Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics

Premise of research. The Late Paleozoic Ice Age was the last extensive pre-Pleistocene ice age. It includes many climate changes of different intensities, permitting examination of many and varied biotic responses. The tropical Pennsylvanian Subperiod, usually visualized as one vast wetland coal forest, in fact also was dominated, periodically, by seasonally dry vegetation that, in turn, covered most of the central and western Pangean supercontinent. Equatorial wetland and dryland biomes oscillated during single glacial-interglacial cycles. This recognition changes understanding of the Coal Age tropics; examination of their spatiotemporal patterns indicates that these vegetation types responded differently to global environmental disturbances and long-term trends and points to potentially different underlying controls on evolutionary histories of their component lineages. Methodology. This study is based on the published literature and on examination of geological exposures and fossil floras, mainly from North America but also from other parts of the world. Pivotal results. Wetlands and seasonally dry habitats were equally part of the Coal Age Pangean tropics. They dominated these landscapes at different times, under different climatic regimes. Wetland vegetation was likely forced into refugia during seasonally dry (subhumid to semiarid) parts of glacial-interglacial cycles; it reemerged/reassembled during wet (humid to perhumid) periods. Seasonally dry vegetation resided permanently in areas of western and central Pangea and in microhabitats within the Central Pangean Mountains. Both floras had lower biodiversity than modern floras in similar habitats. The wetland flora species pool was more phylogenetically disparate than any modern vegetation. In contrast, seasonally dry floras were dominated by seed plants. These biomes responded differently to acute environmental changes and chronic long-term aridification. Conclusions. From ecological or evolutionary perspectives, the present-day world is but one possibility. Lower-diversity worlds such as the late Paleozoic, with a rich spectrum of environmental variations, offer insights into relationships between organisms and environments that expand understanding of these phenomena and enlarge our sense of what is possible or probable as we look to the future.
Nitrogen availability effects on gas exchange measurements in field-grown maize (Zea mays L.) under irrigated Mediterranean conditions

There are limited studies about the effect of nitrogen (N) deficiency on leaf growth, N status, and photosynthetic capacity of maize grown under field conditions in a Mediterranean climate. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different levels of mineral N availability on leaf gas exchange parameters of sprinkler irrigated maize. The experiment was conducted in a conventional maize field located in the central part of the Ebro valley (Spain) during two seasons. Using a portable LICOR-6400 equipment, instantaneous measurements and light response curves to gas exchange were conducted in plots with different levels of N supply ranging from deficient (no fertilized) to over-fertilized (300 kg N/ha). In addition to gas exchange measurements, mineral soil N content, chlorophyll meter readings (CMR), leaf N content, and grain yield were measured in the different plots. Results showed that grain yield reached a plateau (14.5 Mg/ha) when the mineral N available was about 179 kg/ha. CMR were linearly and highly related to total N in ear leaves. The relationship between light-saturated leaf photosynthesis measurements and CMR was significant but very weak ( R 2 =0.13) at V8 and V14 stages but increased later in the growing season ( R 2 =0.52). Plants with intermediate levels of N supply (48<CMR<54) tended to have slightly higher assimilation rates than plants with higher CMR readings. As the available N increased, the saturation point, the light compensation point and significant increases of dark respiration rate were observed. Under the conditions of the study, leaf N contents of 1.9% in the ear leaf were enough to maximize leaf assimilation rates with no need to over-fertilize the maize crop.
Sex-Specific Responses to Self-Paced, High-Intensity Interval Training With Variable Recovery Periods

