Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trophic effects of hypophyseal hormones on resistance vessels and the heart in normotensive and renal hypertensive rats.

UNLABELLED Arterial pressure is an important determinant of cardiovascular structure and relates positively to it. The purpose of this study was to determine whether pituitary hormones influence the relation of pressure and structure. Male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 5 weeks, were studied in three groups: the first underwent hypophysectomy; the second was hypophysectomized but received replacement therapy with growth hormone and thyroxine; the third served as controls. Four days later half of each group underwent unilateral renal artery clipping, the other half serving as normotensive controls. For 5 weeks estimates were made of systolic blood pressure, heart rate, body weight and plasma renin activity. Rats were then killed; left ventricular, kidney and adrenal weights were determined and, using hindquarter perfusion, estimates were made of resistance at maximal dilatation (reflecting inner radius), and of maximal pressor response (reflecting wall thickness). RESULTS (1) Hypophysectomy in non-clipped rats reduced growth rate, systolic blood pressure and heart rate while plasma renin activity rose. As related to pressure and to body weight, resistance at maximal dilatation, maximal pressor response, left ventricular weight remained at the juvenile values of a 5-week-old rat. Hormone replacement restored values to those of control rats aged 11 weeks. (2) Clipping in the control group rats increased systolic blood pressure more than in hypophysectomized and growth hormone and thyroxine receiving hypophysectomized groups even though plasma renin activity remained higher in hypophysectomized than in control rats. Plasma renin activity was highest in hypophysectomized rats with highest pressure. (3) Systolic blood pressure related positively to left ventricle weight, resistance at maximal dilatation, maximal pressor response and calculated wall thickness to inner radius ratios in all groups. However, these regressions were all, like renal structural adaptation, considerably depressed in the hypophysectomized group. Hormone replacement restored the relation of structure and pressure towards that of control group rats. Thus, growth hormone and thyroxine influence maturation of the normal cardiovascular system and greatly enhance its structural upward resetting in hypertension.
Context sensitive 'how' explanation in children's multimodal behavior

In this paper we describe how pragmatic constraints of two types of explanatory interactions influence both the organization of syntactic elements in clauses and gestural behavior. We provide evidence on how young children confronted with a dual-goal task including both a referential issue and a social interactional issue start to show competencies that are not present in a single referential task. Further, our intention is to contribute to theoretical issues in pragmatics through a study of how children mobilize pragmatic constraints of language production and also to account for language development within the framework of it being understood as a multimodal phenomenon. Results show that children's linguistic and gesture choices depend on the type of explanation they are giving. While in a process explanation, children perform more referential gestures whereas in instructional explanation, they perform more pragmatic gestures.
Screening for hepatitis C virus non-nucleotide resistance mutations in treatment-naive women.

OBJECTIVES Hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-nucleoside inhibitors (NNIs) target the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase encoded by the NS5B gene. Several NNIs share a similar allosteric binding site, and their antiviral efficacy is attenuated by a cysteine-to-tyrosine mutation at amino acid 316 (C316Y). In the current study, we assessed NS5B resistance mutations in treatment-naive individuals from a prospective natural history study of viral infections in women. METHODS Partial NS5B sequences from HCV-positive women were amplified by RT-PCR. Additionally, subcloning was performed to evaluate intrapatient variability in selected samples. RESULTS HCV NS5B genotypes were 45 genotype 1a (57.0%), 11 genotype 1b (13.9%), 5 genotype 2a (6.3%), 3 genotype 2b (3.8%), 9 genotype 3a (11.4%) and 6 genotype 4a (7.6%). One HCV genotype 1a-infected patient was found to have the C316Y mutation (1.3%). Clonal analysis further revealed that all NS5B sequences from this individual--representing three serum samples collected 4 years apart--contained the C316Y mutation. In contrast, the S282T resistance mutation was not found in any samples. CONCLUSIONS The C316Y polymerase resistance mutation was found in 1.3% of samples from HCV-infected women. The presence of this mutation over time suggests significant replicative fitness of this variant and has implications for development of new specifically targeted antiviral therapies against HCV (STAT-C) targeting this region.
OUTLIER DETECTION IN GRIDDED SHIP DATA SETS

