Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived stress and eating behavior among professional and nonprofessional undergraduate students in Udupi District, Karnataka

Background: Stress is an unavoidable part of our life. Certain amount of stress is needed for our survival. Stress is one of the factors, which affects the health and eating habits of a person. Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the perceived stress among professional and nonprofessional undergraduate students and to find out the relationship between eating behavior and perceived stress of undergraduate students. Methods: A comparative descriptive study was conducted from November 2017 to April 2018, among 400 undergraduate students from selected professional and nonprofessional colleges in Udupi District, Karnataka. Students were recruited using proportionate sampling technique. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire after obtaining informed consent of the study participants. Results: Statistically significant difference was found in perceived stress of professional and nonprofessional students (Z = −2.397, P = 0.017). There was a weak positive correlation between perceived stress and uncontrolled eating of professional students (ρ= 0.162, P = 0.022) and nonprofessional students (ρ= 0.183, P = 0.009). There was no association found between perceived stress and selected demographic variables such as age, gender, study course, year of study, type of family, and occupation of parents (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Perceived stress of professional students is more compared to nonprofessional students. Uncontrolled eating behavior is influenced by increase in stress, and perceived stress is independent of demographic variables.
Immunization coverage among under-five children living along a school student through child-to-child and child-to-parent information, education and communication strategy

Background: In spite of being a principal producer and exporter of vaccines and billions spent over decades, India is home to one-third of the world's under-five children (U5C) with no immunization. Objectives: The objective of this study was to find the outcome of child-to-child and child-to-parent Information, Education and Communication (IEC) strategy on the current percentage of immunization coverage (IC). Methods: A mixed design research with multilevel concurrent sampling was conducted in Pune. Based on school students' households, 44 clusters having U5C were divided randomly into 11 experimental/control groups each. IEC strategy to students was independent variable and IC among U5C was dependent variable. Data were collected from 1092 students and 2352 U5C parents over 6 years. Vaccination card and Bacillus Calmette–Guérin mark were considered as evidence to conclude on full, partial and no IC. Change in knowledge quotient (KQ) among students/parents and U5C IC before and after IEC strategy assessed. Results: Rural/urban age-appropriate full IC of U5C was 51% and 67% before and 88% and 85% in post-IEC, respectively. The mean KQ change score of 8–12/20 in students is likely to increase full IC by 37% and 18%, decrease partial coverage at 14% and 12%, and improve none coverage at 23% and 16%, from its existing level positively in experimental groups. Numerous factors discouraged parents to pursue their U5C immunization. Conclusions: Advocacy through school students can be an economically viable alternative marketing strategy for inadequate U5C IC than billions spent on treating vaccine-preventable diseases and impractical options.
Competition in Ride-Hailing Markets

We present a model for competition between ride-hailing platforms. Riders choose a platform to maximize their utility which is decreasing in price and waiting time. Drivers can accept ride requests from both platforms. Platforms compete via prices over riders and drivers. We investigate whether competition leads to market failure in the form of the ``tragedy of the commons'' as platforms deplete the shared resource of open cars. Our theoretical analysis shows that in all equilibria, riders and drivers will use both platforms and prices will be equal; market failure is a possibility, but under certain conditions, the possibility of rapid deterioration of market throughput deters the platforms from undercutting each other's prices and gives rise to high-throughput equilibria. This result is also supported by numerical analysis, using parameters estimated from Uber data, and simulations. We observe that if riders are not very sensitive to waiting times, the loss of efficiency due to competition could be small.
External disturbances impact helminth–host interactions by affecting dynamics of infection, parasite traits, and host immune responses

Abstract External perturbations, such as multispecies infections or anthelmintic treatments, can alter host–parasite interactions with consequences on the dynamics of infection. While the overall profile of infection might appear fundamentally conserved at the host population level, perturbations can disproportionately affect components of parasite demography or host responses, and ultimately impact parasite fitness and long‐term persistence. We took an immuno‐epidemiological approach to this reasoning and examined a rabbit–helminth system where animals were trickle‐dosed with either one or two helminth species, treated halfway through the experiment with an anthelmintic and reinfected one month later following the same initial regime. Parasite traits (body length and fecundity) and host immune responses (cytokines, transcription factors, antibodies) were quantified at fixed time points and compared before and after drug treatment, and between single and dual infections. Findings indicated a resistant host phenotype to Trichostrongylus retortaeformis where abundance, body length, and fecundity were regulated by a protective immune response. In contrast, Graphidium strigosum accumulated in the host and, while it stimulated a clear immune reaction, many genes were downregulated both following reinfection and in dual infection, suggestive of a low host resistance. External perturbations affected parasite fecundity, including body length and number of eggs in utero, more significantly than abundance; however, there was no consistency in the parasite‐immune relationships. Disentangling the processes affecting parasite life history, and how they relate to host responses, can provide a better understanding of how external disturbances impact disease severity and transmission, and how parasites strategies adjust to secure persistence at the host and the population level.
Expression of extraocular opsin genes and light-dependent basal activity of blind cavefish

