Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Population genetics of Southern Hemisphere tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus): Intercontinental divergence and constrained gene flow at different geographical scales

The tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus Linnaeus, 1758) is a temperate, coastal hound shark found in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific oceans. In this study, the population structure of Galeorhinus galeus was determined across the entire Southern Hemisphere, where the species is heavily targeted by commercial fisheries, as well as locally, along the South African coastline. Analysis was conducted on a total of 185 samples using 19 microsatellite markers and a 671 bp fragment of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) gene. Across the Southern Hemisphere, three geographically distinct clades were recovered, including one from South America (Argentina, Chile), one from Africa (all the South African collections) and an Australia-New Zealand clade. Nuclear data revealed significant population subdivisions (FST = 0.192 to 0.376, p<0.05) indicating limited gene flow for tope sharks across ocean basins. Marked population connectivity was however evident across the Indian Ocean based on Bayesian clustering analysis. More locally in South Africa, F-statistics and multivariate analysis supported moderate to high gene flow across the Atlantic/Indian Ocean boundary (FST = 0.035 to 0.044, p<0.05), with exception of samples from Struisbaai and Port Elizabeth which differed significantly from the rest. Discriminant and Bayesian clustering analysis indicated admixture in all sampling populations, decreasing from west to east, corroborating possible restriction to gene flow across regional oceanographic barriers. Mitochondrial sequence data recovered seven haplotypes (h = 0.216, π = 0.001) for South Africa, with one major haplotype shared by 87% of the individuals and at least one private haplotype for each sampling location except Port Elizabeth. As with many other coastal shark species with cosmopolitan distribution, this study confirms the lack of both historical dispersal and inter-oceanic gene flow while also implicating contemporary factors such as oceanic currents and thermal fronts to drive local genetic structure of G. galeus on a smaller spatial scale.
Genetic epidemiology of bladder cancer: Scaling up in the identification of low-penetrance genetic markers of bladder cancer risk and progression

Bladder cancer is an increasingly important international public health problem. As a multifactorial disease, both environmental and genetic factors are involved in its development and progression. This neoplasm is a paradigm for the participation of low-penetrance genetic variants (GSTM1-null and NAT2-slow) and provides the best established gene – environment interaction in cancer (NAT2-slow * tobacco). Genetic variants in nucleotide excision and double strand break DNA repair pathways have provided promising results, ERCC2-XPD rs238406 being the most consistent variant associated with an increased of bladder cancer risk, by itself and by interacting with tobacco. Variants in other pathways such as cell-cycle control, 1-C metabolism and inflammation have been studied, although the results are inconsistent. Three very large whole genome association studies are being undertaken using the same genotyping platform. Their results will be available soon. Genetic variants have seldom been considered as markers of prognosis or response to therapy in this tumour. The results of these studies are inconclusive. Other issues that need to be addressed are the role of genetic variants in different population subgroups – defined by ethnicity, gender and age, among others – and the association with bladder cancer subphenotypes according to clinical, pathological and molecular characteristics of the tumour. This endeavour can only be achieved by integrating multidisciplinary tools and information. Can this information be applied better to identify high-risk populations? Can the information be used to better assess prognosis or predict response to therapy? These questions require large, well-designed, multicentre studies to be conducted. Funding agencies should be aware of these needs.
Soluble‐E‐cadherin activates HER and IAP family members in HER2+ and TNBC human breast cancers

