Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patterns of Expression and Normalized Levels of the Five Arabidopsis Phytochromes1

Using monoclonal antibodies specific for each apoprotein and full-length purified apoprotein standards, the levels of the five Arabidopsis phytochromes and their patterns of expression in seedlings and mature plants and under different light conditions have been characterized. Phytochrome levels are normalized to the DNA content of the various tissue extracts to approximate normalization to the number of cells in the tissue. One phytochrome, phytochrome A, is highly light labile. The other four phytochromes are much more light stable, although among these, phytochromes B and C are reduced 4- to 5-fold in red- or white-light-grown seedlings compared with dark-grown seedlings. The total amount of extractable phytochrome is 23-fold lower in light-grown than dark-grown tissues, and the percent ratios of the five phytochromes, A:B:C:D:E, are measured as 85:10:2:1.5:1.5 in etiolated seedlings and 5:40:15:15:25 in seedlings grown in continuous white light. The four light-stable phytochromes are present at nearly unchanging levels throughout the course of development of mature rosette and reproductive-stage plants and are present in leaves, stems, roots, and flowers. Phytochrome protein expression patterns over the course of seed germination and under diurnal and circadian light cycles are also characterized. Little cycling in response to photoperiod is observed, and this very low amplitude cycling of some phytochrome proteins is out of phase with previously reported cycling ofPHY mRNA levels. These studies indicate that, with the exception of phytochrome A, the family of phytochrome photoreceptors in Arabidopsis constitutes a quite stable and very broadly distributed array of sensory molecules.
Clinical outcome of microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy in infertile men

The present study assesses the clinical outcome of microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy in infertile men, especially with regard to sperm count, motility and fertility. Between June 1990 and October 1998, 272 patients had subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy operations for clinical varicoceles, and their long‐term results were assessed. In nearly all the patients there was a significant improvement in sperm count and sperm motility after 3 and 6 months. Very few complications arose from this procedure. We concluded that microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy is an effective treatment for clinical varicoceles in infertile men. The significant improvement in the quality of spermatozoa, the low complication rates and the remarkably high pregnancy rates make this a valuable alternative to in vitro reproduction techniques.
Binding of the Wnt ligand to the extracellular domains of two transmembrane receptors leads to the inhibition of the activity of the destruction complex in the cytosol ( Bhanot

In the canonical Wnt pathway, binding of the Wnt ligand to its transmembrane receptors leads to an inhibition of the degradation of β-catenin; as a result, β-catenin accumulates to a point where it activates target genes. Using mathematical modeling and experiments in mammalian cells, we examined the robustness of the β-catenin response to Wnt stimulation. We found that the final (post-Wnt) level of β-catenin is very sensitive to all perturbations in the Wnt signaling pathway, such that mild genetic or environmental variation would be expected to change the final level of βcatenin, and alter the output of the pathway. By contrast, one unusual parameter was robust: the fold-change in β-catenin (postWnt level / pre-Wnt level). Furthermore, in Xenopus embryos, dorsal-anterior development and the corresponding target gene expression are robust to the same perturbations that alter the final level but leave the fold-change intact. These results suggest: First, despite noise and variation, within a range the cell maintains a constant fold-change in β-catenin for a given Wnt stimulation. Second, the transcriptional machinery downstream of the Wnt pathway is constructed to read the robust fold-change and not simply the final level of β-catenin. In analogy to Weber’s law in sensory physiology, some gene transcription networks may be tuned to respond to fold-changes, rather than absolute levels of signals, as a way to reduce the consequences of stochastic, genetic and environmental variation.
RAND Corporation From the SelectedWorks of Rosalie Liccardo Pacula 2010 Risk and Prices : The Role of User Sanctions in Marijuana Markets

User sanctions influence the legal risk for consumers who engage in illegal drug markets. If a reduction in user sanctions leads to an increase in consumption, drug prices will rise unless supply is perfectly elastic. In equilibrium, a change in consumption associated with decreasing user sanctions could be relatively small if supply is upward sloping. Using a novel dataset with rich transaction-level information, this paper evaluates the impact of recent changes in user sanctions for marijuana on marijuana prices. The results suggest that lower legal risks for users are associated with higher marijuana prices in the short-run, which ceteris paribus, implies an upward sloping supply curve, higher consumption, and higher profits for drug dealers. The findings have important implications for the current policy debates regarding decriminalization of marijuana.
Psychological Health and Sleep Quality of Medical Graduates During the Second Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in Post-epidemic Era

