Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global growth and stability of agricultural yield decrease with pollinator dependence

Human welfare depends on the amount and stability of agricultural production, as determined by crop yield and cultivated area. Yield increases asymptotically with the resources provided by farmers’ inputs and environmentally sensitive ecosystem services. Declining yield growth with increased inputs prompts conversion of more land to cultivation, but at the risk of eroding ecosystem services. To explore the interdependence of agricultural production and its stability on ecosystem services, we present and test a general graphical model, based on Jensen's inequality, of yield–resource relations and consider implications for land conversion. For the case of animal pollination as a resource influencing crop yield, this model predicts that incomplete and variable pollen delivery reduces yield mean and stability (inverse of variability) more for crops with greater dependence on pollinators. Data collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations during 1961–2008 support these predictions. Specifically, crops with greater pollinator dependence had lower mean and stability in relative yield and yield growth, despite global yield increases for most crops. Lower yield growth was compensated by increased land cultivation to enhance production of pollinator-dependent crops. Area stability also decreased with pollinator dependence, as it correlated positively with yield stability among crops. These results reveal that pollen limitation hinders yield growth of pollinator-dependent crops, decreasing temporal stability of global agricultural production, while promoting compensatory land conversion to agriculture. Although we examined crop pollination, our model applies to other ecosystem services for which the benefits to human welfare decelerate as the maximum is approached.
Caritas and job environment: A replication of Persky et al

Abstract The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand on Persky, Nelson, Watson, and Bent (2008) study of characteristics related to nurses who were effective in Watson’s Caritas framework. Previous research suggests that poorer work environments are associated with higher levels of caring. This surprising finding warrants further investigation. Registered nurses were recruited from a mid-sized community-based hospital in the Midwest portion of the United States of America (N = 20). Each completed the health environment survey (HES). Ten patients that had received primary care from the nurse completed the caring factors survey (CFS). Two hundred nurse/patient dyads were used to determine the relationship between the CFS and HES. Six of the 13 HES scales were positively associated with CFS scores. As nurses’ positive perceptions of the work environment increased, patients’ perceptions of caring increased. Our findings contrast Persky et al.’s. Further research is needed examining factors influencing the relationship between job environment and patient perceptions of caring.
Sites of protein synthesis in Nucleoli of root meristematic cells of Allium cepa as shown by radioautography with [3H]arginine.

The interphase nucleolus in root meristematic cells of Allium cepa may be divided into four regions, three of which are always present: the fibrillar, granular and lacunar regions, while the fourth or vacuolar region may be missing. The sites of protein synthesis in nucleoli were investigated by means of light and electron-microscope radioautography after a 5-min immersion of the roots in a solution of [ 3 H]arginine. The radioautographs of interphase nucleoli showed many silver grains over both the fibrillar and the granular regions. Occasional silver grains were also recorded over, or close to, the lacunar regions, but none were over the vacuolar regions. A 15-min chase period did not change the radioautographic pattern. It is concluded that the three permanent regions of the interphase nucleoli, namely the fibrillar, the granular and the DNA-containing lacunar regions, are sites of protein synthesis.
Yohimbine anxiogenesis in the elevated plus maze requires hindbrain noradrenergic neurons that target the anterior ventrolateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis

The α2 adrenergic receptor antagonist yohimbine (YO) increases transmitter release from noradrenergic (NA) terminals in cortical and subcortical brain regions, including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST). YO activates the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) stress axis and is potently anxiogenic in rats and humans. We previously reported that hindbrain NA neurons within the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract (NST‐A2/C2) and ventrolateral medulla (VLM‐A1/C1) that innervate the anterior ventrolateral (vl)BST contribute to the ability of YO to activate the HPA stress axis in rats. To determine whether the same NA pathway also contributes to YO‐induced anxiogenesis in the elevated plus maze (EPMZ), a selective saporin ribotoxin conjugate (dopamine beta hydroxylase conjugated to saporin toxin, DSAP) was microinjected bilaterally into the anterior vlBST to destroy its NA inputs. Sham‐lesioned controls were microinjected with vehicle. Two experiments were conducted to determine DSAP lesion effects on EPMZ behavior. DSAP lesions did not alter maze behavior in rats after intraperitoneal saline, and did not alter the significant effect of prior maze experience to reduce exploratory and open arm maze activities. However, in maze‐naïve rats, DSAP lesions abolished YO anxiogenesis in the EPMZ. Post‐mortem immunocytochemical analyses confirmed that DSAP consistently ablated caudal NST‐A2/C2 and VLM‐A1/C1 neurons that innervate the anterior vlBST. DSAP lesions did not destroy non‐NA inputs to the anterior vlBST, and produced inconsistent cell loss within the pontine locus coeruleus (A6 cell group) that was unrelated to YO anxiogenesis. Thus, the ability of YO to increase anxiety‐like behavior in the EPMZ depends on hindbrain NA neurons that target the anterior vlBST.
Cardiac glycosides inhibit TNF-α/NF-κB signaling by blocking recruitment of TNF receptor-associated death domain to the TNF receptor

Digitoxin and structurally related cardiac glycoside drugs potently block activation of the TNF-α/NF-κB signaling pathway. We have hypothesized that the mechanism might be discovered by searching systematically for selective inhibitory action through the entire pathway. We report that the common action of these drugs is to block the TNF-α-dependent binding of TNF receptor 1 to TNF receptor-associated death domain. This drug action can be observed with native cells, such as HeLa, and reconstituted systems prepared in HEK293 cells. All other antiinflammatory effects of digitoxin on NF-κB and c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathways appear to follow from the blockade of this initial upstream signaling event.
Solid – extracellular fl uid interaction and damage in the mechanical response of rat brain tissue under con fi ned compression

The mechanical processes that underlie mild traumatic brain injury from physical insults are not well understood. One aspect in particular that has not been examined is the tissue fluid, which is known to be critical in the mechanical function of other organs. To investigate the contributions of solid–fluid interactions to brain tissue mechanics, we performed confined compression tests, that force the extracellular fluid (ECF) to flow in the direction of the deformation, on 6.35 mm diameter, 3 mm long cylindrical samples excised from various regions of rat brains. Two types of tests in deformation control, (1) quasistatic, slow and moderate constant strain rate tests at 0.64 10 /s, 0.001/s and 1/s to large strains and (2) several applications of slow linear deformation to 5% strain each followed by stress relaxation are employed to explore the solid–fluid interaction. At slow and moderate compressive strain rates, we observed stress peaks in the applied strain range at about 11%, whose magnitudes exhibited statistically significant dependence on strain rate. These data suggest that the ECF carries load until the tissue is sufficiently damaged to permit pathological fluid flow. Under the slow ramp rate in the ramp-relaxation cycles protocol, commonly used to estimate permeability, the stress relaxes to zero after the first cycle, rather than to a non-zero equilibrium stress corresponding to the applied strain, which further implicates mechanical damage. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of changes in tissue microstructure during confined compression, before and after compression, provides further evidence of tissue damage. The solid–fluid interactions, reflected in the morphology of the stress–stretch curves and supported by the MRI data, suggest that increases in hydrostatic pressure in the ECF may contribute to mechanical damage of brain tissue. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. r Ltd. All rights reserved. ; fax: þ1 301 314 9477. aslach Jr). j o u r n a l o f t h e m e c h a n i c a l b e h a v i o r o f b i o m e d i c a l m a t e r i a l s 2 9 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 3 8 – 1 5 0 139
Is There Cross-format Transfer in Implicit Invariance Learning?