Recent literature suggests that sEcad exerts pro‐oncogenic effects, possibly acting as a ligand for the human epidermal growth factor family. Here we show that sEcad is a novel candidate protein for drug targeting since it is increased in human and mouse HER2‐positive (HER2+) breast tumors, MMTV‐PyMT bodily fluids and human cell culture systems. Mechanistically, we show that endogenous sEcad, and to a lesser extent membrane‐bound E‐cadherin, associates with HER1, HER2, and HER3 in human and MMTV‐PyMT mouse HER2+ tumors and with HER1 in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) specimens. Furthermore, addition of exogenous recombinant human E‐cadherin/Fc chimeric protein (rhEcad/Fc; sEcad) to HER2+ MCF‐7, SKBR3, and HER2‐negative MDA‐MB‐231 TNBC cells, resulted in sEcad‐HER receptor family interactions, activation of HER1−4 and downstream pro‐survival signaling, including the MAPK‐PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathways and IAP family members. Lastly, we demonstrate that sEcad exerts pro‐oncogenic effects via HER signaling, and acts additively with the HER ligand EGF to promote HER2+ breast cancer proliferation and migration, as well as TNBC invasion. Because sEcad associates and activates many of the oncogenic pathways that tumors utilize for growth and survival and serum levels in patients correlates with clinical response, suggests that targeted therapy against sEcad in combination with other therapies may potentially offer a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of breast cancers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clinical Assessment of Antiarrhythmic Agents for Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation Guided by Modification of Electrophysiologic Arrhythmogenicity

Introduction: Rapid atrial pacing alters atrial electrophysiology, promoting initiation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to assess differences in the electrophysiologic properties of atrial tissue between patients with and without AF episodes and to determine whether electrophysiologic properties can predict the clinical efficacy of antiarrhythmic agents.
Online Communities of Practice

This mixed-method study examined the ways that principals and teachers coparticipated in discipline-focused online communities of practice designed to foster instructional improvement in two middle schools. Findings derived from interviews and content analysis of the online discussion threads revealed the emergence of a shared language about learning between principals and teachers, as well as how the scaffolding of knowledge development among those teachers was supported. Principal participation allowed teachers to gain insights about their principals’ priorities, values, and beliefs about learning and was found to influence the quality of teacher-developed instructional units and teaching efficacy. Participative and directive leadership styles were represented by the principals, and their influence on the communication process and performance outcomes is discussed.
Interplant movement of Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae in pure and mixed plantings of cotton with and without expression of the Cry1Ac delta-endotoxin protein of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner.

Laboratory and field studies were conducted during 1993 and 1994 to quantify interplant movement of Heliothis virescens (F.) larvae in pure and mixed plantings of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. , with ('Event 531') and without ('Coker 312') the expression of Cry1Ac delta-endotoxin protein of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner. Field studies were conducted with neonate, 4-, and 7-d-old larvae placed on 3-plant experimental units and observed at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after inoculation of larvae. Combining larval movement across observations of neonates, 4-, and 7-d-old larvae, an estimated 52% of the larvae on pure plantings of Coker 312 had moved at least 1 plant by the cumulative time required to reach the age of 10 d. More larvae placed on Event 531 cotton moved to an adjacent plant (13% of the neonates had moved at least 1 plant within 24 h) than those placed on Coker 312 (0% of the neonates had moved at least 1 plant within 24 h). When larvae were placed on Event 531 plants, an estimated 82% of the larvae had moved to an adjacent plant by cumulative age of 10 d. Collectively, these data indicate that movement of larvae from plant to plant increases with larval age and occurs more rapidly for larvae placed on Event 531 cotton than on Coker 312. Previous studies have suggested that resistance to B. thuringiensis could develop more rapidly in insects exposed to seed mixtures of plants with and without endotoxin if larvae move between plants and if an external refuge exists. These data provide evidence of larval movement between plants in seed mixtures.
PixColor: Pixel Recursive Colorization

We propose a novel approach to automatically produce multiple colorized versions of a grayscale image. Our method results from the observation that the task of automated colorization is relatively easy given a low-resolution version of the color image. We first train a conditional PixelCNN to generate a low resolution color for a given grayscale image. Then, given the generated low-resolution color image and the original grayscale image as inputs, we train a second CNN to generate a high-resolution colorization of an image. We demonstrate that our approach produces more diverse and plausible colorizations than existing methods, as judged by human raters in a "Visual Turing Test".
Promotion and prescribing of hormone therapy after report of harm by the Women's Health Initiative.

