Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Posterior Orbitofrontal and Anterior Cingulate Pathways to the Amygdala Target Inhibitory and Excitatory Systems with Opposite Functions

The bidirectional dialogue of the primate posterior orbitofrontal cortex (pOFC) with the amygdala is essential in cognitive–emotional functions. The pOFC also sends a uniquely one-way excitatory pathway to the amygdalar inhibitory intercalated masses (IM), which inhibit the medial part of the central amygdalar nucleus (CeM). Inhibition of IM has the opposite effect, allowing amygdalar activation of autonomic structures and emotional arousal. Using multiple labeling approaches to identify pathways and their postsynaptic sites in the amygdala in rhesus monkeys, we found that the anterior cingulate cortex innervated mostly the basolateral and CeM amygdalar nuclei, poised to activate CeM for autonomic arousal. By contrast, a pathway from pOFC to IM exceeded all other pathways to the amygdala by density and size and proportion of large and efficient terminals. Moreover, whereas pOFC terminals in IM innervated each of the three distinct classes of inhibitory neurons, most targeted neurons expressing dopamine- and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein (DARPP-32+), known to be modulated by dopamine. The predominant pOFC innervation of DARPP-32+ neurons suggests activation of IM and inhibition of CeM, resulting in modulated autonomic function. By contrast, inhibition of DARPP-32 neurons in IM by high dopamine levels disinhibits CeM and triggers autonomic arousal. The findings provide a mechanism to help explain how a strong pOFC pathway, which is poised to moderate activity of CeM, through IM, can be undermined by the high level of dopamine during stress, resulting in collapse of potent inhibitory mechanisms in the amygdala and heightened autonomic drive, as seen in chronic anxiety disorders. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The dialogue between prefrontal cortex and amygdala allows thoughts and emotions to influence actions. The posterior orbitofrontal cortex sends a powerful pathway that targets a special class of amygdalar intercalated mass (IM) inhibitory neurons, whose wiring may help modulate autonomic function. By contrast, the anterior cingulate cortex innervates other amygdalar parts, activating circuits to help avoid danger. Most IM neurons in primates label for the protein DARPP-32, known to be activated or inhibited based on the level of dopamine. Stress markedly increases dopamine release and inhibits IM neurons, compromises prefrontal control of the amygdala, and sets off a general alarm system as seen in affective disorders, such as chronic anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis of two Indonesian local cattle breeds based on cytochrome b gene sequences

Hartatik T, Hariyono DNH, Adinata Y. 2019. Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis of two Indonesian local cattle breeds based on cytochrome b gene sequences. Biodiversitas 20: 17-22. Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of two Indonesian local cattle breeds (Pasundan and Pacitan cattle) were investigated using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome b (cyt b) gene analysis. Partial sequences of cyt b gene, 404 bp in length, were determined for 21 individuals from the two breeds. Genetic diversity of the breeds was assessed based on the number of polymorphic sites, number of haplotypes, haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity and average number of differences. In addition, a neighbour-joining (NJ) haplotype tree was constructed based on Kimura’s two-parameter model. Among the two breeds, haplotype and nucleotide diversity of Pacitan cattle were the highest with values of 0.3778 and 0.00099, respectively. In contrast, Pasundan cattle had the lowest value for haplotype (0.1818) and nucleotide (0.00045) diversity. Four haplotypes (Hap_16, Hap_17, Hap_18 and Hap_19) were found across the two breeds and around 85.71% of investigated individuals were classified as Hap_16. Phylogenetic analysis with the inclusion of the cyt b sequences from 39 cattle breeds from Genbank database, showed that Indonesian cattle made a separated lineage together with Bos javanicus, B. bison, and B. bonasus. Pasundan and Pacitan cattle were considered from the same lineage based on haplotype distribution as well as phylogenetic analysis. This study may help the future researchers and livestock breeders for designing a breeding program based on a better understanding of the genetic diversity and history of local breeds.
Restoring Savanna Using Fire: Impact on the Breeding Bird Community

