Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Parameters Estimated for Sexual Maturity and Weekly Live Weights of Japanese Quail ( Coturnix coturnix japonica )

Covariance components and genetic parameters of weekly live body weight from hatching to six weeks of age and age of sexual maturation were estimated in a laying type Japanese quail line. The univariate and bivariate animal model analysis included hatching group and sex as fixed effects. Each trait was analysed with animal as random effect to fit the additive direct effect. Additional random effects incorporated in the models were changed according to the trait examined. The best model for a trait was chosen based on a likelihood ratio test, comparing the models with and without maternal additive genetic and maternal permanent environmental effects. Heritability estimates of live-weight at hatch and one to six weeks of age with their standard errors were 0.22±0.088, 0.39±0.099, 0.31±0.086, 0.38±0.056, 0.46±0.055, 0.50±0.059, and 0.56±0.062, respectively. Direct heritability value of age of sexual maturation was moderate (0.24±0.055). The variances due to permanent environmental effect of dam after one week of age and maternal genetic effect after two weeks of age were not important sources of variation. The correlations between direct and maternal genetic effects were negative and ranged from high to moderate values (-0.21 to -0.83). Among the weekly live weights, genetic correlations were generally high between not only successive but also early and late weightings. It suggests that selection for final weight may be based on early weight records. Genetic correlations between age of sexual maturation and live weights were low, favourable but had high standard errors. These results indicate that selection for high weight will potentially result in lower age of sexual maturation only with accurate determination of breeding values. (
KIT Expression in Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma: Comparative Immunohistochemical Analysis of KIT Expression in Different Renal Cell Neoplasms

The overexpression of c-Kit in chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) has been described by comparative gene expression analyses and has been proposed as a possible specific hallmark of this neoplasm. The aim of our study was to establish its immunohistochemical expression in a large series of ChRCC and to compare it with other renal neoplasms. In our study, immunohistochemical characterization of KIT was performed in 87 renal neoplasms including 25 cases of ChRCC, 13 cases of renal oncocytoma, and 39 renal cell carcinomas (21 cases of conventional RCC [CRCC], 8 cases of CRCC with granular cell differentiation, and 10 cases of papillary RCC [PRCC]). Eighty-eight percent ChRCC and 71% oncocytomas showed immunohistochemical expression of KIT, while the other types of RCC studied were all negative. The meaning of immunohistochemical expression of KIT in ChRCC and oncocytomas is still unknown, but its immunohistochemical staining appears to be useful in distinguishing ChRCC from PRCC, CRCC, and its granular cell variant. Moreover, our findings support current models that consider that there is a histopathogenic relationship between oncocytoma and ChRCC. Finally, it should be determined whether KIT plays a role in the tumorigenesis of ChRCC and oncocytoma and whether targeted therapy with STI-571, an inhibitor of KIT, could be effective in exceptional cases of ChRCC with metastatic extension or recurrence.
Late onset vitreoretinal complications of regressed retinopathy of prematurity

Aim: To report the clinical findings, management, and outcomes in eyes undergoing surgery for regressed retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) with vitreoretinal complications. Method: Retrospective review of 40 eyes of 32 patients with regressed ROP who presented between 1989 and 2001 at two UK referral centres. Results: Of 29 eyes presenting with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), 15 initially underwent a scleral buckling procedure and 14 initially underwent vitrectomy with or without additional buckling. Primary surgery was anatomically successful in 11/15 eyes that underwent a non-vitrectomy retinal detachment repair and 8/14 that required vitrectomy. The final reattachment rate after reoperation was 28/29 eyes. Median visual acuity improved from 6/60 to 6/36 following retinal detachment repair. A further 11 eyes of eight patients from this series underwent prophylactic surgery, laser, or cryotherapy for predisposing vitreoretinal pathology and/or retinal breaks, all of which were stabilised. Conclusions: In eyes with RRD and signs of regressed ROP successful reattachment of the retina can be achieved using either vitrectomy or external surgery with an associated overall improvement in visual acuity. A range of external and closed microsurgical approaches is required to effectively deal with the diverse manifestations of regressed ROP.
Systematic reviews of evidence in medical education and clinical medicine: Is the nature of evidence similar?