This is the second of two papers attempting to develop robust statistical methods to deal with gridded ship data sets. The earlier study (Terray, 1999) focused on an extension of the traditional empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis which allows arbitrary positive weights to be assigned to each entry of the data matrix. If these weights are constructed in a responsible manner (for example, as a smooth function of the number of ship reports used to compute a particular raw monthly mean in the data set), it was demonstrated that this method allows us to analyse the natural variability exhibited by gridded ship data sets by directly taking into account the irregular space-time sampling of marine observations. In particular, the method takes care of missing values by assigning zero weights to such data entries. In the current study, we discuss another robust statistical method to detect ‘local errors’ in gridded ship data sets. More precisely, we tackle the problem of outlying areal averages in gridded ship data sets such as the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS; Woodruff et al., 1987) 2 ̊ lat × 2 ̊ long monthly summaries and how to test their statistical significance. Since the majority of climate researchers use gridded ship data sets instead of individual ship reports, we suggest that these data sets must be checked for the presence of doubtful raw monthly means in the same manner as individual ship reports are quality controlled before being integrated in ship reports databases. Moreover, it should be noted that such an approach may be a solution to the trimming problems which are apparent in COADS monthly summaries (Wolter, 1997). The rest of this paper is organized as follows. First, we present some elements of outlier detection theory and the basic statistical tests we have used. Next, we discuss how these statistical tests may be adapted to ship data sets and integrated as building blocks in a fully computerized procedure for detecting many outliers in such data sets. Finally, this new approach has been experimented on a marine product in order to show how it works in practice. As a conclusion, we suggest that the two procedures, namely outlier detection and weighted EOF analysis, may be combined to obtain a truly robust statistical method particularly well suited to gridded ship data sets.
Feedback of the Kinesin-1 Neck-linker Position on the Catalytic Site*

Kinesin-1 motor proteins step along microtubules by a mechanism in which the heads cycle through microtubule-bound and unbound states in an interlaced fashion. An important contribution to head-head coordination arises from the action of the neck-linker that docks onto the core motor domain upon ATP binding. We show here that the docked neck-linker not only guides the microtubule-unbound head to the next microtubule binding site but also signals its position to the head to which it is attached. Cross-linking studies on mutated kinesin constructs reveal that residues at the interface motor core/docked neck-linker, among them most importantly a conserved tyrosine, are involved in this feedback. The primary effect of the docked neck-linker is a reduced microtubule binding affinity in the ADP state.
Resource Allocation in Elastic Optical Networks with Physical-Layer Impairments

Elastic optical networks (EONs) have been proposed to meet future communication demands [1]. Planning the resource usage of EONs has been the subject of extensive research. Routing and spectrum assignment (RSA) algorithms are used to minimize the network resources used. Estimation of physical-layer impairments (PLIs) in EONs plays an important role in the network planning stage. The transmission reach (TR) model and the Gaussian noise (GN) model are broadly considered in the estimation of the PLIs. However, due to the nature of these models, their performance remains problematic. Thus, based on the GN model, this thesis proposes a physical layer estimation model, referred to as the conservative linearized Gaussian noise (CLGN) model. In addition, we improve upon the existing TR model with a novel algorithm for obtaining the parameters, leading to a fairer comparison between the TR model and the CLGN model. We then introduce a link-based mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation to address the RSA problem to quantify the performance of each PLI model. Suffering from the large computational burden brought by the MILP, we propose a heuristic algorithm, referred to as the sequential allocation (SA) algorithm. The SA algorithm can solve a large number of demands in a large scale network with a reasonable computational burden. Lastly, we show through simulation that network resources such as spectrum and regeneration nodes can be saved by utilizing the CLGN model, compared with the TR model. We also show that the SA algorithm has notably better optimization solutions, compared with a published algorithm, the recursive MILP [2]. Moreover, we also show that our proposed system, which is based on the CLGN model and the SA algorithm, speeds up the optimization process and provides similar resource usage, compared to the published benchmark system in [3].
Prevalence, Perceptions and Profile of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in A Rural Population of North Bihar -

Background: The prevalence of gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) in India ranges from 8-20% according to recently conducted studies based on different case definitions and study methodology. Reports of its association with risk factors are inconsistent between studies. There are lack population based studies to know about the epidemiology of this disease. This study was therefore done to assess the prevalence, symptom profile and perceived precipitating factors of GERD in a rural population of northern Bihar.
Residual photosensitivity in mice lacking both rod opsin and cone photoreceptor cyclic nucleotide gated channel 3 α subunit

The mammalian retina contains three classes of photoreceptor. In addition to the rods and cones, a subset of retinal ganglion cells that express the putative sensory photopigment melanopsin are intrinsically photosensitive. Functional and anatomical studies suggest that these inner retinal photoreceptors provide light information for a number of non-image-forming light responses including photoentrainment of the circadian clock and the pupil light reflex. Here, we employ a newly developed mouse model bearing lesions of both rod and cone phototransduction cascades (Rho−/−Cnga3−/−) to further examine the function of these non-rod non-cone photoreceptors. Calcium imaging confirms the presence of inner retinal photoreceptors in Rho−/−Cnga3−/− mice. Moreover, these animals retain a pupil light reflex, photoentrainment, and light induction of the immediate early gene c-fos in the suprachiasmatic nuclei, consistent with previous findings that pupillary and circadian responses can employ inner retinal photoreceptors. Rho−/−Cnga3−/− mice also show a light-dependent increase in the number of FOS-positive cells in both the ganglion cell and (particularly) inner nuclear layers of the retina. The average number of cells affected is several times greater than the number of melanopsin-positive cells in the mouse retina, suggesting functional intercellular connections from these inner retinal photoreceptors within the retina. Finally, however, while we show that wild types exhibit an increase in heart rate upon light exposure, this response is absent in Rho−/−Cnga3−/− mice. Thus, it seems that non-rod non-cone photoreceptors can drive many, but not all, non-image-forming light responses.
Increase in the rate of HPV positive oropharyngeal cancers during 1996-2011 in a case study in Turkey.