Recently, a COVID-19 virus variant spread rapidly in Guangzhou, China, causing public panic. This study aimed to understand the psychological and sleep-related consequences of the secondary outbreak of the pandemic on medical students. In this cross-sectional survey-based study, participants anonymously completed structured questionnaires online from June 8–22, 2021. We collected participants' demographic and general information. Anxiety, depression, and sleep quality were measured using the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), respectively. Protective factors were assessed using the Coping Style Questionnaire (CSQ). Uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed examining factors associated with mental health and sleep quality problems. During the second wave of the pandemic in local outbreak areas in Guangzhou, China, more than one-third of medical students' mental health and sleep quality were affected. The prevalence of anxiety, depression, and poor sleep quality were 27.54%, 27.58%, and 18.19%, respectively. Students belonging to the Class of 2019, aged over 29 years, those with siblings, and those whose hometowns were in other provinces were more prone to the three health problems. Factors associated with an increased risk of mental health problems were vaccination status (adjusted odds ratio 1.603–1.839) and diet status (adjusted odds ratio 1.62–1.929). Positive coping styles served as protective factors (p < 0.05). We discovered that completed vaccination status, good diet, and positive coping styles were related to good mental health and sleep quality.
A New Theoretical Approach: A Model Construct for Fault Troubleshooting in Cloud Computing

In cloud computing, there are four effective measurement criteria: (I) priority, (II) fault probability, (III) risk, and (IV) the duration of the repair action determining the efficacy of troubleshooting. In this paper, we propose a new theoretical algorithm to construct a model for fault troubleshooting; we do this by combining a Naive-Bayes classifier (NBC) with a multivalued decision diagram (MDD) and influence diagram (ID), which structure and manage problems related to unambiguous modeling for any connection between significant entities. First, the NBC establish the fault probability based on a Naive-Bayes probabilistic model for fault diagnosis. This approach consists of three steps: (I) identifying the network parameters to also show the reliance for probability relationship among the entire set of nodes; (II) determining the structure of the network topology; (III) assessing the probability of the fault being propagated. This calculates the probability of each node being faulty given the evidence. Second, the MDD combines the influential factors of four measurements and determines the utility value of prioritizing their actions during each step of the fault troubleshooting which in turn assesses which fault is selected for repair. We demonstrate how the procedure is adapted by our method, with the host server’s failure to initiate a case-study. This approach is highly efficient and enables low-risk fault troubleshooting in the field of cloud computing.
Effectiveness of Stellate Ganglion Block Under Fuoroscopy or Ultrasound Guidance in Upper Extremity CRPS.

INTRODUCTION Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) is an effective technique which may be used to manage upper extremities pain due to Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), in this study we tried to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure under two different guidance for management of this syndrome. AIM The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrsound guide SGB by comparing it with the furoscopy guided SGB in upper extermities CRPS patients in reducing pain & dysfuction of the affected link. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fourteen patients with sympathetic CRPS in upper extremities in a randomized method with block randomization divided in two equal groups (with ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance). First group was blocked under fluoroscopic guidance and second group blocked under ultrasound guidance. After correct positioning of the needle, a mixture of 5 ml bupivacaine 0.25% and 1 mL of triamcinolone was injected. RESULTS These data represent no meaningful statistical difference between the two groups in terms of the number of pain attacks before the blocks, a borderline correlation between two groups one week and one month after the block and a significant statistical correlation between two groups three month after the block. These data represent no meaningful statistical difference between the patients of any group in terms of the pain intensity (from one week to six months after block), p-value = 0.61. These data represent a meaningful statistical difference among patients of any group and between the two groups in terms of the pain intensity (before the block until six months after block), p-values were 0.001, 0.031 respectively. CONCLUSION According the above mentioned data, in comparison with fluoroscopic guidance, stellate ganglion block under ultrasound guidance is a safe and effective method with lower complication and better improvement in patient's disability indexes.
A Population-Based Study on the Association Between Parental Occupations and Some Common Birth Defects in Singapore (1994–1998)

