Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of genetic parameters for morphological and functional traits in a Menorca horse population

Functional conformation and performance in Classic and Menorca Dressage are the main selection criteria in the Menorca Horse breeding program. Menorca Dressage is an alternative Classical Dressage discipline which is exclusive of the Menorca Island, but including a series of movements that the animals perform in the traditional festivities called “Jaleo Menorquin”. One of these movements involves the horse raising its forelimbs and standing or walking on its hindlimbs, which is called “el bot”. To make the Menorca horse breed more competitive in the equestrian market, it is necessary to understand the genetic background that characterizes the aptitude for Menorca Dressage and its relationship with conformation traits. The analysed data consisted of 15 conformation traits from 347 Menorca horses (200 males and 147 females), with 1,550 performance records in Menorca Dressage competitions. Genetic parameters were estimated using linear and threshold animal models. The heritabilities for heights and lengths were high (0.45-0.76), those for angulations and binary conformation traits were low to moderate (0.10-0.36) as were the scores for dressage performance (0.13-0.21). The results suggest that the analyzed traits could be used as an efficient tool for selecting breeding horses.
Effects of nifedipine on coronary blood flow and coronary resistance during cold pressor test and isometric exercise in patients with coronary artery disease.

Eight patients with coronary artery disease performed a cold pressor test (CPT) and hand-grip isometric exercise (HG) before and 20 min following sublingual administration of nifedipine. CPT performed before nifedipine did not change coronary blood flow determined by the thennodilution technique, but increased coronary resistance (control 0.95 ± 18 mm Hg/ml/min; CPT 1.17 ± 0.30, P < 001). Nifedipine prevented the increase of coronary resistance induced by CPT (control after nifedipine 0.74 ± 018 mm Hg/ml/min; CPT after nifedipine 0.76 ± 0.19, NS) and the absolute value of coronary resistance was significantly lower when CPT was repeated after nifedipine. In contrast, during HG, coronary blood flow increased while coronary resistance did not change (control 0.94 ± 0.10 mm Hg/ml/min; HG 0.99 ± 0.23, NS). When HG was repeated after nifedipine, coronary blood flow was greater and coronary resistance lower than during the test performed before nifedipine. The drug's ability to block inappropriate coronary vasoconstriction induced by cutaneous cold stimuli and to increase coronary blood flow during isometric exercise further substantiates its usefulness in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease.
Localization of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in the developing and mature rat heart cell

The cardiac muscle cell ceases to divide shortly after birth; this cessation is followed by a limited period when DNA synthesis and karyokinesis occur without cytokinesis. The regulation of this process is not known. The purpose of this study is to explore the possible events that could lead to the cessation of cardiac muscle cell division. One protein requisite for DNA synthesis is proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). This protein is the auxiliary protein of DNA polymerase δ.
Systems thinking for the integration of management systems

This paper discusses how a systems approach to management can be used to facilitate the development and implementation of an integrated management system (IMS) in an organization. It is argued that any solution to address the rapidly growing need for the integration of function‐specific management systems requires two elements: a conceptual model and a supporting methodology. While the research on IMS modelling is fairly advanced, evidenced by a number of existing models that would probably qualify to provide the basis for integration, development of methodologies to achieve fully‐integrated systems is still lacking. This paper therefore provides a set of criteria for selection of the most appropriate IMS model, followed by a discussion of one such model based on the systems approach. The presented model can be used to integrate the requirements of existing and upcoming function‐specific management system standards, and provide a foundation for the top‐down integration of internal systems that these standards describe. Subsequently, a short discussion on the issue of the IMS methodology is given, and the paper concludes with a list of questions that will help researchers design a comprehensive IMS methodology.
False memories and source monitoring