Restoration of many terrestrial plant communities involves the reintroduction of fire. However, there have been few studies of the effects of fire on the avifauna during the restoration process. To study the effects of oak savanna restoration on avian communities, breeding birds were censused and the vegetation structure documented in seven experimental burn units (8–18 ha) that had experienced different frequencies of controlled burns during the past 31 years (0–26 burns). Data were analyzed with both direct and indirect gradient analyses using multivariate techniques. The results showed that, as savanna restoration proceeded, there was a general decline in predominantly insectivorous species, particularly those that feed in the upper canopy region (leaves and air space), and a general increase in omnivorous species, particularly those that feed on the ground and in the lower canopy. Insectivorous bark gleaners (woodpeckers) also increased during restoration and were correlated with the increase in standing dead trees resulting from the fires. Overall, savanna restoration resulted in increases in the abundance of many open country bird species, including many species that have been declining in central and eastern North America, including red‐headed woodpecker, Baltimore oriole, eastern kingbird, vesper sparrow, field sparrow, lark sparrow, brown thrasher, American goldfinch, and brown‐headed cowbird. The shifts in species and guilds were correlated with changes in burn frequency and the macro vegetation structure—tree and shrub density, leaf area index, and relative proportion of standing dead trees. The findings show that savanna restoration can increase bird diversity and provide important habitat for uncommon or declining bird species. These birds are most likely attracted to one or more of the distinctive habitat features of the restored savanna environments, including scattered mature trees, standing dead trees and snags, and presence of both shrubby and grassland vegetation. The findings also suggest that restoration ecologists and wildlife biologists will need to work together to achieve desired goals, since different types of savanna restoration efforts may produce different effects on the breeding bird community.
Tyrosine kinases modulate K+ channel gating in mouse Schwann cells

1 The whole‐cell configuration of the patch‐clamp technique and immunoprecipitation experiments were used to investigate the effects of tyrosine kinases on voltage‐dependent K+ channel gating in cultured mouse Schwann cells. 2 Genistein, a broad‐spectrum tyrosine kinase inhibitor, markedly reduced the amplitude of a slowly inactivating delayed‐rectifier current (IK) and, to a lesser extent, that of a transient K+ current (IA). Similar results were obtained on IK with another tyrosine kinase inhibitor, herbimycin A. Daidzein, the inactive analogue of genistein, was without effect. 3 Unlike herbimycin A, genistein produced additional effects on IA by profoundly affecting its gating properties. These changes consisted of slower activation kinetics with an increased time to peak, a positive shift in the voltage dependence of activation (by +30 mV), a decrease in the steepness of activation gating (9 mV per e‐fold change) and an acceleration of channel deactivation. 4 The steepness of the steady‐state inactivation was increased by genistein treatment, while the recovery from inactivation was not significantly altered. 5 The action of genistein on voltage‐dependent K+ (Kv) currents was accompanied by a decrease in tyrosine phosphorylation of Kv1.4 as well as Kv1.5 and Kv2.1 encoding transient and slowly inactivating delayed‐rectifier K+ channel α subunits, respectively. 6 In conclusion, the present study shows that tyrosine kinases markedly affect the amplitude of voltage‐dependent K+ currents in Schwann cells and finely tune the gating properties of the transient K+ current component IA. These modulations may be functionally relevant in the control of K+ channel activity during Schwann cell development and peripheral myelinogenesis.
Thymus size and its relationship to perinatal events

A retrospective study was conducted to assess radiographically the thymus size in well and sick neonates and to search for a possible relationship to perinatal events. Thymus size was expressed as cardiothymic:thoracic ratio (CT/T) by measuring the width of the cardiothymic shadow at the level of carina and dividing it by the width of the thorax at the costophrenic angles. The CT/T was measured on chest radiographs obtained on day 1 in well term neonates consecutively born in our nursery and sick neonates with meconium staining of the amniotic fluid, meconium aspiration syndrome or respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Neonates with congenital anomalies, congenital heart disease or intrauterine growth retardation were excluded. There were no significant relationships between CT/T and sex, birth route, birthweight or gestational age in well and sick term neonates. The CT/T were comparable among well and sick term neonates and were significantly greater in the preterm neonates with RDS than in the preterm neonates without RDS. The CT/T was correlated to the birth route only in the preterm neonates.
The Effect of Mycotoxins on Immune Response of Broilers to the Live ND Vaccines Applied by Different Routes

A study was conducted to assess the impact of mycotoxins naturally contaminated ration on the immune response of vaccinated broilers against Newcastle disease ( ND )with live ND vaccines applied by different routes.150 one day old commercial chicks were divided into 5 equal groups (30 birds in each)according different routs of administration. Exposure of broilers to Ochratoxin with level of 23 part per billion (PPB) and Aflatoxin with level of 16 PPB resulted in significance decrease in immune response (humoral and cell mediated )with mean HI log2antibody titers at the 66 day old (7.67) in both of vaccinated groups without mycotoxins consumption compared with (6.33) in spray vaccinated group with mycotoxin consumption and(5.67)in water vaccinated group with mycotoxin consumption. Also consumption of such contaminated ration resulted in lack of adequate protection against subsequent experimental challenge with VVND virus where the mortality was higher in groups fed in contaminated ration than in groups fed on mycotoxin free rations in both 1 and 2 challenges with mortalities percentage 30% then 10%,60% then 50%, and 70% then 50% at both vaccinated groups without mycotoxins consumption, spray vaccinated group with mycotoxins consumption, and water vaccinated group with mycotoxin consumption in order. All results were in comparing with –Ve control group.
Communitywide smoking prevention: long-term outcomes of the Minnesota Heart Health Program and the Class of 1989 Study.