BACKGROUND Primary aim of this study is to assess whether or not there is an increase at rate of HPV positive oropharyngeal cancers during 1996-2011 in Turkey, for comparison with prior reports from Western countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 138 newly diagnosed patients with oropharyngeal cancer were identified, 39 of which had no primary tumor specimen available and 18 patients with invalid HPV status, therefore HPV status for remaining 81 patients was evaluated. The presence and type of HPV DNA were determined with formalin- fixed paraffin embedded specimens, using an HPV DNA-based multiplex PCR assay. Associations between HPV status and clinicopathological characteristics were evaluated using a two-sample t-test for the continuous variables and the categorical variables were compared by chi-square test. Overall survival (OS) periods were calculated with Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS The proportion of HPV-positive cancer has continued to increase during 2004-2011 as compared with 1996-2003. Notably, 33% (6/18) of the cases were HPV-positive in 1996-1999, 43% (9/21) in 2000-2003, 55% (11/20) in 2004-2007 and 70% (16/23) in 2008-2011. Thus, when we compared the results obtained during the 2004-2011with results of 1996-2003 period, we found that increase at HPV-positivity ratio was statistically significant (38% vs 64% p=0.012). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that HPV positive oropharyngeal cancers are increasing in Turkish patients as in the Western world.
Choices that Matter : When Party Behavior Reveals Preferences to Voters

This paper analyzes the conditions under which a party’s behavior reveals new information to voters about its policy preferences. We argue that, for party behavior to change voter beliefs about the party, the action must reflect a choice among several options and the choice made must conflict with voters’ opinions about the party. Otherwise, the party’s decision simply confirms voters’ priors. Applying this logic to government formation processes, we predict that joining a coalition does not always change voter perceptions of the party’s position. Perceptions will only change if the party joins a coalition that is not the ideologically closest viable alternative. We employ three complementary empirical strategies: aggregate-level analyses of party reputations in 5 coalition-prone European countries, individual panel data, and a quasiexperimental test. All three empirical tests provide support for our claim. This paper contributes to our understanding of voter information processing, coalition politics, and party competition.
Grammatical Search and Reanalysis 6

This paper investigates the extent to which existing structural commitments constrain the human parser’s search for grammatical analyses of incoming material, specifically whether a Reanalysis as a Last Resort (RALR) strategy applies to sentence parsing. Two self-paced reading experiments investigate this issue using a structural ambiguity in which a local, easy reanalysis is pitted against a non-local attachment requiring no reanalysis. This ambiguity is created by embedding classic noun phrase/sentential complement ambiguities inside a relative clause modifying a subject NP. The results of both experiments indicate that readers’ existing structural commitments do constrain their subsequent parsing decisions: non-local analyses which avoid reanalysis are consistently favored over local analyses which require an easy reanalysis. This conclusion is confirmed by the results of a subcategorization-bias manipulation in Experiment 2, which shows that readers show a consistent bias to avoid reanalysis, rather than a general bias for either local or matrix clause attachments.
Urinary VCAM-1, KIM-1, and ET-1 as Biomarkers of Lupus Nephritis: Correlation with Immunological Parameters in Hospital USM

Introduction: So far, there is no conventional parameters that have been proven to possess the ability to predict the histology of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A few autoimmune serology markers of SLE including anti-dsDNA antibodies, complement C3 and C4, and anti-nucleosome could be helpful clinically, but the correlation between those and lupus renal disease is still imperfect. Recently, the urinary vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) have been studied for the diagnosis of lupus nephritis (LN). Nevertheless, it is still unknown whether the urinary VCAM1, KIM-1 and ET-1 could be used as disease monitoring and flare predictor tools for LN. Objective: To evaluate the levels of VCAM-1, KIM-1, and ET-1 in active LN, inactive LN and controls, cut-off points and diagnostic accuracy and their correlation with SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI), renal SLEDAI (rSLEDAI), and the standard immunological markers. Methods: This study involved 60 LN patients and 30 controls conducted in the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (Hospital USM) from September 2016 to February 2018. All three biomarkers were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in urine samples of patients. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to obtain the best cut-off values and to calculate the performance of these markers. The correlation was done between urinary biomarkers and immunological parameters. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 22.0. Results: Urinary VCAM-1, KIM-1, and ET-1 levels were significantly higher in active LN patients compared to inactive LN patients and controls. These markers correlated significantly with anti-dsDNA, complement C3, complement C4, urine protein/urine creatinine (Uprot/Ucreat), SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), and renal SLEDAI scores. The urinary KIM-1 significantly correlated with all the immunological parameters except for complement C4. Urinary ET-1 showed higher specificity and sensitivity in differentiating LN patients and healthy controls (AUC 0.809) than urinary VCAM-1 (AUC 0.725) and urinary KIM-1 (AUC 0.640). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that urinary VCAM1, KIM-1, and ET-1 might be potential biomarkers specific for the lupus renal disease.
Harmonic radar: efficacy at detecting and recovering insects on agricultural host plants.

