Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genome-wide association QTL mapping for teat number in a purebred population of Duroc pigs.

Because of increasing litter size in Western pig breeds, additional teats are desirable to increase the capacity for nursing offspring. We applied genome-wide SNP markers to detect QTL regions that affect teat number in a Duroc population. We phenotyped 1024 animals for total teat number. A total of 36 588 SNPs on autosomes were used in the analysis. The estimated heritability for teat number was 0.34 ± 0.05 on the basis of a genomic relationship matrix constructed from all SNP markers. Using a BayesC method, we identified a total of 18 QTL regions that affected teat number in Duroc pigs; 9 of the 18 regions were newly detected.
Posttraumatic stress disorder, its sequelae and cognitive behavioural therapy as an appropriate therapy

Posttraumatic stress Disorder (PTSD) has been researched and written about since its recognition as a disorder in the DSM-III in 1980. This study reviews the literature on PTSD and cognitive behavioural therapies, designed for its treatment. It covers the historical aspects of how the syndrome came to be identified, defined and recognized as a discrete disorder. The neurobiological features of the disorder, its cognitive processes, particularly those of dissociation and traumatic memory are dealt with. Cognitive behavioural therapies are reviewed, these include: relaxation; hypnosis; exposure; eye movement desensitization reprocessing; anxiety management training; cognitive therapy and combination therapies. Further areas for research are suggested based on the lacunae that have yet to be explored with regard to cognitive behavioral therapy treatments. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
TRANCE Is a Novel Ligand of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Family That Activates c-Jun N-terminal Kinase in T Cells*

A novel member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) cytokine family, designated TRANCE, was cloned during a search for apoptosis-regulatory genes using a somatic cell genetic approach in T cell hybridomas. The TRANCE gene encodes a type II membrane protein of 316 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 35 kDa. Its extracellular domain is most closely related to TRAIL, FasL, and TNF. TRANCE is an immediate early gene up-regulated by TCR stimulation and is controlled by calcineurin-regulated transcription factors. TRANCE is most highly expressed in thymus and lymph nodes but not in nonlymphoid tissues and is abundantly expressed in T cells but not in B cells. Cross-hybridization of the mouse cDNA to a human thymus library yielded the human homolog, which encodes a protein 83% identical to the mouse ectodomain. HumanTRANCE was mapped to chromosome 13q14 while mouseTRANCE was located to the portion of mouse chromosome 14 syntenic with human chromosome 13q14. A recombinant soluble form of TRANCE composed of the entire ectodomain induced c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation in T cells but not in splenic B cells or in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells. These results suggest a role for this TNF-related ligand in the regulation of the T cell-dependent immune response.
Group Sparse Additive Machine

A family of learning algorithms generated from additive models have attracted much attention recently for their flexibility and interpretability in high dimensional data analysis. Among them, learning models with grouped variables have shown competitive performance for prediction and variable selection. However, the previous works mainly focus on the least squares regression problem, not the classification task. Thus, it is desired to design the new additive classification model with variable selection capability for many real-world applications which focus on high-dimensional data classification. To address this challenging problem, in this paper, we investigate the classification with group sparse additive models in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. A novel classification method, called as \emph{group sparse additive machine} (GroupSAM), is proposed to explore and utilize the structure information among the input variables. Generalization error bound is derived and proved by integrating the sample error analysis with empirical covering numbers and the hypothesis error estimate with the stepping stone technique. Our new bound shows that GroupSAM can achieve a satisfactory learning rate with polynomial decay. Experimental results on synthetic data and seven benchmark datasets consistently show the effectiveness of our new approach.
Does assistive technology substitute for personal assistance among the disabled elderly?