Background: It is accepted worldwide that clinical and educational decisions should be informed by the best available evidence, not individual opinion only. Aims: This article discusses the epistemological basis of educational evidence, as compared with clinical evidence, looking at the different nature of the science behind each one. Method: Two models – BEME Reviews in medical education and Cochrane Reviews in clinical medicine – based on our own experience of a soon to be published BEME Review (BEMER) and several systematic reviews our group has published in clinical medicine – were used to identify similarities and differences between the two approaches. Key findings: The evidence to support clinical as well as educational decision making is different in its nature, as well as in its quality. However, their approach is similar in its fundamental steps (design a question, select evidence, critically appraise it, synthesize and apply), so the differences between BEME and Cochrane are perhaps more a matter of degree, than the existence of fundamental differences. Conclusions: Two fundamental principles – decision making should be supported by a hierarchy of evidence and evidence alone is never sufficient for sound practice – apply to BEME and Cochrane reviews. The capacity to transfer their results into practice is the most important factor in terms of success of both approaches.
Efecto de uso y manejo del suelo sobre las fracciones de carbono orgánico en un argiudol

Los cambios de las practicas de manejo y usos del suelo alteran el aporte de carbono, asi como la dinamica y nivel de equilibrio del carbono organico (CO) del suelo. Los cambios a largo plazo en el CO total (COT) producidos por las practicas de manjeo o usos del suelo podrian predecirse con los cambios en el corto plazo en las fracciones de CO. Se analizaron seis sistemas de manejo : trabajo fue evaluar el impacto de diferentes sistemas de manejo sobre las fracciones de CO. Se analizaron seis sistemas de manejo: 2 monocultivos (m), 2 rotaciones (r), una pastura (p) y un pastizal natural (AN). En cada situacion se tomaron tres muestras compuestas de 0-5, 5-10 y 10-20 cm. Se determino: COT, CO particulado grueso (COPg, 105-2000 um), CO particulado fino to-tal (Pt). Se evindencio una disminucion de COT por el uso agricola, en promedio, del 29, 19 y 15% para 0-5, 5-10 y 10-20 cm. respectivamente, comparado con el AN. Dichas diferencias tendieron a ser mas marcadas en el caso de monocultivo con una disminucion del 35, 23 y 17% para dichas profundidades. El uso agricola presento significativamente niveles menores de ordenamiento de las diferencias entre tratamientos para COPg fue similar al observado para COT, pero con diferencias menos marcadas entre tratamientos.Para diferenciar practicas de manejo (rotacion vs monocultivo), el COPf fue la fraccion organica mas sensible presentando una disminuscion del 28% en monoculyivo. Las fracciones organicas de labilidad intermedia, como el COPF, puede utilizarse como indicadores sensibles para diferenciar manejos agricolas, sin ser muy influenciadas por la variabilidad temporal y metereologica.
Fusing RFID and computer vision for probabilistic tag localization

The combination of RFID and computer vision systems is an effective approach to mitigate the limited tag localization capabilities of current RFID deployments. In this paper, we present a hybrid RFID and computer vision system for localization and tracking of RFID tags. The proposed system combines the information from the two complementary sensor modalities in a probabilistic manner and provides a high degree of flexibility. In addition, we introduce a robust data association method which is crucial for the application in practical scenarios. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed system, we conduct a series of experiments in an article surveillance setup. This is a frequent application for RFID systems in retail where previous approaches solely based on RFID localization have difficulties due to false alarms triggered by stationary tags. Our evaluation shows that the fusion of RFID and computer vision provides robustness to false positive observations and allows for a reliable system operation.
Psychiatric Comorbidity in Geriatric Medical Outpatients of Tertiary Care Hospital