Learning ObjectivesList the most common birth defects found in this study population.Outline associations between particular birth defects and various categories of work for both men and women.Note possible relationships between exposure to teratogens and specific types of birth defects. Abstract We sought to study the association between some common birth defects and parental occupations. The live births and congenital malformation born between January 1994 and December 1998 were obtained from the Singapore National Registry of Births and Deaths (the National Birth Defect Registry). The prevalence of overall birth defects among Singapore live births during the study period is 13.9 per 1000 live births. The most frequent single coding defects were “bulbus cordis anomalies and anomalies of cardiac septal closure (BCA),” “congenital anomalies of urinary system (CUS),” “cleft palate and cleft lip (CPL),” and “certain congenital musculoskeletal deformities (CMD). ” Using the “Legislators, Senior Officers & Managers” as reference and adjusting for possible confounders, there were significant associations for: (1) paternal “clerical workers” (adjusted RR 2.25) with the BCA; (2) maternal “professionals” with CUS (adjusted risk ratio [RR] 3.58); (3) paternal “production craftsmen and related workers” with both the BCA (adjusted RR 2.04), and the CMD (adjusted RR 2.83); (4) paternal “plant and machine operators and assemblers” with the BCA (adjusted RR 2.49), and the CUS (adjusted RR 5.19), and the CMD (adjusted RR 3.01). Paternal rather than maternal exposure might be more important in the causation of some common birth defects in Singapore.
Medical Malpractice Insurance in the Wake of Liability Reform

This article examines the effect of the liability reforms on medical malpractice insurance over the 1984-91 period. This is the first study to use data by firm and by state for every firm writing medical malpractice insurance over that time period. The liability reforms increased insurance profitability (that is, decreased the loss ratios), where the main mechanism of influence was through decreasing losses. The quantile regression estimates imply that the greatest effects of liability reform are on the most unprofitable firms and that the effect is not uniform across the entire market. This pattern is consistent with the other principal finding, which is that damages caps appear to be most influential.
Year Paper Reinforcement Learning Design for Cancer Clinical Trials

We develop reinforcement learning trials for discovering individualized treatment regimens for life threatening diseases such as cancer. A temporal-difference learning method called Q-learning is utilized which involves learning an optimal policy from a single training set of finite longitudinal patient trajectories. Approximating the Q-function with time-indexed parameters can be achieved by using support vector regression or extremely randomized trees. Within this framework, we demonstrate that the procedure can extract optimal strategies directly from clinical data without relying on the identification of any accurate mathematical models, unlike approaches based on adaptive design. We show that reinforcement learning has tremendous potential in clinical research because it can select actions that improve outcomes by taking into account delayed effects even when the relationship between actions and outcomes is not fully known. To support our claims, the methodology’s practical utility is illustrated in a simulation analysis. For future research, we will apply this general strategy to studying and identifying new treatments for advanced metastatic stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer, which usually includes multiple lines of chemotherapy treatment. Statist. Med. 2009; 00:0001–0006 Prepared using simauth.cls [Version: 2002/09/18 v1.11] Reinforcement learning design for cancer clinical trials Yufan Zhao, Michael R. Kosorok∗,† and Donglin Zeng Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, U.S.A.
Apolipoprotein E Polymorphisms and Age at First Coronary Artery Bypass Graft

Apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphisms are heritable determinants of total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The impact of apoE4 genotypes on the severity of atherosclerosis has been debated; however, recent studies have identified a correlation between apoE4 genotype and atherosclerosis. We assessed the impact of apoE4 genotype on age at first coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), hypothesizing that patients with the apoE4 allele are predisposed to coronary artery disease and present earlier for coronary revascularization. We assessed individual apoE genotypes and age in 560 patients undergoing primary CABG, by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and controlling for gender. Because of the small number of patients in individual genotype groups, we compared patients with one or more copies of the apoE4 allele with those having no copies of the allele, again controlling for gender. A comparison of patients with one or more copies of the apoE4 allele with patients without the allele showed an earlier age at first CABG for those with the allele (P = 0.032). Gene-dose analysis was also significant (P = 0.012); patients with two copies of the allele presented at 54.2 ± 6.9 yr. We report that the apoE4 allele is linked to age at first CABG. Identifying at-risk individuals may help prevent atherosclerosis. Further study is needed to define the mechanism of this association, and to define which coronary intervention is appropriate, based on long-term outcome.
Status of intestinal parasite infections in inhabitants of Palmar, Guayas Province, Ecuador.