OBJECTIVES This study examined whether use of equipment (technological assistance) to cope with disability was associated with use of fewer hours of help from another person (personal assistance). METHODS In a cross-sectional study of 2368 community dwellers older than 65 years with 1 or more limitations in basic activities of daily living (ADLs) from the 1994 National Long Term Care Survey, the relation between technological assistance and personal assistance was examined. RESULTS Among people with ADL limitations, multivariate models showed a strong and consistent relation between technological assistance and personal assistance, whereby use of equipment was associated with fewer hours of help. CONCLUSIONS Among people with disability, use of assistive technology was associated with use of fewer hours of personal assistance.
Distributed Cooperative Control of DC Microgrids

A cooperative control paradigm is used to establish a distributed secondary/primary control framework for dc microgrids. The conventional secondary control, that adjusts the voltage set point for the local droop mechanism, is replaced by a voltage regulator and a current regulator. A noise-resilient voltage observer is introduced that uses neighbors' data to estimate the average voltage across the microgrid. The voltage regulator processes this estimation and generates a voltage correction term to adjust the local voltage set point. This adjustment maintains the microgrid voltage level as desired by the tertiary control. The current regulator compares the local per-unit current of each converter with the neighbors' and, accordingly, provides a second voltage correction term to synchronize per-unit currents and, thus, provide proportional load sharing. The proposed controller precisely handles the transmission line impedances. The controller on each converter communicates with only its neighbor converters on a communication graph. The graph is a sparse network of communication links spanned across the microgrid to facilitate data exchange. The global dynamic model of the microgrid is derived, and design guidelines are provided to tune the system's dynamic response. A low-voltage dc microgrid prototype is set up, where the controller performance, noise resiliency, link-failure resiliency, and the plug-and-play capability features are successfully verified.
Double‐blind, single‐dose, cross‐over study of the effects of pramipexole, pergolide, and placebo on rest tremor and UPDRS part III in Parkinson's disease

Tremor is one of the cardinal signs of Parkinson's disease (PD) but its response to antiparkinsonian medication is variable. It has been postulated that pramipexole may have a stronger antiparkinsonian tremor effect than pergolide, another direct acting dopamine agonist medication, possibly because the former has preferential affinity for the dopamine D3 receptor. The purpose of this pilot study was to compare the effects of a single oral dose of either pramipexole (Pr) or pergolide (Pe) or placebo (Pl) on parkinsonian tremor and the motor (part III) subsection of the UPDRS. Ten patients (6 men, 4 women), mean age 65.3 years, mean duration from diagnosis of 2.6 years, with tremor dominant PD were recruited. On three separate occasions a single dose of pramipexole (salt) 500 μg, pergolide 500 μg or placebo were administered in random order to each patient, who were pretreated with domperidone and had their antiparkinsonian medication withheld from midnight before study. After each medication patients were assessed at baseline and then every 30 min for 4 hr using a 0 to 10 tremor rating scale and the UPDRS (part III) in a double‐blind protocol. Adverse effects were systematically recorded. The results demonstrate that 500 μg of either pramipexole or pergolide reduced PD rest tremor scores to a similar degree, which at peak effect was significantly greater than placebo (respectively Pe v Pl: P < 0.006, Pr v Pl: P < 0.033). The two active drugs also had weaker beneficial effects on the UPDRS part III. Pergolide, however, was significantly more likely than pramipexole to cause nausea (P = 0.005) or vomiting (P = 0.014). © 2002 Movement Disorder Society
Development and validation of a risk score for predicting operative mortality in heart failure patients undergoing surgical ventricular reconstruction.