Context: Population of elderly is growing rapidly, and this population is at increased risk of physical as well as psychiatric problems. Various studies have reported a high prevalence of psychiatric morbidities in elderly community and elderly patients of different geographical areas. Aims: To assess psychiatric morbidity and its socio-demographic predictors in geriatric medical outpatients of General Hospital, Gotri. Methods: Data of 310 patients above ≥65 years of age attending the geriatric clinic in medicine outpatient department were collected in a structured proforma and assessed for any psychiatric illness. Results: Out of 310 patients, 107 (34.5%) elderly medical outpatients had psychiatric comorbidity and the most common diagnosis was depression (20%) followed by substancerelated disorders (4.9 %), sleep related disorders (3.9%), adjustment disorders (3.2%) and neurocognitive disorders (1.9%). The mean age of the sample was 69.7 years, and males outnumbered females. Patients without spouse due to death, divorce or other reasons had significantly higher rate of psychiatric morbidity than patients living with the spouse (p=0.0222, <0.05). Patients living in a joint family had significantly less prevalence of psychiatric morbidity than patients living in a nuclear family or living alone (p= 0.0385, <0.05). Conclusion: High prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in geriatric medically ill patients suggests particular attention for the mental health of the elderly medically ill patients by regular screening for common psychiatric comorbidity like depression. High prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in patients without spouse or family focuses attention on the role of social support in geriatric mental health. (Journal of The Indian Academy of Geriatrics, 2017; 13: 5-9)
Intracellular Calcium Transients and Potassium Current Oscillations Evoked by Glutamate in Cultured Rat Astrocytes

Glutamate responses in cultured rat astrocytes from cerebella of neonatal rats were investigated using the perforated-patch configuration to record membrane currents without rundown of intracellular messenger cascades, and microfluorometric measurements to measure the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and intracellular pH (pHi) with fura-2 AM and 2′,7′-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxyfluorescein acetoxy methylester respectively. In the perforated-patch mode, glutamate evoked single or multiple outward current transients in 82% of the cells, which disappeared when the recording technique was converted into a conventional whole-cell mode. The outward current transients were accompanied by [Ca2+]i transients, whereas pHi fell monophasically, without any sign of oscillation. Pharmacological analysis of the glutamate-induced responses indicated that ionotropic receptor activation evoked an inward current but no outward current transients, and metabotropic receptor activation (of the mGluR1/5 type) elicited outward current transients but no inward current. The outward current transients were reduced in frequency, or even abolished, after depletion of the intracellular Ca2+-stores by the Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor cyclopiaconic acid (10 μm). They reversed near −85 mV and were reduced by tetraethylammonium (10 mm), suggesting that they were caused by K+ channel activation. It is concluded that glutamate evoked these K+ outward current transients by oscillatory Ca2+ release mediated by mGluR activation. The corresponding membrane potential waves across the astroglial syncytium could provide spatial and temporal dynamics to the glial K+ uptake capacity and other voltage-dependent processes.
Effectiveness of Leukocyte Filters in Reducing Tumor Cell Contamination after Intraoperative Blood Salvage in Lung Cancer Patients

Objectives: In an effort to reduce allogeneic blood transfusions in patients undergoing elective surgery for lung cancer, we investigated the effectiveness of a method of processing shed blood with an automated device for intra operative blood salvage (IOBS) and filtration with a 3rd‐generation polyester filter to remove tumor cells. Methods: Sixteen patients were operated on for different types of lung cancer. We searched for malignant cells in pre‐ and postprocessed shed blood employing density gradient centrifugation, staining of cytospins with hematoxylin‐eosin, and antibodies to human cytokeratins. Results: In 9 out of 16 cases (56%), neoplastic cells were detected in prefiltration samples, but none were found in postfiltration cytospins. Conclusion: IOBS combined with appropriate filtration could be a very useful and safe tool in reducing allogeneic blood transfusion in cancer patients.
The application of lipidomics to biomarker research and pathomechanisms in Alzheimer's disease

Purpose of review Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. There are still no disease modifying treatments that can cure or slow disease progression. Recently, Alzheimer's disease researchers have attempted to improve early detection and diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease, with the rationale that treatment of disease, or even prevention, may be more successful during the early preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease when neurodegenerative damage is not as widespread. As the brain has a high lipid content, lipidomics may offer novel insights into the underlying pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. This review reports on recent developments in the relatively unexplored field of lipidomics in Alzheimer's disease, including novel biomarkers and pathomechanisms of Alzheimer's disease. Recent findings Numerous biomarker panels involving phospholipids and sphingolipids have been proposed, indicating perturbed lipid metabolism in early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Future strategies targeting these metabolic changes through dietary supplementation could have therapeutic benefits in at-risk individuals. Summary Dysregulated lipid metabolism could reflect pathological changes in synaptic function and neuronal membranes, leading to cognitive decline. However, extensive validation in large independent cohorts is required before lipid biomarkers can be used clinically to assess Alzheimer's disease risk and progression.
Sediment Evidence of Early Eutrophication and Heavy Metal Pollution of Lake Mälaren, Central Sweden