This article investigates the relation between misremembering and source judgments in both the misleading information paradigm and the false memory paradigm. A computational model, CHARM (Composite Holographic Associative Recall Model), is used to simulate source monitoring in both paradigms. Despite the fact that CHARM stores memories in a composite memory trace, it is shown that the model can account for source judgements, and can explain the discrepancy between the source judgement and the recognition data in the misleading information paradigm. It also can account for the basic phenomena of the false memory paradigm, wherein thematically related items induce a memory for a nonpresented but prototypical critical item. In two experiments linking these two research lines, we presented the critical item in a different list from that used to induce the false memory effect. Although the model predicted that the presentation of the critical item should increase the false memory effect, its presentation inhib.
A Retinoic Acid Receptor β/γ-Selective Prodrug (tazarotene) Plus a Retinoid X Receptor Ligand Induces Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Activation, Retinoblastoma Hypophosphorylation, G0 Arrest, and Cell Differentiation

Retinoic acid receptor (RAR)β is perceived to function as a tumor suppressor gene in various contexts where its absence is associated with tumorigenicity and its presence causes cell cycle arrest. Tazarotene is a prodrug selective for RARβ/γ, thereby motivating interest in determining whether tazarotene might activate putative tumor suppressor activity. Using HL-60 human myeloblastic leukemia cells, a cell line that undergoes G0 cell cycle arrest and myeloid differentiation in response to retinoic acid (RA), tazarotene failed to cause extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation, a requirement for retinoic acid (RA)-induced G0 arrest and differentiation; retinoblastoma (RB) hypophosphorylation, another characteristic of RA-induced G0 arrest and cell differentiation; G0 arrest; or differentiation into mature myeloid cells. However, when used in combination with a retinoid X receptor (RXR)-selective ligand, tazarotene caused ERK activation, RB tumor suppressor protein hypophosphorylation, G0 arrest, and myeloid differentiation. The kinetics of G0 arrest and differentiation was similar to that of RA. Dose-response studies showed that diminishing tazarotene progressively diminished both induced cell differentiation and G0 arrest, where the doses for cellular effects were consistent with the transcriptional transactivation data. For either tazarotene or an RARα-selective ligand, diminishing the coadministered RXR-selective ligand diminished both induced differentiation and G0 arrest. Tazarotene could propel either early or late portions of the period leading to differentiation and G0 arrest and was interchangeable with an RARα-selective ligand. Tazarotene used with RXR-selective ligand may thus be a useful antineoplastic agent in differentiation induction therapy as exemplified by the prototypical RA treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia.
Prognostic factors in symptomatic Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.

We analyze the prognostic value of the presenting features of a series of patients with symptomatic Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia who were homogeneously treated. A total of 215 patients (119 males) with a median age of 62.6 years (range, 24.9 to 91.6) were retrospectively analyzed. The median overall follow-up was 57.6 months (range, 0.6 to 281): 58 (0.9 to 281) for living patients and 52.2 (0.6 to 261.3) for those who died. All patients were treated with alkylating agent-based chemotherapy. The overall median survival was 77.2 months, without significant differences based on the duration of the previous monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) phase. The multivariate Cox analysis performed on the whole population showed that age, hemoglobin level, and serum albumin level predicted survival. The addition of beta(2)-microglobulin, available in the subgroup of 60 patients diagnosed after 1990, in a Cox stepwise selection showed that this parameter was by far the main prognostic determinant. Application of the Dhodapkar, Morel, and Gobbi scoring systems to this population of patients showed that all three stratified the population into groups with significantly distinct prognoses. A prognostic index based on age, hemoglobin, and albumin is capable of identifying various groups of patients with different therapeutic needs.
Processing Data in Lie Groups : An Algebraic Approach. Application to Non-Linear Registration and Diffusion Tensor MRI. (Traitement de données dans les groupes de Lie : une approche algébrique. Application au recalage non-linéaire et à l'imagerie du tenseur de diffusion)

