Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Female mate choice and male behaviour in domestic fowl

The purpose of this study was to use paired choice tests to examine mate selection by female domestic chickens, Gallus gallus domesticus. We examined five behavioural and six morphological traits of 34 pairs of males to determine which male features influenced female mate choice. The frequency of a behavioural display known as wingflapping was the only variable that differed significantly between males that were chosen and males that were not. Within trials, females selected males with the highest wingflapping rate. Across trials, the wingflapping rate of chosen males ranged widely (3-82 wingflaps/h) suggesting that females used a relative choice mechanism when selecting a mate. These results differ from earlier work on the closely related red junglefowl, G. g. murghi, in which females use morphological traits and a threshold choice mechanism when selecting mates. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Steady Couette flows of elastoviscoplastic fluids are nonunique

The Herschel–Bulkley rheological fluid model includes terms representing viscosity and plasticity. In this classical model, below the yield stress the material is strictly rigid. Complementing this model by including elastic behavior below the yield stress leads to a description of an elastoviscoplastic (EVP) material such as an emulsion or a liquid foam. We include this modification in a completely tensorial description of cylindrical Couette shear flows. Both the EVP model parameters, at the scale of a representative volume element, and the predictions (velocity, strain and stress fields) can be readily compared with experiments. We perform a detailed study of the effect of the main parameters, especially the yield strain. We discuss the role of the curvature of the cylindrical Couette geometry in the appearance of localization; we determine the value of the localization length and provide an approximate analytical expression. We then show that, in this tensorial EVP model of cylindrical Couette shear f.
Chryseobacterium sediminis sp. nov., isolated from a river sediment.

A slightly yellow-pigmented strain (IMT-174T) isolated from a river sediment in Guyana was studied in detail for its taxonomic position. Cells of the isolate appeared rod-shaped and stained Gram-negative. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the isolate had the highest sequence similarities to type strains of Chryseobacterium rhizoplanae (99.0 %), Chryseobacterium viscerum (98.9 %), Chryseobacterium lactis (98.8 %) and Chryseobacterium indologenes (98.6 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to all other species of the genus Chryseobacterium were below 98.5 %. Fatty acid analysis of whole-cell hydrolysates of the strain resulted in a pattern typical of members of the genus Chryseobacterium, with fatty acids iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0 2-OH, iso-C17 : 1ω9c and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH as major compounds. The polyamine pattern contained predominantly sym-homospermidine. The major quinone was menaquinone MK-6 and the only lipid identified in the polar lipid profile was phosphatidylethanolamine. In addition, 13 unidentified lipids were detected in moderate to major amounts. DNA-DNA hybridizations with type strains of C. rhizoplanae, C. viscerum, C. lactis and C. indologenes resulted in values below 70 %. In addition to the genotypic differences, differentiating biochemical and chemotaxonomic properties confirmed that isolate IMT-174T represents a novel species, for which the name Chryseobacterium sediminis sp. nov. (type strain IMT-174T = LMG 28695T = CIP 110895T) is proposed.
The Cheetah Is Depauperate in Genetic Variation

A sample of 55 South African cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) from two geographically isolated populations in South Africa were found to be genetically monomorphic at each of 47 allozyme (allelic isozyme) loci. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of 155 abundant soluble proteins from cheetah fibroblasts also revealed a low frequency of polymorphism (average heterozygosity, 0.013). Both estimates are dramatically lower than levels of variation reported in other cats and mammals in general. The extreme monomorphism may be a consequence of a demographic contraction of the cheetah (a population bottleneck) in association with a reduced rate of increase in the recent natural history of this endangered species.
The Las Campanas Infrared Survey. III. The H-Band Imaging Survey and the Near-Infrared and Optical Photometric Catalogs