Abstract Lake Mälaren is the water supply and recreation area for more than 1 million people in central Sweden and subject to considerable environmental concern. To establish background data for assessments of contemporary levels of trophy and heavy metal pollution, sediment cores from the lake were analyzed. Diatom–inferred lake–water phosphorus concentrations suggest that pre-20th century nutrient levels in Södra Björkfjärden, a basin in the eastern part of Mälaren, were higher (c. 10–20 µg TP L−1) than previously assumed (c. 6 µg TP L−1). Stable lead isotope and lead concentration analyses from 3 basins (S. Björkfjärden, Gisselfjärden and Asköfjärden) show that the lake was polluted in the 19th century and earlier from extensive metal production and processing in the catchment, particularly in the Bergslagen region. The lake has experienced a substantial improvement of the lead pollution situation in the 20th century following closure of the mining and metal industry. The lead pollution from the old mining industry was large compared to late-20th century pollution from car emissions, burning of fossil fuels and modern industries.
Accurate Sentence Matching with Hybrid Siamese Networks

Recent neural network approaches to sentence matching compute the probability of two sentences being similar by minimizing a logistic loss. In this paper, we learn sentence representations by means of a siamese network, which: (i) uses encoders that share parameters; and (ii) enables the comparison between two sentences in terms of their euclidean distance, by minimizing a contrastive loss. Moreover, we add a multilayer perceptron in the architecture to simultaneously optimize the contrastive and the logistic losses. This way, our network can exploit a more informative feedback, given by the logistic loss, which is also quantified by the distance that the two sentences have according to their representation in the euclidean space. We show that jointly minimizing the two losses yields higher accuracy than minimizing them independently. We verify this finding by evaluating several baseline architectures in two sentence matching tasks: question paraphrasing and textual entailment recognition. Our network approaches the state of the art, while being much simpler and faster to train, and with less parameters than its competitors.
Metabolism of cocaine and heroin is catalyzed by the same human liver carboxylesterases.

Concomitant i.v. use of cocaine and heroin ("speedballing") is prevalent among drug-abusing populations. Heroin is rapidly metabolized by sequential deacetylation of two separate ester bonds to yield 6-monoacetylmorphine and morphine. Hydrolysis of heroin to 6-monoacetylmorphine is catalyzed by pseudocholinesterase. The pathway for hydrolysis of 6-monoacetylmorphine to morphine in vivo has yet to be established. Pseudocholinesterase and two human liver carboxylesterases [human liver carboxylesterase form 1 (hCE-1) and human liver carboxylesterase form 2 (hCE-2)] catalyze the rapid hydrolysis of ester linkages in cocaine. This investigation examined the relative catalytic efficiencies of hCE-1, hCE-2 and pseudocholinesterase for heroin metabolism and compared them with cocaine hydrolysis. Enzymatic formation of 6-monoacetylmorphine and morphine was determined by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. All three enzymes rapidly catalyzed hydrolysis of heroin to 6-monoacetylmorphine (hCE-1 kcat = 439 min-1, hCE-2 kcat = 2186 min-1 and pseudocholinesterase kcat = 13 min-1). The catalytic efficiency, under first-order conditions, for hCE-2-catalyzed formation of 6-monoacetylmorphine (314 min-1 mM-1) was much greater than that for either hCE-1 or pseudocholinesterase (69 and 4 min-1 mM-1, respectively). Similarly, the catalytic efficiency for hydrolysis of 6-monoacetylmorphine to morphine by hCE-2 (22 min-1 mM-1) was substantially greater than that for hCE-1 (0.024 min-1 mM-1). Cocaine competitively inhibited hCE-1-, hCE-2- and pseudocholinesterase-catalyzed hydrolysis of heroin to 6-monoacetylmorphine (Ki = 530, 460 and 130 microM, respectively) and 6-monoacetylmorphine hydrolysis to morphine (Ki = 710, 220 and 830 microM, respectively). These data demonstrate that metabolism of cocaine and heroin in humans is mediated by common metabolic pathways. The role of hepatic hCE-2 is particularly important for the hydrolysis of heroin to 6-monoacetylmorphine and of 6-monoacetylmorphine to morphine.
Laminin acts via focal adhesion kinase/phosphatidylinositol‐3′ kinase/protein kinase B to down‐regulate β1‐adrenergic receptor signalling in cat atrial myocytes