Recently, the need for rigorous frameworks for the processing of non-linear data has grown considerably in medical imaging. In this thesis, we propose several general frameworks to process various types of non-linear data, which all belong to Lie groups. To this end, we rely on the algebraic properties of these spaces. Thus, we propose a general processing framework for symmetric and positive-definite matrices, named Log-Euclidean, very simple to use and which has excellent theoretical properties. It is particularly well-adapted to the processing of diffusion tensor MRI. We also propose several frameworks, called polyaffine, to parameterize locally rigid or affine transformations, in a way that guarantees their invertibility. Their use is illustrated in the case of the locally rigid registration of histological slices and of the locally affine 3D registration of MRIs of the human brain. This led us to propose two general frameworks for computing statistics in finite-dimensional Lie groups: first the Log-Euclidean one, which generalizes our work on tensors, and second a framework based on the novel notion of bi-invariant mean, whose properties generalize to Lie groups those of the arithmetic mean. Finally, we generalize our Log-Euclidean framework to diffeomorphic geometrical transformations, which opens the way to a general and consistent framework for statistics in computational anatomy.
Study on Relationship Between Organizational Commitment and its Determinants among Private Sector Employees of Pakistan

Organizational commitment is one of the widely researched areas among researchers, psychologist and human resource management practitioners. The objective of the present study is to analyze the relationship between work motivation, overall job satisfaction and organizational commitment among Pakistani workforce. The focus of the study is towards analyzing the general behavior of the private sector employees towards work motivation and job satisfaction which may build higher levels of organizational commitment. The sample size consists of 191 male and female employees which were randomly selected. Data collected were analyzed by the application of statistical tests i.e., Pearson correlation and multiple regression using SPSS 13.0. Results showed that positive and significant relationship exists between work motivation, overall job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Although both independent variables are strongly associated with organizational commitment, the impact of job satisfaction on organizational commitment is relatively stronger than that of the work motivation on organizational commitment. Managerial implication of the study is to focus more on motivating employees for promoting organizational commitment on their part.
Protective Effects of Vitamin-P and Vitamin-C on Hypercholesterolemia -induced Oxidative Hepatic Damage and Lipid Profile Changes in Female Rats: A Comparative Study

The current study aims to compare the oxidative protective effects of vitamin-P and vitamin-C on hypercholesterolemia-induced hepatic damage by high cholesterol diet (HCD) in female Wistar rats. Rats received experimental prepared HCD with or without vitamin-P or C for six consecutive weeks. In plasma, levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), glucose (GLU), albumin (ALB), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HCD) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were determined. Levels of lipid peroxidation product, malondialdehyde (MDA), and endogenous antioxidant, reduced glutathione (GSH), as well as TC and TG were also estimated in liver. Finally, histopathological changes were assessed in hepatic tissue. HCD significantly elevated liver enzymes and lipid profile in plasma. Supplementation of vitamin-C significantly normalized this elevation more than vitamin-P. Moreover, liver concentrations of MDA, TC and TG were increased, while GSH levels were decreased by HCD. Vitamin-C showed greater ability to attenuate HCD-induced impairments in hepatic MDA, GSH, TC and TG concentrations than vitamin-P. Both vitamins protected liver tissues against HCD-induced hepatotoxicity as confirmed by the histopathological screening. In conclusion, although both vitamins demonstrated ameliorative effects against HCD-induced oxidative injury, vitamin-C had a greater protective value than vitamin-P.
Conditions on Object Agreement in Ruwund (Bantu)

Languages that have object agreement often place complex conditions on what sorts of objects can trigger agreement. These conditions involve a wide range of factors including specificity, animacy, person, and number (Comrie 1981, Croft 1988, 1990). For example, the Austronesian language Palauan allows objects to agree only if they are [+ human] or [+ specific, + singular] (Josephs 1975, Georgopoulos 1991, Woolford 1995). It is known from the typological literature that the features associated with object agreement cross-linguistically are those at the high end of one or more of the following hierarchies, often referred to collectively as the animacy or topicality hierarchy (Givon 1976, Comrie 1981, Croft 1988, 1990, Bentley 1994):
Bacterial load of cockroaches in relation to urban environment