Abstract Laurent, CM, Vervaecke, LS, Kutz, MR, and Green, JM. Sex-specific responses to self-paced, high-intensity interval training with variable recovery periods. J Strength Cond Res 28(4): 920–927, 2014—This study examined sex-specific responses during self-paced, high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Sixteen (8 men and 8 women) individuals completed a peak oxygen uptake test and 3 treadmill HIIT sessions on separate days. The HIIT sessions consisted of six 4-minute intervals performed at the highest self-selected intensity individuals felt they could maintain. Recovery between intervals was counterbalanced and consisted of 1-, 2-, or 4-minute recovery during each trial. Relative measures of intensity, including percentage of velocity at VO2peak (vVO2peak), %VO2peak, %HRmax, and blood lactate concentration ([La]), were observed during the trials. Perceived readiness was recorded immediately before and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded at the end of each interval with session RPE recorded after each trial. Results revealed a significant effect of sex on %vVO2peak (p < 0.01) and %HRmax (p < 0.01). Data show that across trials, men self-select higher %vVO2peak (84.5 vs. 80.7%), whereas women produce higher %HRmax (96.9 vs. 92.1%) and %VO2peak (89.6 vs. 86.1%) with no difference in [La] or perceptual responses. These findings support the notion that women may demonstrate improved recovery during high-intensity exercise, as they will self-select intensities resulting in greater cardiovascular strain. Moreover, results confirm previous findings suggesting that a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio is optimal during HIIT for both men and women.
The epigenetic landscape related to reactive oxygen species formation in the cardiovascular system

Cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can act as damaging molecules but also represent central hubs in cellular signalling networks. Increasing evidence indicates that ROS play an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, although the underlying mechanisms and consequences of pathophysiologically elevated ROS in the cardiovascular system are still not completely resolved. More recently, alterations of the epigenetic landscape, which can affect DNA methylation, post‐translational histone modifications, ATP‐dependent alterations to chromatin and non‐coding RNA transcripts, have been considered to be of increasing importance in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. While it has long been accepted that epigenetic changes are imprinted during development or even inherited and are not changed after reaching the lineage‐specific expression profile, it becomes more and more clear that epigenetic modifications are highly dynamic. Thus, they might provide an important link between the actions of ROS and cardiovascular diseases. This review will provide an overview of the role of ROS in modulating the epigenetic landscape in the context of the cardiovascular system.
Treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections with trimethoprim versus sulfisoxazole, with special reference to antibody-coated bacteria and fecal flora

A total of 331 college-age women with urinary tract infections were studied. These women were assigned randomly to the following groups: 50 patients treated with 400 mg of trimethoprim (TMP) per day for 14 days (designated the TMP400/14d group); 50 treated with 2.0 g of sulfisoxazole (SZ) per day for 14 days (SZ/14d group); 120 treated with 200 mg of TMP per day for 10 days (TMP200/10d group); and 111 treated with 2.0 g of SZ per day for 10 days (SZ/10d group). By the last day of therapy, clinical and bacteriological cure rates were 100% in the TMP400/14d, SZ/14d, and TMP200/10d groups and 97.1% in SZ/10d group. At 1 week after therapy ended, the initial urinary pathogens remained eradicated in 100% of the TMP400/14d group, 98.2% of the TMP200/10d group, 95.6% of the SZ/14d group, and 98.0% of the SZ/10d group at 4 weeks after therapy ended, the clinical cure rates were 92.0% in the TMP400/14d group, 92.0% in the SZ/14d group, 89.0% in the TMP200/10d group, and 90.0% in the SZ/10d group. At 4 and 24 weeks after therapy ended, the recurrence rates in the four treatment groups did not differ significantly. The antibody-coated bacteria test localized 39.5% of the infections to kidneys and 56.8% of the infections to bladders. Neither symptoms nor responses to therapy were correlated with the antibody-coated bacteria test results. Both TMP at a dose of 200 mg/day and SZ were tolerated well. TMP at a dose of 400 mg/day was associated with a skin rash in 24% of the patients receiving this therapy. TMP suppressed fecal Escherichia coli. SZ increased the number of sulfa-resistant fecal isolates; however, this phenomenon did not affect the rate of sulfa-resistant recurrences.
Soft X-ray spectromicroscopy for speciation , quantitation and nano-ecotoxicology of nanomaterials