The Las Campanas Infrared Survey, based on broadband optical and near-infrared photometry, is designed to robustly identify a statistically significant and representative sample of evolved galaxies at redshifts z > 1. We have completed an H-band imaging survey over 1.1 deg2 of sky in six separate fields. The average 5 σ detection limit in a 4'' diameter aperture is H ~ 20.8. Here we describe the design of the survey, the observation strategies, data-reduction techniques, and object identification procedures. We present sample near-infrared and optical photometric catalogs for objects identified in two survey fields. The optical images of the Hubble Deep Field-South region obtained from the literature reach 5 σ detection thresholds in a 4'' diameter aperture of U ~ 24.6, B ~ 26.1, V ~ 25.6, R ~ 25.1, and I ~ 24.2 mag. The optical images of the Chandra Deep Field-South region obtained from our own observations reach 5 σ detection thresholds in a 4'' diameter aperture of V ~ 26.8, R ~ 26.2, I ~ 25.3, and z′ ~ 23.7 mag. We perform object detection in all bandpasses and identify ≳ 54,000 galaxies over 1408 arcmin2 of sky in the two fields. Of these galaxies, ~14,000 are detected in the H band and ~2000 have the colors of evolved galaxies, I-H ≳ 3, at z ≳ 1. We find that (1) the differential number counts N(m) for the H-band-detected objects has a slope of d log N(m)/dm = 0.45 ± 0.01 mag-2 at H ≲ 19 and 0.27 ± 0.01 mag-2 at H ≳ 19, with a mean surface density ≈7200 deg-2 mag-1 at H = 19. In addition, we find that (2) the differential number counts for the H-band-detected red objects has a very steep slope, d log N(m; I - H ≳ 3)/dm = 0.84 ± 0.06 mag-2 at H ≲ 20 and 0.32 ± 0.07 mag-2 at H ≳ 20, with a mean surface density ≈3000 deg-2 mag-1 at H = 20. Finally, we find that (3) galaxies with red optical to near-IR colors (I-H > 3) constitute ≈20% of the H-band-detected galaxies at H ≲ 21, but only ≈2% at H ≲ 19. We show that red galaxies are strongly clustered, which results in a strong field-to-field variation in their surface density. Comparisons of observations and predictions based on various formation scenarios indicate that these red galaxies are consistent with mildly evolving early-type galaxies at z ~ 1, although with a significant amount of ongoing star formation, as indicated by the large scatter in their V-I colors.
Identification and mRNA developmental profiles of two ultraspiracle isoforms in the epidermis and wings of
 Manduca sexta

cDNAs were isolated from Manduca sexta that encode two isoforms of an ultraspiracle (USP) homologue MsUSP‐1 and MsUSP‐2 with different N‐terminal A/B regions. The MsUSP‐1 cDNA predicts a protein with 97% and 45% amino acid identities in the DNA‐ and ligand‐binding domains respectively to the Drosophila USP and 89% overall identity with Bombyx mori CF1 (an USP homologue). Northern blot hybridizations with probes specific to MsUSP‐1 and MsUSP‐2 showed transcripts of an approximately equal size (4.5 kb), but with diverse developmental profiles in Manduca epidermis during the two final larval instars and the onset of the adult moult. The MsUSP‐1 mRNA was expressed during the intermoult periods, with higher levels around the time of the larval ecdyses and at the onset of wandering behaviour. In contrast, the MsUSP‐2 mRNA was up‐regulated at times of high ecdysteroid titre during the larval moults, when the MsUSP‐1 mRNA disappeared. Together, these conversely regulated isoform mRNAs contribute to the constitutive expression profile of total MsUSP mRNA.
The future of hospital economic health

Objective:To evaluate factors which may influence the economic future of academic medical centers (AMCs). Data Source and Selection:A literature search was performed to identify publications which reviewed the areas of revenue sources for AMCs, costs and expenses incurred by these institutions, and mechanisms for optimizing institutional economic stability. Data Extraction and Synthesis:Data were reviewed and evaluated in two primary contexts: hospital revenues and organizational and administrative factors influencing hospital economic health. Conclusions:Increasing economic stress will require AMCs to make efforts both to increase revenue through a variety of mechanisms and to minimize expenses without compromising their mission or impairing worker morale.
Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in depressed clinical samples.