OBJECTIVES Different risk models have been introduced and refined in the past in order to improve standards of care. However, the predictive power of any risk algorithms can decline over time due to changes in surgical practice and the population's risk profile. The present study aimed to develop and validate a risk model for predicting operative mortality in patients with ischaemic heart failure (HF) undergoing surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR). METHODS The study population included 525 patients with previous myocardial infarction and left ventricular remodelling referred to our centre for SVR. All patients underwent surgical reshaping; coronary artery bypass grafting was performed in 489 (93%) patients and mitral valve (MV) repair in 142 (27%). Operative mortality was defined as death within 30 days after surgery. All patients received an operative risk assessment using the logistic EuroSCORE and the ACEF score. RESULTS Better accuracy was achieved by the ACEF score (0.771) compared with the EuroSCORE (0.747). On multivariable logistic regression analysis, forcing the ACEF score in the model, three additional factors remained as independent predictors of operative mortality: atrial fibrillation, NYHA Class 3-4 and MV surgery (odds ratio 2.2, 2.6 and 2.1, respectively) and were computed in the ACEF-SVR. The ACEF-SVR score demonstrated an improved accuracy in respect of the ACEF score (from 0.771 to 0.792) and a better calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow χ(2) of 5.40, P = 0.714). CONCLUSIONS The ACEF-SVR score, starting from a simplified model of risk enabled improvement in the accuracy and calibration of the model, tailoring the risk to a specific population of patients with HF undergoing a specific surgical procedure.
Speech in 6 Year Old Children With Sub-Mucous Cleft Palate

Speech in 83 children (in total) with sub-mucous cleft palate was evaluated at the age of 6 years. Velopharyngeal insufficiency was graded on the basis of perceptual assessment, taking into account the co-existence of various velopharyngeal insufficiency characteristics in speech. Out of 56 patients operated with a velopharyngeal flap to eliminate velo-pharyngeal insufficiency, 42 of them (75%) achieved normal velopharyngeal function in speech. Dento-alveolar misarticulations were found in 35% of the children. Misar-ticulations occurred independently of velopharyngeal insufficiency.
Environmental Scanning and Business Insight Capability : The Role of Business Analytics and Knowledge Integration Full paper

Environmental scanning is an important process that helps organizations sense what is happening in their environments. However, environmental scanning has been found to be less effective than its proponents had hoped for. The problem appears to be that environmental scanning does not lead to the business insights that managers need to help their organizations survive and grow. This paper reports a study into the role of data analytics and knowledge management on environmental scanning and business insight capability. Fifteen indepth interviews were conducted with data analytics professionals to get a deeper understanding of how what they did impacted the results of environmental scanning processes and the generation of business insights. The results indicate data analytics and knowledge management need to play a bigger role in the environmental scanning process if greater business insights are to be generated.
Sublinear‐time approximation algorithms for clustering via random sampling

We present a novel analysis of a random sampling approach for four clustering problems in metric spaces: k‐median, k‐means, min‐sum k‐clustering, and balanced k‐median. For all these problems, we consider the following simple sampling scheme: select a small sample set of input points uniformly at random and then run some approximation algorithm on this sample set to compute an approximation of the best possible clustering of this set. Our main technical contribution is a significantly strengthened analysis of the approximation guarantee by this scheme for the clustering problems.
Effects of voriconazole on tacrolimus metabolism in a kidney transplant recipient

Infection occurs frequently in the organ transplant recipients during the post‐transplant period because of immunosuppression. Therefore, prophylactic antimicrobial agents are often used. The azole antifungals, widely prescribed prophylactically, are known to have many drug–drug interactions. This report presents a case of drug–drug interaction between voriconazole and tacrolimus in a kidney transplant recipient. Voriconazole treatment led to a dramatic increase in tacrolimus concentration that required its discontinuation in spite of the manufacturer’s guidelines that recommend a reduction of tacrolimus dosage by one‐third. The present drug–drug interaction can be attributed to a strong inhibitory effect on cytochrome P450‐3A4 activity by voriconazole. When voriconazole and tacrolimus are coadministered, close monitoring of tacrolimus blood levels is recommended as the rule‐of‐thumb reduction of tacrolimus dose by one‐third may not be satisfactory.
Effects of Parenting Stress and Controlling Parenting Attitudes on Problem Behaviors of Preschool Children: Latent Growth Model Analysis.