J . R . L A W R E N C E ∗, G . D . W . S W E R H O N E ∗, J . J . D Y N E S†, D . R . K O R B E R‡ & A . P . H I T C H C O C K § ∗Environment Canada, Saskatoon, SK, Canada †Canadian Light Source Inc., University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada ‡Food and Bioproducts Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada §Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
The Concept of Disease and its Implications for Psychiatry

It has often been suggested in recent years that there is no such thing as mental illness; that the conditions psychiatrists spend their time trying to treat ought not, properly speaking, to be regarded as illness at all, or even to be the concern of physicians. Szasz is the best-known exponent of this viewpoint, and the core of his argument is essentially this: that as prolonged search has never demonstrated any consistent physical abnormality in those regarded as mentally ill, and as their ‘illness' consists simply in behaving in ways that alarm or affront other people, or in believing things which other people do not believe, there is no justification for labelling them as ill, and to do so is to use the word illness in a purely metaphorical sense (Szasz, 1960). Schneider had previously been led by the same reasoning to the conclusion that neurotic illness and personality disorders were ‘abnormal varieties of sane mental life’ rather than disease, but he took care to exempt schizophrenia and cyclothymia by assuming that both would in time prove to possess an organic basis (Schneider, 1950). The argument Eysenck puts forward in the first edition of his textbook, though written from the quite different standpoint of academic psychology, is a similar one. After observing that ‘the term psychiatry does not denote any meaningful grouping of problems or subjects of study’ he went on to suggest that the traditional subject-matter of psychiatry should be divided into a small medical part ‘dealing with the effects of tumours, lesions, infections and other physical conditions' and a much larger behavioural part ‘dealing with disorders of behaviour acquired through the ordinary processes of learning’, thereby implying that most of what doctors regarded as mental illness was really learnt behaviour rather than disease, and therefore much better understood, and dealt with, by psychologists than by physicians (Eysenck, 1960). A third line of attack is provided by R. D. Laing, and a fourth is exemplified by the sociologist Scheff. Laing argues that schizophrenia, far from being a disease or a form of insanity, is really the only sane or rational way adolescents have of coping with the intolerable emotional pressures placed on them by society and their families (Laing, 1967). Scheff has developed the somewhat similar argument that what psychiatrists call mental illness is largely a response to the shock of being labelled and treated as insane and the expectations this produces; in other words that schizophrenia is created by the people and institutions that purport to treat it (Scheff, 1963).
Reflections on the Time-Pressure Cooperation Registered Replication Report

I am honored to have had Rand, Greene, and Nowak (2012) Study 7 chosen as the subject of a Registered Replication Report (RRR) and would like to thank everyone involved for the time and effort that they have invested in exploring the relationship between intuition and cooperation. I was glad to see that the RRR replicated the results reported in our original article. Beyond replicability, however, the lack of effect when including noncompliant participants in the RRR does raise important questions about the existence of a causal effect of time pressure on cooperation: The results are ambiguous on this point, as they are consistent with both a selection effect (no causal effect) and a meaningful positive causal effect. Here, I present two analyses that, although not conclusive, provide support for the existence of a causal effect in the RRR data: One showing lack of selection bias based on observed individual difference covariates, and another based on the pattern of cross-lab variation in the impact of excluding noncompliant participants. Taking the RRR results (and the analyses I present here) together with the findings of a recent meta-analysis with over 15,000 observations and no indications of publication bias (Rand, 2016), I believe that the overall body of empirical evidence supports the general conclusion of the original 2012 article (and subsequent theorizing based on the social heuristics hypothesis, e.g., Bear & Rand, 2016; Rand et al., 2014) that deliberation undermines cooperation in one-shot anonymous interactions while also showing the limitations of time pressure as an approach for investigating this question. I hope the results of this RRR, and the questions that they raise, will inspire future work to more fully illuminate the impact of time pressure—and intuition more broadly—on human cooperative behavior.
Elevated risk of stroke among patients with end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND Although end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has been associated with accelerated vascular disease of the cerebral circulation, there are no prior studies that have estimated the risk of hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke among the United States dialysis population relative to the general population. METHODS We performed a population-based cohort study to compare rates of hospitalized ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke among incident dialysis patients in the United States Renal System database and non-ESRD subjects from the general population identified in the National Hospital Discharge Survey. RESULTS After adjustment for age, gender, and race, estimated rates of hospitalized stroke were markedly higher for dialysis patients compared to the general population. The age-adjusted relative risk (RR) of stroke among dialysis patients compared to the general population was 6.1 [95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) 5.1, 7.1] for Caucasian males, 4.4 (95% CI 3.3, 5.5) for African American males, 9.7 (95%CI 8.2, 11.2) for Caucasians females and 6.2 (95%CI 4.8, 7.6) for African American females. When considered as separate outcomes, hospitalization rates for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke were both markedly elevated for subjects treated with dialysis (ischemic, RR = 4.3 to 10.1; hemorrhagic, RR = 4.1 to 6.7). CONCLUSION Incident dialysis patients are at markedly higher risk for hospitalized stroke when compared to the general population. Although prior public health initiatives have focused primarily on cardiac disease among patients treated with dialysis, our data suggest that new initiatives are needed to control the high risk of stroke in this population.
Rituximab, Gemcitabine, Cisplatin and Methylprednisolone (R‐GEM‐P) is an effective regimen in relapsed diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma

Patients with relapsed diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have a poor prognosis. Gemcitabine, methylprednisolone, cisplatin +/− rituximab (GEM‐P+/−R) is a salvage regimen with limited overlap in toxicity with first‐line therapy and short duration of inpatient delivery.
Secretion of the Escherichia coli outer membrane proteins OmpA and OmpF in Bacillus subtilis is blocked at an early intracellular step

When the genes coding for the outer membrane (OM) proteins OmpA and OmpF of Escherichia coli are fused to a signal sequence of a bacillar exoenzyme and expressed in Bacillus subtilis they remain cell‐bound and the signal sequence is not cleaved. To identify the step of arrest in the export of these proteins we studied their accessibility to protease applied to intact protoplasts; they remained resistant indicating fully intracellular localization. Both proteins appeared associated with the cell membranes in sedimentation and flotation centrifugation experiments. However, OmpA and OmpF proteins synthesized in B. subtilis without a signal sequence were similarly associated with membranes in centrifugation experiments whereas electron microscopy showed the presence of intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies not obviously attached to the cytoplasmic membrane. We conclude that OmpA and OmpF proteins even when provided with a functional signal sequence do not enter the export pathway in B. subtilis, probably owing to lack of a specific export component in B. subtilis.
Concurrent validity of the Berg Balance Scale and the Dynamic Gait Index in people with vestibular dysfunction.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Berg Balance Scale is a reliable and valid measure that is used to assess characteristics of balance. The Dynamic Gait Index is a relatively new measure that has been used to record dynamic gait tasks in people with vestibular dysfunction. The purpose of the present study was to determine the concurrent validity of the Dynamic Gait Index with the Berg Balance Scale in people with vestibular disorders. METHOD A retrospective review of the charts of people who met the criteria of having completed both the Berg Balance Scale and the Dynamic Gait Index during their first physiotherapy visit. Seventy patients (19 male, 51 female) were identified through the retrospective review of the charts of people referred for vestibular rehabilitation with varying diagnoses of vestibular and balance dysfunction. All were seen at a tertiary medical centre in an outpatient physiotherapy setting. Their age range was from 14 to 88 years (mean 65 years). RESULTS Correlation between the scores on the Dynamic Gait Index and the Berg Balance Scale was moderate but significant by use of the Spearman rank order correlation (r = 0.71; p < 01). No difference was found between scores on the Dynamic Gait Index or Berg Balance Scale based on gender or diagnosis. A significant difference was identified on the Berg Balance Scale between older and younger people with vestibular disorders. Using previously established criteria to determine increased risk of falling, the Berg Balance Scale and the Dynamic Gait Index agreed 63% of the time. CONCLUSIONS The moderate correlation between the Dynamic Gait Index and the Berg Balance Scale establishes the concurrent validity of the Dynamic Gait Index in people with vestibular dysfunction. Both these measures provide valuable information to clinicians about patients' functional balance capabilities. However, the lack of perfect correlation indicates that the tests measure different aspects of balance. The Dynamic Gait Index appears to be a more sensitive assessment tool in identifying people with vestibular disorders who are at increased risk for falling, based on currently published criteria.
Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis of chromosomal aberrations in Iranian patients with invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women; however, due to the complexity of chromosomal changes, limited data are available regarding chromosomal constitution. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) was used on 16 Iranian patients diagnosed with invasive ductal breast carcinomas. RESULTS 12 samples had abnormal CGH results (75%), including 21 types of chromosomal imbalance. The most prevalent were chromosomal gain of +1q, +17q, +8q and chromosomal loss of -13q. All three cases with DNA loss at chromosome 13q (-13q) had lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSIONS CGH is able to detect chromosomal abnormalities which are difficult to identify by conventional cytogenetic techniques. More studies on a larger sample size may help to confirm or rule out any possible correlation between 13q monosomy and lymph node metastasis, which could result in establishing new strategies for prevention and early detection of invasive breast tumors.
Marked differences in fine specificity and isotype usage of the anti-citrullinated protein antibody in health and disease.