OBJECTIVES The psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995a) were examined in depressed psychiatric hospital samples. DESIGN AND METHODS Three studies administered the DASS and other symptom measures at admission and discharge to consecutive adult hospital patients with a primary diagnosis of depression. Study 3 aimed to address problems with the DASS by extending the response options. RESULTS Study 1 found that the DASS had good reliability and validity, was moderately sensitive to change, but the Depression Scale exhibited a ceiling effect. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure and the DASS continued to demonstrate good psychometric properties, but the ceiling effect was replicated. Study 3 found that by extending the response scale to include an additional option, the factor structure of the instrument as a whole was maintained, the sensitivity to treatment was increased, but the ceiling effect was only marginally reduced. CONCLUSIONS The psychometric properties of the DASS were sound in clinically depressed samples, but the Depression Scale exhibited a ceiling effect that could not be resolved with minor changes to the scale. Suggestions for revisions of the DASS are made.
Interference of Monovalent, Bivalent, and Trivalent Oral Poliovirus Vaccines on Monovalent Rotavirus Vaccine Immunogenicity in Rural Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND Trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) is known to interfere with monovalent rotavirus vaccine (RV1) immunogenicity. The interference caused by bivalent and monovalent OPV formulations, which will be increasingly used globally in coming years, has not been examined. We conducted a post hoc analysis to assess the effect of coadministration of different OPV formulations on RV1 immunogenicity. METHODS Healthy infants in Matlab, Bangladesh, were randomized to receive 3 doses of monovalent OPV type 1 or bivalent OPV types 1 and 3 at either 6, 8, and 10 or 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age or trivalent OPV at 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age. All infants received 2 doses of RV1 at about 6 and 10 weeks of age. Concomitant administration was defined as RV1 and OPV given on the same day; staggered administration as RV1 and OPV given ≥1 day apart. Rotavirus seroconversion was defined as a 4-fold rise in immunoglobulin A titer from before the first RV1 dose to ≥3 weeks after the second RV1 dose. RESULTS There were no significant differences in baseline RV1 immunogenicity among the 409 infants included in the final analysis. Infants who received RV1 and OPV concomitantly, regardless of OPV formulation, were less likely to seroconvert (47%; 95% confidence interval, 39%-54%) than those who received both vaccines staggered ≥1 day (63%; 57%-70%; P < .001). For staggered administration, we found no evidence that the interval between RV1 and OPV administration affected RV1 immunogenicity. CONCLUSIONS Coadministration of monovalent, bivalent, or trivalent OPV seems to lower RV1 immunogenicity. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NCT01633216.
Human papillomavirus genotyping as a predictor of high‐grade cervical dysplasia in women with mildly cytologic abnormalities: A two‐year follow‐up report

High‐risk human papillomavirus (HR‐HPV) DNA testing has emerged as another testing modality for women with mildly cytologic abnormalities. We conducted a two‐year follow‐up study of 108 women with mildly abnormal cervical cytology for detection of CIN 2/3. A cervical swab sample was obtained for HPV genotyping by a HPV blot and histologic follow‐up results were correlated with HR‐HPV types. Of the 108 cases, 93 (86.1%) were positive for HR‐HPV DNA. HPV‐16 was detected in 45.1% of patients. CIN grade 2 or 3 was confirmed in 25 (23.1%) of the 108 women during the two‐year follow‐up period. The two‐year cumulative incidence rates of CIN 2/3 were 38.6% (17/44) among HPV‐16‐ positive women, but only 5.6% among HR‐HPV‐positive women without HPV‐16 or HPV‐18. The sensitivity of a positive HPV‐16 test for CIN 2/3 was 68.0%, the specificity was 67.5%. Our results demonstrated that the type‐specific HPV‐16 test increased sensitivity of detecting high‐grade cervical dysplasia for women who have mildly cytologic abnormalities. The implication of the present findings is that HPV genotyping may identify women with the greatest risk of high‐grade CIN. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2012. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Intracellular Ca2+ Signaling in Skeletal Muscle: Decoding a Complex Message

Intracellular calcium (Ca2+) plays an important role in regulating muscle force production, metabolism, and muscle gene expression. It is hypothesized that the precise pattern of Ca2+ oscillations, determined by the Ca2+ channels activated and the contributing Ca2+ pools, controls the coupling between neural activation, force production, cellular energetics, and gene expression. The physiological and cellular coordination between these events will be discussed.
Limited Uptake of Planned Intrauterine Devices During the Postpartum Period

