Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The causes of variation in the presence of genetic covariance between sexual traits and preferences

Mating traits and mate preferences often show patterns of tight correspondence across populations and species. These patterns of apparent coevolution may result from a genetic association between traits and preferences (i.e. trait–preference genetic covariance). We review the literature on trait–preference covariance to determine its prevalence and potential biological relevance. Of the 43 studies we identified, a surprising 63% detected covariance. We test multiple hypotheses for factors that may influence the likelihood of detecting this covariance. The main predictor was the presence of genetic variation in mate preferences, which is one of the three main conditions required for the establishment of covariance. In fact, 89% of the nine studies where heritability of preference was high detected covariance. Variables pertaining to the experimental methods and type of traits involved in different studies did not greatly influence the detection of trait–preference covariance. Trait–preference genetic covariance appears to be widespread and therefore represents an important and currently underappreciated factor in the coevolution of traits and preferences.
Web-based collaborative training of clinical reasoning: A randomized trial

Background: Clinical reasoning skills are essential for medical practice. Problem-based collaborative learning via the internet might prove useful in imparting these skills. Aim: This randomized study assessed whether web-based learning (WBL) is superior to face-to-face problem-based learning (PBL) in the setting of a 6-week cardio-respiratory course. Methods: During winter term 2007/08, all 148 fourth-year medical students enrolled in the 6-week course consented to be randomized in small groups to diagnose a patient complaining of dyspnoea either using a virtual collaborative online module or a traditional PBL session. Clinical reasoning skills were assessed by means of a key feature examination at the end of the course. Results: No significant difference between the mean scores of both study groups was detected (p = 0.843). In virtual learning groups, costs for diagnostic tests were significantly correlated to the number of contributions to online group discussions (r = 0.881; p = 0.002). Evaluation data favored traditional PBL sessions over virtual collaborative learning. Conclusion: While virtual collaborative learning was as effective as traditional PBL regarding the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills, it was less well accepted than traditional PBL. Future research needs to determine the ideal format and time-point for computer-assisted learning in medical education.
Comparison of three methods for recovery of yeasts from hands of health-care workers

This study compared three methods for the detection of yeasts on the hands of 30 nurses: (i) direct finger impressions on inhibitory mold agar plates, (ii) bag washes in brain heart infusion broth, and (iii) bag washes in brain heart infusion broth supplemented with gentamicin and vancomycin. The antimicrobial agent-supplemented bag wash method identified the greatest number of yeast carriers and yielded the most yeast isolates, especially non-C. albicans Candida spp.
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection in the mouse.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) into mouse oocytes involves a very low survival rate. This study was designed to determine why ICSI frequently fails in mice. Metaphase II oocytes were obtained from superovulated 4-6 week old F1 hybrid mice. Spermatozoa were retrieved from the epididymis of 12-14 week old F1 hybrid mice. The spiked microinjection pipette used to inject a spermatozoon into the ooplasm had outer and inner diameters of 10 and 8 microns respectively. The oocytes used in the first part of the study were not activated (group 1). Some oocytes were incubated with calcium ionophore for 5 min (group 2). The injected oocytes were evaluated 6, 20, 48 and 72 h after injection. A total of 143 eggs in each group underwent ICSI. In group 1, sperm heads escaped into the perivitelline space. In all, 63 (47%) of the remaining oocytes were damaged during the injection or had degenerated by the first evaluation. The survival rate was 53%, but fertilization did not occur. In group 2, 31 oocytes (22%) were damaged during microinjection or soon degenerated. Two oocytes underwent accidental subzonal insemination. Six oocytes were fertilized (4.2%) among the 78% of survivors. After injection, the sperm tail was found in the cytoplasm (27 and 31% in groups 1 and 2 respectively), the perivitelline space (45% in both groups) or protruding through the zona pellucida (28 and 23% respectively). More oocytes degenerated when the tail remained in the cytoplasm, i.e. 78% in group 1 and 36% in group 2.
Evolution of government portals in India: mapping over stage models

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the e-government stage models that have been developed in last one decade give a true indication of e-government growth in a developing country like India. Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory study was conducted through a survey questionnaire from 300 portals of government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) in India. Findings – Results show that on e-government stage model; only 28 per cent of the surveyed government department have achieved the transactional stage whereas 58 per cent have reached at least a minimum level of vertical integration. On the other hand, 74 per cent PSUs are at transactional level and 69 per cent have achieved at least a minimum level of vertical integration. Practical implications – For achieving a one-stop government portal, integration stage can be achieved before the transaction level. Reason behind this being nature and requirement of the portal. There are fundamental differences in social a.
The Preparation, Characterization, and Influence of Multiple Electroless Nickel-Phosphorus (Ni-P) Composite Coatings on Poplar Veneer