Background Animals living in well-lit environments utilize optical stimuli for detecting visual information, regulating the homeostatic pacemaker, and controlling patterns of body pigmentation. In contrast, many subterranean animal species without optical stimuli have evolved regressed binocular eyes and body pigmentation. Interestingly, some fossorial and cave-dwelling animals with regressed eyes still respond to light. These light-dependent responses may be simply evolutionary residuals or they may be adaptive, where negative phototaxis provides avoidance of predator-rich surface environments. However, the relationship between these non-ocular light responses and the underlying light-sensing Opsin proteins has not been fully elucidated. Methods To highlight the potential functions of opsins in a blind subterranean animal, we used the Mexican cave tetra to investigate opsin gene expression in the eyes and several brain regions of both surface and cave-dwelling adults. We performed database surveys, expression analyses by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR), and light-dependent locomotor activity analysis using pinealectomized fish, one of the high-opsin expressing organs of cavefish. Results Based on conservative criteria, we identified 33 opsin genes in the cavefish genome. Surveys of available RNAseq data found 26 of these expressed in the surface fish eye as compared to 24 expressed in cavefish extraocular tissues, 20 of which were expressed in the brain. RT-qPCR of 26 opsins in surface and cavefish eye and brain tissues showed the highest opsin-expressing tissue in cavefish was the pineal organ, which expressed exo-rhodopsin at 72.7% of the expression levels in surface fish pineal. However, a pinealectomy resulted in no change to the light-dependent locomotor activity in juvenile cavefish and surface fish. Therefore, we conclude that, after 20,000 or more years of evolution in darkness, cavefish light-dependent basal activity is regulated by a non-pineal extraocular organ.
Identification of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from leishmaniasis endemic areas in southeastern Mexico using DNA barcoding

Abstract Leishmaniasis, a vector‐borne disease transmitted to humans through the bite of phlebotomine sand flies, is of public health significance in southeastern Mexico. Active and continuous monitoring of vectors is an important aspect of disease control for the prediction of potential outbreaks. Thus, the correct identification of vectors is paramount in this regard. In this study, we employed DNA barcoding as a tool for identifying phlebotomine sand flies collected in localized cutaneous leishmaniasis endemic areas of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Specimens were collected using CDC light and Shannon traps as part of the Mexican Ministry of Health surveillance program. DNA extraction was carried out using a nondestructive protocol, and morphological identification based on taxonomic keys was conducted on slide‐mounted specimens. Molecular taxonomic resolution using the 658‐bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene was 100% congruent with the morphological identification. Seven species were identified: Lutzomyia cruciata (Coquillett 1907), Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva 1912), Psathyromyia shannoni (Dyar 1929), Dampfomyia deleoni (Fairchild & Hertig 1947), Dampfomyia beltrani/steatopyga (Vargas & Díaz‐Nájera 1951), Bichromomyia olmeca olmeca (Vargas & Díaz‐Nájera, 1959), and Brumptomyia mesai (Sherlock 1962). Mean intraspecific divergence ranged from 0.12% to 1.22%, while interspecific distances ranged from 11.59% to 19.29%. Neighbor‐joining (NJ) analysis using the Kimura 2‐parameter model also showed specimens of the same species to be clustered together. The study provides the first cox1 sequences for three species of sand flies and indicates the utility of DNA barcoding for phlebotomine sand flies species identification in southeastern Mexico.
Importance and effectiveness of correction methods for spatial sampling bias in species with sex‐specific habitat preference