CONTEXT Little is known about how the pharmaceutical industry responds to evidence of harm associated with its products, such as the publication in July 2002 of the Women's Health Initiative Estrogen Plus Progestin Trial (WHI E+P) report demonstrating that standard-dose Prempro produced significant harm and lacked net benefits. OBJECTIVE To examine pharmaceutical industry response to the WHI E+P results by analyzing promotional expenditures for hormone therapy before and after July 2002. DESIGN AND SETTING Nationally representative and prospectively collected longitudinal data (January 2001 through December 2003) on prescribing and promotion of hormone therapies were obtained from IMS Health and Consumer Media Reports. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Trends in quarterly prescriptions for hormone therapy and expenditures on 5 modes of drug promotion: samples, office-based detailing, hospital-based promotion, journal advertisements, and direct-to-consumer advertising. RESULTS Prior to the WHI E+P report, prescribing rates and promotional spending for hormone therapy were stable. In the quarter before the WHI E+P report (April-June 2002), 22.4 million prescriptions for hormone therapy were dispensed and 71 million dollars was spent on promotion (in annual terms, 350 dollars per year per US physician). Within 9 months of the report's publication (quarter 1 of 2003), there was a 32% decrease in hormone therapy prescriptions, and a nadir had been reached for promotional spending (37% decrease compared with pre-WHI E+P levels). Spending decreased for all promotional activities and most hormone therapies. Overall, the greatest declines were for samples (36% decrease as of quarter 1 of 2003) and direct-to-consumer advertising (100% decrease). The greatest declines in promotion occurred for standard-dose Prempro (61% decrease as of quarter 1 of 2003), the agent implicated by the WHI E+P report. More recently, promotional efforts have increased, particularly for lower-dose Prempro, a resurgence associated with modestly increased prescriptions for this newer agent. CONCLUSIONS Concordant with its widespread use, hormone therapy was among the most heavily promoted medications prior to the WHI E+P report. Following reporting of the evidence of harm from this trial, there was a substantial decline in promotional spending for hormone therapy, particularly for the agents most directly implicated in the trial. Interrelated with the impact of the trial results themselves and the ensuing media coverage, reduced promotion may have contributed to a substantial decline in hormone therapy prescriptions.
Gender-related physiologic differences in human neonates and the greater vulnerability of males to developmental brain disorders.

OBJECTIVE To examine whether gender-specific physiologic differences are present at birth and can be a basis for gender-specific vulnerability to developmental disorders in males. We report on three studies of male-female physiologic and structural differences in neonates and their relevance to observed differences in the incidence of developmental disorders in males. METHODS Study I: 56 neonates were examined for cardiac reactivity to the Moro reflex. Study II: 863 neonates' basic anthropometric data were examined to demonstrate gender-specific differences in body proportions as a possible basis for psychophysiologic differences. Study III: Developmental data on 1000 one- to 26-week-old infants were analyzed for gender-specific developmental differences in rhythmic patterns of sleeping and eating. RESULTS Study I: There were gender-related differences in heart rate reactivity (male > female). Study II: Male newborns had significantly larger head/chest proportions, suggesting that they may have a greater metabolic demand, related to brain size. Study III: Mothers reported that infant males' sleeping rhythm developed significantly later than females', and that they slept for shorter periods at night. CONCLUSIONS Gender-related vulnerability in brain development is proposed, based on physiologic differences during a specific early sensitive period in development. This hypothesis may help to explain the overrepresentation of males reported for most developmental disorders.
On the Determinants of Unemployment in Nigeria: What are the Roles of Trade Openness and Current Account Balance?