Status of intestinal protozoan and helminthic infections was surveyed in mestizo population living in rural parish of Palmar and its nearby recintos(villages). Three of the surveyed villages were at the Pacific coast and 5 villages were in inner pasture land, located about 100 km west of Guayaquil, the second largest city in Ecuador. One stool sample was examined by one cellophane thick smear for helminth ova and one direct smear stained with Lugol's iodine solution for protozoan cysts. Of 325 persons examined, 66.1% were positive for any ova or cyst. The positive rates were: 18.1% for Ascaris lumbricoides, 19.4% for Trichuris trichiura, 0.6% for hookworm, 3.7% for Hymenolepsis nana, 1.8% for Taenia sp. , 19.4% for Entamoeba histolytica, 28.6% for Entamoeba coli, 5.5% for Endolimax nana, 1.5% for Iodamoeba buetschlii, 11.1% for Giardia lamblia and 0.6% for Chilomastix mesnili. Poor supply of potable water was considered the main cause of high prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections.
Concise Current Source Implementation for Efficient 3-D ADI-FDTD Method

A concise current source implementation is presented for the unconditionally stable 3-D alternating direction implicit finite-difference time-domain (ADI-FDTD) method. Unlike the conventional implicit symmetric source scheme applied in both updating procedures, the new implementation involves implicit current formulation in the first procedure only. Note however that the resultant accuracy does not deteriorate but remains to be identical as before. This is achieved using our recent efficient algorithm for the 3-D ADI-FDTD method. Moreover, the current formulations applied in both procedures therein are simplified, along with further reduction of the floating point operations count for the main iterations. Analytical validation of the equivalence among conventional implicit symmetric source scheme and our efficient algorithms with alternative current implementations are discussed. Numerical results provide closer scrutiny of the asymmetry errors, which may still exist even with symmetric source.
The Trend , Determinants And Maternal Outcome of Caesarean Section At The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital , Calabar , Nigeria ; A 5 Year Appraisal

Caesarean section (C/S) rate is increasing globally, justified by increased fetal salvage rate and reduction in maternal mortality and morbidity. The objectives were to determine the incidence of caesarean section in our centre, assess the pattern and factors that influence the caesarean section rate and outcome in our environment. This was a five year retrospective study of all the patients that had caesarean section in our centre between January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2013. Statistical analysis was done using simple percentages and ratios. Out of the 13,906 deliveries, 3,560 were by caesarean section giving an incidence of 25.6% with a steady rise over the years, 2013(29.7%). Primigravida had the highest rate 32.54%. Of the 3,560 C/S, 2,865 (83.28%) were emergency whereas 575 (16.72%) were elective C/S. Two or more previous C/S was the leading indication for elective C/S, 287(49.95%) while cephalo-pelvic disproportion was the commonest for emergency C/S 606(21.14%) and also the overall leading indication followed by fetal distress. Primary postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) was the commonest complication 432(12.3%). There were 23 maternal deaths during the study period giving a maternal mortality ratio of 646 per 100,000 among patients that had caesarean section. All the deaths were unbooked patients. Antenatal care, hospital delivery, timely intervention and effective blood bank services will reduce complication and death from caesarean section. Need for vaginal birth after caesarean section and careful case selection of breech and instrumental vaginal delivery will reduce caesarean section rates.
The Effects of Bond Supply Uncertainty on the Leverage of the Firm

We examine the effects of institutional investors’ credit supply uncertainty (CSU) in the corporate bond markets on the capital structure of the firm. We measure CSU as the bondholders’ investment horizon, based on the idea that the shorter the investment horizon of investors, the higher the issuer’s refinancing risk, i.e., the risk of not being able to roll over its maturing debt due to investors’ credit supply uncertainty. We find that high CSU leads to lower leverage and lower probability of issuing bonds in the next period. High CSU, on the other hand, increases the firm’s probability of issuing equity and borrowing from banks in the next period. Moreover, these effects are concentrated in firms whose bond investor base is more prone to credit supply imbalances, as measured by investor geographical concentration, herding propensity, and local bond preference. These findings suggest that the financial fragility arising from supply-based (as opposed to demand-based) factors have significant effects on the capital structure of the firm. While the positive effect of CSU on bank borrowing implies that issuers can substitute away from bonds into bank loans in times of high CSU, this substitution occurs only for firms whose bank relationships are nonexclusive. In contrast, CSU does not affect bank borrowing decisions of firms with exclusive bank relationships. Together, our findings suggest that investors’ bond supply uncertainty and segmentation of the credit markets (bonds vs. bank loans) are important drivers of corporate financing policy and capital structure even for established firms with access to public bond markets. JEL classification: G1, G2