OBJECTIVES The Class of 1989 Study is part of the Minnesota Heart Health Program (MHHP), a populationwide research and demonstration project designed to reduce cardiovascular disease in three educated communities from 1980 to 1993. This paper describes an intensive, school-based behavioral intervention on cigarette smoking, comparing long-term outcomes in one of the intervention communities with those in a matched reference community. METHODS Beginning in sixth grade (1983), seven annual waves of cohort and cross-sectional behavioral measurements were taken from one MHHP intervention community and its matched pair. All students in each community were eligible to participate (baseline n = 2401). Self-reported data collected at each period described prevalence and intensity of cigarette smoking. RESULTS There were no differences at baseline for either weekly smoking prevalence or intensity of smoking. Throughout the follow-up period, however, smoking rates as determined by these measures were significantly lower in the intervention community: 14.6% of students were weekly smokers at the end of high school compared with 24.1% in the reference community. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that multiple intervention components such as behavioral education in schools, booster programs to sustain training, and complementary communitywide strategies may all be needed for lasting reductions in adolescent tobacco use.
Interferon for interferon nonresponding and relapsing patients with chronic hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND Interferon monotherapy leads to sustained virologic clearance in a minority of patients with chronic hepatitis C. Studies have yielded conflicting results regarding retreatment with interferon in nonresponders and relapsers. OBJECTIVES To assess the beneficial and harmful effects of retreatment with interferon in chronic hepatitis C nonresponders and relapsers to previous interferon treatment. SEARCH STRATEGY Trials were identified through electronic databases, manual searches, authors, and pharmaceutical companies (August 2001). SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised trials comparing interferon versus control or different interferon regimens in chronic hepatitis C patients being nonresponders and relapsers to previous interferon were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The primary outcome was failure to achieve a sustained virologic response defined as positive serum hepatitis C virus RNA at least six months following treatment. Secondary outcomes included liver-related morbidity, mortality, biochemical responses, adverse events, and histology. MAIN RESULTS Ten randomised trials involving 686 nonresponders and eight trials involving 484 relapsers were included; their methodological quality was poor. In nonresponders, interferon reduced the risk of not achieving an end of treatment biochemical response compared with no treatment (relative risk [RR] 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66 to 0.91); however, virologic responses were not reported. In a post hoc subgroup analysis, doses greater than 3 million units (MU) three times weekly offered no advantage compared with 3 MU three times weekly for biochemical sustained response. Failure to obtain a virologic sustained response was less likely with 48 than 24 weeks of therapy (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.96). Adverse events did not differ significantly regardless of treatment dose or duration. In relapsers, none of the trials compared interferon with no treatment. In a post hoc analysis, doses greater than 3 MU three times weekly were no more effective in achieving a virologic sustained response than 3 MU three times weekly. Compared with 24 weeks, treatment durations of 48 weeks were less likely to fail to achieve a virologic sustained response (RR 0.69, 95% CI Random 0.51 to 0.95), but associated with more frequent dosage reduction (RR 9.07, 95% CI 1.20 to 68.63). No data regarding clinical outcomes or histology was available in either patient group. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS Retreatment with interferon leads to sustained virologic clearance in a minority of chronic hepatitis C patients with nonresponse or relapse following interferon monotherapy. Treatment durations of 48 weeks are superior to 24 weeks, but doses greater than 3 MU three times weekly are no more effective. No data exists regarding the effect on clinical outcomes.
The opportunistic and bacterial infections associated with pediatric Human Immunodeficiency Virus disease

Opportunistic and bacterial infections remain the leading causes of death of Human Immunodeficiency Virus‐infected children, despite recent advances in the diagnosis of HIV infection during early infancy; antiretroviral therapies; advances in the treatment of some infections; an improved understanding of the cellular immune systems during early childhood; and new strategies for the prevention of some infections. However, these advances appear to be changing the natural history of pediatric HIV infection, resulting in an improved and longer life for infected children. This article briefly reviews the epidemiology, predictors, and treatments of the most common infections associated with pediatric HIV disease, including Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, recurrent bacterial infections, candidiasis, herpes group viruses, mycobacterial disease and cryptosporidiosis.
A study of preferences for sharing and privacy

We describe studies of preferences about information sharing aimed at identifying fundamental concerns with privacy and at understanding how people might abstract the details of sharing into higher-level classes of recipients and information that are treated similarly. Thirty people specified what information they are willing to share with whom. Although people vary in their overall level of comfort in sharing, we identified key classes of recipients and information. Such abstractions highlight the promise of developing expressive controls for sharing and privacy.
Human CD4+ T Cells Induced by Synthetic Peptide Malaria Vaccine Are Comparable to Cells Elicited by Attenuated Plasmodium falciparum Sporozoites1