Attention of international trade and macroeconomic experts has focused on the effect of international trade, precisely trade openness, on economic growth and by extension on unemployment rate, albeit with mixed results. However, scanty attention has been drawn towards the effect of current account balance on unemployment rate despite the arguments from different quarters trailing such relationship. By employing Autoregressive Distribution Lag estimation technique, this study specifically focuses on the short-run dynamic and long-run effects of trade openness and current account balance on unemployment rate in Nigeria using the data that span 1981-2014. We found that trade openness worsens unemployment rate both in the short-run and long run. We also discovered that in the short run, current account balance increases unemployment rate but reduces it in the long run. Control variables used in the study such as inflation rate, exchange rate, and FDI followed a priori expectation while real GDP, wages and government consumption expenditure failed to follow a priori expectation. We, therefore, concluded that there is need for sound trade and macroeconomic policies to aid domestic firms’ production to ensure international competitiveness of these firms so as to guarantee employment generation.
A Comparative Study on the Biomechanical and Histological Properties of Bone-to-Bone, Bone-to-Tendon, and Tendon-to-Tendon Healing

Background: Surgical repair around the bone-tendon insertion (BTI) may involve bone-to-bone (BB), bone-to-tendon (BT), or tendon-to-tendon (TT) reattachment with varying healing outcome. Hypothesis: The repair of Achilles tendon–calcaneus (ATC) by reattachment of homogeneous tissue (BB or TT) would heal faster, with respect to tensile properties at the healing complex, than those of reattachment of heterogeneous tissues (BT) over time. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Forty-seven adolescent male Chinese goats were divided into BB, BT, and TT groups. Osteotomy of the calcaneus, reattachment of Achilles tendon to the calcaneus after removal of the insertion, and tenotomy of the Achilles tendon were performed to simulate BB, BT, and TT repair, respectively. The ATC healing complexes were harvested at 6, 12, or 24 weeks postoperatively. Mechanical and morphological properties of the healing ATC complexes were assessed by tensile testing and qualitative histology, respectively. The contralateral intact ATC complex was used as the control. Results: Failure load of BT was 33.4% lower than that of TT (P = .0243) at week 12. Ultimate strength of BT was 50.2% and 45.3% lower than that of TT at weeks 12 (P = .0002) and 24 (P = .0001), respectively. Tissue morphological characteristics of the BB and TT groups showed faster remodeling. The BT group showed limited regeneration of fibrocartilage zone and excessive formation of fibrous tissue at the healing interface. Conclusion: BTI repair between homogeneous tissues (BB and TT healing) showed better healing quality with respect to mechanical and histological assessments than did healing between heterogeneous tissues (BT healing). Clinical Relevance: Anatomic reconstruction of ATC complex injury may be a primary concern when selecting the proper surgical approach. However, it is recommended to select fracture fixation (BB) or tendon repair (TT) instead of bone-tendon reattachment (BT) if possible to ensure better outcome at the healing interface.
Displacement and asset transformation from inner-city squatter settlement into peripheral mass housing

While slum clearance projects in the Global South have displaced a large number of urban poor from the inner city to peripheral areas, peripheral mass housing estates have been developed as a spatial fix to improve the livelihood of the urban poor through slum development projects. Shifting the focus of displacement and poverty studies on changing assets and social experiences of displacement, this study makes an empirical contribution to the literature with a case study from Turkey. It demonstrates that mass housing projects that increase the importance of market-based processes and financial assets at the expense of intangible assets (household relations and social capital) make the urban poor more vulnerable to displacement pressure and external shocks. Using the example of a mass housing project in Turkey designed for the relocation of a highly concentrated Kurdish migrant squatter settlement, this research demonstrates that slum development projects can cause different types of displacement, divesting residents of opportunities to accumulate assets and reconstruct a sense of place. The research demonstrates that the dissolution of intangible assets and the exclusion of social spaces that are important to relocated residents in the mass housing estate bring about community displacement in the case of Kurdish residents. Also, relocated squatters feel pressured by the ongoing and daily experiences of displacement—notably everyday, symbolic and temporal displacement—as the spatial design of the mass housing unfamiliar with the livelihood of squatter dwellers constrains their opportunities to appropriate neighbourhood space in everyday life and enact a sense of place.
A new direction in population policy and family planning in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