Objectives The primary objective of this study was to determine the percentage of women with a documented plan for postpartum intrauterine device (IUD) insertion who had a device inserted within 8 weeks of delivery. The secondary objective was to determine factors associated with successful initiation of postpartum IUDs as planned. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of women who had at least one prenatal visit and delivered a viable pregnancy at our academic medical center. Methods of planned and established postpartum contraceptive methods were recorded, as well as demographic information and documented reasons for failure to initiate planned intrauterine contraception. Results A total of 110 women planned postpartum IUD placement. Of these women, 84 (76%) presented for at least one postpartum appointment. Only 22.6% (95% confidence interval 13.7–31.5) of those presenting for postpartum follow-up underwent IUD placement within 8 weeks of delivery. Women planning postpartum IUD insertion were just as likely as women with no planned postpartum contraceptive method to fail to establish contraception within 8 weeks (P = 0.55). Conclusions Failure to establish planned postpartum intrauterine contraception occurs frequently, even in a setting with a high rate of postpartum follow-up.
Bilateral Effects of Unilateral Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation in Advanced Parkinson’s Disease

To investigate the bilateral effects of unilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), we prospectively studied 9 consecutive advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients (2 men and 7 women) who underwent unilateral STN-DBS. Patients were evaluated preoperatively and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively with and without dopaminergic medications (‘on’ and ‘off’ medication, respectively). Postoperatively, patients were assessed with and without stimulation. We found that, when compared with baseline, the ‘off’ medication scores of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale motor part (UPDRS III) and activities of daily living (UPDRS II) were improved by 37% (p = 0.028) and 50% (p = 0.046) at 6 months after surgery, respectively. Stimulation while ‘off’ medication improved the total UPDRS score by 42% (p = 0.028) at 6 months. At 6 months after surgery, the subscore of UPDRS III of body parts contralateral to the DBS implantation had improved by 48% (p = 0.028), and the ipsilateral subscore of UPDRS III and the axial subscore of UPDRS III had improved by 20% (p = 0.027) and 39% (p = 0.028), respectively. Daily dosage of levodopa was reduced by 15% at 6 months. No patient exhibited permanent side effects. These findings indicate that unilateral STN-DBS may be a reasonable surgical procedure for selected PD patients who have markedly asymmetric parkinsonism.
Modelling Migration from Paper into Food

Considerable amount of work has been devoted to the identification and quantification of contaminants in paper and paperboard for food packaging applications, particularly in papers containing recycled fibre. However, much less effort has been dedicated to the development of predictive migration models for such materials when used in contact with food. The work presented here has as main objectives: (i) to identify the most important factors affecting the migration rate and migration level of paper contaminants into food simulants, and (ii) to contribute for the development of a mathematical model to describe the migration from paper into simulants. An experimental design using the Taguchi method was applied, considering the following factors at two levels: paper grammage (80-160 g/m), percentage of recycled pulp (20-80%), initial concentration of the migrant in the paper (50-150 ppm), temperature (8-40oC), food simulant (Tenax® and Poropak®) and the migrant (DBP and DEHP). The Weibull kinetic model was applied to describe the migration. The influence of molecular weight on the model parameters, employing 5 phthalates of similar structure and increasing molecular weight, was performed. Results show that the model describes very well the transfer of migrants from paper into the simulant. The model parameter τ increased linearly with the phthalates molecular weight.
Global Finite-Time Stabilization of a Class of Non-Smooth Upper-Triangular Systems

Abstract This paper studies the problem of global finite-time stabilization of a class of nonsmooth upper-triangular systems with relaxed conditions on the nonlinearities. Inspired by the controller design methods in Qian and Lin (2012), a finite-time stabilizer and a new Lyapunov function are recursively constructed in a bottom-to-up manner.
Psychosocial pathways to inconsistent condom use among male sex workers: personality, drug misuse and criminality.