Peptide vaccines containing minimal epitopes of protective Ags provide the advantages of low cost, safety, and stability while focusing host responses on relevant targets of protective immunity. However, the limited complexity of malaria peptide vaccines raises questions regarding their equivalence to immune responses elicited by the irradiated sporozoite vaccine, the “gold standard” for protective immunity. A panel of CD4+ T cell clones was derived from volunteers immunized with a peptide vaccine containing minimal T and B cell epitopes of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein to compare these with previously defined CD4+ T cell clones from volunteers immunized with irradiated P. falciparum sporozoites. As found following sporozoite immunization, the majority of clones from the peptide-immunized volunteers recognized the T* epitope, a predicted universal T cell epitope, in the context of multiple HLA DR and DQ molecules. Peptide-induced T cell clones were of the Th0 subset, secreting high levels of IFN-γ as well as variable levels of Th2-type cytokines (IL-4, IL-6). The T* epitope overlaps a polymorphic region of the circumsporozoite protein and strain cross-reactivity of the peptide-induced clones correlated with recognition of core epitopes overlapping the conserved regions of the T* epitope. Importantly, as found following sporozoite immunization, long-lived CD4+ memory cells specific for the T* epitope were detectable 10 mo after peptide immunization. These studies demonstrate that malaria peptides containing minimal epitopes can elicit human CD4+ T cells with fine specificity and potential effector function comparable to those elicited by attenuated P. falciparum sporozoites.
Modulation of plasma triglyceride levels by apoE phenotype: a meta-analysis.

The relationship between apoE phenotype and plasma lipid levels was analyzed in the combined data of published studies. Accordingly, 45 population samples from 17 different countries were included in the analysis. The mean plasma values of cholesterol (CH), triglyceride (TG), and high density lipoprotein (HDL)-CH of the apoE 2/2, 3/2, 4/3, 4/4, and 4/2 groups were compared with the same parameters of the E 3/3 subset. The standardized difference between the plasma lipid concentrations of the apoE subgroups and of their respective apoE 3/3 control (Z-score), as well as their mean weighted value, were calculated for each study and in each subgroup. The analysis confirmed that subjects carrying the epsilon 2 and epsilon 4 alleles had, respectively, lower (Z2/2 = -0.39, Z3/2 = -0.34) and higher (Z4/3 = 0.15, Z4/4 = 0.29) plasma cholesterol values than subjects carrying the epsilon 3/epsilon 3 genotype. In addition, results indicated a consistent relationship between plasma TG levels and apoE phenotype among different populations. TG concentrations were significantly higher in apoE 2/2, 3/2, 4/3 and E 4/2 than in E 3/3 subsets (Z2/2 = 0.42, Z3/2 = 0.14, Z4/3 = 0.13, Z4/2 = 0.19). Further, this trend was found in samples of normolipidemic adults and children, in diabetic and obese individuals, as well as in hyperlipidemic subjects indicating an ubiquitous relationship. Concurrently, HDL-CH was significantly lower in the apoE 4/3 (Z4/3 = -0.09) than in the E 3/3 subset. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Bidding Frenzy: Speed of Competitor Reaction and Willingness to Pay in Auctions

This research examines how the intensity of the dynamic competitive interaction with other bidders in ascending auctions influences consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for auctioned products. It focuses on one important aspect of this interaction: the speed of competitor reaction. The key hypothesis is that having one’s own bids reciprocated by competing bidders more quickly increases one’s WTP in an auction. Evidence from five experiments demonstrates this effect and pinpoints the essential aspects of the psychological mechanism that underlies it. In particular, the effect of speed of competitor reaction on bidding behavior (1) is serially mediated by the perception that the auction is more intensely competitive and by a greater desire to win, (2) is distinct from the effects of time pressure and of the auction’s duration or overall rate of progression, (3) is not driven by inferences about the auctioned product’s market value, (4) is not qualified by the number of competing bidders nor due to any inferences about the latter, and (5) hinges on direct competitive interaction with other human bidders.
Stock Splits and Liquidity Risk in the Chinese Stock Market

This paper examines the impact of stock splits on liquidity in the Chinese stock market. Liquidity can be generally described as the ability to trade large quantities of financial assets quickly at low cost with less price impact. For stock splits, managers have incentives to use it to attract more uninformed traders to participate in trading. More uninformed trading allows market makers to reduce their inventory holding costs and adverse information cost, leading to lower trading costs and liquidity improvement. Using a GAM model, we find that stock splits positively affect stock liquidity between 1996 and 2013 in China.