This article traces the history of Iran's population policy from the establishment of a family planning (FP) policy in 1967 to the present. Context for the discussion is provided by a review of population growth in the country since 1900. Indicators for 1966, 1976, and 1986 show population size growing from 25.7 million to 33.7 and 49.4, respectively, as the crude birth rate fluctuated from 49 to 42.7 to 47.6, and the total fertility rate changed from 7.7 to 6.3 to 7.0. These figures reflect changes in population policy which promoted the use of effective contraceptive methods among urban women in the period 1967-79 but which led to only 11% acceptance by 1977. From 1979 until 1988, the newly established Islamic Republic allowed family planning programs to disintegrate. In 1988, the results of overpopulation could be seen, and a new program was established in 1989 with the full concurrence of religious authorities. This program is attempting to 1) encourage birth spacing of 3-4 years, 2) discourage early and late pregnancies, and 3) limit family size to three children. Government support for this program is evident in financing commitments and in the creation of disincentives to have more than three children. Services are provided in 400 centers which emphasize sterilization and provide a range of contraceptive options including Norplant and injectables. Data from the 1976-77 Iran Fertility Survey (IFS) and the 1992 Contraceptive Prevalence Survey (CPS) show that, in 1976, 85% of women had heard of oral contraceptives. The CPS revealed 90% knowledge of at least one method and more than 70% approval of FP. The IRS showed 35.9% of all currently married women using contraceptives; the corresponding CPS figure was 64.6%. The urban-rural gap in knowledge and use which existed in 1976 also narrowed by 1992, but the popularity of certain methods varied by urban-rural residence. Positive determinants of contraceptive use for both periods include literacy and number of living children. Preliminary data reveal that the new program has led to a significantly reduced growth rate as well as a decline in the total fertility rate and in the number of registered births. These declines may also be due to a significant increase in marriage age from 1986 to 1991. Iran's new FP program has been successful because it has the support of religious leaders and operates with the moral authority of a fatva issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Other Islamic countries could create successful programs in a similar way.
A novel sparsity constrained nonnegative matrix factorization for hyperspectral unmixing

Sparsity is an intrinsic property of hyperspectral images, which means that the collected pixels can be represented by a part of materials. In this paper, a new sparsity based method for hyperspectral unmixing is proposed, referred to as the constrained sparse nonnegative matrix factorization (CSNMF). First, a novel sparse term which is explored to measure the sparsity of hyperspectral images is introduced to restrict the abundances. Second, minimum distance constraint which is convex is applied to restrict the endmembers. Then the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is used to solve the proposed CSNMF. The experimental results based on both synthetic mixtures and a real image scene demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Religious views of the ‘medical’ rehabilitation model: a pilot qualitative study

Purpose: To explore the religious beliefs that patients may bring to the rehabilitation process, and the hypothesis that these beliefs may diverge from the medical model of rehabilitation. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews with representatives of six major religions—Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, and Hinduism. Representatives were either health care professionals or religious leaders, all with an interest in how their religion approached health issues. Results: There were three recurrent themes in the interviews: religious explanations for injury and illness; beliefs about recovery; religious duties of care towards family members. The Buddhist, Sikh, and Hindu interviewees described beliefs about karma—unfortunate events happening due to a person's former deeds. Fatalistic ideas, involving God having control over an individual's recovery, were expressed by the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian interviewees. All interviewees expressed the fundamental importance of a family's religious duty of care towards ill or injured relatives, and all expressed some views that were compatible with the medical model of rehabilitation. Conclusions: Religious beliefs may both diverge from and resonate with the medical rehabilitation model. Understanding these beliefs may be valuable in facilitating the rehabilitation of diverse religious groups.