Nickel-Phosphorus (Ni-P) composite coatings were prepared on a poplar veneer surface via a simple electroless nickel (Ni) approach. The substrate deformation, flatness, crystalline structure, and wear resistance of the Ni-P composite coatings were investigated. The deformation degree of the substrate decreased as the number of deposition steps was increased. The flatness and wear resistance of the composite coatings were enhanced with the increase in the number of depositions. The full width, at half of the maximum values of Ni X-ray diffraction (XRD), of peaks in the composite coatings were broadened and strengthened with an increment of the number of depositions in the coatings. The XRD patterns revealed that the Ni that had been deposited on poplar veneer had a crystallite size structure between 42 and 88 A. The composite structure was characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The uniformity of the particles in the composite coatings could be improved with the increase in the number of depositions. The wear resistance of ideal coatings with a homogeneous thickness was measured via the rolling wear testing machine (RWTM), and the wear resistance of the coatings was increased by 200% compared with that of coatings obtained via a single deposition.
Egomotion estimation of a range camera using the space envelope

In this paper we present a method to compute the egomotion of a range camera using the space envelope. The space envelope is a geometric model that provides more information than a simple segmentation for correspondences and motion estimation. We describe a novel variation of the maximal matching algorithm that matches surface normals to find correspondences. These correspondences are used to compute rotation and translation estimates of the egomotion. We demonstrate our methods on two image sequences containing 70 images. We also discuss the cases where our methods fail, and additional possible methods for exploiting the space envelope.
Effect of β-carotene supply during close-up dry period on the onset of first postpartum luteal activity in dairy cows.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of β-carotene supply during the close-up dry period on the onset of first postpartum luteal activity in dairy cows. Twelve cows were supplied with 2000 mg of β-carotene (20 g Rovimix(®) β-Carotene containing 10% β-carotene; DSM Nutrition Japan K.K. , Tokyo, Japan) by oral administration daily from day 21 before expected calving date to parturition. Fourteen cows (control) did not receive β-carotene supplementation. Blood samples were obtained on days 21, 14 and 7 before expected calving date and on days 1, 7, 14, 21 postpartum. When the plasma progesterone concentration exceeded 1 ng/ml by day 21 postpartum, luteal activity was assumed to have been initiated. The result showed that serum β-carotene concentrations in the β-carotene cows were higher than in the control cows during the experimental period (p < 0.01). The number of cows with the onset of luteal activity by day 21 postpartum was 9/12 in the β-carotene cows and 4/14 in the control cows (p < 0.05). Retinol, certain metabolic parameters and metabolic hormones concentrations did not differ between β-carotene and control cows. In addition, serum retinol concentration in β-carotene cows without luteal activity was lower than in β-carotene cows with luteal activity (p < 0.05), and serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase concentration in β-carotene cows with luteal activity (p < 0.05) and control cows without luteal activity (p < 0.01) was higher than in control cows with luteal activity. In conclusion, β-carotene supply during the close-up dry period may support the onset of luteal activity during early lactation in dairy cows.
2 J ul 2 01 3 Semi-supervised Ranking Pursuit

We propose a novel sparse preference learning/ranking algorithm. Our algorithm approximates the true utility function by a weighted sum of basis functions using the squared loss on pairs of data points, and is a generalization of the kernel matching pursuit method. It can operate both in a supervised and a semi-supervised setting and allows efficient search for multiple, near-optimal solutions. Furthermore, we describe the extension of the algorithm suitable for combined ranking and regression tasks. In our experiments we demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms several state-of-the-art learning methods when taking into account unlabeled data and performs comparably in a supervised learning scenario, while providing sparser solutions.
Attenuation of the neural response to sad faces in major depression by antidepressant treatment: a prospective, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