PURPOSE This study was conducted to examine the longitudinal effects of parenting stress and parental control attitudes on problem behaviors in preschool children, using a latent growth model. METHODS Participants were 1,724 pairs of parents and 1,724 preschool children who had completed the panel survey on Korean children (5(th)~7(th) survey panels). RESULTS An analysis of the multivariate latent growth model of parenting stress, parental control attitudes, and children's problem behaviors suggested that the parents' intercepts for parenting stress influenced their intercepts for parental control attitudes (father: β=.21, p<.001; mother: β=.55, p<.001). In addition, the slopes for fathers' parenting stress was the only aspect that affected the slopes for mothers' parental control attitudes (β=.77, p<.001). Moreover, both the intercepts and slopes of parenting stress and parental control attitudes significantly affected the children's problem behaviors. CONCLUSION This study is significant as it provides longitudinal evidence of the impact of parenting stress and parental control attitudes on children's problem behaviors. The findings suggest that accurately assessing changes in parenting stress and parental control attitudes and developing intervention programs to reduce them will be effective in reducing problem behaviors in children.
Reliability and Validity of the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory–Female (SIDI-F), a Scale Designed to Measure Severity of Female Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder

The Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory–Female (SIDI-F) is a 13-item scale developed as a clinician-administered assessment tool to quantify the severity of symptoms in women diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). The present investigation assessed the reliability and validity of the SIDI-F as a measure of HSDD severity. Results show that the SIDI-F exhibits excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.9. The validity of the SIDI-F as a measure of HSDD severity was confirmed by a number of observations. Women with a clinical diagnosis (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000]) of HSDD had significantly lower SIDI-F scores than women not meeting diagnostic criteria for any subtype of female sexual dysfunction and women diagnosed with female orgasmic disorder. There was a high correlation between scores on the SIDI-F and scores on the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI; Rosen et al., 2000) and an interactive voice response version of the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ; Clayton, McGarvey, & Clavet, 1997; Clayton, McGarvey, Clavet, & Piazza, 1997), two validated measures that assess general female sexual dysfunction. In contrast, there was a poor correlation between SIDI-F scores and scores on a slightly modified Marital Adjustment Scale (Locke, Wallace, 1959; MAS), an assessment of general (nonsexual) relationship satisfaction. Taken together, the results of the present investigation indicate that the SIDI-F is a reliable and valid measure of HSDD severity, independent of relationship issues.
Ultraviolet B radiation induces cell shrinkage and increases osmolyte transporter mRNA expression and osmolyte uptake in HaCaT keratinocytes

Abstract We have previously shown that compatible organic osmolytes, such as betaine, myo-inositol and taurine, are part of the stress response of normal human keratinocytes (NHKs) to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. In this regard, we tested human HaCaT keratinocytes as a surrogate cell line for NHK. HaCaT cells osmo-dependently express mRNA specific for transport proteins for betaine (BGT-1), myo-inositol (SMIT) and taurine (TAUT). Compared to normoosmotic (305 mosmol/l) controls, which strongly constitutively expressed BGT-1 mRNA, strong induction of SMIT and TAUT mRNA as well as low induction of BGT-1 mRNA expression was observed between 3 and 9 h after hyperosmotic exposure (405 mosmol/l). This expression correlated with an increased osmolyte uptake. Conversely, hypoosmotic (205 mosmol/l) stimulation led to a significant efflux of osmolytes. Exposure to UVB (290–315 nm) radiation induced cell shrinkage which was followed by an upregulation of osmolyte transporter mRNA levels and osmolyte uptake. These results demonstrate that human HaCaT keratinocytes possess an osmolyte strategy including UVB-induced cell shrinkage and following increased osmolyte uptake. However, several differences in osmolyte transporter expression and uptake were noted between NHK and HaCaT cells, indicating that the use of HaCaT cells as a surrogate cell line for NHK has limitations.
Rorschach Comprehensive System Data for a Sample of 190 Japanese Nonpatient Children at Five Ages

