p53 overexpression nor MLH1 expression was found in either layer of the lesion by immunostaining. However, proliferative activity was higher in the invasive area of the lesion than in the intramucosal area. Expression of gastric mucin was seen in both areas of the lesion. Isolated crypts were analyzed using PCR to assess loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at chromosomal loci, microsatellite instability (MSI), and methylation status in the tumor. In both the intramucosal and invasive areas of the lesion, multiple losses of heterozygosity (LOHs) and increased methylation were observed, while MSI was observed only in the invasive lesion. We hypothesized that multiple LOHs and extensive methylation are closely associated with the early development of a subset of differentiated-type SSGCs, whereas MSI plays an essential role in the progression of SSGC with gastric phenotype.
Expression of the vitellogenin gene in the liver of juvenile whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L. s.l.) exposed to effluents from pulp and paper mills.

Juvenile whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L. s.l.) were exposed by caging in the field to diluted effluents from three operating pulp, paper, and paperboard mills in Southern Lake Saimaa, Finland. The expression of the vitellogenin gene, used as a biomarker of estrogenic contamination of effluents, was measured using a Northern blotting method. Increased mRNA levels, the most specific and reliable evidence for estrogen receptor-mediated actions in vivo, were found in fish caged in the vicinity of one of three mills studied. This mill was found to discharge wood-derived compounds, such as sterols and resin acids, into Lake Saimaa in amounts considerably exceeding those from the other two mills. The increased vitellogenin gene expression suggests that the effluent is a source of estrogenic contaminants.
Cephalometric Norms for East Indian Population using Burstone Legan Analysis

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the cephalometric hard and soft tissue cephalometric for orthognathic surgery (COGS) norms for East Indian subjects and to compare with the Caucasians. Materials and Methods: 200 adults of East Indian population (100 males and 100 females), with an age range of 18-30 years were selected for the study. The subjects included had well-balanced pleasing facial profile, no craniofacial abnormality, Angle′s Class I molar relationship on both sides with minimum to moderate anterior crowding, and no previous history of orthodontic treatment. The COGS analysis values for the East Indian population was established and compared with the Caucasians. Results: All the cephalometric parameters except the anterior cranial base, facial convexity angle, maxillary protrusion, lower anterior face height, upper posterior dental height, chin depth; maxillary length, and mandibular body length were comparable among both the groups. The COGS soft tissue parameters such as the mandibular prognathism, upper lip protrusion, and lower lip protrusion were higher in the East Indian subjects as compared to the Caucasians. Conclusion: The cephalometric parameters in the East Indian population are significantly different than those of the Caucasian population. These racial differences which are evident in this study should be kept in mind while charting out plan for orthognathic surgery for the East Indian population.
FLASH: Randomized Algorithms Accelerated over CPU-GPU for Ultra-High Dimensional Similarity Search

We present FLASH ({\bf F}ast {\bf L}SH {\bf A}lgorithm for {\bf S}imilarity search accelerated with {\bf H}PC (High-Performance Computing)), a similarity search system for ultra-high dimensional datasets on a single machine, which does not require similarity computation. Our system is an auspicious illustration of the power of randomized algorithms carefully tailored for high-performance computing platforms. We leverage LSH style randomized indexing procedure and combine it with several principled techniques, such as reservoir sampling, recent advances in one-pass minwise hashing, and count based estimations. The combination, while retaining sound theoretical guarantees, reduces the computational as well as parallelization overhead of our proposal. We provide CPU and hybrid CPU-GPU implementations of FLASH for replicability of our results this https URL We evaluate FLASH on several real high dimensional datasets coming from different domains including text, malicious URL, click-through prediction, social networks, etc. Our experiments shed new light on the difficulties associated with datasets having several millions of dimensions. Current state-of-the-art implementations either fail on the presented scale or are orders of magnitude slower than our system. FLASH is capable of computing an approximate k-NN graph, from scratch, over full webspam dataset (1.3 billion nonzeros) in less than 10 seconds. Computing full k-NN graph in less than 10 seconds on webspam dataset, using brute-force ($n^2D$), will require at least 20 TFLOPS. We hope that FLASH gets adopted in practice.
Pitch Estimation of Notes in Indian Classical Music

Music consists of various tones having a definite pitch. Thus the study of music from a signal processing perspective involves extraction and processing of the pitch information of these tones. In this paper, we have introduced a new concept of fundamental score and its significance in a musical octave. We have applied autocorrelation method for the pitch extraction of musical notes in Indian Classical Music (ICM). We have tested this method on the data collected from male speech (sung by one of the authors) and a musical instrument, viz., Reed-Organ. The results were found to be quite accurate when compared with the standard pitch frequencies computed using the equal temperament musical tuning method. The advantage of the proposed scheme is that it does not require knowledge of the source (i.e., musical instrument) to estimate the musical notes. Keywords-Musical notes; fundamental score; autocorrelation method; Indian classical music (ICM)
Interaction of central venous pressure, intramuscular pressure, and carotid baroreflex function.