Three experiments investigated cross-form transfer in the invariance learning paradigm introduced by McGeorge and Burton (1990). The results suggest that the transfer observed by McGeorge and Burton depended on subjects’ ability to use a response strategy discovered by Wright and Burton (1995). When that strategy was denied to subjects (Experiments 1 and 2), no cross-form transfer was observed; when the strategy was made available (Experiment 3), cross-form transfer re-emerged. These results suggest that this form of learning, like many other forms of implicit learning and memory, is hyperspecific.
Mammalian Expression of Infrared Fluorescent Proteins Engineered from a Bacterial Phytochrome

Infrared Vision Proteins from jellyfish and corals that fluoresce in the visible wavelength range have revolutionized optical imaging of cells. However, these wavelengths are absorbed by hemoglobin, water, and lipids and the proteins are thus not appropriate for deep-tissue imaging. Now Shu et al. (p. 804) have engineered a bacteriophytochrome from Deinococcus radiodurans that incorporates biliverdin as the chromophore, to fluoresce with excitation and emission spectra of 648 and 708 nanometers, respectively. These infrared fluorescent proteins are expressed well in mammalian cells and mice, and can be used for whole-body imaging. An engineered infrared fluorescent protein derived from an extremophile bacterium gives a strong signal in mammalian cells. A bacteriophytochrome incorporating biliverdin has been engineered to generate strong infrared fluorescence in mammalian cells and whole mice. Visibly fluorescent proteins (FPs) from jellyfish and corals have revolutionized many areas of molecular and cell biology, but the use of FPs in intact animals, such as mice, has been handicapped by poor penetration of excitation light. We now show that a bacteriophytochrome from Deinococcus radiodurans, incorporating biliverdin as the chromophore, can be engineered into monomeric, infrared-fluorescent proteins (IFPs), with excitation and emission maxima of 684 and 708 nm, respectively; extinction coefficient >90,000 M−1 cm−1; and quantum yield of 0.07. IFPs express well in mammalian cells and mice and spontaneously incorporate biliverdin, which is ubiquitous as the initial intermediate in heme catabolism but has negligible fluorescence by itself. Because their wavelengths penetrate tissue well, IFPs are suitable for whole-body imaging. The IFPs developed here provide a scaffold for further engineering.
Home dialysis is a successful strategy in nonrenal solid organ transplant recipients with end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common complication of solid organ transplantation with a substantial risk of progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The impact of dialysis modality on morbidity and mortality is unknown in these patients. The aim of the present analysis was to describe our experience with home dialysis [peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home haemodialysis (HHD)] to assess the feasibility of this modality in patients who developed ESRD after nonrenal solid organ transplant (NRSOT). METHODS A retrospective observational cohort study with consecutive patients initiated on home dialysis after NRSOT from 2000 to 2009 was conducted. We collected data on patient demographics, laboratory parameters and blood pressure as well as clinical adverse events using our electronic clinical database. RESULTS Between 2000 and 2009, 25 patients [median age, 56 years; interquartile range (IQR), 43-65 years] initiated home dialysis. Ten patients started HHD and 15 patients initiated PD. The types of NRSOT were liver (n = 11), heart (n = 8), lung (n = 5) and heart-lung (n = 1). The median vintage of NRSOT at the time of dialysis initiation was 8.7 years (IQR, 6.3-11.4 years). The median home dialysis follow-up was 24 months (IQR, 15-53 months). The median values of blood pressure, phosphate, calcium, parathyroid hormone and haemoglobin were within the K/DOQI targets. The hospitalization and infection rates were 1 episode every 22 and 29 patient-months, respectively. Three patients switched to in-centre conventional HD during follow-up and eight patients died. CONCLUSIONS . Home dialysis (PD and HHD) is a feasible and sustainable modality for patients with ESRD after NRSOT. Home dialysis offers several potential benefits, such as improved haemodynamic and metabolic control, which may be important in the NRSOT population. Home dialysis in patients who develop ESRD after NRSOT should be actively considered for this cohort.
Soft Tissue Perineurioma: Clinicopathologic Analysis of 81 Cases Including Those With Atypical Histologic Features