This study is a part of our series of studies of nonpatient, Japanese children. In total, 346 children were administered the Rorschach. Thirty-two children had fewer than 10 responses, 112 children had more than 10 but fewer than 14 responses, and 12 children were maladjusted or mentally retarded, for a total of 156. In this study, we analyzed the remaining 190 children not excluded by the above criteria in the following age groups: 5 years (n = 24), 8 years (n = 43), 9 years (n = 42), 12 years (n = 42), and 14 years (n = 39). Japanese children showed few responses generally, with an average of 18∼ 20 responses. In addition to having fewer responses, other features of Japanese children are high Lambda, low EA, very high X–%, and low X+%. The fact that the Rorschach test depends on verbal expression may be one factor in all these features, and we should consider this study in view of these Japanese cultural factors. Interrater reliability findings and Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1995; Matsumoto, 2003; Matsumoto et al., 2002) data are presented.
Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Linkage Map of Arabidopsis thaliana.

We have constructed a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) linkage map of the nuclear genome of the small flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The map is based on the meiotic segregation of both RFLP and morphological genetic markers from five independent crosses. The morphological markers on each of the five chromosomes were included in the crosses to allow alignment of the RFLP map with the established genetic map. The map contains 94 new randomly distributed molecular markers (nine identified cloned Arabidopsis genes and 85 genomic cosmid clones) that detect polymorphisms between the Landsberg erecta and Columbia races. In addition, 17 markers from an independently constructed RFLP map of the Arabidopsis genome [Chang, C. , Bowman, J.L. , DeJohn, A.W. , Lander, E.S. , and Meyerowitz, E.M. (1988). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85, 6856-6860] have been included to permit integration of the two RFLP maps.
Gap junctional signaling in pattern regulation: Physiological network connectivity instructs growth and form

Gap junctions (GJs) are aqueous channels that allow cells to communicate via physiological signals directly. The role of gap junctional connectivity in determining single‐cell functions has long been recognized. However, GJs have another important role: the regulation of large‐scale anatomical pattern. GJs are not only versatile computational elements that allow cells to control which small molecule signals they receive and emit, but also establish connectivity patterns within large groups of cells. By dynamically regulating the topology of bioelectric networks in vivo, GJs underlie the ability of many tissues to implement complex morphogenesis. Here, a review of recent data on patterning roles of GJs in growth of the zebrafish fin, the establishment of left‐right patterning, the developmental dysregulation known as cancer, and the control of large‐scale head‐tail polarity, and head shape in planarian regeneration has been reported. A perspective in which GJs are not only molecular features functioning in single cells, but also enable global neural‐like dynamics in non‐neural somatic tissues has been proposed. This view suggests a rich program of future work which capitalizes on the rapid advances in the biophysics of GJs to exploit GJ‐mediated global dynamics for applications in birth defects, regenerative medicine, and morphogenetic bioengineering. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 643–673, 2017
Implication of allelic polymorphism of osteopontin in the development of lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice

Potentially, autoimmune diseases develop from a combination of multiple genes with allelic polymorphisms. An MRL/Mp‐Faslpr/lpr (MRL/lpr) strain of mice develops autoimmune diseases, including lupus nephritis, but another lpr strain, C3H/HeJ‐Faslpr/lpr (C3H/lpr) does not. This indicates that MRL polymorphic genes are involved in the development of the diseases. By quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis using 527 of the (MRL/lpr × C3H/lpr)F2 mice, we identified a novel locus for susceptibility to lupus nephritis at map position D5Mit115 on chromosome 5, the same alias of the osteopontin (Opn) gene (LOD score =4.0), susceptible in the MRL allele. In functional analyses of the MRL and C3H Opn alleles using synthetic osteopontin (OPN) made with a new method “cell‐free system” with wheat germ ribosomes, the MRL‐OPN induced higher expression and production of immunoglobulins as well as cytokines including TNF‐α, IL‐1β and IFN‐γ in splenocytes and/or macrophages than that of the C3H allele. These findings suggest that allelic polymorphism of OPN causes the functional differences in antibody production and macrophage activation between MRL and C3H strains, possibly involved in the development of lupus nephritis.