SUMMARY Sanitation is an important problem in relation to the control of pests in urban environments. This investigation analysed the potential risk related to the presence of cockroaches and their capacity for disseminating bacteria in six different types of buildings: hospital nursing area and out-patient area, swimmingpool pool-side and toilet area, low-income flats and food-handling places. Fifty-six species of bacteria were identified from 157 samples. 14 of these have previously been reported as potentially pathogenic for man and vertebrates. Similarities were found between samples collected in (a) the hospital out-patient area and foodhandling establishments and (b) the hospital nursing area and flats. Pool-sides possessed a poorer bacterial flora. There was a greater bacterial specific diversity in food-handling establishments, flats and swimming-bath toilet area. Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Klebsiella oxytoca were dominant species in flats and the hospital nursing area. Therefore, cockroaches can play a role in disseminating bacteria, which they can carry passively on their cuticle.
Differential enhancement of dialysate serotonin levels in distinct brain regions of the awake rat by modafinil: Possible relevance for wakefulness and depression

The present in vivo microdialysis study evaluates the possible existence of a differential regulation of serotonergic transmission by the antinarcoleptic drug modafinil [(diphenyl‐methyl)‐sulfinyl‐2‐acetamide; Modiodal] among various brain regions of the awake rat. The results show that, in the cerebral cortex, the central amygdala, and the dorsal raphe nucleus, modafinil in the dose range of 10–100 mg/kg i.p. dose‐dependently increases dialysate serotonin (5‐HT) levels. In other brain areas, such as the medial preoptic area and the posterior hypothalamus, the modafinil‐induced increase in dialysate 5‐HT levels is observed only at tenfold higher doses (100 mg/kg), 10–30 mg/kg being ineffective. Together these data suggest that, in the frontal cortex, the amygdala, and the dorsal raphe, modafinil is more potent in enhancing extracellular 5‐HT levels and presumably 5‐HT transmission than in the medial preoptic area and the posterior hypothalamus. In view of the role of ascending 5‐HT pathways in arousal and depression, it seems likely that the antinarcoleptic drug modafinil may also have an antidepressant potential in addition to its wakefulness‐promoting action, both actions involving enhancement of 5‐HT neurotransmission. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sequence Survey of the Genome of the Opportunistic Microsporidian Pathogen, Vittaforma corneae

Abstract The microsporidian Vittaforma corneae has been reported as a pathogen of the human stratum corneum, where it can cause keratitis, and is associated with systemic infections. In addition to this direct role as an infectious, etiologic agent of human disease, V. corneae has been used as a model organism for another microsporidian, Enterocytozoon bieneusi, a frequent and problematic pathogen of HIV-infected patients that, unlike V. corneae, is difficult to maintain and to study in vitro. Unfortunately, few molecular sequences are available for V. corneae. In this study, seventy-four genome survey sequences (GSS) were obtained from genomic DNA of spores of laboratory-cultured V. corneae. Approximately, 41 discontinuous kilobases of V. corneae were cloned and sequenced to generate these GSS. Putative identities were assigned to 44 of the V. corneae GSS based on BLASTX searches, representing 21 discrete proteins. Of these 21 deduced V. corneae proteins, only two had been reported previously from other microsporidia (until the recent report of the Encephalitozoon cuniculi genome). Two of the V. corneae proteins were of particular interest, reverse transcriptase and topoisomerase IV (parC). Since the existence of transposable elements in microsporidia is controversial, the presence of reverse transcriptase in V. corneae will contribute to resolution of this debate. The presence of topoisomerase IV was remarkable because this enzyme previously had been identified only from prokaryotes. The 74 GSS included 26.7 kilobases of unique sequences from which two statistics were generated: GC content and codon usage. The GC content of the unique GSS was 42%, lower than that of another microsporidian, E. cuniculi (48% for protein-encoding regions), and substantially higher than that predicted for a third microsporidian, Spraguea lophii (28%). A comparison using the Pearson correlation coefficient showed that codon usage in V. corneae was similar to that in the yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (r = 0.79) and Shizosaccharomyces pombe (r = 0.70), but was markedly dissimilar to E. cuniculi (r = 0.19).
Who is really ignorant--physician or patient?