Perineuriomas are uncommon benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors that include soft tissue, sclerosing, and intraneural variants. Fewer than 50 soft tissue perineuriomas have been reported to date, and the clinical significance of atypical histologic features is unknown. To characterize these tumors further, 81 soft tissue perineuriomas received between 1994 and 2003 were retrieved from the authors' consult files. Hematoxylin and eosin sections were reexamined, immunohistochemistry was performed, and clinical details were obtained from referring physicians. Forty-three patients were female and 38 male (mean age, 46 years; range, 10-79 years). Tumor size ranged from 0.3 to 20 cm (mean, 4.1 cm) in greatest dimension. Most patients presented with a painless mass. The tumors arose in a wide anatomic distribution: 36 lower limb, 19 upper limb, 15 trunk, 7 head and neck, 3 retroperitoneum, and 1 paratesticular. Forty-two tumors were situated primarily in subcutis, 25 in deep soft tissue, and 9 were limited to the dermis. Nearly all cases were grossly well circumscribed; 12 showed focal microscopically infiltrative margins. Most tumors had a storiform and focally whorled growth pattern; 17 exhibited fascicular areas. Thirty-eight tumors were hypocellular, 15 were markedly hypercellular, and 7 showed alternating zones of hypocellularity and hypercellularity. Stroma was usually collagenous but in 17 tumors was predominantly myxoid, and in 16 was mixed collagenous and myxoid. Mitoses ranged from 0 to 13 per 30 high power fields (mean, 1); 53 tumors had no mitoses. Based on worrisome cytologic or architectural features, 14 cases were classified as atypical perineuriomas: 12 contained scattered pleomorphic cells, 1 showed an abrupt transition from typical morphology to a markedly hypercellular, fascicular area with cytologic atypia, and 1 exhibited diffuse infiltration of skeletal muscle. All tumors were reactive for epithelial membrane antigen; 50 of 78 (64%) expressed CD34, 22 of 76 (29%) claudin-1, 16 of 77 (21%) smooth muscle actin, and 4 of 81 (5%) S-100 protein. All tumors were negative for glial fibrillary acidic protein, neurofilament protein, and desmin. Clinical follow-up was available for 43 patients (mean, 41 months; range, 6-146 months). Among tumors for which the status of surgical margins was known, 52% were widely excised, 31% were marginally excised, and 18% had positive margins. Only two tumors recurred locally (one of which was atypical): one recurred 10 years following primary excision; and one recurred twice, 5 and 9 years following excision. No tumor metastasized. Soft tissue perineuriomas behave in a benign fashion and rarely recur. Atypical histologic features (including scattered pleomorphic cells and infiltrative margins) seem to have no clinical significance and appear to be akin to those seen in ancient schwannoma and atypical (bizarre) neurofibroma.
Use of aromatherapy with hospice patients to decrease pain, anxiety, and depression and to promote an increased sense of well-being

This study measured the responses of 17 cancer hospice patients to humidified essential lavender oil aromatherapy. Vital signs as well as levels of pain, anxiety, depression, and sense of well-being were measured (using 11-point verbal analogs). Each subject was measured on three different days before and after a 60-minute session consisting of (1) no treatment (control); (2) water humidification (control); or (3) 3-percent lavender aromatherapy. Results reflected a positive, yet small, change in blood pressure and pulse, pain, anxiety, depression, and sense of well-being after both the humidified water treatment and the lavender treatment. Following the control session (no treatment), there was also slight improvement in vital signs, depression, and sense of well-being, but not in pain or anxiety levels.
The potential role of epigenetic modifications in the heritability of multiple sclerosis

It is now well established that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to and interact in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the currently described causal genetic variants do not explain the majority of the heritability of MS, resulting in ‘missing heritability’. Epigenetic mechanisms, which principally include DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNA-mediated post-transcriptional gene silencing, may contribute a significant component of this missing heritability. As the development of MS is a dynamic process potentially starting with inflammation, then demyelination, remyelination and neurodegeneration, we have reviewed the dynamic epigenetic changes in these aspects of MS pathogenesis and describe how environmental risk factors may interact with epigenetic changes to manifest in disease.
Indian adolescents and human immunodeficiency virus: A pilot study from Delhi