BACKGROUND This research compared street male sex workers in Santo André, Brazil, that reported consistent condom use with those that revealed inconsistent condom use with their clients, concerning personality aspects, impulsiveness, alcohol and drug consumption, depressive symptoms, sociodemographic data and criminal involvement. METHODS Eighty-six male sex workers were evaluated in face-to-face interviews at their place of work. A 'snowball' sampling procedure was used to access this hard-to-reach population. FINDINGS Male sex workers with inconsistent condom use showed greater involvement with criminal activities, higher reward dependence level and more frequent self-report of being HIV-positive. CONCLUSIONS Conceptualisation of male sex workers' psychological characteristics may be required where HIV risk is not only attributed to sex work per se, but to other aspects such as personality-related factors and negative identity.
Analysis of direct hospital costs before and 18 months after treatment with vagus nerve stimulation therapy in 43 patients

Article abstractVagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy is an established method for treating patients with refractory seizures. Although the initial cost of the device is about $10,000, the battery life of the model 100 implanted in the patients in this analysis can exceed 5 years at standard settings. It is important to understand what type of cost–benefit can be expected after implantation. Our aim was to assess unplanned hospital costs 18 months before and 18 months after VNS implantation in 43 patients. The VNS therapy system was implanted according to standard procedures and stimulation of 0.75 to 2.0 mA was delivered either as 30 seconds on and 5 minutes off or 7 seconds on and 14 seconds off. Seizure frequency was calculated before and after 18 months of treatment. During this time no changes were made with other therapies for epilepsy. Hospitalization for emergency room (ER) visits, ward stays, and intensive care days were calculated according to the costs at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden. Therapy response was defined as 25% or greater reduction in seizure frequency. For all patients, intensive care unit (ICU) costs were reduced from $46,875 to $0, ER visits from $13,000 to $9,000, and ward stays from $151,125 to $21,375. Total hospital costs for the 43 patients studied before VNS therapy were $211,000 and after 18 months of treatment were reduced to $30,375, an average annual cost savings of approximately $3,000 per patient. The cost savings applied to all patients, irrespective of whether they responded to VNS therapy. VNS therapy resulted in annual reductions of approximately $3000 in unplanned hospital costs per study patient. Such direct savings sustained over the battery life of the VNS therapy system can equal or exceed the purchase price of the device.
Cyclic AMP and the Reverse Transformation Reaction

Abstract: Traditional methods for cancer treatment have been aimed at killing the cancer cells. Unfortunately this approach all too often is accompanied by harmful killing of normal cells. The present paper describes an experimental program in our laboratory in which cancer cells are treated so as to revert to normal cell behavior. This process, which we have named reverse transformation, appears to offer considerable hope in the treatment of a large number of malignancies.
Human intestinal parasites in primary school children in Kampala, Uganda.

A cross sectional survey on intestinal parasite infections was carried out in 5,313 pupils between the ages of ten and fifteen years in 98 primary schools in Kampala. The aim was to identify the types and distribution of intestinal parasites and to estimate the prevalence in school children. Trichuris trichiura (28%), Ascaris lumbricoides (17%) and hookworms (12.9%) were common infections among the children. Other less commonly found parasites were S.mansoni, Strongyloides stercolaris, Taenia sp, Enterobius vermicularis, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba coli and E. histolytica. Refuse dumps are probably a significant source of transmission of intestinal helminthic infections in Kampala.
The efficacy of three different surgical techniques in the management of drug-induced gingival overgrowth.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of three different surgical techniques in both the management and effect upon rate of overgrowth recurrence of drug-induced gingival overgrowth (DIGO). MATERIALS AND METHODS Two cohorts of patients who required surgical correction of their DIGO participated in the study. After baseline periodontal measures (plaque index, gingival inflammation and probing pocket depths), the patients underwent surgery. A split-mouth, crossover design was used to compare conventional gingivectomy with flap surgery (n=27), and conventional gingivectomy with laser excision (n=23). The main outcome variable was the rate of recurrence of DIGO following surgery. RESULTS At 6 months, there was significantly less recurrence (p=0.05) in patients treated with laser excision, compared with those treated by conventional gingivectomy. The differences in rate of recurrence of DIGO were also reflected in changes in several periodontal parameters. Flap surgery offered no advantage over conventional gingivectomy with respect to the rate of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS DIGO can be managed by a variety of techniques. Laser excision results in a reduced rate of recurrence.