BACKGROUND Depression is associated with interpersonal difficulties related to abnormalities in affective facial processing. OBJECTIVES To map brain systems activated by sad facial affect processing in patients with depression and to identify brain functional correlates of antidepressant treatment and symptomatic response. DESIGN Two groups underwent scanning twice using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an 8-week period. The event-related fMRI paradigm entailed incidental affect recognition of facial stimuli morphed to express discriminable intensities of sadness. SETTING Participants were recruited by advertisement from the local population; depressed subjects were treated as outpatients. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS We matched 19 medication-free, acutely symptomatic patients satisfying DSM-IV criteria for unipolar major depressive disorder by age, sex, and IQ with 19 healthy volunteers. Intervention After the baseline assessment, patients received fluoxetine hydrochloride, 20 mg/d, for 8 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Average activation (capacity) and differential response to variable affective intensity (dynamic range) were estimated in each fMRI time series. We used analysis of variance to identify brain regions that demonstrated a main effect of group (depressed vs healthy subjects) and a group x time interaction (attributable to antidepressant treatment). Change in brain activation associated with reduction of depressive symptoms in the patient group was identified by means of regression analysis. Permutation tests were used for inference. RESULTS Over time, depressed subjects showed reduced capacity for activation in the left amygdala, ventral striatum, and frontoparietal cortex and a negatively correlated increase of dynamic range in the prefrontal cortex. Symptomatic improvement was associated with reduction of dynamic range in the pregenual cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, and cerebellum. CONCLUSIONS Antidepressant treatment reduces left limbic, subcortical, and neocortical capacity for activation in depressed subjects and increases the dynamic range of the left prefrontal cortex. Changes in anterior cingulate function associated with symptomatic improvement indicate that fMRI may be a useful surrogate marker of antidepressant treatment response.
Eye-tracking and Individual Differences in off-Normal Event Detection when Flying with a Synthetic Vision System Display

Eye-tracking data were collected on eight pilots who flew a high fidelity flight simulator with a synthetic vision system (SVS) display, which included a tunnel-in-the-sky in half of the experimental conditions. In this paper, we examined the individual pilots' detection and response to two unexpected events, where the true information was inaccurately (or not) represented on the SVS display. The results indicate that the pilots who failed to detect these unexpected events spent most of their time scanning the SVS display, which included the tunnel, and rarely scanned the outside world. The pilot who detected the unexpected events showed scan patterns with a more even distribution of scans to the SVS, the outside world, and other displays even when the tunnel was present. This suggests that detection of unexpected in-the-world events depends on the individual pilot's vigilance in maintaining a regular scan pattern and resistance to “cognitively tunneling” into only one display.
Remifentanil for Fetal Immobilization and Maternal Sedation During Fetoscopic Surgery: A Randomized, Double-Blind Comparison with Diazepam

Obstetric endoscopy procedures are routinely performed at our institution to treat selected complications of monochorionic twin gestation. We perform these procedures under combined spinal epidural anesthesia plus maternal sedation. In the absence of general anesthesia, fetal immobilization is not achieved. We hypothesized that remifentanil would induce adequate maternal sedation and provide fetal immobilization, which is equal or superior to that induced by diazepam. Fifty-four second trimester pregnant women were included in this randomized, double-blind trial. After combined spinal epidural anesthesia, maternal sedation was initiated using either incremental doses of diazepam or a continuous infusion of remifentanil. Maternal sedation, hemodynamics, side effects, and fetal hemodynamics and immobilization were evaluated before, during, and for 60 min after surgery. Remifentanil produced adequate maternal sedation with mild but clinically irrelevant respiratory depression (respiratory rate 13 ± 4 breaths/min and Pco2 38.6 ± 4 mm Hg at 40 min of surgery), whereas diazepam resulted in a more pronounced maternal sedation but no respiratory depression (respiratory rate 18 ± 3 breaths/min and Pco2 32.7 ± 3 mm Hg at 40 min of surgery). Compared with diazepam, fetal immobilization with remifentanil occurred faster and was more pronounced, resulting in improved surgical conditions; the number of gross body and limb movements was 12 ± 4 (diazepam) versus 2 ± 1 (remifentanil) at 40 min of surgery. Because of this, the mean (range) duration of surgery was significantly shorter in the remifentanil-treated patients, 60 (54–71) min versus 80 (60–90) min in the diazepam group. We conclude that remifentanil produces improved fetal immobilization with good maternal sedation and only minimal effects on maternal respiration.
Expression of nitrite reductase in Nitrosomonas europaea involves NsrR, a novel nitrite‐sensitive transcription repressor

Production of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) by ammonia (NH3)‐oxidizing bacteria in natural and man‐made habitats is thought to contribute to the undesirable emission of NO and N2O into the earth's atmosphere. The NH3‐oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea expresses nitrite reductase (NirK), an enzyme that has so far been studied predominantly in heterotrophic denitrifying bacteria where it is involved in the production of these nitrogenous gases. The finding of nirK homologues in other NH3‐oxidizing bacteria suggests that NirK is widespread among this group; however, its role in these nitrifying bacteria remains unresolved. We identified a gene, nsrR, which encodes a novel nitrite (NO2–)‐sensitive transcription repressor that plays a pivotal role in the regulation of NirK expression in N. europaea. NsrR is a member of the Rrf2 family of putative transcription regulators. NirK was expressed aerobically in response to increasing concentrations of NO2– and decreasing pH. Disruption of nsrR resulted in the constitutive expression of NirK. NsrR repressed transcription from the nirK gene cluster promoter (Pnir), the activity of which correlated with NirK expression. Reconstruction of the NsrR‐Pnir system in Escherichia coli revealed that repression by NsrR was reversed by NO2– in a pH‐dependent manner. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that N. europaea expresses NirK as a defence against the toxic NO2– that is produced during nitrification.
Cell Cycle , Cell Death , and Senescence SRSF 1 Regulates the Alternative Splicing of Caspase 9 Via A Novel Intronic Splicing Enhancer Affecting the Chemotherapeutic Sensitivity of Non – Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells

Increasing evidence points to the functional importance of alternative splice variations in cancer pathophysiology with the alternative pre-mRNA processing of caspase 9 as one example. In this study, we delve into the underlying molecular mechanisms that regulate the alternative splicing of caspase 9. Specifically, the pre-mRNA sequence of caspase 9 was analyzed for RNA cis-elements known to interact with SRSF1, a required enhancer for caspase 9 RNA splicing. This analysis revealed 13 possible RNA cis-elements for interaction with SRSF1 with mutagenesis of these RNA cis-elements identifying a strong intronic splicing enhancer located in intron 6 (C9-I6/ISE). SRSF1 specifically interacted with this sequence, which was required for SRSF1 to act as a splicing enhancer of the inclusion of the 4 exon cassette. To further determine the biological importance of this mechanism, we employed RNA oligonucleotides to redirect caspase 9 pre-mRNA splicing in favor of caspase 9b expression, which resulted in an increase in the IC50 of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells to daunorubicin, cisplatinum, and paclitaxel. In contrast, downregulation of caspase 9b induced a decrease in the IC50 of these chemotherapeutic drugs. Finally, these studies showed that caspase 9 RNA splicing was a major mechanism for the synergistic effects of combination therapy with daunorubicin and erlotinib. Overall, we have identified a novel intronic splicing enhancer that regulates caspase 9 RNA splicing and specifically interacts with SRSF1. Furthermore, we showed that the alternative splicing of caspase 9 is an important molecular mechanism with therapeutic relevance to NSCLCs.Mol Cancer Res; 9(7); 889–900. 2011 AACR.
Pharmacological Treatment of Urinary Incontinence

Abstract We present an overview of the current pharmacological treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) in women, according to the latest evidence available. After a brief description of the lower urinary tract receptors and mediators (detrusor, bladder neck, and urethra), the potential sites of pharmacological manipulation in the treatment of UI are discussed. Each class of drug used to treat UI has been evaluated, taking into account published rate of effectiveness, different doses, and way of administration. The prevalence of the most common adverse effects and overall compliance had also been pointed out, with cost evaluation after 1 month of treatment for each class of drug. Moreover, we describe those newer agents whose efficacy and safety need to be further investigated. We stress the importance of a better understanding of the causes and pathophysiology of UI to ensure newer and safer treatments for such a debilitating condition.
Cell uptake and tissue distribution of radioiodine labelled D-luciferin: implications for luciferase based gene imaging

Optical luciferase gene imaging is emerging as a method to monitor gene expression in small animals. However, there is concern over how regional availability of exogenously administered substrate may affect photon emission. We thus synthesized [125I]iodo-D-luciferin, which demonstrated substrate characteristics for firefly luciferase, and investigated its cell uptake kinetics and in vivo biodistribution. Luminescence assays of luc gene transduced cells confirmed a linear decline in emitted light units with decreasing luciferin concentration. Both luc gene transduced and control cells demonstrated a low level of cellular uptake and rapid washout of [125I]iodo-D-luciferin, although early uptake was slightly higher for transduced cells (P<0.005). Biodistribution in ICR mice demonstrated that early uptakes in liver, lung, myocardium and muscle were lower with intraperitoneal compared to intravenous administration. In view of the poor cell uptake, uptake levels (<3%ID/g) suggest that substrate concentration may limit light emission rates in organs such as bone, muscle, myocardium, and particularly the brain. Thus, substrate availability should be considered as a potential limiting factor for photon emission efficiency in certain organs when attempting quantitative interpretation of optical luc gene imaging.
Gauging relational consistency and correcting structural errors

The aim of this paper is to provide a comparative evaluation of a number of contrasting approaches to relational matching. Unique to this study is the way in which we show how a diverse family of algorithms relate to one-another using a common Bayesian framework. Broadly speaking there are two main aspects to this study. Firstly we focus on the issue of how relational inexactness may be quantified. We illustrate that several popular relational distance measures can be recovered as specific limiting cases of the same Bayesian consistency measure. The second aspect of our comparison concerns the way in which structural inexactness is controlled. We investigate three different realisations of the matching process which draw on contrasting control models. The main conclusion of our study is that the active process of graph-editing outperforms the alternatives in terms of its ability to effectively control a large population of contaminating clutter.