BACKGROUND In pest management research, harmonic radar systems have been largely used to study insect movement across open or vegetation-poor areas because the microwave signal is attenuated by the high water content of vegetation. This study evaluated whether the efficacy of this technology is sufficient to track insects in vegetative landscapes. RESULTS Field efficacy data were collected using portable harmonic microwave radar and electronic dipole tags mounted on adults of three economically important pests: Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (LeConte) [corrected] and Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst. Detection and recovery of tagged Colorado potato beetles, plum curculios and western corn rootworms was high within and among potato plants, moderate within apple trees and high within, but not between, corn plants respectively. The efficacy of the radar depends on the ability of the operator to move around the host, scanning for a signal 'sightline' with the tagged insect among plant structures. CONCLUSION The detection rate of tagged insects by harmonic radar systems is high enough to track the walking path of pests through low row crops such as potato, tall row crops such as corn or tall but well-separated trees of orchard-type crops by adapting the scanning procedure to the vegetative architecture.
Fall 12-2018 EXPOSURE TO AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION AND FETAL DEATH IN HARRIS COUNTY , TEXAS

This study is the first to use time-to-event analyses to examine stillbirth risk associated with prenatal ozone (O3) exposure. The study was conducted in a racially and ethnically diverse urban area (Harris County, Texas) with historic non-attainment O3 levels. We obtained birth and fetal death records from 2008-2013 and estimated weekly maternal residential O3 concentrations from conception until delivery using inverse distance interpolation from the local monitoring network. We used Cox survival models to examine associations between time-varying O3 exposure and stillbirth. We examined multi-pollutant models (with particulate matter ≤2.5 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter and nitrogen dioxide) and effect measure modification by race/ethnicity and length of gestation. We found a 9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1%, 18%) increased stillbirth risk associated with a 3.61 parts per billion increase in O3 exposure. The risk was higher among women with pregnancies <37 gestational weeks (hazard ratio (HR) =1.13, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.23) as compared to women with pregnancies of longer gestation (HR=1.05, 95% CI: 0.87, 1.27) and among Hispanic women (HR=1.14, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.27). Our findings indicate that maternal O3 exposure is associated with stillbirth risk, and that Hispanic women and women with shorter pregnancies may be at
Over-expression of BMP 4 inhibits experimental choroidal neovascularization by modulating VEGF and MMP-9

Bone morphorgenetic protein (BMP)-4 has been shown to play a pivotal role in eye development; however, its role in mature retina or ocular angiogenic diseases is unclear. Activating downstream Smad signaling, BMP4 can be either pro-angiogenic or anti-angiogenic, depending on the context of cell types and associated microenvironment. In this study, we generated transgenic mice overexpressing BMP4 in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells (Bmp4-Vmd2 Tg mice), and used the laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) model to study the angiogenic properties of BMP4 in adult eyes. Bmp4-Vmd2 Tg mice displayed normal retinal histology at 10 weeks of age when compared with age-matched wildtype mice. Over-expression of BMP4 in RPE in the transgenic mice was confirmed by real-time PCR and immunostaining. Elevated levels of Smad1,5 phosphorylation were found in BMP4 transgenic mice compared to wildype mice. Overexpression of BMP4 was associated with less severe CNV as characterized by fluorescein angiography, CNV volume measurement and histology. While control mice showed increased levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 after laser injury, Bmp4-Vmd2 Tg showed no increase in either VEGF or MMP-9. Further, we found that TNF-induced MMP-9 secretion in vitro was reduced by pretreatment of RPE cells with BMP4. The inhibition of MMP-9 was Smad-dependent because BMP4 failed to repress TNFinduced MMP-9 expression when Smad1,5 was silenced by siRNA. In summary, our studies identified an anti-angiogenic role for BMP4 in laser-induced CNV, mediated by direct inhibition of MMP-9 and indirect inhibition of VEGF.