Scotland. It was found that: a) there was a consistently higher level of word comprehension among the utilizers, as rated blind and independently by two physicians; b)for the utilizers only, multiparous women appeared to have a slightly higher level of comprehension than the primiparae; the physicians included in the study consistently and markedly underestimated the level of word comprehension among the lower working-class respondents. Thefindings from this exploratory study are, despite limited numbers, consistent with those from earlier studies in the United
Impaired performance of fornix-transected rats on a distal, but not on a proximal, version of the radial-arm maze cue task.

Fornix-transected and sham-operated rats were trained on radial maze cue tasks in which the relative positions of the cues were either fixed (F condition) or varied (V condition) across trials. Proximal and distal visual stimuli were used in 2 different experiments. With proximal stimuli, fornix-transected rats were transiently impaired in the V condition and performed as well as controls in the F condition. However, using extramaze stimuli, fornix-transected rats were severely impaired in the V condition but performed normally in the F condition. According to histological analyses, performance on these cue tasks varied along with the extent of cholinergic depletion in the hippocampus. At the behavioral level, the location and stability of stimuli's relative positions seemed to have influenced rats' performance.
Effectiveness of Leisure Physical Activities in Vasodilatory Response and Blood Pressure in Middle- Aged and Elderly Women

Dantas FFOD, Cabral TGC, Silvestre ACOM, Batista RMF, Santos MSB, Santos, AC. Effectiveness of Leisure Physical Activities in Vasodilatory Response and Blood Pressure in Middle-Aged and Elderly Women. JEPonline 2015;18(2):66-77. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of leisure physical activities on blood pressure and vasodilatory response in middle-aged women and elderly women. Ten middle-aged women (mean age ± SD, 54.20 ± 3.19) and 8 elderly women (mean age ± SD, 69.25 ± 5.31) were included in this study. Interventions consisted of a 4-month supervised leisure physical activities program. The program consisted of 60-min exercise sessions 3 times·wk. Blood pressure and blood flow were evaluated before and after the intervention period via the oscillometric method and plethysmography with venous occlusion, respectively. The elderly group had a significant increase in vascular conductance while at rest (Pre Md = 4.1 Q25 – Q75 = 3.9 – 4.4 vs. Post Md = 4.8 Q25 – Q75 = 4.3 – 5.2; P<0.05). The findings indicate that leisure physical activities are an effective alternative to commonly recommended programs of promoting cardiovascular benefits, especially for healthy elderly women. In this group, the clinical condition of the vasodilatory response was restored to levels obtained in middle-aged women.
A Unified Model of Coronal Mass Ejection-related Type II Radio Bursts

We present a theoretical model for the shock formation that is related to coronal and interplanetary type II radio bursts associated with coronal mass ejections on the basis of the magnetic reconnection model of eruptive solar flares. Coronal type II bursts are usually observed in the metric wavelength range (metric type II bursts), and interplanetary bursts are usually observed in the decametric-hectometric wavelength range (decametric-hectometric bursts). Our research shows that the decametric-hectometric type II radio bursts are produced by the piston-driven fast-mode MHD shock that is formed in front of an eruptive plasmoid (a magnetic island in the two-dimensional sense or a magnetic flux rope in the three-dimensional sense), while the metric radio bursts are produced by the reverse fast-mode MHD shock that is formed through the collision of a strong reconnection jet with the bottom of the plasmoid. This reverse shock apparently moves upward as long as the reconnection jet is sufficiently strong and dies away when the energy release of the reconnection stops or weakens significantly. On the other hand, the piston-driven fast shock continues to exist when the plasmoid moves upward. Our model succeeds in explaining the observational result that the piston-driven fast shock that produces decametric-hectometric type II bursts moves faster and survives longer than the other shock.