Seven healthy volunteer men participated in an experiment involving lower body positive pressure (LBPP) of 30 Torr and acute volume expansions of 5-6% (VE-I) and 9-10% (VE-II) of their total blood volume (TBV) to differentiate the effect of increased intramuscular pressure and central venous pressure (CVP) on the maximal gain (Gmax) of the carotid baroreflex. During each experimental condition, the heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP; intraradial artery or Finapres), and CVP (at the 3rd-4th intercostal space) were monitored continuously. Gmax was derived from the logistic modeling of the HR and MAP responses to ramped changes in carotid sinus transmural pressure using a protocol of pulsatile changes in neck chamber pressure from +40 to -65 Torr. The increase in CVP during +30-Torr LBPP was 1.5 mmHg (P < 0.05) and was similar to that observed during VE-I (1.7 mmHg, P > 0.05). The Gmax of the carotid baroreflex of HR and MAP was significantly decreased during LBPP by -0.145 +/- 0.039 beats x min(-1) x mmHg(-1) (38%) and -0.071 +/- 0.013 mmHg/mmHg (25%), respectively; however, VE-I did not affect Gmax. During VE-II, CVP was significantly greater than that elicited by LBPP, and the Gmax of the carotid baroreflex of the HR and MAP responses was significantly reduced. We conclude that carotid baroreflex responsiveness was selectively inhibited by increasing intramuscular pressure, possibly resulting in an activation of the intramuscular mechanoreceptors during LBPP. Furthermore, it would appear that the inhibition of the carotid baroreflex, via cardiopulmonary baroreceptor loading (increased CVP), occurred when a threshold pressure (CVP) was achieved.
A generalization of nonharmonic Fourier series

On montre que la theorie des series de Fourier non harmoniques est un cas special d'une methode generale de perturbation des bases dans les espaces de Banach. Meme dans le cas classique, il existe plusieurs facons de perturber les series de Fourier ordinaires, tout en preservant les proprietes de norme et de convergence simple
Comparison of the efficacy and toxicity of two dose levels of cisplatin/5-fluorouracil as the chemoradiotherapy regimen for the treatment of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Abstract Conclusion: The low-dose regimen brought less grade 3–4 neutropenia and mucositis with similar treatment efficacy. It should be further investigated in prospective randomized clinical trials to confirm its effectiveness and tolerability. Objectives: This nonrandomized study compared the efficacy and toxicity profiles of two dose levels of cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as the chemoradiotherapy regimen for the treatment of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Methods: Concurrent chemotherapy consisted of two dose levels: a low dose (cisplatin 12 mg/m2 + 5-FU 600 mg/m2 per day) or a high dose (cisplatin 15 mg/m2 + 5-FU 750 mg/m2 per day). Both were administered as a 5-day continuous infusion in week 1 and week 5 during radiotherapy. Results: With a median follow-up of 44 months, the overall survival and disease-free survival were 35 months and 22 months (n = 67) for the low-dose group and 36 months and 33 months for the high-dose group (n = 96). The 2-year locoregional control rate was 67.2% for the low-dose and 66.8% for the high-dose group. No statistically significant differences were demonstrated in the treatment efficacy end points. The high-dose regimen resulted in significantly more grade 3–4 neutropenia (31.5% vs 10.9%, p = 0.003) and a trend towards more mucositis (62.1% vs 49.3%, p = 0.066).
Ghrelin Levels in Gastric Mucosa before and after Eradication of Helicobacter pylori.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and ghrelin is controversial. We compared ghrelin levels in gastric mucosa and plasma between H. pylori-positive and -negative subjects, and between before and after H. pylori eradication. METHODS We compared the ghrelin levels in the antrum, body, and fundus between H. pylori-positive and -negative subjects; in stomach tissues between before and after H. pylori eradication; and in plasma and tissue in 10-person cohorts between before and after H. pylori eradication therapy. Body mass index, age, and sex were controlled for when comparing ghrelin levels. RESULTS Stomach ghrelin levels (in the antrum, body, and fundus) did not differ significantly between H. pylori-positive and -negative samples (p=0.095, 0.316, and 0.897, respectively), or between before and after H. pylori eradication (p=0.19, 0.178, and 0.513, respectively). In the ten-person cohort study, plasma ghrelin levels in the eight H. pylori-positive subjects were 2,260 pg/mL (range, 1,280-3,770 pg/mL) and 1,900 pg/mL (range, 1,350-5,200 pg/mL) before and after eradication therapy (p=0.871). Stomach ghrelin levels did not differ significantly in the eight H. pylori-positive subjects between before and after H. pylori eradication (p=0.732, 0.618, and 0.435 in the antrum, body, and fundus, respectively), or between six eradicated and two noneradicated subjects (p=0.071, 0.857, 0.429, and 0.857 in the antrum, body, fundus, and plasma, respectively). CONCLUSIONS These results show that H. pylori infection has no effect on stomach ghrelin levels and that eradication therapy does not influence plasma or tissue ghrelin levels.
Calpains Mediate p53 Activation and Neuronal Death Evoked by DNA Damage*

DNA damage is an initiator of neuronal death implicated in neuropathological conditions such as stroke. Previous evidence has shown that apoptotic death of embryonic cortical neurons treated with the DNA damaging agent camptothecin is dependent upon the tumor suppressor p53, an upstream death mediator, and more distal death effectors such as caspases. We show here that the calcium-regulated cysteine proteases, calpains, are activated during DNA damage induced by camptothecin treatment. Moreover, calpain deficiency, calpastatin expression, or pharmacological calpain inhibitors prevent the death of embryonic cortical neurons, indicating the important role of calpain in DNA damage-induced death. Calpain inhibition also significantly reduced and delayed the induction of p53. Consistent with the actions of calpains upstream of p53 and the proximal nature of p53 death signaling, calpain inhibition inhibited cytochrome c release and DEVD-AFC cleavage activity. Taken together, our results indicate that calpains are a key mediator of p53 induction and consequent caspase-dependent neuronal death due to DNA damage.