We previously reported that short‐term (2 h) plating of cat atrial myocytes on the extracellular matrix protein, laminin (LMN) decreases adenylate cyclase activity and β1‐adrenergic receptor (β1‐AR) stimulation of L‐type Ca2+ current (ICa,L). The present study sought to determine whether LMN‐mediated down‐regulation of β1 signalling is due to down‐regulation of adenylate cyclase and to gain insight into the signalling mechanisms responsible. β1‐AR stimulation was achieved by 0.01 μm isoproterenol (isoprenaline) plus 0.1 μm ICI 118551, a selective β2‐AR antagonist. Atrial myocytes were plated for at least 2 h on uncoated cover‐slips (−LMN) or cover‐slips coated with LMN (+LMN). As previously reported, β1‐AR stimulation of ICa,L was significantly smaller in +LMN compared to −LMN atrial myocytes. In −LMN myocytes, 10 μm LY294002 (LY), a specific inhibitor of PI‐(3)K, had no effect on β1‐AR stimulation of ICa,L. In +LMN myocytes, however, LY significantly increased β1‐AR stimulation of ICa,L. Western blots revealed that compared with −LMN myocytes, +LMN myocytes showed a significant increase in Akt phosphorylation at Ser‐473, which was prevented by LY. In another approach, +LMN myocytes were infected (multiplicity of infection (MOI), 100; 24 h) with replication‐defective adenoviruses (Adv) expressing dominant‐negative inhibitors of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) (Adv‐FRNK or Adv‐Y397F‐FAK) or Akt (Adv‐dnAkt). Compared with control cells infected with Adv‐β‐galactosidase, cells infected with Adv‐FRNK, Adv‐Y397F‐FAK or Adv‐dnAkt each exhibited a significantly greater β1‐AR stimulation of ICa,L. In −LMN myocytes LY had no effect on forskolin (FSK)‐stimulated ICa,L. However, in +LMN myocytes LY significantly increased FSK‐stimulated ICa,L. Similar results were obtained in +LMN atrial myocytes infected with Adv‐FRNK. We conclude that LMN binding to β1‐integrin receptors acts via FAK/PI‐(3)K/Akt to inhibit adenylate cyclase activity and thereby down‐regulates β1‐AR‐mediated stimulation of ICa,L. These findings provide new insight into the cellular mechanisms by which the extracellular matrix can modulate atrial β‐AR signalling.
Afferent projections of the superior olivary complex

Based on current literature, the afferents of the superior olivary complex (SOC) are described including those from the cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus, thalamus, and auditory cortex. Intrinsic SOC afferents and non‐auditory afferents from the serotoninergic and noradrenergic systems are also described. New data are provided that show a differential distribution of serotoninergic afferents within the SOC: serotoninergic fibers were relatively sparse in the lateral and medial superior olives and the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body and were most numerous in periolivary regions. There are variations in the density of serotoninergic fibers within periolivary regions themselves. New data is also provided on auditory and non‐auditory afferents to SOC neurons, which have known targets. These include: cochlear nucleus afferents to periolivary (lateral nucleus of the trapezoid body, LNTB) cells that project to the inferior colliculus; cortical afferents to periolivary (ventral nucleus of the trapezoid body, VNTB) cells that project to the cochlear nucleus; and serotoninergic and noradrenergic afferents to periolivary (LNTB and VNTB) cells that project to the cochlear nucleus. The relationships between other types of afferents and SOC neurons with known projections are also described as functional circuits. The circuits include those that are part of the ascending auditory system (to the inferior and superior colliculi, lateral lemniscus, and medial geniculate nucleus), the descending auditory system (to the cochlea and cochlear nucleus), and the middle ear reflex circuits. Microsc. Res. Tech. 51:330–354, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.