Abstract Aim Presence records from surveys with spatially heterogeneous sampling intensity are a key challenge for species distribution models (SDMs). When sex groups differ in their habitat association, the correction of the spatial bias becomes important for preventing model predictions that are biased toward one sex. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effectiveness of existing correction methods for spatial sampling bias for SDMs when male and female have different habitat preferences. Location Jura massif, France. Methods We used a spatially sex‐segregated virtual species to understand the effect of three sampling designs (spatially biased, uniform random, and systematic), and two correction methods (targeted background points, and distance to trajectories) on estimated habitat preferences, sex ratios, and prediction accuracy. We then evaluated these effects for two empirical Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) presence‐only datasets from a systematic and a spatially biased sampling design. Results Sampling design strongly affected parameter estimation accuracy for the virtual species: noncorrected spatially biased sampling resulted in biased estimates of habitat association and sex ratios. Both established methods of bias correction were successful in the case of virtual species, with the targeted correction methods showing stronger correction, as it more closely followed the simulated decay of detectability with distance from sampling locations. On the Capercaillie dataset, only the targeted background points method resulted in the same sex ratio estimate for the spatially biased sampling design as for the spatially unbiased sampling. Main conclusions We suggest that information on subgroups with distinct habitat associations should be included in SDMs analyses when possible. We conclude that current methods for correcting spatially biased sampling can improve estimates of both habitat association and subgroup ratios (e.g., sex and age), but that their efficiency depends on their ability to well represent the spatial observation bias.
Surgical management of penile sarcoid in a stallion

ABSTRACT This report describes surgical management and breeding implications of a case of penile sarcoid associated with penis laceration in a 4-year-old Kurdish stallion. A large fleshy mass on the distal end of the penis that resulted in urethral meatus deviation and dysuria was detected in a physical examination. No evidence of local extent or metastasis was detected. Under general anaesthesia, the involved distal portion of the penis was removed through partial phallectomy. Histopathological examination of the mass confirmed a fibroblastic sarcoid. Partial phallectomy was successful for management of penile sarcoid and resulted in no postoperative complications or tumour recurrence in long-term follow up; however, successful ejaculation and semen collection have not been achieved.
Thermal plasticity is independent of environmental history in an intertidal seaweed

Abstract Organisms inhabiting the intertidal zone have been used to study natural ecophysiological responses and adaptations to thermal stress because these organisms are routinely exposed to high‐temperature conditions for hours at a time. While intertidal organisms may be inherently better at withstanding temperature stress due to regular exposure and acclimation, they could be more vulnerable to temperature stress, already living near the edge of their thermal limits. Strong gradients in thermal stress across the intertidal zone present an opportunity to test whether thermal tolerance is a plastic or canalized trait in intertidal organisms. Here, we studied the intertidal pool‐dwelling calcified alga, Ellisolandia elongata, under near‐future temperature regimes, and the dependence of its thermal acclimatization response on environmental history. Two timescales of environmental history were tested during this experiment. The intertidal pool of origin was representative of long‐term environmental history over the alga's life (including settlement and development), while the pool it was transplanted into accounted for recent environmental history (acclimation over many months). Unexpectedly, neither long‐term nor short‐term environmental history, nor ambient conditions, affected photosynthetic rates in E. elongata. Individuals were plastic in their photosynthetic response to laboratory temperature treatments (mean 13.2°C, 15.7°C, and 17.7°C). Further, replicate ramets from the same individual were not always consistent in their photosynthetic performance from one experimental time point to another or between treatments and exhibited no clear trend in variability over experimental time. High variability in climate change responses between individuals may indicate the potential for resilience to future conditions and, thus, may play a compensatory role at the population or species level over time.
Adjuvant Radiotherapy and/or Chemotherapy for Endometrial Cancer, Status as at 2019

The role of adjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy in the primary treatment of endometrial cancer with a high risk of recurrence has still not been conclusively determined. The results of 3 large randomized controlled studies on different aspects of this issue have been published in full in recent months, and the relevant results are analyzed here.
Invasion promotes invasion: Facilitation of C3 perennial grass dominance in mixed C3/C4 grassland by an invasive C3 woody sprouter (Prosopis glandulosa)

Abstract In the Southern Great Plains (SGP) of the United States, encroachment of the native invasive woody legume, honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torr.), has caused a decline in C4 mid‐grass abundance. Prosopis glandulosa invasion has also facilitated growth of the C3 mid‐grass species, Texas wintergrass (Nassella leucotricha [Trin & Rupr.] Pohl) initially beneath its canopy but extending to interspaces between P. glandulosa as stand density increases. Little is known about the stability of the Prosopis/Nassella association or C4 grass recovery following P. glandulosa disturbance. We quantified C3 and C4 grass production in interspaces, and basal cover in interspaces and P. glandulosa subcanopy microsites for 9 years following P. glandulosa suppression (top‐kill) and compared this to untreated P. glandulosa woodland (woodland). The Prosopis/Nassella association limited the window of C4 mid‐grass recovery to only a few years. Nassella leucotricha dominated grass production during the first 3 years after top‐kill. C4 mid‐grass recovery began in year 4, but was interrupted by severe drought in years 5 through 7. Recovery resumed in year 8, due to above‐average summer rainfall, but P. glandulosa regrowth was large enough by this time to limit C4 mid‐grass production to a third of its potential. Nassella leucotricha basal cover remained dominant and stable in woodland subcanopy microsites, even during drought, and only briefly declined in top‐kill subcanopy microsites before returning to pretreatment levels by year 8 as P. glandulosa regrowth increased and provided shade. Synthesis and applications. A single suppression event had little impact on disrupting the Prosopis/Nassella association and allowing C4 mid‐grass recovery. The coupling of a deciduous, N‐fixing C3 woody species with this C3 perennial grass may be a vegetative “state” that is resistant to multiple woody suppression disturbances and permanently limits the transition back to C4 grassland.
Evolutionary impacts differ between two exploited populations of northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus)