OBJECTIVE Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) display high association with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and are implicated in its pathogenesis. The presence of ACPAs is known to precede the onset of RA. In order to identify the features that could confer its pathogenicity, we extensively characterized this antibody response in a unique North American native population of patients with RA and their unaffected relatives. METHODS The levels of IgA, IgM, and IgG ACPAs, as well as IgM and IgA rheumatoid factor (RF), were measured in serum samples obtained from 81 patients with RA and 195 of their unaffected relatives. The isotype distribution, the fine specificity of the ACPA response, and its association with RF were compared in health and disease. RESULTS ACPA positivity was observed in 19% of the healthy relatives and approximately 91% of the patients with RA. ACPA isotype usage was strikingly lower in unaffected relatives than in patients with RA (1-2 versus 5-6 isotypes). Fine specificity studies showed that reactivity to citrullinated fibrinogen and vimentin was present in sera from patients with RA, while it was virtually absent in their unaffected relatives. Finally, the ACPA and RF responses were associated in patients with RA but were discordant in their healthy relatives. Extended analyses revealed that the presence of ACPAs was associated with RA irrespective of RF status, while the association of RF with disease relied on its interaction with ACPAs. CONCLUSION The fine specificity and isotype usage of the ACPA response are qualitatively different in health and disease. Epitope spreading and expansion of the isotype repertoire might be necessary for development of RA, and this could be facilitated by the presence of RF antibodies.
Clearance kinetics and fate of mouse IgA immune complexes prepared with monomeric or dimeric IgA.

To determine the pathophysiologic mechanism(s) involved in experimental IgA nephropathy, the clearance kinetics and tissue distribution of soluble IgA immune complexes in mice were investigated. Purified radiolabeled dimeric (dIgA) and monomeric (mIgA) IgA antidinitrophenyl, obtained from MOPC-315, were covalently cross-linked with a bivalent affinity-labeling antigen, bis-2,4-dinitrophenyl pimelic ester. After i.v. injection, heavy polymers (greater than 1.2 X 10(6) m.w. ) were rapidly removed from circulation. Analysis of circulating intermediate-latticed complexes by gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that polymers with a minimal composition of four dIgA or eight mIgA were required for rapid elimination. The dIgA and mIgA complexes with lattices smaller than this critical size were removed at slower rates (yielding a t1/2 of 35 min for complexes with dIgA and a t1/2 of 60 min for complexes with mIgA). Tissue distribution of both dIgA and mIgA immune complexes was similar. The liver was the major organ involved in uptake of IgA immune complexes with an insignificant amount in the bile. Heavy polymers of dIgA or mIgA were predominantly localized in the hepatic nonparenchymal cells.