Dear Editor, Adolescence is defined as the period from 10 to 19 years of age. Nearly 22.8% of the Indian population fall in this age group. [1] According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund report, India has been ranked 10th in the list of countries that were most affected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in this age group with nearly 46,000 adolescent girls and 49,000 adolescent boys infected by HIV in the year 2009. [2] Several risk factors including commercial sex, casual sex, sexual abuse, and substance abuse are found in this group that makes them vulnerable to HIV. [3] The risk of HIV in Indian adolescents is further compounded by their incomplete and inaccurate knowledge about it. In addition, the conservative Indian culture with its social restrictions and norms prevents free and open discussion about HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) within family and denies the children and adolescents even the basic information about it.
Evaluation of Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Models in Risk Assessment: An Example with Perchloroethylene

One of the more problematic aspects of the application of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models in risk assessment is the question of whether the model has been adequately validated to provide confidence in the dose metrics calculated with it. A number of PBPK models have been developed for perchloroethylene (PCE), differing primarily in the parameters estimated for metabolism. All of the models provide reasonably accurate simulations of selected kinetic data for PCE in mice and humans and could thus be considered to be “validated” to some extent. However, quantitative estimates of PCE cancer risk are critically dependent on the prediction of the rate of metabolism at low environmental exposures. Recent data on the urinary excretion of trichloroacetic acid (TCA), the major metabolite of PCE, for human subjects exposed to lower concentrations than those used in previous studies, make it possible to compare the high- to low-dose extrapolation capability of the various published human models. The model of Gearhart et al., which is the only model to include a description of TCA kinetics, provided the closest predictions of the urinary excretion observed in these low-concentration exposures. Other models overestimated metabolite excretion in this study by 5- to 15-fold. A systematic discrepancy between model predictions and experimental data for the time course of the urinary excretion of TCA suggested a contribution from TCA formed by metabolism of PCE in the kidney and excreted directly into the urine. A modification of the model of Gearhart et al. to include metabolism of PCE to TCA in the kidney at 10% of the capacity of the liver, with direct excretion of the TCA formed in the kidney into the urine, markedly improved agreement with the experimental time-course data, without altering predictions of liver metabolism. This case study with PCE demonstrates the danger of relying on parent chemical kinetic data to validate a model that will be used for the prediction of metabolism.
Normal fixation of eccentric targets.

Two-dimensional eye movements were recorded by a contact-lens optical lever while two experienced subjects attempted to maintain fixation at the center of a 1°. 3-diam disk, at the center of two- and four-disk arrays separated by 10°. 0 to 29°. 5, or to maintain the same eye position after the disk was removed from view. Fixation stability was better with the foveal disk than when the target was presented in the near periphery. Fixation stability deteriorated slowly as target separation increased, but fixation stability with the most peripheral target was better than that with no target at all. This deterioration of fixation stability was associated with increases of the size of both saccades and intersaccadic drifts, but the frequency of saccades was not influenced systematically.
HELMINTH PARASITE COMMUNITIES IN FOUR SPECIES OF SHOREBIRDS (CHARADRIIDAE) ON KING ISLAND, TASMANIA

Helminth community composition and structure were examined among rwo resident shorebird species, red-capped plover, Charadrius ruficapillus (N = 20), and masked lapwing, Vanellus miles (N = 5), and rwo migrants, ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres (N ~ and curlew sandpiper, Calidris ftrruginea (N = 5), on King Island, Tasmania in March-April 1993, prior to northward migration to the grounds. The total number of species of helminths recovered was 28 and life cycles of at least 19 of these were occurring on the island. Twenty-five species were categorised as generalists and three were undetermined. One to three species of helminths were dominant in each host species. Eight species, to various degrees, were common among the four species of host. Most sharing occurred in the mucosal trematode guild. Similarities berween resident Charadrius ruficapillus and migrant A. interpres was 32.7%, while the mean number of species and mean number of helminths were significantly higher inA. inter pres. Except for five new species found in this study, all other species of helminths have been described or reported from charadriids or related hosts from other continents. The pool of helminth parasites capable of infecting shorebirds was well established on King Island.