Abstract Interpretation of conservation status should be informed by an appreciation of genetic diversity, past demography, and overall trends in population size, which contribute to a species' evolutionary potential and resilience to genetic risks. Low genetic diversity can be symptomatic of rapid demographic declines and impose genetic risks to populations, but can also be maintained by natural processes. The northern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon ampullatus has the lowest known mitochondrial diversity of any cetacean and was intensely whaled in the Northwest Atlantic over the last century, but whether exploitation imposed genetic risks that could limit recovery is unknown. We sequenced full mitogenomes and genotyped 37 novel microsatellites for 128 individuals from known areas of abundance in the Scotian Shelf, Northern and Southern Labrador, Davis Strait, and Iceland, and a newly discovered group off Newfoundland. Despite low diversity and shared haplotypes across all regions, both markers supported the Endangered Scotian Shelf population as distinct from the combined northern regions. The genetic affinity of Newfoundland was uncertain, suggesting an area of mixing with no clear population distinction for the region. Demographic reconstruction using mitogenomes suggests that the northern region underwent population expansion following the last glacial maximum, but for the peripheral Scotian Shelf population, a stable demographic trend was followed by a drastic decline over a temporal scale consistent with increasing human activity in the Northwest Atlantic. Low connectivity between the Scotian Shelf and the rest of the Atlantic likely compounded the impact of intensive whaling for this species, potentially imposing genetic risks affecting recovery of this population. We highlight how the combination of historical environmental conditions and modern exploitation of this species has had very different evolutionary impacts on structured populations of northern bottlenose whales across the western North Atlantic.
A study of the endohelminths of the European perch Perca fluviatilis L. from the central region of the Danube river basin in Slovakia

Abstract The European perch Perca fluviatilis L. serves as a host of different endohelminths of Trematoda, Cestoda, Nematoda, and Acanthocephala. Its natural range covers freshwater basins throughout much of Europe, including the Danube. Since information about endohelminths of European perch from this international river basin has been rather sporadic, the parasitological examinations of 700 perch from the central region of the Danube river basin in Slovakia were performed in October 2017 and April 2018. The larval stages of Triaenophorus nodulosus (Cestoda) were found in cysts located in the perch liver and adults of Proteocephalus percae (Cestoda) were isolated from the intestine. The larval stages of Eustrongylides sp. (Nematoda) and metacercariae of Clinostomum complanatum (Trematoda), both potential causative agents of fish-borne zoonoses, were found in the musculature. Spatial and seasonal differences in the occurrence of currently detected helminths were discussed with data on biological and environmental conditions of particular sampling site.
Methylation hotspots evidenced by deep sequencing in patients with facioscapulohumeral dystrophy and mosaicism

Objective To investigate the distribution of cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) sites with a variable level of DNA methylation of the D4Z4 macrosatellite element in patients with facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD). Methods By adapting bisulfite modification to deep sequencing, we performed a comprehensive analysis of D4Z4 methylation across D4Z4 repeats and adjacent 4qA sequence in DNA from patients with FSHD1, FSHD2, or mosaicism and controls. Results Using hierarchical clustering, we identified clusters with different levels of methylation and separated, thereby the different groups of samples (controls, FSHD1, and FSHD2) based on their respective level of methylation. We further show that deep sequencing–based methylation analysis discriminates mosaic cases for which methylation changes have never been evaluated previously. Conclusions Altogether, our approach offers a new high throughput tool for estimation of the D4Z4 methylation level in the different subcategories of patients having FSHD. This methodology allows for a comprehensive and discriminative analysis of different regions along the macrosatellite repeat and identification of focal regions or CpG sites differentially methylated in patients with FSHD1 and FSHD2 but also complex cases such as those presenting mosaicism.